I agree with the thoughts of the previous posters however, the part of this thread that screamed at me was where you wrote:
“usually I don’t care what other people think because I feel equal to or above them”
Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned in this whole scenario about feeling “above others”. Feeling above leaves you a longer distance to fall doesn’t it?
You put this leaders wife above you so her opinion knocked you down when in reality her opinion is just her opinion and just because she is the leader of the communities wife does not put her in a position above you. The leader himself is not above you.
I just think you might delve in to what it really means to feel above another person….I don’t believe in that concept but again, that is just MY opinion. Food for thought.