When I was fifteen,
my family and I went to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina for a summer weekend. We
stayed at the General Billy Mitchell Hotel with its wrap around porch with
chairs in front of each motel room to sit and enjoy the beautiful view of the
ocean.
One day after
swimming, I decided to practice my violin for a while and my Mom went to sit on
the porch to read and enjoy the breeze. It was a beautiful sunny day with
temperatures around 82 degrees.
As I was practicing
our neighbors walked by my Mom and commented on the beautiful music coming from
our hotel room. They said to my Mom, "The music coming from your hotel
room is just lovely!"
"Mom smiled at
them and said "thank you!"
A few hours latter
the same neighbors walked by with a pained expression on their faces and said
to my Mom, "What happened to the beautiful music?"
Mom started laughing
and said to the neighbors, "I have two daughters, a fifteen year old who
is a gifted violinist who was practicing two hours ago and a 5 year old who you
just heard, who started learning the violin two weeks ago!"
Have you ever jumped
to the wrong conclusion about someone else? Have you ever assumed something
about someone that was not true?
Don't think
emotionally. Don't jump to conclusions. Always look deeper and get all the
facts before you make a decision or say anything that can harm someone else or
yourself.
A businesswoman was
at a large airport waiting for her flight when she purchased a package of
cookies at the store. She went to sit in the lounge with her cookies and her
newspaper to wait for her flight to be called.
A few minutes later a
well-dressed gentleman sat down beside her and she heard a crackling sound. He
was taking one of her cookies and proceeded to eat the cookie. She gave him a
dirty look and reached in and took a cookie for herself. The gentleman
continued taking the cookies until there was only one left. He broke the last
cookie in half, eat it, and moved the other half in her direction. He smiled
getting up and leaving as his flight had been called. The businesswomen eat the
other half of the cookie with a scowl on her face!
A few minutes later,
her flight was called and she reached into her purse for her ticket and found
her bag of unopened cookies. She was shocked and upset with herself!
Did you assume that
the cookies were the businesswoman's? I thought so too!
Have you ever made a
wrong assumption that was not true about another person? Have you ever jumped
to the wrong conclusion?
Don't think
emotionally. Never assume anything. Instead look deeper and get all the facts
before you making a decision.
As a young bride in
NYC, I opened our apartment closet to put away a few items and found three,
6-foot duffle bags taking up all the closet space.
The night before, I
had watched a very scary movie so as I got closer to the bags I was looking
closely at them.
I noticed three
things.
1) Nothing moved in
the bags.
2) There was no
strong odor coming from the bags.
3) There were no bugs
or blood dripping down from the bags.
So far so good!
"From these
facts I decided there was not a dead body in our closet"!
I quickly called my
new husband, "so as not to invade his property."
I asked him,
"What are in the three, 6 ft. duffel bags in our closet?
My husband said,
"They are laundry bags. Instead of washing the clothes, to save time, I
bought new ones!"
I replied,
"Oh".
On my next day off
from work, I began tackling his laundry bags!
As you first listened
to the story of the "3 Six Foot Duffle Bags in the Closet", were you
intrigued wanting to know more? Did you automatically make any assumptions?
What are the three
questions you should ask yourself instead of assuming anything?
1) Are you thinking
emotionally or are you thinking rationally? Remember we are emotional creatures
and that's how we think at first.
2) What facts have
been presented to you?
3) Have you verified
the facts so you can think logically and clearly to make a good decision?
Remember to ask
yourself these three questions, so you "don't assume anything",
making snap judgments that can hurt someone else!
Madeline Frank,
Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, John Maxwell Team Member,
Certified World Class Speaking Coach, sought after speaker, business owner,
teacher, researcher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations
"Tune Up their Businesses". Her innovative observations show you the
blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. She writes
a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly article & Musical Tips
Blog" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio
Show". Her book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available
on Amazon or Kindle. Contact Madeline Frank for your next speaking engagement
at mfrankviola@gmail.com