My girlfriend came home a few days ago and mentioned that she had heard something on National Public Radio that I thought was interesting. She told me a story about a Dad who was raising a young child. As a Father, he was always trying to teach his son life’s lessons.

One day, while they were out eating at a restaurant, the son was dipping his pickles in ketchup before eating them. The father thought this was gross, and told the child that it was disgusting. The child looked at him with a hurt look on his face, and loudly proclaimed, “Don’t yuck my yum!”. 

Ah, out of the mouths of babes…the child had just taught the Father something very important.

There have been many times in my life that I have felt the same way that the father has felt, not just about food, but about almost everything. Have you ever been talking to a friend, and they seem very excited about something, perhaps a movie they just watch, something they just read, or some music they just heard? And as they were telling you about it, in your mind you are thinking, “That movie was horrible, the acting was aweful!” Immediately after they get done talking, you blurt out your opinion about the horrible acting, and their excitement deflates. You just Yucked their Yum. 

I used to do this all the time…feeling like I needed to express my opinion about whatever the thing was the other person was excited about, almost like it was a competition. 

What do you think this does to your relationships? If someone is excited about something, and you are yucking their yum, they aren’t going to want to talk to you about other things that they  are excited about. 

So what should we do instead? Try listening to what they are saying, try to understand why it is they enjoyed the thing they are telling you about or the thing that they are doing. Be excited because they are excited! Enjoy what they are talking about because they enjoyed it! This will bring you closer to your friends and family.

Everyone is going to have different likes and dislikes. Learn to open your mind to the opinions of others. Perhaps you can even learn to like something new!