“What a horrible day. I wish it would stop raining”
So many people say this, but I rarely do. I don’t mind the rain, as long as I dress for the weather, and I have proper waterproofs for festivals.
I love living in England where we have a mix of weather. Sometimes it is hot, sometimes cold, windy, wet …
I love the way that changes in weather makes me feel alive and forces me to adapt. You have to wear the right clothes and then you can love the cold and the wet.
If you love the sun, then the wet and cold weather makes you appreciate summer.
If you prefer a cooler day, again different weather makes you happy when you get the climate that’s right for you.
How boring life would be if it was the exact weather you like each day. We need the differences to appreciate what we do like.
This can be relevant when we meet with and relate to people.
Some people are easy to get on with and we want to spend more time with. Others we find a bit of a bore. Some are challenging in their behaviour.
We can try and avoid people like this, or we can see them as a way of learning more about ourselves – how we adapt our communication style. Should we ignore them, or challenge them? Should we agree with them?
Adapting to different people helps us to learn more about ourselves and others in a very practical way.
We know people are different but it is only when we are relating to them close up that we appreciate that some people prefer to ‘tell it like it is’ and others are so careful not to offend, or perhaps don’t even know what they believe that they seem vague and woolly.
So next time you have to deal with a ‘challenging’ individual think of them as a lesson sent for you to learn from.
