It's Not Always What You Hear, It's How You Hear It

My longtime friend Joel said something I know, something I live every day, but he said it differently. I frequently say, "When you blame others you give away your power. When you take responsibility, you have the power to make changes and move forward." Joel said, "That empowers me to take responsibility." I LOVE the way it feels to say, that empowers me, versus I give my power away. I'm posting that on the fridge, Mason's bathroom mirror, my bathroom mirror, my monitor...#BOOM Follow his page, The Language of Agreement on Facebook and be inspired.

This lends itself to the discussion Jen and I have about content, be it a book, a blog post, a podcast, or just information we come across in our friend's social media feeds. We have discussed that there really isn't new information, but there are people who have not discovered old information and like me earlier this week, those of us who hear something we know, but we receive it in a fresh new way because someone new is delivering it. Of course, the obvious example of people being able to hear or receive information is that between parents and children, especially teens! My teen decides if he will tune in and listen to me before I finish saying 5 words. I've learned that if I really need him to hear something or have important information, I ask someone he respects to talk with him. One of my favorite examples is when I have a conversation with my husband and I present him with an idea, let's say something to do with landscaping the backyard. He will yeah-yeah me and then go on to talk about something else. Fast forward to the next day or two and he will present my idea to me like it's his original idea!! WHAT?! I have to laugh, but when he does that I give him "the" look. My eyes get really big and my eyebrows go really high on my forehead and he immediately says,"What?" Is this a thing with other married couples or just us?

Do tell, I want to know about your experiences of times when you got an old message in a new way. Have a great week