Welcome to Sara Wstbrook’s “My Voice Your Choice” with mindyourmind.ca - a Q&A for youth on life issues. Sara answers Q's from youth in a way that promotes life tools and that encourage them to make responsible choices, giving them the power to create an extraordinary life. Submit your question today! Learn more about Sara on her website and check out our interview with her here!

Q: What do I do if I am being disrespected by my friend on Facebook?

A:  This is a question I am asked often.

Circumstances in which we feel we are being disrespected are very upsetting.

When life presents us with a circumstance there are many different choices to make in how we choose to act and react. Looking at all your possible choices before making a Final Decision is so important.

Whenever I have a  Decision to make I always keep in mind what I want as my END RESULT (what I want to accomplish, what kind of person I want to be, how I want to treat others).

For me, My END RESULT is RESPECT for Myself and Others. An END RESULT is always something that is in your control. An END RESULT cannot be about someone else (example: I want my friend to accept me and apologize to me). How other people act is not in your control. What is in your control is your actions, reactions and beliefs. That is what I call our UPower.

Using my UPower Formula that I created helps me look beyond what I may be feeling in the moment. Making decisions out of my 'feelings' is not a reliable place to make choices  because feelings change from moment to moment.

Let's break down the circumstance that you are describing and figure out how to make a ‘good choice’ from this circumstance using my UPower Formula so that you can make a Final Decision out of what you want for yourself and others.

Circumstance: my friend disrespected me on Facebook.

Choices: write out all your possible choices around this circumstance. Write out both negative and positive choices. Be honest about all your possible choices.

END RESULT: write out your end result keeping in mind what you want to accomplish, how you want to see yourself and how you want to treat others.

My END RESULT is RESPECT for Myself and Others.

Final Decision: out of all the choices that you listed above, what choice would get you closest to your desired END RESULT?

Choose the choice and put it into action!

Take this UPower Formula and walk through the steps with all your difficult circumstances. This formula will help you to see more clearly the choices you have and which one you will need to make in order to help you get to your desired END RESULT.

Making Decisions with your END RESULT in mind has you 'live in the moment in a way that you will be proud of for moments to come!'

Until next time...

This has been 'my voice' but I respect this is your life, this is 'your choice'.

P.S. If you are faced with a circumstance where you need help, one of the best UPower choices you can make is to Reach Out to your parents/adults, teachers, principals, counsellors, friends or www.kidshelpphone.ca to get the support you deserve.

Keep reaching out until someone listens.