Seeking to be understood by people who refuse to
understand you is a sure way to make yourself feel miserable.
When you crave for understanding from people,
it is actually your ego which is rearing its ugly head. Craving is desire. When
you desire to be understood you are actually saying: "How dare someone
draw a different inference from what I intend?" or "How can someone
speak to ME like that?" or "I have done so much for this person and
yet this person is so ungrateful!".
You don't need to kill that craving in you. All
you need to know is that each person is entitled to his or her own opinions and
behavior. Quite naturally, it is an extremely painful process to allow people
to be the way they are. Especially when you are having to live and work with them.
Then the only option to consider is if you really want to live and work with
that someone. If you have to, you must stop complaining about that person –
that’s the only way you can be at peace with yourself in such a context. If you
don't have to live with that someone, simple, disassociate. You may well
wonder, how can you disassociate from a parent, sibling, spouse or dear friend?
I have faced such a situation a few times in Life. And the best way to disassociate,
I have learnt, is to just keep quiet. Try and work out a physical dissociation
but in any case, choose to be disengaged and quiet. In the face of all
provocation, don’t respond. Your silence may be seen as your weakness – but it
is your greatest weapon in reality. And it is not a weapon that can destruct.
It actually arrests any further damage. Disassociation does not mean you must
sulk. You can be still engaged at a courtesy or social level. A hi and a bye
never does anyone any harm. But you don’t need to engage in such a way that you
have to crave to be understood. Nor will there be a situation warranting an understanding
when there is no engagement! Think about it – it works! At least, it has worked
for me.
When you operate with this logic, your ego will
not run amok and you will not suffer. When you don't
operate from your egoistic core, you will tame any craving. When the mind
ceases to crave, it finds peace. And peace always delivers joy!
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