#Microblog Monday 240: Mother Teresa
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I get the Rose-Coloured Roundup, and she ended the newsletter last week with a quote from Mother Teresa: “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
I am guessing that was true for Mother Teresa — people interacted with her and felt happier after the interaction. I mean, she was Mother Teresa. I don’t know if that was true 100% of the time for all people, but there are people who fill others with awe (and subsequently make people feel happy to experience that awe), and Mother Teresa was one of those people.
Whereas the rest of us are not Mother Teresa, and, unfortunately, I know I sometimes must make people unhappy. It’s an interesting quote, and definitely something to strive for, but perhaps not achievable in the sense that people don’t have a lot of sympathy and understanding when they’re not getting what they want. Myself included. I can think of a lot of people I’ve interacted with this week who have definitely not left me feeling happy.
What are your thoughts?
P.S. Spreading love is the opposite of April Fool’s Day. April Fool’s Day… yuck.
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9 comments
It’s a nice sentiment in that it says, “spread sunshine and not sh!t.” However, taken to the extreme, it can mean not having healthy boundaries. I’m not a fan of “make everyone else happy at your own expense.”
P.S. I adore you, and that’s not an April Fool’s joke!
The second half of that quote is tough. Like you, i thought about my last week and I know that some people did not leave feeling happier after they came to me. We can try to be as kind as we can, as gentle as we can but we cannot control their emotions.
also, I hope no one posts fake pregnancy announcements as April Fool’s Day.
I have a friend who always leaves me feeling better. She’s one of those people who makes you feel she’s thrilled to see you, is interested in you or appreciates your interest in her, and leaves me feeling happy I’ve seen her. It’s a gift. I try to be like her, but I’m human, so I can’t always.
But I agree – we can’t or shouldn’t try to do that at the expense of our own well-being.
I would say the quote is a bit flawed, in that, you may show all the love you can but ultimately you have no control over how other people feel in your presence… (and actually… if you tried to assume control or responsibility for how other people feel, then you’d be a pretty unhappy person… )
but I suspect that this sentiment is really meaning something more along the lines of showing compassion to all people, acknowledging their plight and shared humanity, and always having that kind view in mind in every interaction you have with others… and I think that would be a good thing to try out…
I hate April Fools. It’s a cruel, dumb day.
I definitely don’t feel like Mother Teresa. I don’t know of anyone else ever that was even close to being her. She was extraordinary.
I like what Inexplicably said… You can try to make people happy but you don’t have control over how they feel. And sometimes to help someone you have to be okay with them not being happy in the short term (thinking on my day of teaching here…). I do like the idea of spreading love though! And I love me harmless April fool’s day pranks, but it can be just mean spirited, and that I don’t like.
I wonder what the context of the quote is. I definitely don’t leave all/most people feeling happier and some people don’t leave me happier. I can get behind the first part of the quote though. I’m taking baby steps into leading with my heart instead of my brain, and that essentially what it says…I think anyway.
I don’t know if “happier” is the right word. I do think that it’s all of our jobs to lighten each other’s loads– physical, emotional. I’ve seen people comment that you can’t control other people’s emotions or reactions… True, but if you really feel empathy and selfless concern, sometimes just by listening, there’s no way that can’t have a positive impact on them.
unrelated, but I am truly enjoying Microblog Mondays. I have gotten the chance to read and discover many great posts/blogs. This is great!