If your friend calls you stupid, most probably you shrug it off or say something even more stupid depending on your mood and energy at that moment. However, your shoulders and a big heart cannot tolerate if some stranger calls you that especially when he cuts you off on a highway.
I think based on our relationship with the speaker we determine what kind of meaning and emotional weight words have. For instance, when relatives or family members say even something very trivial we get hurt and decide to abandon them but if the same is done by our partner, we think about how cute those words are. Or if it is by our brother or sister then in fact we take delight in those insensitive words.
So, what we want to take from words and to what extent should we get affected is based on our relationships with the talker.
Talking
Most of the talk people do is in an unconscious state. They rarely think over things and talk to you. Keeping this in mind saves you a lot of energy. If you ask questions about what they talked and said in the past hour then most people fail to accurately recall and respond. Hence feeling happy or sad about the stuff they uttered is pointless. Don’t take it personally and ramp up emotions.
Talking
Everybody is shy to start a conversation but everyone wants to talk. People find it awkward, embarrassing, and weird to initiate a chat. Hence they won’t make the first move and simply wait and expect that the other guy understands this. But the others too think alike and in the end, only silence is shared. Avoid this and by all means, you take the so-called initiative, the train/flight/bus journey for the rest of the time will be at least exciting and entertaining, if not enriching. And you might learn something about something. You never know where the wisdom that you need at that point in your life comes from.
Thy Vox 