Choose your battles carefully

There’s that old saying that reminds us that if we stop to respond to every barking dog, we’ll never get to the end of the street..

The lack of interest, lack of respect, or lack of appreciation that you receive in response to your efforts towards what should be joint goals is good reason to get into arguments or debates with those around you about what you need from them.

We’re human, so there will be times when we all need a reminder about what we may be forgetting or neglecting, so those tough discussions are sometimes beneficial when you express how you’re affected by what others are doing or not doing.

However, find a balance between investing in relationships that are mutually respectful, versus recognising when you’re just seen as background noise because what is important to you is not important to them.

This is true in every role that we may play, including parenting, professional roles, partnerships in business, and especially with our partners in life.

The easiest thing to do is talk a big talk about what we stand for.

Recognising who repeatedly doesn’t live by their words is a good starting point to reconsider how much of your time and effort is justified in trying to get through to them.

While we must always keep working at creating understanding because that is the root of the love and harmony that we want in life, we must also be able to know the difference between a misunderstanding and a lack of interest.

It’s the lack of interest in the other person to live up to the shared values that you may have with them that becomes important to recognise when you should invest in building understanding, versus when you are wasting your time trying to get through to someone who lacks interest in what’s important to you.

This is where mindfulness is more important than commitment, or else you’ll be fully committed to a dead end while convincing yourself that you’re striving towards a shared goal.

#hope #expectation #sincerity #selfworth #selfawareness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #lifecoaching #zaidismail