Thursday 7 March 2013

Being relatable, how does one do it?

Being relateable, how does one do that? How does a person relate there experiences without coming off too much like a know it all or like they have experienced it all?

This is something that has been a real challenge for me, a real struggle at times. How can I properly and sensitively relate to others with my experiences?
My experiences, some of them of the traumatic variety have left me somewhat over sensitive to others plights. If someone is experiencing death or sickness, I have a hyper sensitivity to the situation. Part of it is likely that it brings back a lot of emotions for me.

I remember, about a year after my wife had contracted flesh eating disease, an area women contracted this terrible illness and passed. I could relate to some of what they had experienced. It brought up so many emotions and so it is when people I know deal with tuff stuff. I feel like, while I don't know what they are going through, I can relate to a degree.

Still the question persists, how does one do that properly. No one wants to hear from someone who has been through that, and this and oh ya that too. So while God has allowed me to experience a variety of challenging things, how can I relate to others? How can I be better at empathising, at listening, at not sounding like I think I have all the answers?

Its been hard and is a work in progress. Its not easy to simply show love in a quiet and sensitive way. Its not easy not to play fix it man or women. Its not easy to simply love as Jesus did.

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