The thing about noticing things about other people is, the more we notice them, the more we notice them! What I mean by that is, if you notice someone doing something that you find irritating or annoying, the more you pay attention to it a) the more you’ll find they do it and b) the more you’ll begin to notice other things that you find irritating. It’s the same as anything in life really – the more you put your attention on something, the more likely you are to notice more of it. I am finding that at the moment with silver cars – they seem to me to be bloomin’ everywhere!

Noticing things about people is not a bad thing. Indeed, the more we notice things the more we can learn to appreciate them and what they bring to us. We can choose to react to what we’re noticing in a negative way, or we can choose to accept and appreciate the contrast of life. If we react in a negative way, we’ll just notice more and more how irritating that person’s voice is (!), we’ll probably not be paying attention to what it is they’re saying, and we may end up so wound up that we’ll end up snapping at other people.

Remember, it’s not our place to make other people change just so that we can be happy. Better to find other things about them to appreciate. Pay attention to what they’re saying and the words they’re using, rather than the tone of voice. Appreciate that they are different to you which means that you can experience contrast . Appreciate the fact that you’ve noticed you’re finding their voice annoying and so can learn tolerance and acceptance. Imagine if someone tried to force you to change your speaking voice just because they found it irritating! What would you say to them?

This is not to say that it’s not OK to ask someone to speak quieter or louder – I know I find myself asking Bill to speak more quietly at times because it can hurt my ears. However, his loud voice is not who he is. He is more than that – so much more. As is the person whose voice (or whatever else) you are finding irritating.

Try to see past differences in other people that you initially find challenging and either learn to appreciate them, or look for other things to appreciate. If we were all the same there would be no learning from interacting with each other and life would also become very dull indeed. The reason Source/The All That Is/God extended itself into, seemingly, separate “souls” was so that it could experience contrast and difference, and so learn from it, ultimately expanding and growing. Maybe think about someone you’re interacting with at the moment whom you’re finding “difficult” and challenge yourself to find other things to appreciate about them. I’m sure you’ll find your relationship will improve ☺