A2: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

What would it take to transform your RE-lationship into a REAL-ationship.  Linguistically speaking, we just added an “a”, but that one little letter packs a punch.  It’s bigger and more influential than it looks.

So, what’s that “A” all about? Here’s a quick read on the second “A.”

This is what I refer to as the “own your $#!@” bucket.  Good, bad or indifferent, own it.  Acknowledgment is powerful in relationships with others and the same is true for your relationship with yourself. Think about the quintessential argument between spouses.  Husband makes wife mad.  Husband apologizes for making wife mad.  Wife wants to know if the husband knows what he did to make her mad.  Husband just wants to apologize for her being mad and move on with life.  She wants him to acknowledge the impact of his behavior.  She wants to hear, “I understand that when I said it didn’t matter if you came with me or not, that that hurt your feelings.  It wasn’t my intention at all, but I see how it was hurtful to you.”  He wants to say, “I’m sorry you’re mad.”  While this is a highly stereotypical example, it makes the point about what acknowledgment is. “I’m sorry you’re mad” is about other-person awareness.  “I’m sorry I made you mad” is a bit better.  But the example above, if ever spoken by a husband, demonstrates a level of self-awareness and acknowledgment that many wives would love to have.  It’s about speaking your self-awareness.  Acknowledgment is sharing your truth about you.  It demonstrates the vulnerability, which, by the way, is a sign of strength, not weakness, and brings self-awareness to life.

Awareness without acknowledgment is like peanut butter without jelly.  It’s ok, but it’s so much better when it meets its pair.

Quote to consider as you work to ACKNOWDEGE:

“The ostrich approach of burying your head in the sand, when confronting your areas of weakness becomes a self-set trigger for failure.” (Archibald Marwizi)

NEXT STEPS:

Secure your opportunity in our upcoming course that’s all about the A’s: http://bit.ly/2nwJM4n

Catch up on the first “A” A1: Awareness once