Every Move You Make

Ever wonder how big of an influence you are on others? I'm not talking about just your family or friends; I'm talking about every single person you come in contact with. Should your choices, meaning, your “personal” choices that are yours to make be thought of as not so “personal”? Yes, we're all individuals with the right to choose and make decisions as we please, yet…everything we say or do affects someone else.

It's fairly obvious that our major decisions such as where we're going to live, whether or not we attend church, how we manage our financial decisions, how we vote in elections, definitely affect others. But what about the more subtle, every day interaction with others?

For a couple of examples:

The last time you went to the grocery store, were you friendly with your cashier? Were you patient, kind and courteous to other customers in the store?

When you go out to eat, are you demanding and rude to your waiter or waitress? Are you stingy with your tips?

How are you when you drive? Do you honk your horn for every little reason, or do you try to be patient with other drivers? Do you speed ahead and cut people off or do you try to be courteous and put others first?

When was the last time you waved at your neighbor or had conversation with them?

How often do you blurt out bad words? Curse words used to be the exception in daily conversation. Now they are the conversation. People can't talk without using foul language.

Our behavior is observed always, by someone. If you have children, they are learning a pattern of behavior from you. The people you come in contact are learning a pattern of behavior from you. How you treat people will most likely be how they treat others as well. This pattern continues from person to person, from generation to generation.

Maybe your cashier was having a terribly bad day, and has a two-year old at home that she's raising by herself. Everyone else that has come through her line has either been cold, or rude and belittling. Do you think a kind word or some kind of encouragement would make her day? That maybe your uplifting comment will make her go home and hug her small child?

The waiter or waitress that you gave a big tip to just got enough money with your tip to go grocery shopping for the week. And because of your kindness, he or she has extended kindness to someone else.

You allowed someone to merge in front of you on the expressway, giving him plenty of room to merge comfortably. What a break, as this person has just been sitting at stop light after stop light and is really running thin on patience. Now, because of your courteous act, he will extend a courteous act to another driver on the road.

Your neighbor has been avoiding you because he feels you're unhappy with something since you never wave or carry on conversation. Even though you're not angry or unhappy with anything that he has or hasn't done, that is still his perception. After you have a little conversation with him, he is much more comfortable and before you know it, you've developed a close relationship with your neighbor.

Does all of this sound too good to be true? Maybe. But if we're all willing to give a little of ourselves and put others first, this world would be a lot more friendly place. Think about it, our stress and anxiety would be greatly reduced because of the connection we have with others. The need for attorneys would be greatly reduced because we wouldn't be “out to get” each other. Accidents on the road would be much fewer and violence in the school would disappear.

Be careful in how you act, be careful in the choices that you make. You're either influencing others positively or influencing them negatively. Think of what the world would be like if we were the encouragers; if we were courteous, patient and kind. It's easy to be like everyone else; it's easy not to care about others, to be mean and cruel and bring others down. Let's be the exception; let's be the ones who only use words to build each other up. We'll be the ones who make our decisions carefully, and we'll make sure our actions reflect positively on others.