yesthattom | Someone asked me if a mutual-acquaintance annoys me.

You may have heard me say this before but I believe that everyone in the universe is a teacher and my assignment is to try to figure out what they are trying to teach me. When something upsets me, I pause and try to figure out what this teacher has brought. From her I learn discipline and to be very accurate in my speech.

For example, she's a stickler for not giving advice, but leading by example and letting other people decide if they are going to follow. It's a simple matter of beginning sentences with "What I'm going to do is..." instead of "I recommend that you..."; it's a much better way to do things, if you think about it (especially in a volunteer organization).

Another example would be use of the word "friend". She has a very high bar for who she will call "friend". For example, if she met someone that worked for Prudential she might say, "Oh! I know someone that works for Prudential" while I would say, "I have a friend at Prudential." She wouldn't call that person a friend unless they had a very deep bind. That's a more old-fashioned use of the word, but from this distinction I've learned that some people are more particular and measured about their word selection for their own reasons. I've had to learn that I shouldn't expect everyone to have such loose definitions like I do, or expect everyone I meet to be so free with their friendship.