I have been messed up and hurt by a lot of people in my life. To be fair, I am sure I have done my fair share of hurting so I am not trying to point the finger at anybody else. It has just become a part of our culture to hurt people and only look out for ourselves. It is just crazy to mean that it almost seems like a talent these days to be a decent person in our culture. I am not saying that it's impossible. It just seems so rare lately to find someone who is loyal. It is so rare to find someone who will be there for you through thick and thin.

I have gone through something recently with someone in my life that I really trusted and they did me dirty if I am being honest with you. The human side of me wants to handle the problem in a very human way, but I have to practice what I preach and I know that. I always say that when you mess with someone with a faith in God then you're in for a treat because the best revenge is no revenge. The best revenge is being the bigger person and letting something go when it is appropriate to let something go. When you retaliate, when you try to take revenge on someone, when you try to make someone feel the pain that they made you feel, they end up taking control of your life. It is like a bait that they leave out for you. They want you to get mad. They want you to react the normal and angry way so then they can have power over you. What is important in times like that is to have patience and let go when you possibly can.

When people are miserable they want to drag you down to their position because misery loves company. When people get so crazy stressed sometimes they will try to fight with you to bring you to the stress that they feel in their lives. When people get frustrated sometimes they will fight because they want you to be frustrated at them. The thing is that they also want to feel a little bit of control. When they can bring you to their level on command then that means that they can control you. If instead you react with calm, peace, and kindness then they won't be able to control you. So they will either relax or become more frustrated, but either way they won't be able to control what you do and that will keep them from dragging you down.

So when the people in your life are trying to control you and bring you down to their level, do not retaliate. Like I said before, the best retaliation is no retaliation. Let go when you can and focus on what you can do for yourself instead of what you think they deserve, because what they deserve just isn't your place.

It all starts with you.