Welcome to Motivational Mondays!
First things first, what is Motivational Mondays?
Just like it sounds, to motivate, to empower, and to encourage you on the first day of a fresh week. I don't know about you but Mondays can be a drag for me, so sometimes words of encouragement and positivity are helpful to start my day off right.
Motivational Monday's topic is:
Meet People Where They Are At.
When I first heard about meeting people where they are at I didn’t understand it. I didn’t see how that was possible. But as I have been on this journey of self-discovery I have come to understand this concept on a whole new level.
When you are meeting someone where they are at, you are observing their values, their styles, their needs, their emotions, their feelings, and connecting with them in a way that works for them even if it is not where you are.
Meeting someone where they are is a difficult task especially if it involves helping others. There have been so many times where I have wanted others to show love, affection, grow, heal, learn, and so on but they weren’t able to do so.
I had a conversation with my best friend's mother one night. I was asking her for advice about a situation that I was in with one of my loved ones. I was telling her that I wanted the person to be there for me, show some initiative, apologize for hurting me, and show that they loved me without always trying to buy my affection. The advice that she gave me was tough to hear because it was not what I wanted to hear at first but with Hindsight Being 20/20 it was what I needed. First, she told me to meet them where they were. She said that there are some cases where a person cannot give us what they want because it was not given to them. People cannot give what they don’t have. The second thing that she told me to do was to Set Boundaries to Protect My Heart. She told me that if the person was toxic to tell them “Love you lots, but I got to let you go!”
I had to learn to meet people where they are at. I had to learn to observe how others communicated, handled issues, and showed love even if they didn’t match mine. Even if I am completely loving, positive, caring, honest, and understanding; urging or expecting someone to do something that they are not equipped or ready to do, may push them away. I had to be okay with accepting the fact that I was not going to get the attention, affection, love, apology, communication, or the initiative the way that I had imagined or envisioned. This was tough to accept because in my mind I wasn’t asking for much; it was the least they could do right?
I want to clarify this, Meeting people where they are does not mean to give in and accept complacency or to stop striving for greatness. At first, I thought that I would have to over compromise and allow them to get away with whatever they wanted and that is not true. It does mean taking the time to be open-minded and to see the person for who they are, without judgment. I challenge you within your life to meet someone where they are. Don’t be upset if they don’t meet your expectations, just work with them in their space.
Meeting people where they are at
looks something like this:
Let’s use the walker and the runner analogy and apply it to life. A walker is someone who plans to become a runner eventually; it is a stage of development without action. It is the stage of planning, brainstorming, and anticipating potential threats when we transition into the stage of a runner. A runner is someone who took what they learned, their plans, and ideas in the walker stage and is now backing it with an action.
If you began as a walker and are now gaining speed and momentum, then you are becoming a runner. In this time or period of transition, you may begin to notice that the pace of your inner circle is unchanging. You can meet them where they are by helping them progress to a certain extent. First by acknowledging their skills and mindset and then by showing them the techniques and the changes you made to get to where you are. They may not progress right away but eventually, the pace will increase. As people grow, their needs change. How we support them through their transition should as well.
Stay tuned for part 2 for our Weekly Topic Saturday for this week
GOLDEN ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hi Golden Family, please check out the website because we are having our 1st Annual Holiday Giveaway!! Winners will be announced on our A Golden Dream Instagram page
I wanted to give back for all the love and support that you all have given and shown to me and this blog. So please check out the 4 easy steps that one must take in order to enroll in the giveaway and partake in the winnings. Prizes will kick off every Sunday, starting on December 13th, 2020- January 3rd at 8:30 pm.
Trust me some of you are closer than you think to winning!
**I hope everyone has a safe and blessed week and I will see you all on Saturday for our Weekly Topic Saturdays**
~Just Breathe...A Golden Dream~
Amen.