One of the principles of NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) is that “You cannot not communicate.” In other words, we are constantly leaking information; every action, every choice of word, gesture, facial expression, posture, tone… all send messages, broadcasting our personality, our beliefs and values. In many ways, this creates self-fulfilling prophecies both because the world tends to take us for our unconscious self-appraisal and because we attract what we are: birds of a feather tend to flock together.
Jim Rohn (1930-2009) famously said “We are the sum total of the 5 people we spend the most time with.” While that number is not magical, we obviously have a choice in whom we associate, and it behooves us to choose wisely for those choices have a powerful impact on the quality of our lives. The second more subtle message is that we are part of someone else’s 5 and we have a responsibility to consider whether we are bringing our best selves to the interaction; does what we daily broadcast make our micro social environment better, healthier, more cheerful? Attitudes are contagious, is yours worth catching?
As the famous philosophers (aka The Beatles in ‘The End’) said “…the love you take is equal to the love you make”.
Closing Quotes:
“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.” – James Oppenheim
“I’m choosing happiness over suffering, I know I am. I’m making space for the unknown future to fill up my life with yet-to-come surprises.” – Elizabeth Gilbert
“Don’t stay in a bad situation, whether it is a relationship or a job, out of fear of failure. It’s not a failure to walk away and choose to be happy. It takes a lot of courage.” – Danielle Trussoni
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier
Note: Every effort has been made to properly source any 3rd person material. I am, however, a voracious reader. If anyone finds any unattributed material, pls let me know asap and I will be delighted to give credit where credit is due.
“All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832