We can all be annoyed and annoying in life. What annoys you? How do you annoy others?
I thought about this recently when I was obviously annoying a friend. This annoyance was not intentional, but it was troubling. I was acting in a way natural to me and unnatural to my friend. She clearly was annoyed, but didn't say anything. I really didn't acknowledge the annoyance until after the fact when I thought about how the day went. In the future, when I'm with this friend, I'll not share that part of me as freely and I'll be more sensitive with regard to her limitations in that regard. I like this friend a lot and don't want to annoy her--there's many other parts of me that I can share with her in positive ways while reserving this other part of me for friends who appreciate and share that trait.
What annoys one person may be a pleasure for others--we're all different and what we are able to tolerate differs too. Respectful, sensitive relationships honor that differentiation and are sensitive to it
If my friend had simply said, "You know, that ____________ makes me nervous," that would have alerted me to her discomfort to that activity early on. It's okay to let friends know when you're uncomfortable in any way. Friends have shared that information with me before and it's been very helpful. That said, we can't change who we are for others--if a friend wants too many changes it may be that you're not well matched as friends. That happens too.
No one desires to be annoying and no one wants to be annoyed either, but it happens, and it's best if we deal with it using respect and sensitivity. Onward.
