Listen. Do something.

If you take a moment to look into the lives of people around you…whether you’re working, surfing the net, hanging out in a restaurant or café, or figuring out your place in life at college…you’ll find that everyone you’ve met has struggled with something at one time or another. They may even be struggling right now.

But if you’ve never listened to their story or watched it unfold, you will never know—or worse, never care—about it….And the odds of you making a meaningful impact in such lives is slim.

Who wants to live a life without any purpose or meaning whatsoever? Despite what people might say, the way they live their lives is the final word. People want to be acknowledged, to belong, to make a difference in this world, however small.

The one-on-one “convo” when it comes to touchy subjects

Have you ever tried to convince someone about something and find that he or she just wasn’t interested in hearing what you had to say? Even before you opened your mouth?

I’ve had this happen many a time with people on the internet (forums, fb, or comment areas), with fellow employees (and bosses), and, especially, with my parents.

When it comes to having one-on-one convos with people about touchy subjects, hackles tend to get raised and nasty, prickly quills come out. Touchy subjects include things like politics, philosophy, religion, and/or football teams if you live in the South, etc.  In these kinds of conversations, we need to tread carefully…unless we’re interested in becoming human pin-cushions.  

So how are we to go about communicating our opinions and beliefs without getting our feelings hurt (or hurting someone else’s)?

In this post, I’m going to share 3 things that have helped me get past barriers and avoid those dastardly porcupine quills.