Think you're better than me?

How do  you disconnect from a sense of inferiority and superiority?  Be honest with yourself a moment and consider how you behave when you are around people that you feel yourself to be inferior to (less accomplished, less intelligent, less compassionate, less...evolved?)  How do you behave differently?  Do you avoid them? Do you become silent? Do you become boastful and loud?  Do you judge them openly while secretly admiring them?  Do you try to serve them...brown nosing?

There is nothing particularly unusual about the thousands of ways we treat people we look up to.  Our parents, friends, teachers and mentors may or may not have been good models for us but we adopted what we learned from them anyway.  If possible find a good, trusted friend and share with them.

How did that feel?

Ready for the hard part?  No?!  OK...let's go!

How do you disconnect from a sense of superiority? How do you behave with people you see yourself as inferior to you? This may be painful to admit, but give it a try.  Do you judge those people as stupid, incompetent, useless, heartless...worse?  Do you cross your arms, tap your feet, roll your eyes, interrupt them, make no space for them to speak, do you call them names or do you walk away from them and disregard their calls, emails or comments?  Yikes!  Me too!

If possible try sharing this with an even more trusted friend or a coach who will keep your secret until it feels safe enough to share.

Thank you for having the courage to try this out.  If this topic triggers something you feel you need to work on, I can help you get a better understanding of how defenses and core motivations help you re-connect with others.