Many people have asked me what to do when someone says something that causes you hurt. Obviously lashing out isn’t a great option, and neither is suppressing the emotion altogether. So what are we to do?
To speak generally, the first step in resolving the situation is to take full responsibility for creating it in the first place. Realize that there are no coincidences and that we make our reality. Resist the urge to immediately defend or refute. Once we take responsibility in this way, we make room to feel the other person. Moreover, because we have taken ourselves out of the “victim” seat, we can now relate to the other person from a proactive place of sharing rather than from our own ego.
From this place we can speak to the person where he or she is at, and actually remove any space that may exist between us. This is how we bring peace to the world through our own spiritual work.