I know my message is reaching a larger audience. My first hate email! OO-RAW!

Tolerance vs Prejudice

The Pareto principle (the 80-20 rule) at work again! Knowing that a certain percentage of people will never get you or your message helps keep you on target and focus on those things that really make a difference.

I know I have no obligation to publish negativity, yet I would like to take the opportunity to comment on judging based on appearance only.  What Your Body Says (and how to master the message) is about how to inspire and be a positive influence, not control the other person. Although to be fair to the Email Sender (ES for short), I don’t dwell on physical appearance in the book.

Labels and the judgments behind those labels are a sticky road to travel….  Where do we draw the line at dismissing those who look different than we expect? What if we had dismissed Einstein because he didn’t fit into how we thought he should look? Now, I’m not comparing myself to Einstein, yet he makes my point of not judging a book by its cover.

I know it is human nature to judge others based on first impressions. We may deny we are doing it, yet snap judgments remain. It is how we code in our memory—we compare and contrast the new with what we already know and make a judgment about someone or something based on our past experiences and expectations, which may or may not be relevant.  It takes effort to move beyond an initial snap judgment and see the value that each of us brings.

Yes, the many things that were judged in this email are mostly within my control, well, except maybe the girth of my arms, as I never thought those to be as “girthy” as the writer believes….

Yet, their disapproval does not change their circumstances in life, nor do they change others, nor do they change mine, yet time was wasted on such nonsense.

Now, to the real reason I wanted to comment publicly!   Think of all the gifts the world loses because we shrink and hide away when we are attacked.  If we let a wayward opinion ruin our day, or worse yet, make us run and hide for fear of more critics, think of all that would be lost.

Each one of us has gifts we are meant to bring to the world. When we step out into the cold cruel world there are going to be those few who criticize for any number of reasons. It is at these times the quote by Colin Powell, “Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity,” comes to mind.

If we are spending all our time pleasing everyone, we have no time to do what we are meant to do. Do not shy away from detractors. Embrace them. Ruffling feathers is a sign your message is getting to a larger audience. Forgo mediocrity! Courage, my friend, there are those who need you and your gifts. To Life! To Success!

Now, go have a great day whatever your adventure my friends.
Sharon

p.s. Dear ES: Wasting time and jumping too quickly to judgment based upon your own expectations only leads to lost possibilities that could have enriched your life. All the best to you.