by Rick Baker
On Apr 24, 2017
The Thinking Behind The Tweet
When we were young a lot of people started to say "No" to us. We were made to believe it was wrong to say and do certain things....many things. The rules of "No" versus "Yes" were inconsistent, depending on who was saying them and where all of us were when they were being said. Regardless, when we were instructed "No" we received the message we were doing something wrong...i.e., making a mistake. We heard "No" so many times when we were young we still ruminate about our mistakes, sometimes even the mistakes we made when we were young.
We should shake that off.
by Rick Baker
On Apr 18, 2017
The Thinking Behind The Tweet
The next time you feel inclined to complain about being too busy think of your ancestors.
Wonderful heritage - Evolution didn't let you down. Did it?
How about your descendants - what are you passing on to them?
Hopefully, you're not passing on the I'm-too-busy gene.
by Rick Baker
On Apr 10, 2017
As a child I was admonished to be respectful and take care not to hurt other people’s feelings.
In general, that’s OK advice. Regardless, I have found it fails as a general rule.
Yes, sometimes our honesty hurts other people. Children often make innocent comments that adults find inappropriate. For example, children notice and comment on differences in people’s appearance and that can be very embarrassing for adults, especially parents. So, with fear of hurting other people’s feelings in mind, early in life many of us learn to place our natural [accurate and innocent] thoughts on hold and keep them to ourselves. Later, as we become less child-like [and more adult-like] we learn to adjust our communication in ways that conceal our true thoughts and replace them with adult-acceptable messages.
Now, as this 21st Century continues to unfold, it seems feelings are reigning near supreme.
Are feelings going to undermine honesty?
Considering other people’s feelings:
Where should lines be drawn between honest expression of thought and suppression of expression?
Are we doing a good enough job teaching children they and other people have the ability to control their reactions to other people’s words? In fact, with some education and effort each of us can learn self-control, including control over our feelings…are we teaching that to our children?
Are we providing education that opens minds to thickening skin?