NormsMilfordBlog

“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, but there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.”  (Dita Von Teese) – as seen on the Jack’s Winning Words blog.

Everyone wants to be liked. In fact I get messages everyday asking me to “Like” someone or something. Jack wrote about that social media phenomenon in his post that went along with this quote. He observed that young people in particular seem to crave the acceptance of “likes” on Facebook or other social media. “Likes” are even a measure of the acceptance of posts to blogs like this one and I must admit that it feels good to have some of my readers take the time to “Like” a specific post.

The gist of today’s quote is that it’s impossible to have everyone “Like” you for everything that you are or that you do, even if you behave like you are “the ripest, juiciest peach in the world.” Understanding that and accepting it will make life much easier and help you avoid getting down on yourself because someone doesn’t “Like” you, which is the pits. Some people are just natural contrarians who find the behavior of happy, friendly people to be offensive. They enjoy being grumpy and resist any amount of effort from you to cheer them up. For them, disliking you is as much a mark of your impact on them as a “Like” might be from someone else.

You could just write off this reaction and go about your merry, happy way; however, you might also accept this as a personal challenge. The challenge is to really take the time to understand what it is that is bothering this person so much that they express their pain or anger or frustrations with life by disliking you. Perhaps you have become, as some might put it, “too sweet, too cute or too syrupy” in your approach to others. What that says to them is that you are oblivious and insensitive to their needs or situation and too wrapped up in yourself to make the effort share in their current feelings or needs. To their way of thinking you’ve become the pit and not the peach that you think you are.

A lesson for us all out of those types of experiences is that “Likes” in life are to be earned and not just ask for or expected. The way that you earn a “like” from others is to be genuinely interested in them and sensitive to their needs and not just wrapped up in yourself. It’s OK to try to cheer them up or to share your happiness with them, so long and you first understand their situation and make an effort to earn their “like” through empathy to their needs and not just through the aura of your own happiness.

So, be a peach today, but be sensitive to the needs of others that you meet, so that you don’t come across as the pits to them.