She's not jealous, she really just doesn't like you.

Sooooo. I have a rant, of sorts.

As bloggers, we open ourselves up to criticism. I think most of us will agree that it's one of the scariest parts about being a blogger. I still haven't liked my blog page on my personal Facebook page because I don't want anyone I know in real life to see it. A little ridiculous? Maybe. But the criticism can be scurrrrrry.

And the GOOD thing about being a blogger is the majority of the time, people are so sweet and uplifting and wonderful. I've met some of the kindest, encouraging women since I started blogging.

But what happens when someone DOESN'T like you?

I've had a blog for four years now, so I've dealt with my share of criticism. I've been told I'm ugly, too opinionated, and that I post too much. I've been told that I'm just a rich bitch (lol.) and that I'm so optimistic because "my life is easy and I don't have any problems." (DOUBLE LOL.) And my favorite anonymous message ever was when someone told me that "my fiancé was probably glad he lived four hours away from me so he didn't have to deal with me every day because I am the worst." Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

And I'm sure you've dealt with the same things, especially once your blog reaches a certain size. And it's hard to know what to do when someone criticizes you. Do you explain yourself further? Ignore it? Send a sarcastic comment back? There are times where each of those responses could be appropriate.

But let me tell you what you SHOULDN'T do:

Please, please please, for the love of all things holy, stop using this "you're just jealous!" thing.

Because let me tell you something you might not want to hear: some people aren't jealous of you, they really just don't like you.

I know, I know. I was as surprised as you are to learn this news.

It seems like every time someone reads a negative comment about themselves, their first reaction is to say something along the lines of "you're just jealous!" or "you're just a hater!"

Yep, you know me. Always sippin' the Haterade.

Like I've said before: there are 2.5 BILLION people that use the internet. Statistically speaking, there are DEFINITELY going to be people that don't like you. And that's okay! Really, it is. Because are you friends with every single person you've ever met? Of course not. Because there are always going to be people you don't "click" with. Get over it. Sometimes people don't like you, or they don't like what you write. And I know no one ever wants to think about this, but sometimes you might write something that really IS offensive. At that point, it's DEFINITELY safe to assume that it's not everyone else. It's you.

And REALLY, not to get into a feminist rant here, but when you say that another woman is just jealous of you, you're reducing ALL of us to dummies who can't think past some surface level bullshit. And I mean, come on. We're ALL better (and smarter) than that. So do all your girlfriends a favor and remove it from your vocabulary.

(I'm not even going to get into the people who respond to criticism with "you're probably just a fat loser with no friends who sits on her computer all day!" because shaming someone for their looks is WAY more mature and WAY better than whatever they said to you first. Except not at all.)

So to recap: everyone is NOT jealous. People don't like you sometimes. Get over it. Got it? Good.