Years ago, we knew exactly who directed hate towards us, but because of the various types of global communication we have currently, most hate we receive is from strangers. The first thing we need to do is to not concentrate on the content of the hate. Make the hate generic. The second thing we need to do is to identify if there is a credible threat of harm. There are plenty of types of resources to do so including asking friends and family. In some cases, contacting someone in law enforcement. We alone cannot always identify a real threat from an empty one.
Identify if the hate directed towards you is personal, meaning they know you and you know them, and the hate is because of an interaction between you both. Ask yourself if you need to own the hate or did you do something where the hate from the other person is justified? Are you returning the hate?
If the hate is personal, you will have to make the effort to understand it and address it. Personal hate is looking to get resolved and that can be in a good or bad way. Ask yourself what compromise are you willing to make to resolve the cause, and to eliminate or diffuse the hate. If you make the efforts to resolve the hate and the efforts fail, you have the option to try things differently but don’t continue if you feel it is not working. Some people want to hate, and you can’t change that. It can make them hate even more. Letting time pass can help, but be cautious about resuming your efforts to resolve the situation. Only when you feel the other person is receptive should you try again. Unfortunately hate can be a driving force for some people. It’s the reason they wake up in the morning and you’re not going to be able to change that. I’m not under the belief that all problems can be solved but I do believe we can deal with them better. Putting distance physically and mentally between you and the hateful person is the best option unless you feel threatened. If that is the case the threat needs to be addressed professionally.
There has been and always will be hate. Much of it is because there is a misunderstanding, or someone feels threatened. You are not required to engage or defend yourself with a hateful person and there is a good amount of hate that can be ignored. Hate focused on you may in fact be a release for some people, and you just happen to be a convenient target. Unless it’s personal, you don’t need to figure it out.