Meeting Yourself

Some people find it easy to strike up a conversation with almost anyone they meet. Others find it hard to greet a passerby in the road! And yet others seem to attract people without any effort at all. And even once you've introduced yourself, and the usual topics for strangers such as the weather and where you might live are exhausted- what then? Does communication just break down? Why should this be the case? What happens to us that we suddenly find that someone potentially interesting or beautiful is causing us distress by mere silence?

OK, so maybe we just don't trust that we are interesting enough or similar enough to be engaged with. And what do you think that person is thinking at that time? The same thing that you are? Possible AND likely!

"Our thoughts are unseen hands shaping the people we meet. Whatever you truly think them to be, that's what they'll become for us." (Richard Cowper)

So what do you think of the person when you meet them?
Maybe some of these look familiar?
-"They look scared that I approached them"
-"They look suspicious of my intentions"
-"They look bored"
-"These are not people that I usually mix with"
-"I hope they don't think I'm weird"
And a whole host of other thoughts as well! Maybe subconsciously?!
"When two people meet there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him and each man as he really is." (William James)
And that, in my opinion, is the best reason to meet people. We ARE different. And sometimes it IS difficult. We come to a person with all our complexities and assumptions. But if we persist and explore it is truly amazing what we can find in another person!
Don't be afraid of rejection. By being afraid of it we are, in effect, rejecting a whole range of people by simply not giving them a chance to 'discover' us!
"Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people- your family, friends and coworkers and even strangers you meet along the way." (Barbara Bush)

"Hi, I'm Brett"