Good People

This morning, I had a conversation that elevated my entire day.

I’d received a message from a parent, whose 5-year-old had been missing classes. I knew what that likely meant. A little apprehensive, I returned the call.

The conversation that ensued lasted less than 10 minutes, time enough to calm my nerves, turn self-doubt into validation, and leave me feeling inspired, supported, and grateful. This is the power of a good conversation with a good man.

As I expected, his child would be stopping Aikido practice for a while. It’s a long day for a 5-year-old, and he needs to give the kid some down time. He very respectfully asked me if this would be all right. They’d like to resume at the end of summer.

Of course, I told him. We’ll simply not renew his membership for April. All of his information, like attendance and belts earned, is saved in our system and can be reactivated at any time. Since he asked, I told him when most students return in August.

He could have left it at that.

He could easily have settled this by voicemail or text. But he went on to tell me how much he and his family loved the way I teach, how they’ve seen such progress in their child, and how much the boy loves Aikido.

He asked if I’d send him a notice when it was time to enroll for August. I will put it on my calendar, I said. He even offered specific help finding a satellite location, since we’ve thought about offering some classes farther south.

Maybe the boy really will resume classes in August; maybe he won’t. Certainly his intention is sincere. For the moment, I’ve lost a student - recurring revenue that the dojo sorely needs. Yet now, I feel capable and confident. I feel like my work is valuable.

When I feel valued, I want to do something worthy of that person's esteem.

That is the power that good people have. A good person meets you with sincerity and interest, and lets you know that you are valued. A good person makes you want to be good, too. In their eyes, you already are!

I feel lucky to encounter such good people in my life. I am very fortunate, yet I also helped to create good people in my life. Before this morning's conversation, I didn't know the value I had created. I saw a student trailing off, unfortunate but it does happen... I focused on doing my work. Yet that work had already built a positive experience for someone, which he reflected back to me in kindness and respect.

Throw a stone into still water, and the ripples from that one act will eventually reflect back and interact with each other. We cannot know how far the ripples of our actions extend, and how they will be reflected back to us. So be good! Meet people with sincerity and interest. Let them know they are valued.

You will build good people in the process.

Closing thoughts, credit: lunarbaboon.com