Have you ever found yourself in a situation that afterwards you had thought to yourself: “I should have said something?” I think we all have at one time or another. How do you feel about that? I’m sure it would depend on the circumstances. Now I’m not trying to give everyone a guilt complex. But you can recall a time when maybe if you had only spoken up things would have turned out better (or at least different). You know the type of situations I’m referring to: If you are a woman you’ve had your best girlfriend meet some guy at the bar and later he wanted to give her a ride home and you’ve thought: “That’s probably not a good idea.” But you didn’t say anything to her. The next morning you find out she was taken to the hospital because she had been brutally assaulted! And you guys, have you had that situation where you have been out with your buddy drinking and now he was going to leave and drive himself home? You had that thought: “He really shouldn’t be driving.” But you didn’t say anything to him. The next day you found out he was in an auto accident and now laid up in the hospital with injuries!
Sometimes the outcome of circumstances are not as complicated as those that I mentioned as examples, but there are so many that result in less critical results that it would be an endless continuation if I tried to list them all in this blog. The finality of the point is that you could probably recall many such times and occasions in your own mind that would make the point much better than I am relating it here.
What we have to do is train ourselves, not only to recognize these situations, but to have the inner fortitude to voice our opinions. This is true even if our opinion is not always the most favorable one that someone might want to hear. There is a current program on TV: I think the name of it is “What Would You Do?” Or something like that. “Ordinary people find themselves put into situations where they need to “speak up” or “act” upon their opinions in order to, in some cases, “save” a total stranger from a bad circumstance. It is extremely rewarding to see how often people will “put themselves out” in order to help others in these circumstances.
It is also very comforting to know that often today business executives are not surrounding themselves with “yes” people. But they want people around them who will give their honest opinions about conditions or circumstances developing within their company. Ladies! You need to speak up also. Unfortunately there are too many reports (and I am sure many others situations unreported) about sexual harassment in the workplace. And you men in these workplaces --- GROW UP! You’re not high school teenagers any longer. Act like the responsible adults you’re supposed to be and LISTEN to these women when they complain and get these situations in your companies corrected! How would YOU feel if these things were happening to YOUR wives or sisters or daughters? Well these ladies ARE some ones wife or sister or daughter and you should have the decency to treat them as such.
Yes there is “a time to speak!” This includes speaking to YOU! Ask yourself questions, such as: How do I want others to treat me? How can I be a better husband or wife? A better son or daughter? How can I give my employer the honest days work for the money he is paying me? And employers: How can you treat your employees fairly and not as “slave” labor? Do I look at a person’s heart, actions, words and way of life and NOT their skin color, religious beliefs or nationality? There are many more such questions we could ask ourselves, but I think you get the point. Why would we want to do this periodically? Well, if we want to admit it, or not, there is coming a time when we will have to “speak” to our creator and answer for ALL that we have done and said to others. How do you think your words are going to sound at that time?
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
THOUGHTFUL GEM
"A stranger is only a friend
you haven't met yet!"
No comments:
Post a Comment