No one should expect to be understood by everyone. When presenting expect a percentage in the audience to be completely lost and help at least 50% of the lost to understand then move on. The rest will catch up or not. Continue reading
Life is really about perception. There is no color, really. It’s how our eyes tell our brain to perceive the light reflecting off objects that we see. That’s why there can be disagreement on something that seems as true as the color of an object. Our brains translate what our eyes see and at times, the truth can be lost in translation. Continue reading
I blame volleyball for the fact I’m still single. That’s right. It’s all volleyball’s fault I sit at a table for one.
Okay, okay, so the real reason is my lack of desire to play the game. Ever since it was on the rotation in grade school’s PE class, I have had a strong dislike of playing the game. “Please don’t hit the ball to me,” I’d think to myself in a prayer-like chant. That continued through Jr. High and High School’s PE rotation as well. I never developed an appreciation for the game. And since it is the go-to fall back in single wards, I’d avoid it. Hence, singledom. Just not my thing. So imagine my surprise when my youngest niece develops a liking toward it. Enough liking to be on the High School’s volleyball team. That is the only reason I’ve been watching the sport lately. As I sat at her game recently, I thought of how the sport can relate to life. Continue reading
by W. Craig Zwick
This is definitely something I need to learn (and I’m a slow learner).
I recently read this blog post by my friend Stephanie. Two days later, I was embroiled in a family conflict. I could feel gray hairs popping out from my latest dye job from stress as I thought about Steph’s words. But it was stress I brought on myself.
If I would have communicated better early on, I may not have gotten an upset stomach. Nor would I have been tempted to play the blame game. Or label a certain someone as a bossy brat (even if it is apropos). And perhaps, I wouldn’t have been tempted to become a hermitess and disown certain extended family members (I admit, I muttered, “who needs family?”).
There is a finesse to good communication skills. A person, especially a woman, who takes charge, is quickly labeled with the negative connotation of being “bossy.” I know I’ve done it. Personally, I need to learn positive communication habits. Or in other words, how to say what I want and then hear what I may not want to hear. I believe poor communication habits have led to 90% of the stress in my life. And maybe even my premature gray hair (just kidding, that was genetic).
Perhaps, perfect communication skills will be a key in obtaining the utopian society we all strive for. Until then, in the words of John Mayer, I need to say what I need to say. If I don’t, I can’t blame other people for my stress.
