Annoying & Ineffective
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 9:55AM I was watching a movie called Temple Grandin the other day and something in the film struck a chord with me.
Temple Grandin is autistic and has a Ph.D. in animal science. She is an amazing woman and I cannot recommend the movie enough. It’s on Netflix so add it to your queue.
In one scene Temple is at a party and someone asks her about an article she recently had published. She began talking about cattle ranches and how they are not designed the way they should be. Describing the faults and solutions she had made the people around her uncomfortable. Temple was upset because although she may be autistic, she is not dumb. She can see the looks people give her and the way they are not interested is what she has to say.
Her mother attempts to console her by saying, “people don’t want to hear about all those details,” and it got me wondering how many times I have done the same thing.
When someone mentions diabetes to me I get excited. I can hear my voice change and feel my energy level increase. I want to know what they know, who they know, and how I can help educate. I am ready to talk shop!
But what if they are not interested?
I once had a conversation with a few of my buddies when I first got my insulin pump. I was showing them, and bringing it up all the time. I was so excited that I couldn’t help myself. All the while I am assuming they are as excited as I am but it turned out, they weren’t. In fact, one on my friends said, “dude, we get it. It’s awesome.”
It made me feel like an idiot. Passionate is a word people use to describe yours truly but I hope annoying is not a word they use too.
My passion and need to spread diabetes awareness and education is sometimes overwhelmingly difficult to contain. I blog and tweet about it often. I update my Facebook status with diabetes reference often too. Trying desperately to reach out to a world that needs some educating. Reaching out for other diabetics that need to connect.
But when is too much? When do I go overboard? When do I become annoying and seemingly ineffective?
For now I am going to try and be more careful when I get into conversations about diabetes. It would do me well to listen a little more, pay more attention to who I am with, and really understand the desire they have to learn before I break out the Dexcom and a Power Point presentation.
Have you ever run into this sort of thing? How do you deal with it? Any advice?
Reader Comments (8)
LOL Our whole house does this for different things. Daniel does it about technology, but he is on the spectrum. I am like you and do it about diabetes education. Taylor does it about music. So we run into it all the time, not sure what the answer is other than sometimes passionate can be contagious. Even if they don't want to hear everything you say, maybe one thing you say in all of it makes a difference. Keep fighting the good fight, you are awesome just as you are. : )
Don't EVER let ANYBODY make you feel like what you have to contribute isn't worthwhile and effective. Your passion is a God-given gift. Don't let that fire go out because of someone else's take on what you have on your heart to share.
This blog is proof enough that you have good information -- and we in the DOC appreciate it so much.
I'm not yet a facebooker or tweeter, so I appreciate so much that you keep up with this blog. I've learned so much from you and from the friends you have introduced me to here.
You make a difference in this diabetic life.
My mom would kill me if I knew she was saying this but...she comes off as annoying. She butts in, educates people about mine and my sister's diabetes, my daughter's severe allergies, and many other subjects she knows something about. And she is passionate when she talks and can definitely be described as bossy and a bit outspoken but, regardless, after she has spoken people think about what she has said and the message stays with them and from what I see she is extremely popular. She is always the one people call for help or for questions or a listening ear. She is called on to vote on matters in meetings because she is so willing to talk and spread the word about things. My point...is that people may use the word annoying or ineffective but, my friend, I think those words are used lightly in a way to describe some of the side effects involved in learning something new from someone who is excited to tell about it. And people like my mom and yourself are well respected, well liked and popular because of how ready you are to speak up for others, knowing the importance of doing so, and doing so in a way that reaches people even if they're rolling their eyes at you on the outside.
Just keep doing what you're doing :) Maybe I should have just said that lol
george!! i love that movie!! i tried to get other d s to watch it and even posted about it!! i have watched it 3 times. what a fantastic person she was. i would have been a much better person if i could have been like her.
sigh.its a hard question man. been there and done that.i get the sense its very hard to tell anyone about how hard it really is because there i am for all appearances normal as they are. its a tough sell. now i have taken to boring my d friends to death!! lol a good normal friend of mine told me i was trying to hard.it was to much at once. he ended with "you take a shot and your on a diet whats the big deal?" ahhh yea right .thats it in a nutshell. i have since given up on trying unless i am asked.
i hope you find the right balance.
In a way...I started my blog so that only people that "wanted" more information or more of our "day-in-the-life" could click and learn about it. I was feeling the exact same way as you described above George.
I have this (insane) fear of people thinking I am annoying and talk about diabetes too much. I often find myself acting like I don't care at all when diabetes is brought up. Example: in class we were picking topics to do a project on and my teacher said 'jenny, do you want diabetes and pregnancy?' I wanted to say ohhh yes!!! But instead shrugged my shoulders and asked if my partner was ok with that, then asked if anyone else wanted it!! I never know how to act bc I don't want people to think it's all I have to talk about! Ugg
Don't be quiet! You're awesome and we need a cloning machine to make more people who are as passionate about diabetes as you are :) great post made me smile.
1) I love that Dean was here, AND that he has seen that movie
2) I will second the vote for the cloning machine and more G-Money Magic for the rest of the world
3) I ALSO agree with everyone about your passion being one of your many gifts.
I was recently being trained for a non-d related part time job, and the trainer and I had lunch. We had briefly talked about diabetes before lunch, and he had asked some question about it as we were sitting down to eat. In answering him I pulled out my pump and was bolusing for the meal, explaining how there was insulin in the pump, etc.
When I glanced at him he was not even remotely interested in what I was saying, and it struck me that not everyone in my life is as passionate or even remotely interested in diabetes. I guess I just got so used to my typical social circle being all diabetes related...