It was only a couple of years ago that it really started dawning on me that so often in life we are forced to decide whether we desire sympathy or respect.
This is not to say that you cannot get both. What I mean is that if you desire sympathy, you will most likely miss out on respect.
Early in my marriage, I'd sometimes choose to desire sympathy. I'd overplay my ignorance concerning the use of a washing machine, for instance. The result was some sympathy. She did the wash for me. However, she also started viewing me as someone too dumb to work a washer.
You see the price of pursuing sympathy is not worth the sympathy.
I tried to explain this to my nephew recently when his whining would not relent. When we whine so much we lose out on respect for sure, and often sympathy too.
But what do I know?
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