Gentle Men and Women - I emplore you to think about the art of communication
Gentle men and women - I had lunch today with a very respected man. A gentleman I deeply admire and respect. Our conversation flowed from one interesting subject to another. I took away alot of wise thoughts and ideas...but one thing he said has stuck with me all day.
He spoke of a time, not too long ago when he saw two major politicians walking together, laughing and chatting at an event in Washington. He told me of their party differences, their political battles....after all, they were running against each other in a national election. But he said as he watched, what hit home was that at the end of the day, they were friends and held great respect for each other.
These men were rivals, but friends - never to throw mud, never to be party to insulting and ugly rhetoric, never to be disrespectful towards each other. Maybe you could use the word statesman to describe them.
Good role models for us today? You bet! They knew the art of how to politely and intelligently disagree. It does seem to get so much more accomplished.
2 Comments:
Statesmen may be harder to find today, but non-statesmen are easy to spot.
Non-statesmen are the ones always accusing and blaming others and wasting our time and our money on "looking at what others did wrong and making them pay".
Statesmen have to make decisions based on the information they have at the time and stay focused on solutions and building a better tomorrow..
Non-statesmen stay focused on the problems and the past as if they have the power to change the past.
Statesmen will make mistakes, but they know by working together with respect they can do great things.
Honest communication without agenda seems to be a lost art these days... If people would just learn to listen they would find that everyone has something they can teach you... Our forefathers worked so hard to create a country where all could come to seek the dream of freedom without persecution and in so many ways they succeeded. We have to take that dream and nurture and cultivate it so that we all become tolerate and understanding for what each individual and individual culture has to offer... It's never too late to start!
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