Dueling Views

I had a really interesting and enlightening conversation with a woman today and as I relayed it to Steve at lunch, he wasn't at all enlightened. As a matter of fact, what was a mystery to me was not at all mysterious to him. Evidently he sees far more clearly than I do.

Here's the gist: there is a situation in which I see things very differently than this woman does. It's not a conflict or anything, just a circumstance. Where I don't see myself as valuable, needed, or fitting in, she saw me as extremely value added and not only fitting in but being a ring leader (so to speak).

As I tell this to Steve he told me that's about right. I had no idea what he meant so I said "what do you mean that's right?" And he said "Because it's the truth." Not ready to let it die I asked "Why am I always the liar?" He said "You're not lying, you're just deceived." AARRGGH!! So then I said "Why am I the one who is deceived and not her?" And his response is classic, "Because you're the one with self image problems. If there's a way that makes you feel bad about yourself, you'll take it." To that I retorted, "Well, with my last job I didn't have self image problems -- I knew I was an asset and added value to our division because DL (my former boss) told me so and acted it on it too."

As if the last line weren't enough of classic Steve, he said, "That's the problem -- you're letting others set your value and not God." With that the conversation ended - I had nothing else to add, retort, or even a way to annoy him (my specialty).

You know why? Because he's right.