Yesterday I heard some wonderful words of wisdom from my Aunt:

The people that get under your skin, or drive you crazy, are the ones that have the most to teach you.

And I’ve found out, through personal experience, that this is so true. When somebody really gets under my skin, I ask myself, WHY? And eventually, I find something hidden deep inside of me that has been bothering me for a long time. Once I deal with these repressed or buried issues, the people don’t bother me much anymore. And then that opens up a new or deeper issue within myself to deal with.

The universe keeps throwing the same issue at you until you learn from it. Then a new one comes for you to conquer. And each time you go through this cycle, you grow and have more peace within yourself.

For instance, in the past I was trying to get a family member to stop drinking. Alcoholism runs rampant through my family and this person had a big problem. I spent so much energy trying to help, until one day I realized that this situation was out of my control. I surrendered to what was. I cannot make a person stop drinking. This was a big step for me and I felt so much better, even with the thought that this person will probably die from their disease. Then soon after that, I confronted my own problem with alcoholism and have turned my life around.

So the next time somebody really bothers you, instead of feeding the fire, ask yourself “why do they bother me”, and “what are they trying to teach me?”