Influencing Others

Some people work hard at influencing other people. They primp and posture, play word games and try to say the right things to prove they are one with you. These are the folks who can adapt their speech and actions to blend in with a target audience. They do this to be believed, so you will have trust in them and their message. Sound fake?  It is. But it is also everywhere these days.

Meanwhile, back at the real people ranch, this can be said (taken from the Internet, author unknown):

“You will never know how many people you have encouraged and inspired because YOU made the choice to be Yourself.”

This statement has authenticity precisely because it is constructed on honesty, openness, vulnerability.  We imperfect human beings simply don’t always know who we are, or what we mean. We struggle for meaning and clarity of expression. We stumble around. We try on ideas and phrases to see if they fit exactly what we mean. This honesty and openness is transparency personified. All that is missing is consistency and that takes practice!  Lots of practice because what we think one moment may not be the same in the next instant with slightly different circumstances.  The variables. They mess things up. But really thinking about these matters ~ deeply, helps build a consistent path of logic. That’s the consistency I speak of.

Warren Buffet has been one of my heroes for a long time! He recently said, “Honesty is a very expensive gift. Do not expect it from cheap people.” So when a billionaire states unequivocally that rich people should pay higher taxes because they can afford to, and have been the beneficiary of the very system they honor, we should listen to them. This is a justice issue. It is not a political, or economics issue, or at least ought not to be. Buffet understands this.  He is worried that the Golden Goose will be slain out of ignorance.

His message may be too late! Seems Congress thinks otherwise and has been following a perilous course now for nearly 12 years. They protect those who do not need protection while those who do, are left alone in the wind of chance.

Another find on the Internet:

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” (Author Unknown)

Think about that! How many times have you been stunned by a simple act by someone else? Whether done for you or someone you are observing, the very act gives you a peek at selflessness. It is a form of love and caring for ‘the other’ who are everywhere. Opening a door for a person loaded down with parcels, or leading a halting, lame person to a seat. Assisting someone up from a bench, or warning a pedestrian of a too-close car! These are actions that demonstrate caring. Small acts which keep our human identity front and center. They influence others. Unknown by self. Not done for self. But for others. Powerful.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) said: “Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself.”

If this is what you want and expect from others for you, then you owe it to them in return. Even when you disagree. Even when our lives are starkly different. It is a form of shared identity with others in our culture, in our society. That is another way, in America, to say our nationhood. We share that, don’t we? We value difference, don’t we? Diversity? Cultural pluralism? There are few absolutes in cultural norms, are there? What makes life interesting and enriching is its diversity. Few nations in world history can claim such richness as America can. And yet we allow political discourse to settle on those differences as though they define who’s right and who’s wrong! Blather! Rot. Nonsense!

The Dalai Lama has stated over and over again: “Love is the absence of judgment.” Pretty basic stuff. Very simple. So hard to learn and live by.

But we can try. And we must. Each day we need to make the effort. Embrace and include. We are all one struggling to be. Let’s make that the best we can be! You never know who might be watching, and being influenced!

July 12, 2012