Unstuck 2.1: Do Not Read This

15 09, 12 05:42 Filed under: Unstuck

One of the most popular ways to fail to influence another involves giving them something to read, especially if you intend it to be for their own good.
Attach it as a .pdf.
Post it to FaceBook.
Have Amazon send them a copy of the book.
I know, you want to share the confirming/enlightening/moving/life-changing experience you had when you read it, but you won’t. If they read it —I said IF —, they’ll read it as them, not you. They’ll have their own experience, not yours.
If they’re a partisan, they might appreciate the reinforcement of the beliefs you already share. If not, their perspective’s at best unlikely to change. More likely, they’ll interpret it as propaganda, and you’ll end up reinforcing just what you didn’t want. You’ll probably make ‘em angry, too. At you.

So what’s a mutha to do? I do so want to influence you. You’re literate, you read. Why shouldn’t I be able to change you through your eyes?

The stuckness comes from the sideways delivery, like that neighborhood newspaper you never ordered left in your driveway every week, just after they’ve picked up the weekly recycling. It’s unrequested clutter. Oh, and they don’t want you to change them. Can you get over that?

I know they seem to need to change, and they might, just not through their eye-holes. Not unless they feel moved to pick up the paper and discover their own transforming tidbit inside.

This form of stuckness can resolve itself with a simple act of omission. No unsolicited manuscripts. Let them do their own seeking in the generous belief that they might be capable of finding on their own. Try reading what they send to you and you might better understand why what you send to them doesn’t ever quite get received.

Note: This posting probably says nothing about the relative effectiveness of printed material Jehovah’s Witnesses leave tucked into your screen door.

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Unstuck 2.1: Do Not Read This

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