A persons opinion of you does not leave you open to BEING that opinion.
At times some will speak words of praise about you. We are human, we will accept that praise and may even smile or gloat about that praise.
At other times someone will speak ill of you. What then?
Often, what they speak about is pertaining to an interaction with you, but they confuse that interaction, that momentary occurrence as being all of you. Was that interaction that led to their opinion of you uplifting to your overall positive development or detrimental? Does that momentary interaction whether positive or negative a reflection of who you are a glimpse of what you were experiencing at that time?
As an occupation I am a business owner. That is what I do. As a business I supply a service and product that requires payment. To function as a business, payment is needed and is required to be paid as agreed. In business we refer to this as accounts receivable. If you are in business long enough someone will be late on their payment. Someone will be late as a matter routine. Some will go into default and when you are called to collect upon that debt owed by that person, they may form a poor opinion of you. Do not be OPEN to accepting that opinion. There is no positive avenue for growth for you. By accepting that opinion allows for the other person to remain in their state of negative living.
As a friend at some time you will speak the truth to another friend. It may hurt that friends feeling and that friend may distance themselves from you and speak ill of you. How dare you say what you said. You are a bad person. Do not be OPEN to accepting that opinion. No matter if something is spoken in love and with the intent to enlighten, it can still be received by another has painful.
As a human, you will falter. In those times look within yourself and ask yourself "Was that a fault of your heart or a fault of the head." In both growth can be achieved.
A positive expression or action on your part can be interpreted by another as a negative occurrence which they choose to then form an opinion of you based upon THEIR acceptance or rejection of the interaction.
You are the bad business for holding them accountable. You are a bad person or friend for saying what needed to be said instead of what they wanted to hear. Do not be OPEN to accepting that opinion. You can hear that what you said may have hurt them. You can acknowledge that that was or was not your intent. Still, You spoke in truth, but speak the truth with love.
Still, in other times…LISTEN. Several decades ago while sitting my police cruiser beside another officer I told that officer that I am a Christian. His response “Really? I couldn’t tell by they way you act.” WOW!!! That was his opinion of me based upon his continuous exposure to me. He didn’t see me praying for forgiveness. He didn’t see me attending church several times a week. That didn’t matter because he saw my actions in his presence. I LISTENED. It hurt, it was painful, but I listened. In this instance, although not wanted, I was OPEN to hearing his opinion. Instead of justifying why I did whatever he found as offensive, I looked within myself as to what I could do to change ME.
So then, When should you be Open to accept and When should you be Open to reject the opinion of another. When the majority speak of the receiving the same negative action, look more deeply into yourself. THEN also look at the group of individuals offended. If you are speaking of integrity and your group is a group of liars and thief’s, then their opinion holds no value because their very nature tells you that they lie even now in proclaiming your offense.
We all have opinions. In today’s world expressing those opinions as fact has become far too easy. We hide protected by a computer monitor while armed with the weapon we call a keyboard. We simply write a review on social media. Our experience that we relay to others is our particular truth, of course absolving ourselves from fault or accountability. “Don’t go to this place they are rude with horrible customer service.” But the truth of the experience was that you were drunk, loud, and offensive and were asked to leave. Your “statement of fact” is your opinion based upon hurt feelings.
A flawed character is more easily seen when looking at another and fails to be acknowledged when looking at oneself. Are you OPEN to believing that?
Many will say that opinions matter. I believe that opinions matter when coming from those you know, love, respect, or are entrusted under.
By listening to all opinions and trying to please them all, means that you are OPEN to receiving all criticism.
Everyone has an opinion, the same as everyone has a critique. In your flawed attempt to appease all people, the only thing you will receive is anxiety, depression, and lack of self esteem and confidence.
Be OPEN to choosing wisely which opinions you listen to that are meant to uplift you. Be Open to closing the door to your mental wellness by not allowing the negative opinion of those who do not matter to be received by you as criticism that poisions.
In other words Be Open To Being Closed and Be Closed to not Bettering yourself when enlightened.