Thursday, April 4, 2013

CAN YOU SEE THE FOREST?

Remember that phrase:  “You can’t see the forest for the trees”? 

In our dealings with others – especially in intimate relationships – we are most successful if we can manage to be aware of both trees and forest – the micro and macro of our interactions…                                           
  
Check out this story:
Cindy was helping her husband with a very time-consuming project.  She was happy to be there for him and was loving the results of her efforts. 

All she wanted was a little appreciation…

You guessed it – no appreciation.  Just anger and constant annoyance coming from him… 

Hard for her to understand since she was happily focused on the beautiful trees (the results of her efforts)…

The 'forest' in this case was their personalities and the relationship between them. 

In human interactions the forest - the Big Picture - is made up of who we are, how we interact and the beliefs of each person in a particular situation.

It’s really easy to feel shocked and wounded – and unappreciated - if we lose sight of that Big Picture…

Remembering that most human interactions have these two components – micro and macro – is really useful!

What do ya think?

Can you see the forest and the trees?



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