Thursday, January 31, 2008

Vulnerable

Share with others how important they are to you.
Relationships are built on mutual appreciation, and there is no better way to show that appreciation than to tell someone how much you care.

Researchers at the University of Houston have studied the question of why we don't tell people how important they are to us. One area they studied was reaction to sad events like funerals.
One subject, Bill, lost a close family member recently. Some of Bill's friends sent sympathy cards, some sent flowers, some sent notes, some told him they were there for him. And some did nothing.
Why did some of his friends not say anything?
Perhaps they thought that telling others we care means being vulnerable. For these people, relationships may be more of a competition than a celebration, and competitions are premised on strength, power, and position.
Researchers caution that we don't win AT relationships, we win by HAVING relationships.

Research on unemployed adults has found that the length of unemployment was less important to a person's self-esteem than the amount of social support received from parents, family members, and friends.
[from the book The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People by David Niven]

Something to think about. How vulnerable are you?

Smile :)
Sarah "the vulnerable" Bickerstaff

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