Fortune Cookie Friday: Compromise

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Greetings, fellow fortune seekers! I trust this Friday has you feeling great about your week. If not, at least it’s the weekend, and tomorrow is always a new day!

Today, our fortunes have turned...to a new topic than the last few fortune cookie posts, that is!

Compromise is always wrong if it means sacrificing a principle. 

Wow. This cookie is taking no prisoners.

As usual (in case you’re new here), when I post a fortune cookie, I intuitively let its message guide me to say something that I think may help us disrupt negativity around us.

One of the reasons I started this blog is because of social media and its effects on our (un)happiness. I can’t tell you how much fighting I see on social media on a regular basis. That’s what comes to mind when I see this fortune, because it got me thinking about how people communicate about their differences.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

If you read this cookie at face value, it would seem that we should be unbending, but I think Victor Hugo, author of Les Misérables, had an interesting take on the concept of compromise in his Intellectual Autobiography, Ideas on Literature, Philosophy, and Religion:

 “Change your opinions, keep to your  principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.”

It basically says the same thing as today’s fortune, but in a way that gives a possible pathway for polite discourse.

Come to think of it: trees shed old leaves and grow new ones. So how can we put this concept of compromise and principles into place when we feel tempted to get into a rollicking good fight with someone on the internet?

Drop me a line with your thoughts on this topic, or let me know your interpretation of this fortune! After all, just because this is what came to my mind when I saw it, doesn’t mean it’s the only way to look at it!

Have a great week! 🐝

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Want to read Hugo or other books in e-book format? Amazon is having a sale on the paperwhite, and Kindle Unlimited is a great way to read copious amounts of books and magazines and listen to audiobooks for one low monthly cost. 

 ~positively b.e.e. is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Follow me there!~

Fortune Cookie Friday: Clarification

This post may contain affiliate links, by which I may be financially compensated. See Disclosures. 

Hello everyone! I hope you have had an amazing week!

I opened a new fortune cookie this week, and this is what it said: 

Owl-themed knitting done by me.

It's up to you to clarify.

Have you ever had a situation where it seemed like you were being misunderstood or that people were talking at cross-purposes? I know I have. Let me share a humorous example:

My husband and I have been together for 11 years, now, but we still occasionally get our signals crossed when it is time to go out together. For some reason, we don't manage to sync up, so we delay leaving the house. 

Let's say he's ready before I am, so he'll sit at the computer to do something while he waits. Then I'll finish getting ready, but see he's working on something, so I'll fold some laundry or do another chore while I wait for him. Meanwhile, he'll finish up what he was doing and observe that I'm folding laundry, so he'll start doing yet something else to pass the time until I'm ready. 

Do you see the major problem, here? Each of us was ready to go, but never actually communicated that to the other, so we just dragged it out! 🤣 

It's a crazy but cogent example of how we could have just clarified our intent. Saying "I am ready to leave now. Please let me know when you are ready," would have solved that problem easily, right?

There are other ways in which we can clarify, too. For example, if the words we are choosing are a) causing confusion or pain, or b) not being heard in the way that we intended, ~OR~ if we're on the receiving end of words that confuse or hurt us, let's make an effort to clarify. Communication is a two-way street, so if you're not sure what's being said, ask for clarification, and if you're not sure you were heard the way you'd intended, offer clarification. 

Sometimes, it's too late to do anything about it once words are spoken, and then you're stuck apologizing and explaining instead of having a productive interaction, so hopefully this can help avoid that whole mess to begin with. 

Finally, perhaps this fortune is advising us to seek clarity in all ways, right? Clarity of purpose; clarity of thought; clarity of intent; clarity of speech—if we set ourselves up with the right intent, have the thoughts clear in our minds, and know the purpose of what we're saying—THEN we speak—the better our chances of success, not just in communication, but in life. 

What are your thoughts about this? How else should we be clarifying? Let me know in the comments below! 👇

Hope you have a great weekend! 🐝

 ~positively b.e.e. is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Follow me there!~