“Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you … not because they are nice, but because you are.” — Author Unknown
Remember when you were young hearing from your parental units (or teachers, authority figures, etc.), “Don’t lower yourself to their level.” Or, perhaps they’d say, “Just turn the other cheek.” Maybe you’d encountered a bully on the playground that day. Or perhaps someone who was unfair or unkind to you. For lots of circumstances these are wise words; some things are just better left ignored. Why waste your energy? Why give it your focus?
Look, at the end of the day you’ve got to sleep at night. Can minor insults to our egos be tolerated? Can rudeness from others find its own balance in karma? Can we, in fact, rise above, just because it’s the healthier thing to do? Sometimes, sometimes not. But to just be nice when someone else is not…well, it’s really not that hard, is it? And perhaps you’ll sleep better.