I was having a discussion with Laura last night about me and how I react to people. It is more pronounced in groups, but the fact is that I keep myself distant from people. Laura told me that it comes across as arrogant. For my part I was complaining that people never take me seriously. They always seem to think that I am naive or inexperienced and that really grates on me because I think that I have something to offer (most of the time) in most situations.
I got thinking about that whole thing and the thought struck me that the two things might be related. I realized that, for whatever reason, I expect that people will not place any value on what I say. I expect them to disregard what I have to say and so I don’t speak up loudly – why waste my breath. Because I have preempted people the whole thing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Having figured that out, now I need to figure out how to correct it.