On Being Kind...
I received an email forward the other day that I almost deleted. As I quickly scanned the screen I knew I had to read it to the end. It reminded me of a gentle lecture that I had given to my girls the day before about being kind to each other, as they would need each other for the rest of their lives.
The gist of the email was how kind and polite we are every time we deal with strangers, yet, sometimes with members of our family we forget to be kind and polite. We would never think of using harsh tones or words with those we do not know, however, we are often quick to react in a sour way with those we hold most dear.
In business we deal with so many different people, we are generous with our time and knowledge. We perform our jobs professionally and choose our words carefully in order to make our clients happy and to succeed with the task at hand.
In life our family still benefits from our knowledge, experiences and our time, yet we may be less discreet in expressing our feelings while sharing this information. I know that I often come off as preachy with my kids, rushed to get on to the next task and perhaps don't listen as closely as I ought to.
The lesson I was trying to teach my girls was totally summed up in the final sentences of this email. After reading it I realized that I can still do better where they are concerned. I will still conduct my business professionally and choose my words carefully because that's who I am naturally. My family will now benefit from a little more sensitivity and patience as the words of the email struck a chord with me.
The ending is as follows;
FAMILY : Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think? So what is behind the story? Do you know what the word FAMILY means? FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU
The gist of the email was how kind and polite we are every time we deal with strangers, yet, sometimes with members of our family we forget to be kind and polite. We would never think of using harsh tones or words with those we do not know, however, we are often quick to react in a sour way with those we hold most dear.
In business we deal with so many different people, we are generous with our time and knowledge. We perform our jobs professionally and choose our words carefully in order to make our clients happy and to succeed with the task at hand.
In life our family still benefits from our knowledge, experiences and our time, yet we may be less discreet in expressing our feelings while sharing this information. I know that I often come off as preachy with my kids, rushed to get on to the next task and perhaps don't listen as closely as I ought to.
The lesson I was trying to teach my girls was totally summed up in the final sentences of this email. After reading it I realized that I can still do better where they are concerned. I will still conduct my business professionally and choose my words carefully because that's who I am naturally. My family will now benefit from a little more sensitivity and patience as the words of the email struck a chord with me.
The ending is as follows;
FAMILY : Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think? So what is behind the story? Do you know what the word FAMILY means? FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU
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