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Today's
Meditation:
"We
have the power to affect others." How easy it
is not to acknowledge this fact, not to admit to ourselves
that our words and actions may have a profound effect on
other human beings in our lives. The effects that I
have may never be known to me, but they are real
nonetheless, and the sooner I acknowledge and accept that
fact, the more likely the effects that I have will be
positive, loving, and nurturing effects. I may never
know what the ultimate effects actually are, but I can
know what I contribute through the ways that I live my
life and interact with others.
If I
am going to affect others, then I want to affect them as
an encourager rather than a discourager. I want to
lift people up rather than push them down; I want to
foster hope rather than despair; I want to be a positive
influence rather than a negative one. And all of
this, of course, depends upon the ways that I act, the
things that I say, the actions that I take.
The
way I live day to day is simply up to me, and it's
important that I take that seriously. I want to be a
positive influence on others-- perhaps not in the ways that
they hope or expect, but positive nonetheless. As a
teacher, I know that it's impossible to please everyone,
and I also know that it's better to truly challenge young
people than it is to pander to them and coddle them and
keep them from learning how to gain some very important
life skills. It's not necessary to affect others in
the ways they hope we'll act; sometimes, we truly do know
what's best in a certain situation, and we may actually
disappoint someone in the short term while benefiting them
greatly in the long run.
You
affect others. They are happy with you, concerned
about you, frustrated by you, and satisfied with
you. They feel safe around you or stressed to be
with you; they think about you fondly when you're not
around; they wish you were around more or around
less. The effects that you have on them are
generally a result of the ways that you act, and if you
choose to affect them in positive ways, it's simply
necessary to choose positive, supporting, encouraging
actions when they're around. Treat others as you
wish to be treated-- or even treat them better than that--
and you'll find that others truly enjoy being around
you.
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