The film director Richard Curtis once said, “If you make a film about a man kidnapping a women & chaining her to a radiator for 5 years – something that’s happened probably once in history – it’s called searingly realistic analysis of society. If I make a film like Love Actually, which is about people falling in love & there about a million people falling in love in Britain today, it’s called sentimental presentation of an unrealistic world.”
Global society at the moment is pretty restricted. Most are at home, rarely leaving other for essentials & exercise. Our human interaction is confined to our house, a nod as we pass a masked stranger and the TV.
Yes, the TV. The news. It’s all very sad & that sadness becomes our reality. It’s no wonder we are all feeling down, frustrated, apathetic & fatigued. It’s what we’re surrounded by.
What we don’t see or hear the thousands of stories of hope, of success, of triumph. We’re losing sense of reality.
Reality is a vaccine, yet news is it’s not fast enough or may not be safe. Reality is recovery, yet news is infection and death.
I’m not saying the news is wrong. I’m saying it’s lob sided.
The same can happen with our work colleagues. How many people do you work with that you have a negative perception of? How come? Ask yourself, is that something you’ve come to from a personal experience, or from someone else’s?
Is it possible that someone has wronged you? Absolutely. But how many of those people you’d rather not work with come from someone else’s perception?
Try this;
Always assume positive intent – people don’t go out of their way to be horrible on purpose
Give unconditionally – don’t expect anything in return
Be Curious – enquire, test, validate & respect people’s opinions
Be Compassionate – feel for people, be them for that moment
Be Realistic – show courage, trust and faith in the face of others negativity.
It’s hard not to be influenced by what you hear. But why not try listening to yourself?