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Today's
Meditation:
I've
had many people suddenly make my day brighter by sharing a
kind word with me. I've gone from being in a down
mood--or even an indifferent mood--just by having someone
say something positive and encouraging. And when
that happens, it gets me thinking--might I be able to have
the same positive effect on someone else if I were to
share something positive with them?
I've
gone through most of my life thinking that my deeds and
actions have no effect on other people. I've always
thought that people haven't really cared what I say or
what I do, that I can't possibly have any effect on their
lives. They can have an effect on my life, of
course, but I don't have any effect on theirs.
This
perspective, I believe, has simply been a result of my
fears. I've always feared other people and their
reactions to what I do; I've feared their judgment and
criticism and rejection. For that reason, I haven't
tried to give to them the positive side of myself.
And while I can see how this tendency on my part might
have been having a negative effect on others, I've learned
in the past few years that it has more of a negative
effect on me. Because of my fears, I've robbed
myself of the feeling of satisfaction that comes from
cheering someone else up, from brightening their day.
Share
the positive side of yourself. Spread happiness and
brightness. Make other people feel better about
themselves and the world that they live in, and your own
world will become brighter. You can add to the light
of the world, simply by spreading the light within
yourself. The world deserves more of us spreading
our cheerfulness, and we deserve more of what we'll feel
when we spread it.
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