I’ve been thinking lately about an interview I recently saw where a prominent person stated that although he had agreed with some people’s premise, that he had not agreed with their approach; so he had not done what they had asked of him. He said that he felt they were too passionate, that they had tried too hard. I had found his statements a bit baffling, because it would seem like the more passionate you are about something, the more likely you’d be to get your point across. Yet, apparently that is not necessarily the case. Can there be such a thing as trying “too” hard?

In further pondering, it occurs to me that people may be turned off when people inject too much emotion in what they are saying; that people are more likely to listen to facts when they aren’t intermingled with subjective emotional side remarks.

There are many things we are passionate about: family, religion, politics, in particular. And at times we feel very passionate about these things; we think our opinions are right. And maybe they are right. But I think we can learn from that interviewee and conclude that there are times when being the squeaky wheel may not be in our favor; we may be ignored if what we say is said too emotionally.

Perhaps a good lesson to live by is: “Show me reason, and I’ll show you an open mind”—Jo Gamm Witt.

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