General Chat

Dear All

Hello

Hope you are okay and doing well.

A question for you!


Sometimes, you have to make decisions that may set you against the popular mood.

Is it better to be respected or popular?

Can you achieve both at the same time?


Take gentle care
Best wishes
Elizabeth, EOS
xx

Good question Elizabeth, I will have a ponder and come back later on :-) :-)

I hope that I always stay true to my convictions. If that makes me unpopular so be it.

True friends know I don't swear badly and certainly wouldn't just to be 'accepted'.

Neither will I be pressurised into giving money to animal charities rather than my preferred ones. Nor worry about others' sensibilities when discussing events in Gaza or Syria or the UAE. If you don't like my support of the victims then either unfriend me or don't raise the subject...lolol

You aren't being true to yourself and what you say can't be believed if being popular is most important. I think a lot is in how you explain your decisions and the words you use. The decisions may not be popular, but you may still come out of it respected.

I hate being accosted by charities I don't want to give to as well, so what I do now is smile politely and say ' not on this occasion, thank you'. They have no answer to that and it's far better than ignoring or being rude.

Work wise I sometimes made decisions on which I was challenged by other staff, I stuck to them because I knew it was a better way of doing something from experience. I wasn't popular until people realised it saved them precious time.

I won't change my opinions to be popular, but I might sometimes ( rarely lol) be tactful and avoid the topic if I know it's going to cause a row...eg I might try and avoid talking politics with certain relatives and friends.

I don't think you can always be both popular and respected, certainly not with everyone lol, nor would I want it that way :-D

Dear Elizabeth

I have recently been in the same position. I had to make a decision that I knew would be unpopular with members of my family. However I stuck to my guns, and my principles. I explained my feelings and left it at that. My family respect my decision, well most of them do. I think it's important to feel comfortable with what you need to do rather than go against your own true feelings.

Sometimes l just need to bite my tongue ;-)

A quote to bear in mind Elizabeth ...........


…popularity isn’t everything. In fact, it isn’t anything when you get right down to it. The majority is rarely right.
Karen Hancock

Polly.....I have to bite my tongue all the time.....I have 9 grandchildren and 9 greats and sometimes I just can't agree with all they do....as my late husband used to say...."let them get on with it"....but it's not always easy!

You can be principled and popular, but not in politics.

I try to always stick to my principles, and don't do or say anything that is against what I truly believe.

Doing that has made me unpopular at times .......... especially on GR :-D

However ............... I rarely debate politics "at the door", and take care what I say to certain relatives and friends. We are in the middle of an election campaign here, and luckily even the most surprising people are "anti-" the party that has been in power for 10 years ......... so most people are in agreement with what I say :-D

I have been know to use the little white lie in order not to hurt someone's feelings


so, yes, Elizabeth, I believe you can stick to your principles and be respected, especially if you explain where you are coming from.

I keep my council but .was being treated not very nice by a family member only trying to help They haven't spoke to me for 6 months .life is to short .& I wish know I had bit my Tongue :-)

Dear All

Hello


I read all the replies carefully.......very thoughtful and perceptive posts from you all.

Thank you very much.


Take gentle care
My very best wishes
Love Elizabeth, EOS
xx

I would always be true to myself and never lie or do something i did not agree with to be popular :-D

I've never been very popular; and I don't tend to worry about it.

"This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!"
- William Shakespeare