Someone I work with on community projects\u2014I\u2019ll call her Sue\u2014has a tendency to forget to follow through on things.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s aggravating. It\u2019s so aggravating that sometimes I get fed up even before she lets me down. My thoughts of Sue are peppered with words like always <\/em>(messes up) and never <\/em>(is reliable). My actions are salted with sighs and rolled eyes and muffled groans.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago my 11-year-old, Maggie, told me about a podcast she\u2019d listened to about something called confirmation bias. \u201cThat\u2019s when you have an opinion about something, and then all you see is proof that what you believe is true,\u201d she explained. Seeing that I needed a bit more clarification she added, \u201cYou know, like when you think someone is lazy. You stop noticing what they do, and only see what they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n My thoughts turned uncomfortably to Sue. I wondered how much of my frustration with her is due to her failings, and how much is due to my eagle eye for seeing them. There have<\/em> been times when she did what she was supposed to.<\/p>\n Did I notice?<\/p>\n Did I give her credit?<\/p>\n Do I ever<\/em> focus on her strengths?<\/p>\n Do I offer positive reinforcement when she does what she\u2019s promised? <\/p>\n Perhaps the single most important thing I can do to improve my working relationship with Sue is to follow the advice of Paul, and remember to \u201cencourage one another and build each other up\u201d (1 Thessalonians 5:11). I need to develop the kind of confirmation bias where I habitually see what\u2019s good in Sue, so that both of us grow into the people God wants us to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Someone I work with on community projects\u2014I\u2019ll call her Sue\u2014has a tendency to forget to follow through on things. It\u2019s aggravating. It\u2019s so aggravating that sometimes I get fed up even before she lets me down. My thoughts of Sue are peppered with words like always (messes up) and never (is reliable). My actions are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":26859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[292,197,14],"ppma_author":[495],"class_list":["post-16331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotions-for-inspiration","tag-daily-guideposts-devotions","tag-motivational-stories","tag-spiritual-growth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n