Sitting down to write this blog today I started to shake my head and begin to wonder if I am going to be able to make it through til next January. It's exhausting writing this blog when I write it in the morning and sometimes I have wondered if its really worth it. And then it came to me...today's topic/task. It's attitude.
Our attitude is what causes some of our issues. If we live with an attitude that we are the everything (or as a friend put it, "we are the sh**") then we are bound and determined to negatively affect some relationships. Maybe we don't care about those relationships, whether they be personal or professional, but our attitude about them affects the environment then that we work and play in.
I was reminded yesterday when I was critiquing Jeff about something and he got defensive. I sat thinking...."Wild attitude, dude!?!?" So I said to him, "I don't know why you have such attitude today!" I realized later in the day that my attitude about whatever it was that I had brought to his attention earlier was what sparked the attitude that he had back. Sometimes we can't really fight fire with fire. Sometimes sugar actually helps put it out!
How in my life has my attitude affected someone else? I'm not saying that I need to change who I am or who I am becoming to fit into someone else's mold of who I am. Rather, the point is that I need to be more attentive to how the attitude I display causes the attitude from others. It happens to all of us, regardless of us realizing it or not.
Is my intention with my interaction and attitude towards something or someone how I intend it to be? Am I prepared for the response back or the effect of what I say or do or how I act? Am I surprised when the response is not how I anticipated it to be? These are questions I am going to start asking myself more today. It doesn't mean that I have to like the person who I display a negative attitude to. I just have to be prepared to deal with the consequences of my attitude and the actions caused by it.
I'd say that if you just be yourself, you don't have to worry about your attitude with others. If you put on airs, then you might have a positive or negative effect on a person. Being you is the safest, and probably in most cases, being honest with another person without hurting them is the best approach. Then again, you don't want to lie to them, but maybe hold back a bit, and sugar coat the rest.
ReplyDeleteThis is hard to reply to. I sometimes bite a bit with words. I am there to hug if it is needed. No sugar coating here. I consider it a waste of time and energy of both parties. Me for holding back and them for trying to read between lines.
ReplyDelete