Got this from Jon Acuff’s blog on my late 1 am browsing. A wonderful gem, agrees to my opinion that most of the time, people dislike and disagree on other’s work/dream/style/projects because of envy and of the inability to do what other people doing a better job than they can do. Clue: You’ll hear them often saying “Heck I can do better stuff than that” without the work to prove it. Thanks Jeremy Cowart for posting this.

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Love your dream too much to hate somebody else’s.

by Jon Acuff

“When ever someone attacks me and the books I write, I always ask them a simple question:

‘How did you write your book differently?’

Most of the time, this question diffuses the situation instantly. Why? Because people who hate me or my books usually haven’t written one. Experience breeds empathy. So anyone who’s gone through the difficult process of writing and publishing a book has empathy for other writers.

They might disagree with another author. They might critique or criticize a book. But very rarely will they hate on it. Because going through the process taught them empathy. So when someone’s hate for my books is at a 10, more often than not, I can assume they’re attacking me for something they never did themselves.

And there is a great sadness in that situation.

The greatest way to never fall in love with your own dream is to hate somebody else’s dream.

The greatest way to never chase your dream is to spend your time hating somebody else’s dream.

The greatest way to never move forward on your dream is to donate your creativity to hating somebody else’s dream.

Time is short. Creativity is not bottomless. Energy is finite. And the distraction of hate will murder your dream if you allow it to.

You don’t have to love everyone’s dream. You don’t have to be fake and sunshiney about every dream on the planet.

But, with every fiber of your being, fight the temptation to spend your extremely short life hating somebody else’s dream. Love your dream more than that.

And when someone hates on your dream, try your best not to react in anger. Instead, mourn what that person is losing. Because when someone hates on your dream, their own dream is being ignored. And that is a tragedy.”

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