Day 12_Blind Spots 101

Hi there! We were just thinking about ways to outsmart drama.

This is what we came up with. Do you want to know what could be keeping you from having low-drama friendships, that is, assuming you want low-drama friends?

If a friend has been very close but suddenly stops reaching out - or if you aren't reaching out - then something is wrong.

Can you think of a friend who has been distancing himself or herself from you lately?

Do you have any idea why?

How comfortable are you about asking them talk to you in person to discuss the problem?

Think about how you may be contributing to the problem before you talk to them.

What quality could you be blind to that could be making an issue bigger than it has to be?

Some common blind spots for people are:
* Monopolizing conversations and not allowing the other person to speak
* Discussing private information with other people that makes your friend feel betrayed
* Controlling the friendship to the point where the person feels stifled
* Anger and acting out
* Risky behaviors
* Criticism
* Manipulation
* Bragging
* Self pity
* Uncommunicative
* Mistrusting
* Holding grudges or seeking revenge
* Drama queen or martyr

Yeah, there's a lot of them. We humans can get pretty creative with our bad selves. Do you recognize any of these behaviors in yourself? If so, list the one(s) that apply.

If not, does the list help you think of something that may be in the way? If so, what? If nothing registers with you, you may have a bigger blind spot than you realized, but we'll help you get at it if you'll let us.

Let's flip things around. What blind spots do you think your friend would list for themselves?

Let's start with something simple. This one we can all relate to.

How strongly do you agree that your friendship could improve if you were to balance out the talking so that both of you share time speaking and both of you try to understand what the other is saying?

Could your friendship get better if both of you work to understand how the other person may feel as they're talking things out?

We're going for compassion here. Compassionate understanding can break through mistrust, which is a common blind spot.

So...how much peace of mind could be added to your friendship if you tried to be compassionate during talks where your egos are on the line?

Going into your conversation, we have a few ideas about how to overcome what may be contributing to your broken friendship.

What if:
* You asked more clarifying questions
* Complemented the person about something genuine
* Offered advice only when you ask if they'd like to hear it
* Bite back critical remarks
* Offer feedback carefully, being sure to add encouraging words to balance out the things that may be hard for someone to hear
* Avoid being bossy, manipulative or demanding
* Don't sulk, shut down or play the 'injured party'

Do any of these resonate with you? If so, which ones?

If not, are there other behaviors that you could work to improve?

Is there a behavior from Step 8 that you think your friend may be having a problem with?

It won't help for you to get all up in their business about it. That will just put them on the defensive.

But you can bring up your own shortcomings and let the person know how you're going to change.

If you start things rolling, the other person, hopefully, will follow. If not on the first try, give it a couple more discussions a few days apart and see what happens.

How confident are you that you're identifying areas to improve your friendships and you can overcome those issues?

You've heard that 'future you' concept.

What would 'future you' say to 'younger you' about drama?

Thanks for hanging in there! This navitent isn't easy.

Enjoy the rest of your day!