I hear that from my 8yr old all the time. He's a sweet, sentimental kid and I wonder why he says that. It also drives me crazy because when he gets into that mode, I have to work very hard to get him out of it. I prefer reading a book to having to convince a 8yr old he's wrong.
I watch him interact with his friends and resist the urge to step in and tell him exactly what he needs to say and do for people to like him. The funny thing is, I would have ruined it. I know because I tried and failed miserably :). The kids didn't seem to get that I was trying to "help". Needless to say, the kids went about their business - fighting, teasing, complaining, hating, loving, having fun, being best friends, all without my help, much to my chagrin.
I wonder why someone would think that everyone hates them. I recently found myself wondering about that often since my son said it. It is then that I realised that I think that too without expressing it in words. There are days when I feel that I cannot say or do anything right. I even hate myself let alone others hating me. While this bothered me infinitely, I have learnt over the years to take the feeling for what it is - a passing feeling. The reality is no one is paying that much attention to us anyways. People who love us and care about us will pay attention, get mad, forgive and go back to loving us. Those who don't, probably were too busy thinking of something else while we put our foot in our mouths. So in the grand scheme of things, all is well. :)
So today, I calm myself by thinking "Tomorrow is another day". I tell my son to focus on the people who do love him and count them out instead of the number of people who didn't give him the importance he thinks he deserves :D. I think respect for one another will go a long way to helping these feelings and if we didn't feel hated once in a while, how would we ever know how good it feels to be loved.
I watch him interact with his friends and resist the urge to step in and tell him exactly what he needs to say and do for people to like him. The funny thing is, I would have ruined it. I know because I tried and failed miserably :). The kids didn't seem to get that I was trying to "help". Needless to say, the kids went about their business - fighting, teasing, complaining, hating, loving, having fun, being best friends, all without my help, much to my chagrin.
I wonder why someone would think that everyone hates them. I recently found myself wondering about that often since my son said it. It is then that I realised that I think that too without expressing it in words. There are days when I feel that I cannot say or do anything right. I even hate myself let alone others hating me. While this bothered me infinitely, I have learnt over the years to take the feeling for what it is - a passing feeling. The reality is no one is paying that much attention to us anyways. People who love us and care about us will pay attention, get mad, forgive and go back to loving us. Those who don't, probably were too busy thinking of something else while we put our foot in our mouths. So in the grand scheme of things, all is well. :)
So today, I calm myself by thinking "Tomorrow is another day". I tell my son to focus on the people who do love him and count them out instead of the number of people who didn't give him the importance he thinks he deserves :D. I think respect for one another will go a long way to helping these feelings and if we didn't feel hated once in a while, how would we ever know how good it feels to be loved.
Don't go around all day long thinking, 'I'm unattractive, I'm slow, I'm not as smart as my brother.' God wasn't having a bad day when he made you... If you don't love yourself in the right way, you can't love your neighbour. You can't be as good as you are supposed to be.
Joel Osteen
