No. 1196 -- DON’T SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FOOT!
THE NEXT PASSWORD IS RICE
No. 1196
Jim Davidson...NEWSPAPER COLUMN
DON’T SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FOOT!
When it comes to spending our hard-earned money, I do not know of anyone, including me, who does not want quality in the various products or services we purchase. You know, “quality” is a wonderful word in the English language. Among other things it means, “The degree of excellence, and a moral or personality trait or characteristic.”
If we want or desire quality in the products and services we purchase, does it not also make sense that we want quality in the people we choose to be around or spend our time with? This list not only includes our family, friends and associates, but especially the one person with whom we choose to marry and spend our life.
What precipitated these thoughts was something I saw on Facebook the other day. There is a woman I know, while not well, who is beautiful, talented, has a tremendous singing voice and is also a Christian. This particular day one of her posts included a very crude and demeaning comment about her husband. In this case, it was only one word that was offensive, but one that defined character, and in this case one was more than enough. To be sure, I had this woman high on a pedestal, and I realize we all fall off from time to time, but in reality I can never look at her the same way again. And a feeling of sadness carries over to her husband as well. Let me be quick to add, these are really good, honest and law-abiding people.
My Bible tells me that I am not to judge other people, and please understand that I am not judging, but I am terribly disappointed in her. In time I am sure I will forgive her, as my Bible also tells me to do that as well. However, this brings me to a much larger issue that affects millions of people in our nation every single day. In this case, what this woman has actually done is to “shoot herself in the foot.” Now I am sure you know this simply means anything we say or action we take that does not have our own best interest at heart. When we strive to do things right, honest and good, it makes life so much easier and more rewarding.
To validate what I am saying, there are thousands of examples we could use, but one that is offensive to me is people who use profanity. I see this all the time on Facebook, and quite often when I am talking directly to some person they use profanity. Over 50 years ago when I first went into sales, I made the decision to quit using profanity, and it took me over six months to stop completely. Each time I would catch myself using a swear word, I would say, “Forgive me Lord.” Now to God be the glory I can truthfully say that I don’t use profanity at all. I personally believe that people who have “class” do not use profanity.
What people who use crude or off-color language fail to realize is that each time they use a four-letter word, or make a vulgar or offensive comment about another person they are actually “shooting themselves in the foot.” Of course, it does not matter to a lot of people, but to many it does, and this could include that one person who might be in a position to give us a job, a raise, a better position or place a huge profitable order with us, or even consider becoming our wife or husband.
What I am saying is that it does matter, and making the effort to improve could pay dividends and have benefits that could completely change our lives for the better. We should be able to fall in love every day with the person looking back at us from the mirror, and this is so much easier for the person who has class. You know, quite often it’s the little things that make the most difference.
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(Editor’s Note: JIM DAVIDSON is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist and founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated to over 375 newspapers in 35 states, making it one of the most successful in the history of American journalism.)
THE NEXT PASSWORD IS RICE
