Ariane’s Blog
A place to explore, embrace & make change happen
Do You Ever Feel Misunderstood?
Sure. I think we all do.
- We say something at work and a colleague never forgives us for it.
- We work 100 hours and then we don’t get rewarded or promoted or even noticed.
- We mean something sweet and our partner looks at us with contempt.
- You don’t call home and your mom thinks you've forgotten her.
The list continues.
Well, I certainly have had my fair share of that, not only starting with my accent, that some folks just can’t understand! I recently interviewed someone who has suffered an enormous amount from not really being seen and heard for who she is, Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. She was hated, judged, criticized, ridiculed by the UK press and I have to say, when I met her, I met a woman who is down-to-earth, kind, fun, incredibly smart, with a real sense of humor -- our sound proofing in our studio fell on her twice! and then we had to stop as I had a coughing fit. She took it with grace and a good laugh – and she did take my throat spray home, to share with Tony! (It’s good stuff -- Singers Saving Grace.)
So, I encourage you to listen to our interview, pick up a copy of her book, Speaking for Myself: My life from Liverpool to Downing Street, and think about whether it’s really worth fighting to be loved by everyone and be accepted.
Just stay true to who you are. None of us is alive just to get approval of other people.
!!Gosh, I can totally relate to this story. As a Mom to 24 yr old twin daughters and a husband who lives in his own little world sometimes I feel like I am the only one and going-"Hello?"-is anyone there?--especially now with this economic turmoil that I constantly worry about. And then I am supposed to be happy all the time, into whatever moods or whatever is happening to my family and such. Then if I get moody or a movie or such stirs me-well, mom is at it again---I feel like I don't belong here-true, we are not alive just to get approval from other people but what do you do when you feel like you have to be everyone's sounding board except for yourself?
That's a hard lesson to learn... so much in our society is based on getting approval from others. I certainly feel for women like Cherie Blair who may not have chosen the spotlight but find themselves there anyway.