Clear communicaiton is a key factor in resiliency. Try out these Refreshingly Responsible Replies:
When others:
- Ask, “How is life treating you?” consider saying “I am treating life well.”
- Ask you to do something to which you want to say “no” but you find that word hard to verbalize, consider saying, “It’s not good for me to say ‘yes.’”
- Ask “What should I do about . . .?” consider asking them, “How can I help you make your own wise decision?”
- Ask, “Are you still dating that jerk?” (or other invasive, judgmental or personal questions), consider asking, “Why are you so interested?”
- Say, “Sorry,” when they enter the elevator with you, consider saying, “I’m fine. No injury.”
- Say, “You should clean up your dump of a house (or whatever),” consider saying, “I hear you want me to clean up my dump of a house. Interesting desire of yours.”
- Say “Just kidding” after doing something that has triggered you into feeling hurt, consider saying, “You say you are just kidding but I feel hurt.”
- Say, “I’m so sorry, I misspelled your name (or whatever),” consider saying, “No problem.”
- Say, “Dear me, he broke down,” consider saying, “Do you mean he had a good cry?”
- Are familiar to you but their names escape you, consider saying, “I’m Patricia (just in case they forgot yours) with a memory blank. Please remind me of your name.”
- Criticize you, consider saying, “Thank you for sharing your opinion.” Then you are free to decide if you agree or not.
- Offer you a compliment say, “Thank you.” Don’t trash their verbal gift.
What replies could you add to the list?
