Have you ever told a story about something big that has happened to you and a person listening will shyly say something like that happened to them too, but on a much smaller scale? They speak with the feeling their event wasn’t really worthy compared to yours. It was inconsequential, unimportant. It might have been an accident, or a home improvement project, or meeting a minor celebrity versus meeting a major one.
When that happens to me I always try to listen and reassure the person that what they went through, their ‘event’, was important, even if it was small in the grand scheme of things. Because after all, what event isn’t small in the grand scheme of things, no matter how large you think it is?
This is especially true when talking to teenagers and young people. Their events might not be as dramatic and big as yours, but they are that big to them! Treat their events as important and big, don’t denigrate them just because they aren’t on the scale you have experienced.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
“Every man’s affairs, however little, are important to himself.” – Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784, English author
>I feel the same way often. I don't know if it is not feeling I deserve credit for something that other people think deserves it, or if I just take things in stride more than some others. Not sure.
>For me, it's usually the other way around. Things that are "normal" for me seem like a big deal to some people…