Today's
Meditation:
I
believe that this is a very positive thought, but one that
demands us to strike a very difficult balance if we're
going to treat people well. After all, we all
want to be accepted unconditionally, just as we are.
And I don't think Johann is saying that we shouldn't
accept people-- rather, he's bringing up the question of
what we expect from people and how we treat them based on
their expectations.
It's
been very well documented that how teachers treat
students-- based on expectations-- determines a great deal
of the students' success or failure. Tell a teacher
that all of his or her students are gifted, and the
teacher will treat the students as gifted students, with
high expectations. And the students generally will respond to
that treatment with very high levels of achievement--
whether they're actually "gifted"
or "average" or anything in between.
If
I treat you as if you always will be just as you are, I'm
not respecting your potential for growth and change.
I'm saying, in a certain way, that you're stuck where you
are, and you always will be there. But that's not
true. No matter who you are or what your position in
life, you will be learning more and growing as a person;
and if I treat you as if you will be growing and
changing-- while still respecting just who you are right
now-- my treatment may help instill the confidence you need
to take those next few steps towards growth.
How
do I treat other people? How do they deserve to be
treated? When I consider that my treatment of them
can help them to grow and change, I see that it's
important that I give a little bit of thought to my
interactions with others-- if I want to live up to my
potential for helping others to live up to their
potential.
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