Today’s thought is titled: Positively Impact the Lives of Others
Thoughts taken from Becoming a Person of Influence by John C. Maxwell and Jim Dornan
“For most people, it’s not what they are that holds them back. It’s what they think they’re not. People who have a great deal of self-respect and who believe that they have significance are usually respected and made to feel valued by others. When you nurture people and add value to them without expecting anything in return, they feel significant. They realize that they are valued, that they matter to others. And once they consistently feel positive about themselves, they’re free to live more positively for themselves and others.”
Something can be learned from “the personal effects found on Abraham Lincoln the night he was shot: a small handkerchief embroidered ‘A. Lincoln’, a country boy’s penknife, a spectacle case repaired with cotton string, a Confederate five-dollar bill, and a worn-out newspaper clipping extolling his accomplishments as president. It begins, ‘Abe Lincoln is one of the greatest statesmen of all time…’. Abe Lincoln faced fierce criticism while in office, and it would have been easy for him to become totally discouraged. That article, worn with repeated reading, undoubtedly helped him during some very difficult times. It nurtured him and helped him retain his perspective.’
“The key to how you treat people lies in how you think about them. It’s a matter of attitude. How you act reveals what you believe. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe emphasized, ‘Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”
Today’s affirmation: “I will treat others, as well as myself, tenderly seeing the potential of who they are”.