Do you ever wonder WHY we are so critical of one another? Why are we so quick to judge without really taking the time to get to know the person. I’ve been guilty of this more often than I’d like to admit. I get so mad when it happens to me, but don’t even realize how OFTEN I do this myself. If we all just took a little more time to get to know each other, I bet we’d learn some pretty amazing things.
Last weekend I had yet another opportunity to get together with a group of fellow bloggers. It was the same group of girls I got together with last month, plus a few more! We ended up getting to know one another way more than we anticipated. We started playing a little game where one person asked a question, then we went around the room allowing each one of us the opportunity to answer. Some of the questions included, “What is your greatest accomplishment”? and “What is your biggest regret”? It was so much fun getting to know each one of these ladies, and realized I hadn’t been doing enough of this kind of stuff… taking the time to REALLY get to know someone. I think sometimes we all get so caught up in ourselves and forget to look outward, truly noticing others and expressing genuine interest and concern in someone other than ourselves. We’re all so technologically advanced these days, which means our eyes are constantly glued to our phones checking emails, texting, and updating our own “status updates”, instead of taking a look around, seeing people for who they really are and not what we THINK they are.
We all desire true friendships, connecting with others, feeling liked, appreciated, admired, important. It’s nice when you have the opportunity to meet people who genuinely and sincerely want to be your friend. I’ve mentioned before that growing up we moved so much that I barely had the chance to build long lasting friendships with anyone. I remember wanting friends more than anything, and would cry to my dad about it. I’ll never forget his wise words, “If you want a friend, you’ve got to be a friend”. This was such great advice for me. It really pushed me to stop whining and DO something about it. It forced me to be more outgoing, and try harder to be the friend I so desperately wanted.
I really love the book How To Win Friends and Influence People
- Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
- Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.
- Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
- The world is full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking. So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage. He has little competition.
- You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
- If we want to make friends, let’s put ourselves out to do things for other people – things that require time, energy, unselfishness and thoughtfulness.
