“That’s Just the Way I Am… Really?!?

“That’s just the way I am….”

Have you known anyone who says, “That’s just the way I am ” when it comes to being late? Or when it comes to not communicating? Or when it comes to walking away from an argument? You get the point.

Well, unfortunately we’ve all met way too many people like that. Or perhaps we ourselves have made those same kinds of excuses. In actuality, these behaviors are not “birth defects”, but actual CHOICES we CHOOSE to make; choices our parents allowed us to get away with; choices we continue to make because we rarely suffered consequences when we were younger . But now that we are adults and more is expected of us, we tend to make excuses for these behaviors as if we have no ability to change.

But we DO have the ability to change. Here comes that Practice thing again. First, practice listening to yourself next time you make the lame excuse of “that’s just who I am”, and you’ll hear how silly and immature you sound. Then ask yourself, what different choices can I make to improve this behavior?
– A good example is to stop expecting a 30 minute drive to take 20, and leave earlier… (I bet you’re guilty; I know I am)

Ahh.. Expectations.. Now that’s a whole new topic… Tune in next week for some more “gems” about reducing stress. I promise it will be life changing.