Asking for feedback can be challenging. It can be uncomfortable to know. It may force you to look at things that you would instead look past. What if there is a better way?

What if we consider that the feedback is already there, floating in front of us, nicely wrapped, and all we have to do is grasp it with our hands, and unwrap it to know what’s inside? What if we seek it like we seek anything new or unopened, with curiosity and no judgment of the giver as well as of the seeker, to see what others saw, to hear what others heard, and to know what others felt?

Yes, that’s the nature of feedback. Whether we seek it or not, it is already there, floating around us, waiting for us to unwrap. If we are present enough, we can get glimpses of feedback from others’ body language, tone, and behaviors. If we’re curious enough, we can ask for it.

The choice is ours — grasp it to learn from it but not judge it or the seeker, or move past it with continued apathy.