Cast not thy Pearls before Swine...

I've been reminded of this saying a few times over the past couple of weeks, and boy is it ever true! It's one that my own dear Daddy has reminded me of many times in my life, and is all too easily forgotten.

For those of you unfamiliar with this expression, here is the passage from the Bible, Matthew 7:6

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

Whilst I'm not a religious person, (I prefer to call myself 'spiritual') there is a lot of wisdom to be gained from these simple words. 

Giving your time, efforts or objects to people who won't appreciate them is a big waste of energy. 

I see so many people doing this, and then even worse, giving their power away, by allowing those other people's judgements to dictate whether they have done well or deserve any praise. 

Other people should not be given control over your self esteem. Your life is not an episode of X-Factor!

~

A friend lamented to me recently about a failed relationship in which he gave his all, and went far beyond the call of duty, all to no avail. It seems that much like the proverbial pigs, the woman in question just wasn't able to appreciate his efforts, no matter what he did, and he was left feeling well and truly trampled on.

I reminded him of this expression, and pointed out that sometimes, it's not you. It's them.

I sagely repeated the words told to me by the very wise Jeanette at the end of my own, equally horrible, last relationship:

"You are lovely and she is just an a**hole. End of story." 

(Yes, ladies and gentlemen, sometimes the Myth Buster does swear.)

I was reminded of this saying again last week, whilst working online, on Oranum.com.  I'm one of the resident psychics and I offer my services, giving live readings to members of the public.

When I'm online, part of my job includes doing "Demo Readings" which means that I occasionally have to do a free, public reading for a member of the site, on webcam, with lots of people watching. In theory, it's great for demonstrating how I work, and answers a lot of questions people have about my style of reading etc.

This demo however, was not was I was expecting. Normally, I can pick the site member I want to do a reading for, but this time, something went a bit wrong (darn you Mercury Retrograde!) and I ended up with a rather nasty man who made it his mission to try and torture me for the whole 30 minutes.

An unpleasant game of "test the psychic" ensued.

He spent his time merrily telling me that I was getting everything wrong, only to have to take it back later in the conversation, when I pointed out some truths about him that he couldn't deny. At one point he even became rude and abusive. It took all my award-winning customer service skill not to tell him where to go! 

I know that despite his disparaging remarks, I did a great job, both with the reading and in managing an extremely difficult customer.

~

So please remember, just because somebody else doesn't appreciate you or your efforts, it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong. In fact you may have surpassed all your expectations and achieved a personal best.

Just don't make the mistake of allowing others to be the judge of that.

You are the boss of your life, and if you think you did well, then gosh darned it, you did. And congratulations from me to boot.

You are so much better, kinder, wiser and stronger than most people will give you credit for in this lifetime.

You Rock! And I want you to remember that.