Have you ever been hanging out with a friend who eagerly launched into a story that you’ve heard before? Your gut reaction is to stop them, “Yeah yeah, you told me the other day…”.  And you’re in the right – it can be frustrating to hear a story twice, but maybe just sometimes you should let your friend charge forward.

Sometimes it’s appropriate to stop someone; for instance, maybe they are simply telling you a quick anecdote in order to jog your memory.  If that’s the case, then you should definitely interrupt them when you get it.  In other instances, your friend may just be telling you a story again for the sake of it, and it’s not that important to them so you can put a stop to it.

The key is that you make a thoughtful evaluation before interrupting someone. Take note of how eager your friend is to share their story.  Even if they told you the story once before, it may be a story that they love to re-tell.  We all know that in part, telling a story lets you relive the moment.

Take the split second to guess whether the retell will be more annoying to you than it will be special to your friend.  If you think it will be a good moment for them, then be a good friend and suffer through a good story for the second time.

How many times have you read a book twice? Watched the same movie more than once?  What about a TV show? Or a musical? Stories are told and retold, just go with it, especially if it matters to someone else.

~ Bryan