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- Be authentic. What do I mean? The ego/personality is vain and gets in the way of who you really are. Your inner voice is the authentic self.
- Be generous and kind with your words. Your words can change someone’s life. When that moment comes you think your words won’t matter, stop and think again. Have compassion for others–put yourself in their shoes. The secret to greatness is empathy–and empathy comes from simply being able to understand another’s perspective. It doesn’t mean you know how someone will feel, but you can imagine how that might feel. Tragedy creates brilliance. It is easy to be a great person when things are going great–but try to be a great person when your life is filled with nothing but tragedy.
- Take action. When you feel compelled to do something that you think may be insignificant, think again. That one action, like writing on some one’s blog, or sending an inspirational card, or leaving a phone message saying “I just think the world of you” can be the action that changes a person’s life forever.
We are all linked together. One person’s words, another’s song, or poem inspires the rest of us. When we link to another we make a more beautiful world.
Copyright Ev S. Nucci 2006
This cuts right to the heart of it and is so true. It’s easy to forget the impact you can have on someone’s life just by being yourself. Great article and thanks for reminding us to be who we are! John
I must agree that it’s pretty hard to find someone who has the initiatives in doing something. It happens everywhere (I’m from Malaysia, by the way).
I always believe “a single word can ruin a relationship which used thousands of words to build”.
Glad to hear that someone out there actually has the same opinion as I do.
Have you ever read The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom? While the book is not true, you would never know it. The idea is that everyone you touch or pass…no matter how insignificant..can be affected by just a word or a nano-second encounter. Thanks for the reminder, especially at this time of year when we are so caught up in our own to-do lists, we can be impatient, short-tempered and self absorbed. You hit the nail on the head!
These words are so true. Again, I find myself looking back on things I’ve done in the past wondering if I did the right thing. Actually, I realize on several occasions I did not. We all get hung up on being too busy, etc. etc. One of my best friend’s brothers past away, and I remember going to the website – reading the information. However, I didn’t leave a message. Maybe next time I have the opportunity I’ll do better! Thanks for making us think!
Ev has the gift of having a nurturing and uplifting soul which she inspires readers of her writing to have as well. It is nice to be reminded that we all can make someone feel better about themselves with a few kind words. We should all try to remember this.
Especially in this frenetic and mechanized age, nothing is more valuable than one human being reaching out to another. I’m glad this article reminded me of that.
Of course there is the opposite problem and that would be someone who too freely splashes comments or compliments without regard to sincerity. This is quite common of “yes men” in corporate life. But so often I find the compliment game over played, this is problematic in that after a while who can tell what is real.
Depending on your status in a sport, political arena, non-profit endeavor or business situation, some folks wish to “butter you up” and when that is over played it can have the opposite affect. It appears that there are far too many folks and too many books on the subject of “how to get along with hard to deal with people” or “how to win friends..” that suggest that a compliment can go a long way.
Whereas all this is true to some degree and your blog post makes perfect common sense, one must also learn a little tact as well. Insincerity or false compliments are not to be held as noble. Credit should be given where credit is due of course. Indeed, the old saying if you do not have anything nice to say, do not say anything at all is good advice too. Incorrect use of compliments can lead to a false sense of self for the person being complimented and thus one could say you are helping them to fail in the future thru “the peter principle” or cause them have a skewed self-evaluation setting them up for some real world hardships.
So, that too should be noted. Not to rain on anyone’s parade, because I do actually believe this is a very important subject and relevant topic. The blog post was well stated and more people should consider these things.
Lance,
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your perspective.
IjTKwa hi great site thx http://peace.com