virgin islands scene

We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.
-- Rudyard Kipling
 

 

Wednesday, October 28, 1998

Step back

Has this ever happened to you? You stop at the neighborhood convenience store to pick up a jug of milk. As you walk past the security monitor, you glance at the picture on the screen and think, “Hey, that person has on the same color shirt as I do. No, not just the same color, it’s the same shirt exactly. No, wait a minute. That IS me!"

It is a strange feeling to see yourself as someone else would see you, and to momentarily not recognize yourself. Such an experience vividly points out that the way you see yourself is not the way others see you.

And that’s important to keep in mind. Every so often, make a point to step back away from yourself. Look, as objectively as you can, at your own assumptions, routines, habits, mannerisms. Consider how others see you. Step back, and get some valuable perspective.

Imagine how much more effectively you could relate to others if you could see yourself as they do. Step away from yourself. Then look back, and see the possibilities in a new and powerful light.

— Ralph Marston

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Copyright ©1998 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.