What are your rights worth?

I had one of those "AHA!" moments this morning where I had the option to continue on the same path or choose a new, higher one. A minor situation/conversation arose that irritated me.In the beginning, my response did magnifying the issue. I checked myself though. This wasn't a big deal. It won't matter tomorrow or next year. It only serves to give a negative turn to my thoughts and bring down my day. I am not giving up my two days off after a 60+ hour week to analyzing what essentially is meaningless crap. I could defend myself, but it is not worth the emotional and mental toll it will take as I analyze and carry the ick created by it. This makes me think of a book title Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...And It's All Small Stuff by Richard Carlson, PH. D.
**A side note on "rights" -Our view of our rights has become massively warped and twisted. I won't go further into my thoughts on rights in this post but will broach the topic at another tim.**
This situation delved much deeper into my thoughts than what was at hand. How many times do you find yourself analyzing, stewing, and persuing unhealthy thoughts and situations in the defense of your rights? Why do you care what people, who are petty and small-minded,  think of you in the end? Why can't you see that you don't need their approval and don't want their love? You are better than that. You deserve more than that.
I am the queen of seeking love and approval from others. The realization is starting to set in that they don't really matter. We all want someone to love us. We were designed that way. That doesn't mean that everyone is going to love us and want to be in a relationship with us. Not everyone has to like me! It is okay. I know that I am loyal, unique, kind, bold, and passionate. I know that I am worth knowing. I know that I am worth knowing. (I could go so much further with that thought process, but I am going to stop there since you get the point.)
We have a choice! (Does that thought excite you at all? It does me!) My emotional and mental health isn't worth allowing their opinions to matter that much to me. I choose not to allow them to affect my life that personally. I choose to turn away the emotional toil and destruction that comes with their presence. I release the resentment, anger, and hurt that comes with such people. I am not going to let my joy and focus deteriorate because of unnecessary drama. I am worth more than that!
It is so easy to get caught up in the mess of everyday life and personalities. We can allow negative thoughts and beliefs to take a foothold so easily when we choose to incorrectly focus our thoughts. So often, defending my rights isn't worth the cost they demand. I want to persue joy, peace, beauty, and...dare I say...happiness. They can keep their anguish and misery. I don't want it.
I wish everyone out there a amazing day! Don't let anyone else rob you of your joy! You are worth so much more. You are beauty personified, lightening bugs in a midnight blue sky. Blessings to you...

Related quotes:

"Love your enemy, it will scare the hell out of them." - Mark Twain

"Whosoever may torment you, harass you, confound you, or upset you, is a teacher. Not because they're wise, but because you seek to become so." - Mike Dooley

"What we actually learn, from any given set of circumstances, determines whether we become increasingly powerless or more powerful." - Blaine Lee

"Often we don't even realize who we're meant to be because we're so busy trying to live out someone else's ideas. But other people and their opinions hold no power in defining our destiny." - Oprah Winfrey

"What you focus on most you become, so engage your mind, and go for extraordinary abundance." - Chip Esajian

"One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered." - Michael J. Fox

"If fear is cultivated it will become stronger, if faith is cultivated it will achieve mastery." - John Paul Jones

"We are more than we imagine ourselves to be." - Veronica Chambers

 "We are here to learn, not to be punished." - Bob Adelman

 "Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure." - Oprah Winfrey

 "Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!" - George Bernard Shaw

 "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose." - Dr. Seuss

 "We will act consistently with our view of who we truly are, whether that view is accurate or not." - Tony Robbins

 "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 "It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about." - Dale Carnegie