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How to Stop Caring When People Don’t Like You

The reality of life is that not everyone will like you. It can be painful when you feel that people don’t like you, and it’s hard to accept the reality that not everyone will, but it’s the truth. You’re a beautiful person with beautiful qualities, and many people will recognize those aspects of you and your personality. It’s a matter of finding those individuals and developing your tribe. When you meet someone who doesn’t like you or understand you, it hurts, but it doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you. But it still hurts, and you may want to know how to stop caring when people don’t like you.

What if I don’t like me?

What if the problem isn’t the other person? Maybe you don’t like you. If you find that you don’t like yourself, it might be time to explore what’s going on inside. Maybe you’re frustrated with some of your quirks, and you can work on them in therapy or talk about these feelings with a friend. If you find that people in your life make you feel devalued, it could be that there’s a problem with the relationship on their end, but it goes both ways. It’s important to check in with yourself and ask if there’s something you’re doing that could be contributing to this conflict. If you are, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person — it just means you have something to work on, and we all have things we need to improve. It’s good to recognize that there’s room from growth.

It starts with you

People come in and out of your life, but you’ll always be there with yourself. If you feel unappreciated by others, it’s not the end of the world — you can appreciate you. What are ways you can learn to value yourself? One thing you can do is make the time to pursue an activity that you enjoy. Maybe you enjoy the arts but haven’t taken the time to pursue anything artistic in a while. Taking a class is a great way to implement enjoyment into your life more. Maybe you love painting, and you sign up for an art class. You could sign up for a knitting course, a music course, martial arts, yoga or a dance class. If you’re not sure what hobbies you like, trying different things is a great way to find out what you enjoy, and you may even make friends. It’s OK not to know what you like about yourself yet. Find an outlet that empowers you. You’ll gain confidence and explore what you love about yourself. When you learn to create your happiness, no one can take that away from you.

Finding more ways to love yourself in counseling

When people don’t like you, it hurts, and it can make you feel like something is wrong with you. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with you if someone doesn’t care for you. There are all kinds of people in the world. Think about the different foods and flavors that are out there. Not everyone like chipotle mayonnaise. In the same way, we don’t have to like everyone we meet. Sometimes, people don’t click with each other, and that’s OK. It’s OK to hurt, and it makes sense to feel lost. Those are valid emotions, but know there is something you can do about it. You can always work on finding ways to love, appreciate and care for yourself because, in the end, you’re all you’ve got and you matter. Work with an online counselor who can assist you in learning to value yourself. With a mental health professional, you can identify your strengths and build your confidence so that it won’t matter if people like you or not anymore. Once you learn to embrace yourself, it’ll be a lot easier to brush off the people that don’t like you.

Lead photo courtesy of Pexels

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