Dealing with DIFFERENCES

I write a weekly column LOOKING BACK... for the Senior Sampler, and have done so since April 2008-that's five + years, I don't get paid for these articles and have now written 263 of them. Most of them have been published in my books. Only twice in all those years have I gotten an irate CRITICISM from a reader. Most individuals who read my articles praise and thank me for my common sense point of view. Which I guess means they agree with or like my CONSERVATIVE VIEWPOINT.

How do you deal with other's DIFFERENCES or CRITICISMS? I try not to take it personally and have apologized to both irate readers if what I wrote offended them. The first irate reader was a man who had been a single parent to his children because of divorce. He had also written a book on the topic. He interpreted my article about SINGLE PARENTING as putting down dads. He had been the single parent and his former wife didn't share the responsibility of raising their children. He jumped to the conclusion that I was putting down dads who raise their own children. I wasn't.

The latest/second irate reader was a woman who is single and thought my article on Single, Never Married was a put down on those who chose not to marry and have a family. Both of these readers were  very angry at my words which leads me to believe they have prior anger issues about these topics that started before they read my words. Somehow my articles triggered negative feelings and hurt which they then spewed on me. That's okay, I know we all have losses and hurts in our lives to heal from and in fact that's the name of my latest book: DISCOVER YOUR VOICE AFTER DIVORCE: Writing Workbook for Healing and Recovery.

So, I understand that they are hurting and that we all have losses and issues in our lives to heal from to become better functioning individuals. It would be a BORING WORLD if we all thought the same. I guess two irate readers out of 5+ years of writing articles balances out with the many who compliment me on my opinions almost weekly when I meet them at church, the community center or while out shopping.