The 5 Lessons We Learn from How We Treat People

~I’m not sure where this came from exactly. I received it in an email recently and feel that is something that everyone could use a little reminding of every once in a while. Make it a great day!~

1. First Important Lesson~The Cleaning Lady

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:
“What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”
Surely this was some sort of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50’s, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade?
“Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.”

I never forgot that lesson. I also learned that her name was Dorothy.

2. Second Important Lesson~Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30pm an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console tv was delivered to his home. A special note was attached:

It read:
“Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.”
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole

3. Third Important Lesson~Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

“How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.
“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired.
By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.
“Thirty five cents,” she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins.
“I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies.

You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4. Fourth Important Lesson~The Obstacle In Our Path

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the rodeway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand…

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5. Fifth Important Lesson~Giving when it counts.

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes I’ll do it if it will save her.”
As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.
He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?”

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor. He thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

Taking Action

Somebody once told me, “you don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going.” It was then that I had one of many ah-ha moments.

When you think about it, nothing ever goes perfectly the first time around. We do things, then we make them better, and continue changing things up as we go. Even with parenting, with your first born your new to the whole idea and lifestyle of having a child. Then with the next child you have an idea of what works and what does not, so we tend to do things a little bit better. Then with each subsequent children, everything seems to progress a little bit. So even though we have no idea what to do at first, we learn as we go because that is the only choice we have. Having a child is a now or never sort of approach that we have to take. It’s not something that we can continue to put off to the side, or continue to research and perfect. When we first find out that we will be having a child, we have only 9 months to prepare, then it’s a go whether we feel as though we are ready or not. All we can do is try our best and pray that we don’t mess up too badly.

With that example we really don’t have a choice on whether or not we follow through with action. But when we have plans or ideas for things we want to accomplish in our lifetimes, most people will put them off and delay ever getting started simply because of the unknown. We tend to have a fear of failure or the ever pressing need to want to get it just right & make sure all is perfect before we take that first step.

I just want to say, no one ever gets it right the first time. Everything that has ever been created or done has gone through it’s own system of trial & error. When we consider how much things have changed over the last 50 years, many have become more economical, simpler and easier to use.

If you have been researching and planning and going over every minute detail to make sure everything will be just right before you actually do something, whether it be a business you’d like to have, or a way of making money through the internet, or maybe even a blog. You have to just do it. Honestly, when I started this blog, I had no idea how or what I was suppose to do. In fact, it took me almost 2 days to figure out how to set it up and how the layout stuff worked. (No joke!) All I knew was that I had information that I wanted to share with people. It started with so many people asking “Why would I pay to work from home?” Or “it’s all a scam, if they ask for money, it’s a scam.” Granted I have lost plenty of money on different endeavors, but either way, not everything is a scam and that is the message I wanted to share with everyone. It then progressed into much more & looking back I am proud of what I have done over the last 9 months. This could not have been if I would have been too afraid to actually get started. If I had tried to figure out every blogging tool, and how to use keywords to your advantage (which, by the way, I still don’t know much about…) But I could have continued to put it off and wait until all was perfect, but I didn’t. I am learning as I go, but I am also building a wonderful base in the meantime.

Take some time getting to know the basics of whatever it is you plan to do. Then just put it out there. You will be able to tweak it and improve things as you go. In time, it will become as it is meant to be. If you spend too much time trying to get it right, somebody else is going to do it, and then it won’t seem so great anymore. Like they say…

“You don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going.”