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done, but it’s a small price to pay for getting rid of someone who adds nothing but negativity to your life. Rise Above Them No matter how far you distance yourself, some haters will never leave you alone, come rain or sunshine. Driven by envy, they can neither eat nor sleep peacefully until they trouble you. The best thing to do in this situation is to rise above them. If you try to please your haters, you will end up losing the most valuable thing you have in your life: yourself ! Keep doing you; you cannot please the whole world. Focus your time and energy on pursuing your life’s purpose. Never let the arrows of those who are jealous of you get under your skin; the thicker your skin, the thicker your peace. And, always remind yourself: haters are your first sign of success. No one envies a beggar, but countless envy kings and immeasurable more envy queens. More insights to shield your soul from envious characters Always remember that the road to success is paved with doubters and haters. When people try to bury you, remind yourself you are a seed. Don’t be afraid of criticism; the tallest trees are always confronted by the strongest winds. Don’t worry about those who try to pull you down; they are below you for a reason. The greater the fruit a tree bears, the greater the number of stones thrown at it. Use your enemy’s arrows for firewood. When a rock transforms into a diamond, lesser stones will not speak of its beauty, but of its un- polished-ness. Don’t let mediocre people talk you out of your dreams; lions have little in common with sheep. Haters, like parrots, talk much but cannot fly. Dreamers, like eagles, say nothing but conquer the skies. Be noble like the sun; let even those who resent you for shinning benefit from your warmth. Critics are loud, but success is louder. Work while they talk, strive while they mock, persevere while they jeer, and succeed while they hate. To achieve success, ignore doubt; to achieve fame, ignore haters; to achieve greatness, ignore fear; and to achieve immortality, ignore hardship. Envy is the most extreme form of jealousy. It comes about as a result of someone feeling inferior or slighted because of what you have or what you are. Haters believe that you don’t deserve something or that whatever you have is better than theirs. Willing to put someone down to feel good about themselves, envious people are willing to lie, steal, kill, and even de- stroy themselves to inflict misfortune on those they begrudge. It is in vain to try and stop a star from rising, even with a ladder. The sun alone truly wants to see you shine, even if you end up shining brighter than it. Don’t blow out someone’s candle, or you will both end up in the dark. In conclusion as poetically outlined: When they judge you, yawn; When they mis- understand you, smile; When they under- estimate you, laugh; When they condemn you, ignore; When they envy you, rejoice; and When they oppose you, prevail. If you listen to critics for too long, you will become deaf to success. To avoid enemies, say nothing; to avoid critics, do nothing; and to avoid haters, be nothing; but to avoid mediocrity, ignore them all. The larger the bricks your enemies throw at you, the larger the palace you are going to build. Matshona Dhliwayo runs WISDOM Inc. in Toronto, Canada. You can commune with him on this on related matters via email at: [email protected]