Words of Hope: Thick Skin
Dad and I struggled with thin skin at times. We love people and want to be loved. Dad often encouraged me to have tough skin with a soft heart. I wrote down his advice. He told me don’t assume thoughts or opinions. You are not God, and you don’t know what someone else is thinking. Do not engage in negative storytelling—find out the facts. Kind communication always improves relationships. Stay peaceable even when firm. Gratitude provides solutions to problems. As you give, you heal and grow. However, don’t give power to mean people. Be kind but don’t let them get under your skin and disrupt your peace. Acknowledge your pain if someone has hurt you. The body can collect your internalized pain. Imagine God healing the part of your body where you have put the pain. Imagine God filling your heart with love so that it is overflowing. Imagine all the people who love you. Picture their faces and see their compassion and joy for your life. Live in this space of overflowing love and let all thoughts of worry about what others think, what others say, melt away.
“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” -Proverbs 19:11
