This is my interpretation of a profound life lesson about giving, protecting your personal strength and being selfless—especially so from negative individuals who can drain your energy if permitted.

Buddha travelled for many days before coming to a tiny village to deliver a speech.

There was a young man standing in the road, who was the only one nearby who wasn’t thrilled to see the Buddha.

Buddha heard the young man yelling at him during his speech. Buddha ignored the situation and went on talking. The young man was even more enraged by this.

He walked directly in front of Buddha and continued to ridicule him. “You have no right to teach others. You’re stupid and you’re a fake!” shouted the young man.

The crowd began to react to this young man’s challenging behaviour. Buddha stopped the crowd from turning against the young man and said, “It is not always necessary to counter aggression by aggression.”

Rather, Buddha pivoted to face the young man and inquired, “To whom does the gift belong if you purchase it as a gift for someone and they reject it?”

The question startled the young man, who gave it some thinking before gruffly responding, “It would belong to me because I bought the gift.”

The Buddha said, “Correct. It’s the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I don’t feel insulted nor accept your hostility, the anger falls back on you, as it was initially yours to give. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you’ve done is hurt yourself.”

After realising this reasoning, the young man put his hands together and bowed to the Buddha gradually. It was an admission that this young man had gained an important life lesson that day.

The Buddha then said, “Be careful that what you say and do is for good, just as a mirror reflects an object and a still lake reflects the sky. For evil always brings back evil, and goodness always brings back goodness.”

THE LESSON: No matter what the situation, if you surrender yourself to anger; if you give your personal power to others; they will always take your life away from you.

Instead, be the mirror, the reflection of themselves, now the only person who truly gets infected by their negativity is them.

If you’re conscious enough to decide not to let it in, the only people who suffer are those who are upset and try to blame others for it. Anger hides sorrow and misery from others. Alternatively, you might set aside your ego and discover your personal strength in your higher self.

Never let anyone rob you of your personal power because it’s about THEM, not you. Instead of allowing others to inhibit your greatness or try to dis-empower you; rather than choosing to react, be the gift you give to the world and to them. Never underestimate the positive impact and influence you can have on others. That’s why the gift is you.