A little more from Maria Popova’s “18 Life-Learnings from 18 Years of The Marginalian.”
As Maya Angelou famously advised, when people tell you who they are, believe them. Just as important, however, when people try to tell you who you are, don’t believe them. You are the only custodian of your own integrity, and the assumptions made by those that misunderstand who you are and what you stand for reveal a great deal about them and absolutely nothing about you.
— Maria Popova
Similar to the line, “What other people think of me is none of my business,” it’s important to recognize that people’s opinions of you are filtered through their own lens. And most of our lenses are cloudy, smeared with years of input and experiences.
We have no control over what other’s think of us. The only thing we can do is choose a set a values and principles that matter to us, and then try to live — behave and speak — accordingly.
xo,
Beth
