'We are all going to experience micro-moments of perceived rejection’ ~ I had to pause the podcast and write this quote down, it felt so important.
@brenebrown and @priyaparker discuss how we are all still navigating how to interact with each other this year after the all restrictions and lockdowns, and how are all adjusting differently. Whether on a literal level (someone not being ready to give you a hug) or a macro community level (maybe a group just don’t want to meet up in the same way they did before), we are all probably going to have situations that might be sticky and awkward.
In order to stay resilient and not take this personally, it might help to accept that we are all going to experience feelings of rejection - something that so many of us find deeply uncomfortable. We’re also probably going to do a little bit of rejecting ourselves. Are there areas of your life that you’ve graciously let go of because you don’t need them any more? These are all a form of rejection.
In the podcast discussion, these two amazing women suggest that the best way to approach these tricky moments is to shine a light and talk openly about them. Keeping feelings bottled up is likely to compound the confusion and discomfort of adjusting to the ‘new normal’ - so let’s talk about how we’re managing the changes.
This might be at work, at home, with friends, or in family groups, but the same idea applies. If we try and guess what people are thinking and feeling, and expect them to do the same for us, we're asking a lot and this is often where we run into trouble.
Stating where you're at and what you're comfortable with can allow everyone else to breathe a huge sigh of relief, and invite them to be comfortable sharing their feelings in the same way. This massively reduces the awkwardness and guesswork.
The episode is on the Unlocking Us podcast and is called ‘How we Return and Why It Matters’ and I completely recommend you have a listen! If you've had thoughts and conversations on this already, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments of our linked Instagram post...