Having "been there" before, I make sure to take a breath, not take what they said personally, and consider the source. More often than not, a misunderstanding is an opportunity to open up the lines of communication a bit further.
Recent instance: a certain person just became a trillionaire. Dan Rather wrote on his Substack about it, and being a person who observes people and patterns, and having observed more than a few patterns on this particular subject, made a comment something to the effect that the richer a person's life is, the less money and material wealth they desire.
I'm paraphrasing because I'm writing this on my phone, and if I go back to check my exact wording, I might lose this post, so bear with me here.
Anyway, someone made a comment that read like an attack. I asked for clarification, because I wanted to make sure that their comment was a response to my comment. I was a bit confused, because I could not believe that this person -- who does not know me at all -- read my comment, took offense, and decided to make a snap judgment about my beliefs.
So, after they confirmed that yes, they were indeed referring to my comment, I took another breath, asked them to please read my comment again in context. And instead of getting defensive and trying to explain myself, I decided to share something that needs so much more sharing than it has already had.
So I'm sharing again here.
Thank goodness for music.
Ox,
Mari
