Walk the Way Before You Show the Way

Recently, We have seen a rise in violence all over the world with little children shot by gunmen, violent protests in universities which is the sanctum for knowledge, like violence and blood shed is the norm of reaction to a situation

I often wonder what is going wrong ? Why is there an upsurge of violence amongst this generation? Is it that more violence is getting reported or is it that people specially the younger generation are loosing their cool?..Is it the need for instant gratification? What is it?

We blame the millennials for being selfish, for being ruthless, for being violent.

But wait a minute.. Who are they following? US ? Are we responsible?.. YES

Yesterday I had been to a busy local restaurant for dinner.  A family of 4 was sitting just besides us. 2 young children around 8 and 10 years of age. Children were relishing the spicy south Indian snacks, laughing and talking. Suddenly the younger one started coughing. The father called the waiter and asked for water. The waiter took time to come ; did not immediately get back to the table and when he came he got 1 large sized and 3 small sized bottles of water. The father was furious. I could feel the rage from a distance. His face turned red with a surge of blood. A complete contrast to the relaxing blue shirt he had worn. He got up from his seat and started screaming at the waiter at the top of his voice for not immediately tending to his needs and also for not getting the medium sized bottle that he was expecting. He started threatening him and used foul words. He then left after creating the scene

What happened ?

He showed the way not only to his children but also to the other children that it is ok to react in a fit of rage when things don’t go your way

He not only spoilt his mood but also emitted the negative energy across the room; cheerful atmosphere was spoilt

Of course, he did not have the good time that he intended to have with his family

I was a witness to the whole event. I started dissecting the situation. Was the waiter wrong? YES..Was the service poor? YES.

Could he have handled the situation differently? Definitely YES

What a world of difference it would have made to the waiter if this person had been a little more compassionate with him who was serving a busy restaurant catering to many customers. Moreover, Who knows what’s going on in his world?

People would forget what you give them but not how you make them feel.

 

What if we look at a situation from an other persons eye before we respond?

Every moment we make a choice, that defines who we are and the impact it has on the world around us

1. What if we choose to be a little more patient?
2. What if we choose compassion over anger?
3. Imagine the impact this would have on our children, on our families, on our teams, on our businesses
4. And imagine the ripple effect it would create on the world at large

What if we walk the way before we show them the way?

What a beautiful loving world we could then create! A place where families, organizations and businesses could thrive.

 Can we do this? YES..we can If we choose to

Until Next,

Keep Smiling..