Welcome and Introductions

     Let me introduce myself. My name is Cathleen. After a few decades working in the field of customer relations, of teaching in various forms, and of plying my craft with the written language, I have founded @CathleenElise.

My purpose here is to combine my experiences and extensive training in various areas of the act and art of effective communication & relationship development and share them in a special way so that we can all benefit from elevating our ability to communicate clearly in a way that builds positive, healthy relationships.

The Human Condition Today

Let’s face it, we can all use a little help when it comes to improving the relationships in our lives– be they with family and friends, co-workers, or people in our wider community. As our lives get more and more hectic and uncertain, it’s easy to rush through our days trying to get stuff done (because that’s what we are told is the measure of our worth).

As we rush ever-faster headlong into the fray of daily life, we have become rude, inconsiderate, uncompassionate, and focused solely on making it as quickly as possible to the next item on our To Do list so we can cross it off – a tangible sign of how important we are in the grand scheme of things.

An example of this happened just last week as I was grocery shopping for our Christmas festivities. The parking lot was, understandably, more crowded than usual as people rearranged their usual shopping schedules to make sure they had everything they needed for their own festivities. Sadly, at a time that is supposed to be filled with the spirit of brotherly love and compassion, the air was filled with racing engines and foul-mouthed responses to elderly shoppers just trying to make it across the crosswalk, people stealing parking spaces and gloating, slamming doors in the face of the person behind. All this horrible behavior excused in the name of completing a To Do list.

What’s So Important About the Human Condition?

That’s an easy answer. Think about it. If people in the world today are feeling taken advantage of, anger at how they are treated, and helpless at being able to change their circumstances it only makes sense that these feelings will increase and become intensified as they continue to be treated badly, continue to get angry at their treatment, and continue to be frustrated and helpless.

If our circumstances don’t change for the better, they change for the worse.

One of the most intriguing aspects of making the relationships in our lives better is that, even though it takes so little time and effort to accomplish, we see it as a tremendous burden (if we see it at all).

Think about your day yesterday and ask yourself these questions:

• How many times did I find myself thinking,
  • “Would it have killed you to XYZ?”
  • “Man! Just look where you’re going, for cryin’ out loud!”
  • “I’m sick of people not listening to me. Can’t this service rep get off his/her rear-end and give a damn! I just need a simple ABC.”
• How many times did I
  • Try to avoid someone because
    • Everyone thinks they’re weird
    • I haven’t gotten back to him/her and I don’t have an answer
    • They’re so annoying and try too hard
  • Not use good manners towards the people around me
    • I never bothered to check if someone was following me through the door, so I probably let the door slam on them
    • I scooted into the last empty parking spot and pretended not to see the person who was clearly waiting for it
    • I stared at the lady in the grocery aisle and didn’t respond when she said, “hello”.
  • Interrupt people when they were talking
• How many times did I complain about someone’s bad behavior then do the same thing to someone else?

Flip Side

Now, think about these same instances from the opposite side of the table. In other words, think about them from the point of view where you did hold the door for someone, or spoke to the person that everyone avoids, or didn’t steal the parking space from the person who had put in the time to wait for it.

Think about how you would feel if the service rep did give a damn and helped you without all the huffing and puffing. Think about how you would feel if someone apologized for bumping into you. Think about what a burden would be lifted from your life if someone smiled and was kind and did do XYZ because it wouldn’t have killed them.

Joining Forces to Change the Human Condition, Today

At @CathleenElise, I am here to help us change the world in a positive direction by changing the relationships in our lives for the better, one step at a time. So many of the interchanges that happen in our lives every minute of every day are so easy improve exponentially with just a fraction more thought or effort on our part.

That’s what our journey here at @CathleenElise is all about – learning what each step is, ways to take each step that fits our personalities and circumstances, and showing us what’s possible when we persevere on the path to more effective communication and healthier personal relationships.

Welcome to @CathleenElise. Welcome to a happier way of life.