I am quick to judge others by my standards. Yes, I am ashamed to admit this. There is a list that I keep in my head of 'no, no~s' that I am quick to condemn. Selfishness and cruelty seem to be at the root of all of them. It really comes down to putting ourselves before others.
Yesterday, a young man I work with cleaned up coffee I spilled on the wall, on the floor, and on an emergency bucket I use as a sort of end table in my classroom. He simply looked around for ways to be helpful while I was off at a meeting. I was oblivious that I had even spilled coffee. It was dried and nasty and had clearly been there for awhile.
As I whine and complain about others who litter, bully, lie, or take the biggest piece of pie, how often I ignore the selfish actions of my own life. Perhaps, instead of tuning in to the missteps of others I should be keeping a closer eye on my own selfishness. Gossiping, jealousy, and apparently not cleaning up my messes are just a few of my own selfish acts.
Who do I really have the power to change realistically? Me. Changing me is a task worth tackling rather than unproductively wasting my time condemning others. How freeing that could be.
Yesterday, a young man I work with cleaned up coffee I spilled on the wall, on the floor, and on an emergency bucket I use as a sort of end table in my classroom. He simply looked around for ways to be helpful while I was off at a meeting. I was oblivious that I had even spilled coffee. It was dried and nasty and had clearly been there for awhile.
As I whine and complain about others who litter, bully, lie, or take the biggest piece of pie, how often I ignore the selfish actions of my own life. Perhaps, instead of tuning in to the missteps of others I should be keeping a closer eye on my own selfishness. Gossiping, jealousy, and apparently not cleaning up my messes are just a few of my own selfish acts.
Who do I really have the power to change realistically? Me. Changing me is a task worth tackling rather than unproductively wasting my time condemning others. How freeing that could be.
Michael Jackson said it best.
I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
(If You Wanna Make The
World A Better Place)
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
(If You Wanna Make The
World A Better Place)
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change
Praying for self focus today and into the future. Hmmm self focus sounds selfish but not in this case.
In Him,
Joyful
3-16-13
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