Have you ever seen Despicable Me? When Gru gets an idea he says "light buuuuuulb". Well, I just had a light bulb moment.
One thing that I have recently noticed, and hated about myself is that I tend to throw myself into other people's conversation. For example, a friend is talking about her kid, I listen along for a bit. She talks about her kid having fun in the bath. So I quickly talk about Jordan and how funny he is with his crocodile toy. Or someone is talking about how they love their new haircut, and I butt in and talk about mine. I feel like I am annoying, and I hate it after the fact.
I realized, I am not trying to butt in to put the spotlight on me. I am just trying find how I fit into everything in life. How can i connect with these people? If we have something in common, maybe we can grow from that.
Ok now that I have this figured out, how can I communicate this, and how can I fix my approach so that I don't seem "all about me"?... kinda of like Kuzco. For all you Disney peeps, you know what I mean when I say the Kuzco Effect and not wanting to be a llama face!
In Disney's The Emperor's New Groove, Kuzco the emperor is very selfish and only cares about himself. Throughout the film he keeps the focus on himself and gets jealous when the story begins to side with Pacha, a villager. He often tries to steal back the spotlight. In the end he mends his ways and learns to care about others and open his heart.
But I am not like Kuzco, however I may be coming off like that in my approach to conversation... this is what I need to fix. It is not about me, I just want to fit in.
I DO THIS TOO.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever take a Strengths Finder test? My second strength in mine was "empathy"...which means that I can relate to whatever is going on with someone. I'm willing to bet you have that also. I always find a way to relate to someone and it's hard when the other person doesn't get that all I am trying to do is show them that I understand where they are coming from and sometimes those examples seem like proof for them. Because when you say "I understand" people usually stick their noses up and are all "no you don't". But maybe sometimes it's better to wait for them to say I don't understand and then go from there. I don't know. I haven't mastered this either.
It's a GREAT strength to have but finding the balance is hard! I still haven't found mine either. Depending on the person I just stop and don't say anything. Or sometimes when I do, later I think "why did I do that? they probably hate me now."
yes i did a strengths finder. i think my highest was empathy and compassion. i need to look at it again! you and i are a lot alike!!! except that you can write... i am not a writer at all. lol
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