Beth's Ponderings
Have you ever been on the receiving end of a
very hard sales pitch? One where the
person tried to sell you something you didn’t want and they just wouldn’t quit,
even after you told them “no” a number of times. Or, maybe you did want it, but were so turned
off by their go-for-the-jugular style that you just walked away from it.
Have you ever been forced to believe a
certain way by someone employing scare tactics on you? They used fear and manipulation to get you to
buy into their vision, even if it was the total opposite of what you personally
believe.
Have you ever had someone just show up in
your life and tell you that the way you live, and what you do, is wrong and
they continued to harass and shame you over and over and over again until you
gave in and made a change just so they would leave you alone?
I’m sure we could all come up with one or
two examples, if not more. Even the
daily news highlights many examples.
So, if those methods turn people off, and
don’t work in the long run, why are they still used?
Part of it, I believe, is the way we are
trained in school, business, and other areas of our lives. We’re taught that we have to be forceful and
not give up until we “win” the person to our side (or make the sale, or make
them EXACTLY like us), because, we all know it’s a “dog eat dog” world out
there, and you have to eat before you are eaten.
Yet, if most of us were honest, we would
admit that those methods don’t work on us.
So, if we don’t respond positively to them, why on earth would we expect
others to?
We seem to have forgotten the Golden Rule - which
is so universal it appears in some form in virtually very culture on this
planet - treat others the way you want to be treated.
The goal isn’t to make everyone exactly like
us, yet if we stopped to consider how we would feel if someone said or did to
us whatever we are about to say or do to others, I’m sure we’d all get along
much better.
Beth
Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua24/home/March%202%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
