This morning, as I was reading through the thread, I was struck by a line in one of Phoenix's posts about how hard it is to ignore the hurtful words/attitudes of those who are toxic to us.

What I've been thinking since then, is that if I could influence others' words to me to be more positive, I know I would feel better about myself. I don't mean this in a polyanna-ish way. I mean, if I'm stuck with some of these people, and they are the only people in my life (and there are precious few), then I need to change what they say to me. I mean I need it for me. So, I am going to be thinking about that...about how to do that...

I have a chat later today, in three or four hours, and I may switch to that topic--I was thinking of something else, but it was less focused.

What do you think--either about the idea itself, or about it as a topic for the chat?