Support is Easy

March 26, 2007

Have you ever seen something and thought to yourself… “wow… that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen”?  Have you ever heard a story that really got some people motivated, or irritated, or happy… and thought to yourself that it wasn’t a big deal?

One of the things that makes studying human beings interesting is the diversity of things that make our clocks tick.  In fact, for just about every hobby, interest, or idea that’s ever popped into your head - regardless of how bizarre it might have been - there’s probably someone out there that could share in your feelings about the subject.

But on the same token, there are as many or more subjects or ideas that we laugh at or think are wastes of time.  While the people around us indulge in a hobby, get excited/irritated about something, or otherwise express an interest in a subject that couldn’t excite us if we tried, we watch and do one of three things:

1. Ignore it
2. Support it
3. Express our lack of interest

So how do you decide which way you’re going to react?

As long as the thing that our friend or family member is in engaged in isn’t harmful, dangerous, or illegal, I think the best approach is a supportive one.  Why?  I’m glad you asked.

Ignoring the things that the people around us are into sends the same message as #3.  At the very least.  Worse, it could also send the message that you just don’t care about the person at all.  That may not be the intention.  But people don’t always read our actions the way we intend them.

Hobbies, interests, and things that make us feel are, generally speaking, good things.  They inspire us.  They drive us to excel.  They keep us thinking, interacting, and growing.  In short, the things that motivate us to feel are the things that make life worth living.

Assuming a supporting role with others keeps them interested… in something.  It doesn’t matter if you don’t see the point.  It doesn’t matter if you don’t care.  And it doesn’t matter if you don’t agree.

What matters is the effect those things have on the people that experience them.

Having supportive people around us keeps our drive to find value in life going.  To quote a funny television show, “life is not in the results… it’s in the details”.  If we loose interest in pursuing our strange hobbies and interests, it sets all of mankind back.  We need “the details”, no matter how trivial, to keep advancing as a species.

So the next time your best friend gets excited about a model airplane… get excited with them.  The next time your son or daughter wants to take up sumo wrestling… get excited with them.  And the next time your mom, dad, brother, or sister calls you to tell you about their new, seemingly strange hobby… listen.  And get excited with them.

After all… support is easy.  Rebuilding a beat-down outlook isn’t.

Posted in Advice, Human Nature

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