138Focus on the Good
A former colleague loved to pass along story ideas. He was well read, knew a lot, and liked being up on everything. His insecurity, however, prevented him from accepting suggestions from others. He dismissed others’ story ideas as dated, unimportant, or irrelevant. I bristled many times when he labeled my ideas as such. At one point, I came close to never accepting another suggestion from him.
But then I realized how foolish that strategy would be. Why would I cut myself off from a reliable source of solid ideas? I decided, instead, to the keep that supply line open. If he wanted to cut himself off from sources of stories, that was an issue for him—and possibly his shrink—to wrestle with, not me.
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