A world that is engrossed with its own self-esteem, self-care, self-portrait, self-respect, and selfies cannot notice the people around it, let alone understand their motives. This in turn could create more stress and push people even further into the deep chasm of self-isolation and sometimes, self-harm.
One major reason behind self-isolation is because the world outside has not always been warm and friendly. You send a resume to a reputed company, and you don’t hear from them for years. You try reaching the ace presenter who told you, “Let’s take this offline,” and he is unreachable ever since he stepped from the podium. The list is endless.
Understanding the reasons behind why people fail to respond is important, particularly to our mental health. While most of the time the reasons could be a “forgetting” mind, a genuinely busy person, or being in a place where you need to give first before demanding some, sometimes the reasons could be uncharitable, as below.
Pride: Some people pride themselves so much that they have assigned a certain value to themselves. Unless you follow up with these people that many times, you aren’t going to get a response.
Bias: There are as many biases as there are English alphabets. If your name starts with one of these biased alphabets, you aren’t going to get a response no matter how hard you try. For example, you aren’t going to catch up with their age or sex, are you?
Fear: Some people are so insecure that they prefer sleeping inside their bank lockers. They know your ideas and proposal are so rock solid that they prefer not to cede ground with you.
Meanness: Just as a starfish doesn’t have a brain, these folks absolutely don’t have an iota of ethics. A courteous smile, a courtesy handshake, a simple WhatsApp emoticon, or even an (email) auto-responder is not part of their DNA.
Mediocrity: Ever since China first grabbed the “copycat” awards, the level of quality has dropped significantly all around the world. They no longer need your quality product, as your competitor’s ad, “Buy 1 Mercedes, Get 3 Mercedes Free!” is just irresistible.
Hollowness: Worst of this lot is the “trigger happy” Surface-level Solution Providers (SSPs). They seem to have solutions to every possible ill of this world. Follow up with this hollow man at your own peril.
Brokenness: And then there are people who have been badly affected by the people listed above. Their mental health has taken such a beating that they have already retreated into a DND cave. Well, we can at least sympathise with our tribesmen.
A person’s mental wellbeing hinges a lot around the beliefs and thoughts they have about people and the world. When people do not respond to your messages or advances, do not imagine the worst and spoil your mental health. Now that you know the mystery behind people’s silence, it is time to move on.
Published – November 03, 2024 03:47 am IST