More like our four legged friends…

Have you ever noticed how your dog is always happy to see you.  Most of the time they meet you at the door with a silly grin on their face, rapidly wagging their tale, in pure excitement that you are home!   A dog gives you nothing but love.  They don’t judge you, make you feel unimportant, or criticize you at every turn.  Dogs are naturally friendly, and loving.  They always have a listening ear and most of all they just want your attention. 

 

I was thinking today, what would the world look like if we were all a little more like our four-legged friends when it comes to interacting with other people in our lives?  I’m not saying you have to go around licking people’s faces and wagging your tale.  🙂

Here’s what would happen:  When you walk into a room you smile (I’m talking about a show your pearly whites kinda smile) and say hello to the person you are walking up to.  You would make that person feel like you are genuinely excited to see them.  They would feel important that you took time to stop and say hello.  Don’t pass people by without saying a word, or offering a simple hello.  When you are talking to someone in conversation, don’t talk about yourself the entire time, be genuinely interested in other people.  People are longing for someone to care, I mean genuinely care about them.  It’s all about making people feel important, right?.  Be supportive, be kind.  Don’t be quick to offer criticism.  There are too many critical people in this world. Stand out from the negative, sarcastic crowd, and be supportive of people.  Make them feel like they can conquer the world.  Do you want people to like you? Of course, we all do. 

Six Ways To Make People Like You (Taken from the book, “How To Win Friends and Influence People.”

•  Become genuinely interested in other people.

• Smile.

• Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

• Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

• Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.

• Make the other person feel important-and do it sincerely.

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  Luke 6:31 (The Bible)

The next time you have an opportunity to interact with someone, practice these principles and see how much better your relationships become.  It’s really not that hard to make someone feel important.  You will make more friends by becoming genuinely interested in others, than you ever will by trying to get people to be interested in you!

A simple smile, and a genuine, “Hello, it’s so good to see you,” can make all the difference in your world today! 🙂

Challenge: See how many people you can make feel important today!  Leave a comment and let me know how it goes! 🙂