The Invisible Sign

One morning last month, Tricia and I were walking at the park.  We normally walk three laps and that gives us around 4,000 steps.  We talk, watch people fishing, and dodge the ducks that walk about by the lake waiting for people to come feed them.  They make a big mess on the walking trail and we get extra steps in as we maneuver around duck droppings.

I glanced up at the entrance ramp to I-10 westbound and noticed a pink Cadillac gliding toward the merging lanes.  "You know what that is?" I asked my wife.  "Yep, Mary Kay.  They award excellent salespeople with a pink Cadillac upon reaching a certain level in the company."  For the record, I don't purchase cosmetics.  I know nothing about cosmetics.  Somewhere in the past, I studied the founder, Mary Kay Ash.  Aside from running a very successful company, she has a quote that I like that shows so much wisdom:

"No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make the other person feel important. Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, "Make me feel important.  Not only will you succeed in sales.  You will succeed in life! Never forget this message when working with people.  "  Mary Kay Ash

 

Image Credit

In so many books about people, namely "How to Win Friends and Influence People," by Dale Carnegie, this same principle is taught.  People want to feel special, noticed.  You see it in your daily life.  In the rat race where you are a number, another cog in the wheel, people like to hear their name.  They value when people listen to them and take the time to get to know them.

I remember being a kid that my Mom & Dad told me that if there was one thing I learned it was to be considerate of other people.  Be kind.  Be gracious.  Be polite and genuinely interested in other people.  In a dog eat dog world, many people are concerned only with themselves.  That's why if you ask them questions about themselves and get to know them, you set yourself apart from the pack.

Now motive is important.  If you do this with bad intentions and ulterior motives, people can sniff that out in an instant.  That's what's called manipulation.  Jesus, on the other hand, taught, "So in everything, do unto others what you would have them do unto you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."  Matthew 7:12

How true.  Don't we all want to be treated with dignity and respect?  Don't we all want to feel important and noticed?  Of course we do.  Remember the invisible sign around people's necks.  Making people we come into contact with in our daily lives feel important may not win us a pink Cadillac (maybe it will), but it makes the world a better place and each of us better people.  It's also a testimony of the God we serve and He gets all the glory.

Let your light so shine before others, that they might see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven.  Matthew 5:16