How to Over Come: Rude Interruptions
It never goes over well putting your priorities over those of someone else.
People often want their needs put in the front of the line (read my blog now). They expect people to cater to them immediately and are ungrateful (leave a great comment and tell everyone how funny I am). They are cantankerous or belligerent of other people’s feelings, emotions or time (Do it now!!)
It’s unrealistic to think people want to stopwhat there doing and place someone else in the center of attention even if it’s someone you love. Most people are not sitting around waiting for a coworker or spouse to walk into their world and ask a question or to drop everything that they are doing in order to cater to their needs. Married couples do this too. “Honey, stop getting ready for your day and help me find my keys because after all my priorities are first.” Imagine how a statement like this would impact your relationship. We may not use a statement as profound as this, but the sentiment being given could be received as the same.
Interrupting or self-prioritizing
This involves not allowing people to finish sentences or walking away when someone is trying to explain something because hey, I got it. This could also be considered cutting someone off mid-sentence and society thinks it’s just plain rude. This type of behavior might be normal for a child or a teen (not my child) but not an adult.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.
How do we over come this?Awareness of behavior is key. It’s not going to kill us to stand there for a couple minutes smiling and trying to enjoy the presence of other people. The conversation will have a natural lull giving an opportunity to either change the topic or interject a new point of view without seeming to force the conversation into a direction that you want to control. When making a request start with this statement, “When you have the chance, could you help me_______________.” This will go a lot further than demanding.
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How to Tell Drama from Problems
Just about every teen will say
“I don’t care”.
There is not a lot of truth to the statement. Most teens do care, but they won’t tell their parents. It’s normal and part of the natural separation that occurs at that stage of development. For the most part, teens care about what their peers think more than any other group of people.
This is because they only have half a brain.
That is to say that their prefrontal lobe hasn’t developed to the point where they consistently put logic into the equation of behavior. Instead they live in the part of the brain which is called the limbic center.
This particular part of the brain is all about emotion. This is why parents see so much
drama, drama, drama.
How do parents tell if they’re being blown off by a teen or if there is a real problem?
Types of Problems
Bullying or Abuse
Has there been a change in the behavior regarding normal activities?
Such as, they don’t want to do the things that they normally would want to do. These activities can be as common as going to school, or hanging out where they normally do. There is usually a feeling of embarrassment to explain their reasons for hesitation. They might even think that they deserve the bullying or abuse. When a person is told something over and over by someone, they start to believe it.
Depression
During the hormone change of adolescents, depression can be normal. What the parent needs to look for is anything extreme.
That is to say anything lasting over a couple of weeks. This maybe a sign of depression. The key behavioral change to look for is withdrawal. Withdrawal is also normal during the teen years, so watch for withdrawal from
normal behavioral activities or hobbies that used to bring joy. There may also be a change in eating/sleeping behaviors and negative feelings about self-worth and life.
Substance Abuse
When the teens start to experiment with drugs and alcohol,
secret behavior
starts to manifest itself. They may not want to tell a parent where they’re going or with whom they are going. Disassociating themselves from old friends without a reason; developing new friends with totally different characteristics from the old ones. Money is always important to a teenager, but a teen with a substance problem abuse may be hesitant to tell a parent what they need money for.
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Tired of Finishing Last
Have you ever heard the sayings
“The good guys always win” or “nice guys finish last?”
These sayings have been around for generations. Most people probably haven’t given much thought behind the differences between being Nice or Good.
After all mom always said, “now y’all be nice.”
For the majority of my life I was a nice guy and yes, most of the time I felt like I finished last. I was last until I made the choice to apply 20% more effort into the plan I felt God had placed into my life. I admit I did not know what 100% percent of the plan was when I started implementing it into my life, but I knew I had to start doing something.
Let’s take a moment and look at the differences in personalities.
Nice people have a tendency to be indecisive, reserved, and agreeable even when it goes against their better judgment. I’m not saying that these things are all bad, but with these characteristics only, it’s easy to see why nice guys finish last.
Being good involves a lot of the same characteristics as being nice with about a 20% difference in boundaries, approach and planning.
In order to be a good person a plan needs to be conceived, thought out and put into action. You have to be willing to put yourself out there, to be rejected, fail and at times let the world slap you in the face.
It takes courage and boldness to be good.
It’s time to create a plan based on the calling that God has placed within your life.
By Ron Lee