Mostly, we have no idea of the effect we have on other people’s lives. How a kind or an unkind word to a stranger can improve or damage their day; how an angry glance can upset a child, or a nod of encouragement help that same child to strive for something great.
Mostly, we are concerned only with how we feel, so that when we are angry or happy that’s how we react to others. It’s powerful, therefore, when we can become more conscious that our feelings are usually within our control, and we can change them if we desire to. It is up to each one of us to become more accountable for feeling more positive and better about ourselves.
I know one woman who had a bad morning and decided to shake off her blue feelings by recognizing that she couldn’t change the circumstances, but could change how she experienced them. She smiled at a passer-by, who stopped and got into conversation with her. They spoke for nearly an hour, until the man thanked her and walked off.
Two days later the same man sought her out and told her that he had been desperate and had been on his way to commit suicide, when she smiled at him. “It was the first happy human contact I had felt in weeks,” he said. “It helped me to change my mind.”
Who knows, your smile could save somebody’s life. And you might never know.
In Peace and Love
Warren Redman
www.EFitInstitute.com
1-866-310-3348(EFit)
Warren Redman trained in the UK as a psychotherapist, facilitator and coach and has developed his own unique style of Emotional Fitness Coaching. He is president of the Emotional Fitness Institute (formally the Centre for Inner Balancing), writing about, teaching and coaching people in Emotional Fitness. He is the author of fifteen books, including the Award-winning The 9 steps to Emotional Fitness, Achieving Personal Success and Recipes for Inner Peace.
Find out more or subscribe to Equilibrium at www.EFitInstitute.com
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