Almost immediately after I posted Starting the Game Again, a friend, whom I have known since high school, sent me a message saying essentially that he doubts it's been nearly 15 years since I've impressed anyone. He said he understands that I'm talking about a deeper kind of relationship, but, he said, "don't discount the other times of your life. They mean more than you realize."
We make and break connections with people every day. New people are constantly coming into our life, and we have the choice of how to treat them. I'm definitely not saying that we need to treat each and every person in a manner as if we are madly in love with them, but at that moment of contact, we can choose to ignore them, be rude, or be pleasant. And sometimes, that moment sets the stage for a relationship that can be built upon between those people. So every moment we connect with someone new is a starting point. However, in the big picture of socialization, there really is no stopping and starting again.
We are all impressing people almost every moment of every day. I can remember walking through the grocery store in the days before I had kids, and seeing kids acting out or parents yelling needlessly at their children. And I can remember thinking, "That's not gonna be MY kid" or "I'm not gonna be THAT parent." Impressions. I can also remember going to a jazz fest one summer, also before I had kids. My husband and I stood behind a young couple, probably just a few years older than us, and their 2 adorable and well-behaved kids. The parents were dancing with the kids, swinging them around, twirling, singing with them, and all 4 of them were having a purely beautiful good time. I remember looking at my husband, and saying, "I want to be THOSE parents." After the concert, my husband tapped the other man on the shoulder, offered our compliments to his beautiful family and how much we enjoyed watching them enjoy themselves. They shook hands, and the man and woman both thanked us. Then we parted ways. Impressions.
People influence us all the time, and we, in turn, influence others. But we don't always realize that we're doing it, or what an impression we're making. So, while we do indeed meet new people and start new relationships with them, we never really stop impressing others.
Always take the high road. Always be your best. Always dress to impress. You never know who's watching, or what you may mean to them.
:) Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment