Don't Take Life Personally

That has always seemed like a silly sentiment to me. If life isn't personal.... well... what would be the point?

Life IS personal. It is about who you are, how you interact with the world, and what you give to the world. All you have and all you are is you. That's as personal as it gets.

That's like getting the "it's not you, it's me" line. In the end, you're probably better off not having the person in your life anyway.

There is huge truth to this maxim if you are a student of Buddhism. But when someone else tells me this I just want to hit them. It seems presumptuous and patronizing. Right, so they don't take anything personally themselves?? Exactly which serotonin uptake inhibitor are they ON? If the intention is to instantly transmit the Incredible Lightness of Being, the phrase doesn't seem very effective.

I often say, "That sounds like something you're aspiring to yourself, yes?" When people dispense advice in one liners, it's called projection and it may also mean that they're in some kind of rehabilitation program of some kind or another. Bless 'em!

;]

HUH? All of life is personal! This is your life and everything that happens to you and everything that you make happen is a direct result of taking life personally. Did that make sense? Often times I havent been able to understand why certian things happen to me. "I didnt ask for this crap!" Well, actually ... I must have. Learn learn learn. We are all here for a reason. great or small. It is all important and yes ... take it personally. Life is meant for all of us.

Well as usual, you get people talking Ms. Chartier. I have to agree to a certain point, I feel many of us take ourselves too seriously in a universe where we are but a small cog in the machine. If I took life too personally, I would begin to think that God (or whatever power that be) has it out for me. I like to think that he/she/it just has a great sense of humor instead.

welcome to the anthill

First thing that comes to my mind: Don't get too attached. That's what I think when I hear "don't take it personal." Having said that, life is intensely personal, so yeah, how other way can you take it?

I prefer the saying "Do not take life seriously."

Possibly living in laid back southern California has taught me that. It's hard to take life seriously where people wear flip flops year long!

Cindy, and the rest of you who are interested, sign up for the BIZNIK BOOK group on A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink (also best-selling author of Free Agent Nation). These two are great reads for the Biznik Solopreneur.

P.S. Your comment, "Don't take life personally," reminds me of the book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

You know, the main problem with this expression is that it implies an intent to tell somebody else to "just get over it." (Another phrase I can't stand.) But the "it" is ours to deal with, and "it"'s our LIFE, --not someone else's. There is a fine line between being laid back, so you never take anything personally because, well, you never showed up to feel anything in the first place, --and the greater prize: equanimity. (Apologies to California, don't assume I'm saying the whole state is shallow:)) Equanimity happens when you come to your own hard won understanding that yes, life's various and dazzling forms of suffering ARE impersonal, and surrendering to that fact makes it easier to bear. But for each person it's their own secret path to finding this out, and the path is different...every day.

I think y'all are taking this post and "life way too personally and seriously"! JUST KIDDING! :D I agree with what's been posted so far. Life is personal, and although I think it's good to take some things seriously, I believe it's best to not take life too seriously.

Had to ponder that one, Ms. Cindy,

I can often "lighten up" when I recall as I've said for the last couple years that "There are a Lot of guys who would love to have My problems".

Not real deep, but it has added perspective, almost as much as: "In a Hundred years, Who's gonna care...."

Remember, it's all about - serving Others.

-- J.P. Mpeckable

So true John. In the immortal words of Jim Morrison of the Doors, "...none of us gets out of here alive." (and he should know). None of us lives on a mountaintop and life comes at us like a freight train occasionally... but we can do our best to realize that there is no "good" or "bad", only the way we perceive or react to it. Now excuse me while I take my Prozac.

JON

Life is personal so if some one tells you not to take life personally they probably aren't participating. However that doesn't mean we need to be supper serious about every thing all the time or take professional rejection personally. When you say don't take life personally is that generally or is their a circumstance surrounding that statement? Art T.

The first thought that came to mind was, "letting go," but I haven't been asked that in many many years.

Cindy and Iskra capture my thoughts on the subject well, and I always like to think of issues and questions in these two terms for perspective and context:

1. In the context of all the people that have ever been on the planet.

2. In the context of all time.

Filtering things through those two perspectives takes a lot of pressure off and dispels a lot of judgement. When you do that and try and be present, it's kind of special. It certainly puts "importance" in a new light.