“way too intense”… sound familiar?
I can be overbearing to my family (luckily for you, we’re not related).
For example, once I traveled home to visit my sister and parents, and Lacey (my sister) said to me, “Phil, it’s no fun when you come home because you are way too intense.”
I said, “What do you mean?”
She responded, “Phil, you are always pushing us to be better, and although there is a good part to that, it drains us. For example, Mom called me last week and said, “Lacey, let’s all get on a diet and lose weight, Phil’s coming to town!”
Ha! Can you believe that?
That is when it hit me… I don’t love them in an unconditional way. My love is coming across as conditional and fabricated and it exhausts them.
So with Easter weekend here, there is a chance you may see your family, or if you celebrate Passover, you just did. I figured I would take this moment and take a break from talking about credit.
So here is what I’m challenging myself to do this weekend with my family:
I’m going to start with my wife and stop complaining about the parts of the relationship that I’m frustrated with. I’m going to love her exactly the way she is and trust that our relationship is exactly where it is suppose to be.
I’m going to acknowledge my kids for how far they have come and not how far I expect them to be.
I’m going to give up judging other family members about what they “should be doing” or “should have done.”
I’m going to enter every conversation looking for the 1% that I can agree with, instead of the 99% that I disagree with.
I’m going to look at those that I’m frustrated with in a compassionate way and realize they are doing the best they can do at this moment.
Does any of this resonate with you? Are you up for doing this too?
Share your stories and insights with me and be an inspiration for all of us.
Philip
Click here to read Part II of this blog.
