There are so many things you don’t like. Bands you think are overrated. Shows that just didn’t do it for you. Actors who, for some reason, just bother you. People who you’d rather not see.

Sometimes these dislikes are personal, but oftentimes it isn’t. The feeling isn’t even particularly strong, it’s just there. Some things are not for everyone, and this one is not for you.

So why is it that we have so much trouble accepting that we are that thing for some people too? In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius talks about how it’s easier to deal with stuff when you understand the percentages–that a certain number of certain types of people exist, for example, and you’re bound to bump into them eventually. Do you really think it’s possible for everyone to like you?

We didn’t do anything wrong. This isn’t bigotry or hatred. It’s just a mismatch. That actor whose face you don’t like…you have that same face for someone else. That person you roll your eyes at, you’re them to someone else. That show you change the channel to avoid, someone is doing that to your work right now.

You’ll drive yourself crazy if you take this personally. You won’t have any energy left for yourself (or the people who do like you) if you try to convert everyone else. You must accept that we’re not for everyone and we never will be. What matters is that we like ourselves, that we stand for what we like, and we leave those who this bothers alone.