Be genuinely interested in others

Many of us make a mistake of being too focused on ourselves. Every thing in the world is about us. Whether we ask our friends to go out to have fun or to help others, there's always this part of self-interest involved. That however is no problem. Being human, that's always a part of us, the self-centered part, but what the problem is, is letting everyone know that whatever you do is merely for yourself, and you make it seem like they have nothing to benefit from the process.

Consider this conversation:

A to B: I want you to come to the gym and play basketball with me. We always lack players in that gym and the other time we had to play merely just passing the ball around. Because of that, C got a black eye from missing the ball.

How would you think B would reply? Would he even be interested to get a black eye or satisfy his friend? Note that no where in the converstaion mentioned benefits of playing the game with A. However extreme this may seem, generally, that's how we request things from others. Ask yourself how you would ask for a raise. Would you make sure that your boss is shown that giving you the raise would be mroe advantageous to him or is it merely begging him for it?

The next time we try something, let's see it in the other person's light. Let's see how we can do things for others and not merely ourselves. A person desperately wanting to get people to like him will have no better results than that of one who is genuinely interested in other people. Have you ever been shown genuine concern? How did it feel like? Did it make you want to be around that person more?

I've been trying to do all of these, and I find that they work for most part though not for all people I know. Some people just seem to be unapproachable no matter what I do. I have also thought it through. Instead of trying to get people who I don't like to like me, why not just focus my energy on those who are already my friends?

Consider a puppy. They say that a man's best friend is a dog. If you own a dog, who is the one who stands at the door waiting for you to come back and eagerly greets you? Who is the one who is genuinely happy just to see you? Who is the one who loves you and is nto going to sell you insurance or wants to get married with you?

A hen is breed for its eggs, a cow for its milk, and sheep for its wool. A dog however is the animal raised for its love. You see, the dog is genuinely interested in you. No one mistakes that for anything else and anyone who can accept a dog will love to be greeted by one.

Everyone loves a loyal dog, but does that dog go around pleasing everyone? It doesn't. It gives its love to its master and no one else. The dog which is innately better at making people like it than humans to humans can also seems to understand the fact that it is pointless to make everyone like it!

Therefore, here comes my experiement in forcussing on which ever friends I can mix with. I will be around people I feel comfortable with instead of trying to mix with everyone I know of. I'll see what the difference is in my life.