What Example Am I Setting?

It's been a strange half year. The trust in my instinct has become stronger. We all know that voice that tells us that something is not quite right or how someone's outward behaviour is incongruent with their actions. It's all good though right? It's about how we choose to percieve events that will either put a smile on our faces or a frown. To quote Galileo Galilei "I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." We have teachers all around us, for better or worse, whether they know it or not. They're the person that says 'Thank You" or the person who jumps a queue. We can learn from them all.
Which means, of course, that we are teachers for those who look or come in to contact with us. So this includes everyone. So we should ask ourselves "What example am I setting?". Especiall to the impressionable, children. I was watching a video recently which showed fourth greaders reaction to a wonderful documentary called Unbeaten. When you see how socially aware they are it made me think. I'm a father myself of two wonderful children and as any parent knows, they're little recorders. They'll repeat what they hear, they copy what you do, they'll follow your lead. So what about other people that look to you for an example?
It came to mind as my friend, Lisa Molina in the states posted an entry about ethics in network marketing. A friend of hers coyly asked her to review an opportunity they were thinking of joining. Long story short, the person had already joined and hoped to sway Lisa as she watched the promotional video and it put her on the auto-responder list as someone who had signed in. Check the link for the full story. So what kind of person does this? Who taught them how to do it? And why would they, in all good conscience, do it? At best, it deiplays a lack on that persons part. You can fill in what you may think that lack is.
So remember how good it feels to be good, remember how good it feels to be the good example, not for you to lord it over someone but for its own sake. As Shakespeare wrote for Jacques in As You Like It:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
Have a wonderful day and shine, be the beacon that you know that you are and feel the joy that comes from it.