Wednesday, May 12, 2010

You want me to do WHAT?

If I give you a cupcake....

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(Just look at how absolutely scrumptious and delectable it is! You know you can hardly resist!)

...would you be so kind as to do a favor for me? I promise it really won't take that long.  In fact, I doubt it will take longer than one minute! 

Please, simply stick your head into this guillotine...

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Screeech! Lets grind this negotiation to a halt! You want me to do WHAT? 

Yes, just stick your head in the guillotine.  It won't be a big deal and it won't hurt at all.

You're kidding me, right? At that point, the cupcake would be worthless to me and it's not looking so appetizing anymore.

But I didn't yell at you and demand that you get into it.  I was actually very nice to you! I said it with a smile on my face.  In fact, I even said "please!" On top of all of that I'm GIVING YOU A CUPCAKE.

I don't care! No cupcake is worth going through that kind of torture.  You don't get it! IT'S MY LIFE THAT'S ON THE LINE HERE! DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS YOU'RE ASKING ME TO DO?!?!

Are you getting an ATTITUDE with me now? Well, hey, let's just forget the cupcake and all the niceties.  Now, I'm going to tell you, your head is going into that guillotine, or else!

How many misconceptions do we have about things on a regular basis? We think and we think.  We take our time to solve a problem in the best way possible and sometimes our solutions make so much sense to us that we cannot understand why they do not work!  Something clearly must be wrong with the other person because this makes total sense.

Aha! However, if the other person perceives what you are communicating in a way totally different than how you understand it, you could probably pile up prizes and rewards and still not come to a compromise.  Sometimes, the root of the problem is more than what you think it is.

How much worse do we make it when we don't even try to see it from their point of view?  This is something that is very hard to do and often takes a lot of time and thinking to understand.  But if my butter knife is somebody else's guillotine, I need to realize that about that person when talking about butter knives.

You perceptive people out there probably realize this blog is entirely symbolic.  I have done it to make a point.  Originally, the topic was going to be more concentrated on things pertaining to me.  Then, I decided to leave it this way because we all deal with this.  We come up with a sensible plan that looks GREAT....in our mind...