Don't take offense...

You know its going to be good when someone starts a sentence with this particular phrase.    How can you not take offense?  It's hard. This recently happened to me and when I told Mark he simply said "April, consider the source" which was very good advice.  It's amazing how lives are changed and relationships altered by this simple phrase.  As most people who know me are aware, David A. Bednar is my "favorite" Apostle. I love his talks and how he approaches things.  He gave this TALK awhile ago and I thought of it after this experience. The following is a quote I really like from it.
"When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else....we primarily are to act and not just be acted upon. To believe that someone or something can make us feel offended, angry, hurt, or bitter diminishes our moral agency and transforms us into objects to be acted upon. As agents, however, you and I have the power to act and to choose how we will respond to an offensive or hurtful situation."
Like I said it's hard. Mark is a really big supporter of the whole "don't let other people decide for you how you feel" philosophy which I get but sometimes people are just irritating. I just have to make sure I don't dwell on it and hopefully this blog post will help me with that.  You can't please everyone.