Friday, February 12, 2010

On Trying to Meet People Where They Are...

Meeting people where they are at is easier said than done most times, but it is often a worthwhile pursuit. HH is much better at doing this than I am. I think this is often because he takes more time to really listen than I do.

Last night when I was sharing with the ladies about my WLS journey, one lady asked me, "Just how did you get that big?" Because of her attentiveness, and overall niceness in all the other classes, I decided not to view the question as a personal attack, but rather a sincere question. As I told my story, I stopped and listened to hers. It turns out that she had never had a weight problem until five years ago, when she had a knee injury/replacement. It was only over the last five years that she had put on about fifty pounds. I could have passed judgement, but by taking time to learn about her, it was easy to see how weighing what I weigh seems impossible to her.

I remember the words my husband used one night during a conversation about some people who were close to us, "You seem to think that the world is out to get you, and they are not." This doesn't only apply to close friends, but overall, most people are not trying to be intentionally mean....and I need to learn to not take things (especially dealing with my weight loss) as such a personal attack.

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