The need to acknowledge others

I went to a friend's place to have lunch with few friends.

At lunch, I talked to this friend of mine who I haven't spoken to lately, even though we go to same church service. Not even a hi-bye kind of greetings.

Anyway, he mentioned to me that I have a gift from God that not many people have, the ability to connect and relate with others so easily. He said, I'm a people person and people are comfortable with me.

The challenge is, as I chose to stay low and avoid the crowds, people felt neglected or forgotten.

YES, I actually decided long time ago to be low profile, or to try to stay low and avoid the crowds as much as I can. And I made a point that I won't personally go to people to greet them. However, I should admit that I did not realise that my action has made people felt forgotten or even neglected, especially those who don't have many friends in church.

Frankly speaking, this is one area that I still need lots of improvement. He said that it's actually not that hard/challenging. All I have to do is just to smile and greet people genuinely. The smile I give to a person is enough to acknowledge that s/he exist and I notice it. He then said that people in general want to be acknowledged, to know that their existence matter. Now if I don't acknowledge their existence, they will feel neglected or forgotten.

Yes everyone needs to grow up and be matured, but some people take a bit longer to grow, and we as the more matured ones need to put just a little bit more effort to help them grow, by... at the very least, smile to them and greet them.

Thank you my friend, I will make some changes. :)