We, the humans are the most selfish specie God has created. We are the ones who expect a lot from others and believe in returning the least.
We demand love, affection, care and respect from all those people who are around us, whether they are our siblings, peers, far off relatives or our colleagues in office. There is always an urge inside humans to be loved and to be cared for.
Should I turn the table?
Do we need to think about those also, whom we have high expectations for us?
(You may take your time to think and your opinion will be welcomed).
Being human they also have high hopes for themselves from our side. Love, Care, Respect are two sided emotions, you can’t love someone who hates you or you can’t hate someone who loves you.
To be loved, first you have to give love, to get respect, first you have to give respect to others. To make others interested in you, first you have to show your interest in them.
Doing little things for people around you can make them feel special, can make them believe in you, trust you and even sharing their problems with you. For example, you can wish a friend a Happy Birthday, you can send a gift to your teacher, you can ask your siblings about their studies or career plan, you can call your uncle/aunt to query about their health. There is a huge list of small acts that can make others interested in you.
Dale Carnegie, author of the book “HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE” wrote in his book that how America’s 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt made his way in the hearts of people who were working in White House. What he used to do is to call all of them by their names. Roosevelt used to call the chef and even the gardener by their own names.
So, what he got in return? He succeeded in making people interested in him. He got the attention of even the commoner.
I would love to quote here the example of Greatest Social Worker of World, Abdul Sattar Edhi, who showed interest in people by helping them, by providing them food and shelter, and now people are showing great interest and enthusiasm in keeping his legacy alive, by giving donations to EdhiFoundation, even after his death.
It’s a commonly practiced behavior that people show more interest to those persons, who firstly show their interest in them. Be it Lady Diana Spencer (England), Mother Teresa(India), Dr. Ruth Pfau (Pakistan) or José Alberto(40th President of Uruguay, 2010–2015)
When I practiced this, “Being Interested, rather than Interesting” challenge in my life, i felt myself to be more contented than before.
Last day, I called a colleague of mine, Ainee, to ask her about her life and job. The response that I got was pretty encouraging to me, as she was quite satisfied talking with me and discussing some issues related to her study and career.
A while ago, I got a thanks giving voice message from Aineeabout last day, for listening to her and managing time for her.
Now I firmly believe that to make people genuinely interested in you, first you have to make them feel that you are genuinely interested in them and that’s the Art of Winning Hearts.
