If You Don’t Have A Problem With It, They Won’t Either
I heard Dr. Kennedy Shultz give some great advice one day. A young man was explaining that he was moving to a new town and he was worried that his coworkers would have a problem with him being gay. Dr. Shultz said, “If you don’t have a problem with it, they won’t either.” Great advice!
We all have something that sets us apart, makes us feel different, and might make us worry how others will treat us. Our first task is to work on ourselves so that we accept these parts of who we are and hopefully even come to embrace them. Once we can be comfortable with our true selves, others will take their cues from us and do so also.
I recently did two wonderful webinars with a group of disabled students who are in college or graduate school. They have come to embrace their disabilities as part of who they are, and in fact one of the students who is deaf said that if he had the opportunity to regain his hearing, he would not do so. The way he moves through the world now is very comfortable to him and he’s being very successful exactly as he is.
These students explained they would be proactive and seek out a meeting with a professor before classes began to discuss what they needed. They would share their issue and explain how they needed to be accommodated so that they could thrive in the situation being discussed. There is no doubt that everyone wants them to participate fully and be successful, and they simply shared the information that was relevant to allow this to happen. Every time, they found acceptance and help. They did not have a problem with who they were, so no one else did either. SEE THIS WEBINAR
I encourage you to be your authentic self in every situation and work your hardest. Bring all that you have to offer, all of your passion and ambition, and the world will respond to THAT. If anyone does have a problem with who you are, they are simply showing you THEIR problem. If they miss out on all that you have to offer, that is their own failing. Learn to accept yourself and don’t keep that light under a bushel. Let it shine for all to see. The world will respond.
Tim Hinton
October 8, 2021
