Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

The reason for the long radio silence since the last podcast episode is that my laptop broke halfway through the book tour around New Zealand, Australia, and England. Now that it's been replaced, I can get back to recording new episodes more regularly.

I appreciate your patience and understanding. Thank you. more regularly asked audiences

when I regularly asked audiences when it would be difficult for them to listen to

what others have to say without taking anything personally.

Many said it would be tough to remember that whatever the other person says has nothing to do with

them when it's specifically about them, but even that reveals more about the person speaking than the one listening.

So why are we so sensitive?

If someone was to tell you that they don't like cilantro, coriander, you wouldn't take it personally, right?

But if they tell you that they don't like you, then one of two things usually happens. It either hurts a bit and maybe even it feels like rejection, or you realize it's nothing personal, you simply aren't everyone's cup of tea and you move on.

The ability to not take things personally is not a superpower that only a few people

naturally have while others don't. We can all gain confidence through practice.

Confidence is another word for trust, whether it's trust in yourself and others or in something bigger than you.

I'm not talking about cocky arrogance or self-importance. I'm talking about faith and

conviction because the absence of confidence is the presence of general

distrust cynicism and doubt, whether it's in yourself and in others, or in something bigger than you.

And since the way we do one thing is the way we do everything, if you go through life seeking

other people's approval, then you run the risk of thinking confidence is something you get from others rather than cultivating your own.

This not only creates a vicious cycle, it puts you in a co-dependent relationship with complete strangers

you impulsively distrust unless they like you.

As Latsu said, care what other people think of you and you will always be their prisoner.

So how do we get confidence if not from others?

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