Often, it is not the judgments and words of others that really strike at our heart and make us feel unworthy and unloved. This quote from the early Buddhist canon explains that it is the thoughts we have about ourselves when we are feeling vulnerable, exhausted and sensitive. Just as we have a choice, when faced with a feast of what to eat, so we can choose from the ocean of thoughts that are racing through our minds at every moment.
To allow the first, critical one to be the thought we cling onto is to sabotage our own mental well-being, and it prevents peace. Rather, be on guard and start to become used to rejecting the thoughts that make us feel bad about ourselves and to instead, however difficult, choose to think that things happen for the best, that this is part of our stories as individuals and that these thoughts aren’t true — simply the result of how we feel right now.