Unfortunately, the spirit of the thoroughly enjoyable hike was marred by this one particular person who insisted on waking up at the crack of dawn, packing up and moving on before some of the ladies had time to wipe the sleep out of their eyes. Listening to my sister-in-law, one became totally incensed at this woman who had, really, spoiled the entire hike for the other fifteen people.
I thought and thought about it. I thought of the poor woman's bad social skills and how she could learn to change them. After all, she could not have had such a great time, either, and in the end her behavior resulted in unpleasantness for everyone. I finally removed myself from the personal involvement, and began to think about the situation more professionally.
The above scenario is typical in all of our lives, and the resulting no-win solution all too common. But it really does not have to be. I mean, we all seem to spend our lives trying to change others to fit our ideas of how the world should be. Perhaps the energy could be far better spent in another way. Perhaps we need to spend more time accepting other people's differences and less time trying to change them. I mean, did all fifteen hikers have to have such a bad time?
No, not at all. One needs to realise that some people have their agendas, and if they do not fit in with our idea of the world, it does not necessarily mean that they are unhappy, or that we have the right to dictate to them how they are supposed to act. In addition, perhaps we have to forget about the mindset of "either...or". This is because, although there are two sides to a coin, they do both sit on one coin. Sometimes, one can have both the head and the tail. In the scenario above, the solution was not necessarily either we all pack up early and leave at the crack of dawn and hike until we drop or we all hike like women at tea party. Perhaps, the solution could have been: those who want to go far and fast, do it. However leave the rest of us, who want time to enjoy the scenery, chat, stop a lot, and do this our way, to do so.
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