People often ask me if there are any handy tips or tricks to remembering peoples names better. That they enjoy the clarity, intelligence and energy that meditation brings, but they still feel embarrassed because that lovely mum who smiles at them in the school yard has remembered their name since day dot but they are forever fumbling for theirs… or the guy who makes your morning coffee knows your name and plenty about your life but you cannot for the life of you, no matter how many times you get told, remember his name!
The truth is that there are a tonne of tricks that you’ll learn from business gurus and facilitators, but even they don’t seem to work all the time.
The most important thing here is to give the person your full attention. To give them the nourishing experience of your presence. This is far more important than their name. The name will come when it needs to, at the right time. Its the relationship that is most important. It is the exchange between you and them that will bring about more happiness and unity than a name will ever deliver. The fact is – some names just don’t stick! We fail to find a context for the name to be attached to the face.
If we are honest and transparent, we can simply say to them, “I’m terribly sorry. I know we see each other almost daily, and I know that you know things about my life and I know details about yours, but I simply cannot remember your name!”. This will cause a wave of compassion and unity to arise between the two of you ( I guarantee that they will be having the same experience with someone else) and it is in this divinely inspired moment, that when they offer their name this time, it is certainly more likely to stick. It’s definitly not a guarantee, however most of the time a name is given to us it is when we are in a rush or when we have our “to do” list running through our heads at great pace. In this connected moment, when we are present, we can momentarily leave the white noise in our heads out of the equation & connect on the level of our hearts…. on the level of feeling. In most of our busy days, as people become further entrenched in BUSY-ness, this is a most rare and delightful experience.
Go on try it… I think you’ll surprise yourself and others.
Happiness,
Grant.
