Election Day Reflections

by Mark Timm, CEO Ziglar Family

It’s Election Day, in the USA… finally!

To state the obvious, this election season has been rough.  It’s been draining for folks on all sides of the issues, and it’s sadly had some damaging effects on relationships – between friends, family members, and even husbands and wives. 

I’d like to share with you some wisdom from Zig Ziglar that I recently came across.  He said,

“Relationships are enormously important…I talk with a lot of counselors…they tell me that almost 100% of all the counseling they do is because of relationship difficulties:  husband/wife, parent/child, teacher/student, employer/employee, neighbor/neighbor, and sibling/sibling. 

What is the basic problem? 

Well, in the last 30 years we have become Hooray for me, to heck with you.  I’m going to win through intimidation; I’m going to look out for number one, and I’m going to do it right now.

I’ve just described a completely miserable human being. You will never see a happy self-centered person.  They just don’t exist.” 

You see, the parent that doesn’t teach the child to say thank you is eliminating the building block of gratitude.

You can count on it; if the parent hasn’t taught the child to say thank you when somebody says something nice about them or to them, or does something nice for them, without that gratitude building block you will have an ungrateful child.

Today I’d like to suggest that we all stop for a moment and really take a look at our own role in relationships, particularly those with our family, and consider these questions:

  • Do I show my family members how important they are to me?
  • Do I model an attitude of gratitude and unselfishness for my children to imitate?
  • Do my words and actions show that I care for others and not just myself?
  • How do I show grace when family members fall short of my expectations?
  • Does the way I spend my time reflect my priorities?
  • Do I handle disagreements in a healthy, mature way?
  • Do I have boundaries in place to protect my family time and values?

If you’re uncomfortable with some of your answers, make today a personal election day by electing to bring about some positive changes in your family relationships.

You don’t have to tackle everything at once: pick an area that you know could use some work, and take one small step toward self-improvement.  Zig Ziglar said, “If we don’t start, it’s certain we can’t arrive.” 

Today is a great day to start!

Question:  Do you know one person who would really appreciate receiving a gesture of gratitude or appreciation from you today?  Take five minutes to reach out!

2018-09-19T12:35:35+00:00

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