No. 1064 - BRING OUT THE BEST IN PEOPLE!
No. 1064
Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN
BRING OUT THE BEST IN PEOPLE!
The Hallmark greeting card company has a wonderful slogan that goes, “When you care enough to send the very best.” To be sure, it is just human nature to always want the best, but sometimes we fail to realize that in most cases the only way to have the best is to bring out the best in other people. Now, that sounds repetitious but it is true.
As this relates to life, we are not going to be very successful as a coach, a manager, an employer, a community leader, a pastor, a parent or in countless other areas if we fail to bring out the best in those who are under our leadership. And something else for sure, we can’t bring out the best in other people if we have a critical and negative spirit.
I know a man here in my community, who I will call a friend, although not a close friend, who told me one time, “I have always been a negative person and that is the reason I don’t have any friends.” When you think about it, this is really sad because he knows he has a problem but has refused all these years to do anything about it.
That reminds me of another slogan for a company I used to work for, the Nightingale-Conant Corp. based in Chicago, Illinois. The slogan for this company is “Human Beings are Improvable.” Now, I believe that with all my heart, as this is the business I have been in for the past 45 years. I am blessed to be able to say that helping people succeed by developing and using more of their God-given potential is so rewarding. Helping people succeed is also the reason we have schools and colleges.
If you consider yourself to be a negative or somewhat negative person, and one who is not able to bring out the best in other people, I have some ideas to share that may be helpful. First, let me say that it all begins in our thinking. If we think we can do something, the chances are good that we can, but virtually impossible if we think we can’t. If you are a negative person, let me suggest that the first thing to do is begin to change your mental diet. Begin to read positive and encouraging books, listen to positive thinking tapes, and spend most of your free time around positive people.
Personally, the Bible has done wonders for me when it comes to reading positive things, plus it’s the Word of God. For example, Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Whether you believe me or not, here is the answer my friend. When we can change our thinking, we can change our lives.
Now, let me go back to the Hallmark slogan for a moment, “When you care enough to send the very best.” The key word here is “care”. When we truly want to bring out the best in other people, we must care about them. Any successful school teacher will tell you, “They don’t care what you know, until they know how much you care.” Kindness is something else that will go a long way in helping to bring out the best in other people. Over the past few years, God has taught me to be kind to other people. Anything I have done is to His glory, not mine.
Wouldn’t this be a better world if we could all seek to bring out the best in other people, truly cared, and were kind to everyone? When someone is negative toward us, we should not respond by being negative toward them. Just be kind and, in time, it will become contagious.
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(Editor’s Note: Bookcase for Every Child – Changing Lives & Futures – ONE AT A TIME. Please visit our website: www.bookcaseforeverychild.com)
