Today’s society appears to have moved into the me-me-me generation. We are all about instant gratification and what’s in it for me. You watch these reality TV shows and they are cutthroat and chock full of liars and drama. Gone are the days of family oriented shows with morals and values woven thru the programs. Oh, they try to do that on many shows today but they are interwoven with crass humor and sexual innuendos.
Unfortunately the economy got harder to keep up with, more families have both parents working outside the home thus many children are in daycare. Thus, someone else is instilling their values and morals onto the children of today. Now, don’t get me wrong; there are many situations where both parents MUST work outside the home. I get that. But I also see that our society, as a whole, is suffering because of it.
My mother was a single Mom raising two kids alone. The support checks did not arrive timely or monthly, for that matter. We did without a lot of things. She had to get a job and unfortunately her hours were when we were home from school. So we saw Mom mostly on weekends, unless she had a shift to work. We didn’t have cable TV, no HBO or Showtime. We had limited back to school clothing. We ate a lot of hot dogs and mac & cheese for dinner. My brother’s favorite meal was Hamburger Helper. To this day, I refuse to buy or make or smell or eat that stuff.
My point is that I get it. But there are many families who make the choice to work and have their children in daycare simply because they want to. Again, I get that, too. That is their choice. We all have choices. But as a society, even tho it is our family…we are raising the next generation – our future society. At the very least, we need to think about what kind of person we will someday release out into society. Will that grown-up be a confident, caring, compassionate citizen or will they be the total opposite. Unfortunately, I am observing a lot of the opposite and it saddens me.
Videos of people behaving badly are all over the place. People seem to be more focused on video-taping a situation first before jumping in and helping someone in need. I witnessed it while on a beach vacation this summer (on a SMALL scale). A girl was lying on the beach talking to her boyfriend who was standing over her. A seagull flew by and pooped on her back. Instead of quickly removing said poop, the boyfriend first had to take a photo or a video of it…all I saw was him leaning in with his camera. Meanwhile, the girlfriend is begging him to get the poop off of her. And he is laughing.
You may be laughing at that story, but let me ask you. Would you be laughing if it were you? Probably not! Maybe AFTER the poop was removed you would laugh, but not while it was melting on your back in the hot sun.
I know that is not a huge example of people behaving badly, but I hope you get the point that I’m making. We need to put down our electronic devices and help our fellow people. Give a helping hand to someone who truly needs it. I saw a news show about people faking that they needed help – hobbling the city streets begging for money instead of getting a real job and doing something productive with their life and contributing to society. It’s crazy. If you are able, then work…I don’t care what you do but be a productive citizen of society. Everyone has talents. everyone has gifts. use them. Contribute. Stop being a lazy drain on society. Society was not intended to give hand-outs…but humans are intended to give hand-ups.
Helping people doesn’t have to cost you money or a lot of time. It can be as easy as letting someone in the grocery store who is obviously under duress, maybe with a crying baby or out of control bored little children go ahead of you in the checkout line. It could be as simple as paying a $3 toll for the car behind you. Simple things mean a lot to people.
In the business world you can also help others. Stop scamming people. Just because you do not know them doesn’t mean that they don’t matter. All people matter. If you have a home business and someone is seeking to possibly join your business, you need to invest your time and effort in the proper training of that person once they join your team. Let’s be real, if they do well, then you do well, yes? YES! So it is in your best interest to help them achieve their greatness and by default you will receive your greatness. Teach this and make it duplicable and your greatness will grow & grow.
It is actually quite simple: treat others as you would like them to treat you. If everyone lived by the Golden Rule, life would be much nicer for all.
It’s not enough to know this and feel it in your heart. You must take action. You must do this and do it consistently. For if you do, you will succeed…in life and in business. No one knows what time frame you are under, but treat others with respect and dignity and success will be yours.
