“You must be the
change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi
We went to the library today…. As we walked back to our car, there were two
men doing yard work. One was mowing and the other was using a weed whip to edge
the grass. As we walked closer, both men
turned off their machines to let us pass by.
As I walked past the man with the weed whip, I smiled at him and said “thank
you.” He nodded and returned my smile.
No big deal. Not
earth-shattering. And certainly not
worthy of a blog, right? Wrong. This small, insignificant incident is the
epitome of my understanding of Gandhi’s words.
Both men were working and both had a schedule to follow, I’m sure. Yet, they took the time to be considerate of
others.
How many of us take that time? How many of us spend as much time doing good
things as we spend complaining about the sad state of our world? Seriously….how many?
I have read so many of Dr. Maya Angelou’s quotes in the days
since her death…. I wonder how many people have been touched by her words. How many have thought about something differently,
or reacted differently, or taken a different path because of the words she
shared with all of us?
I doubt that my words will ever have the impact that hers
have, in the general population of the world.
But in MY world, I have the power to influence friends and family with
my words. How often do we take the time
to tell someone how much we appreciate them?
Do we uplift those around us, or tear them down?
Each one of us has the opportunity (read: responsibility) to
treat others as we want to be treated.
Imagine what this world would be like if we did that….
Yesterday, I had a very long wait at the lab. Several other people who were waiting were
less than kind to the lab techs who were doing their best in the
situation. One woman, sitting across from
me, proudly told her companion how she had “told off” the tech. Oh my…
When it was my turn, I went to the draw station with a smile
on my face. When the tech apologized for
the wait, I told her that I understood and it couldn’t be helped. When she was finished drawing my blood, I
thanked her and left…
Perhaps nearly forty years’ of service as an RN influenced
me: so many patients treat nurses like waitresses, and scream at them for
things that are out of the RN’s control.
I know I have taken a lot of verbal abuse in my career…
Or perhaps I just wanted to be the kind of patient that she
wished all the others would be…
Maybe I just wanted to be the change that she needed in her
day…
