My Coaching Books

I had an experience the other day that kind of shook me up. I shared a couple of opinions on someone’s Facebook post and got blasted by a bunch of people I don’t know. Normally I don’t particularly care about other people’s opinions, but for whatever reason it was different this time. Actually, I don’t think it’s because I cared about their opinions, but rather because I couldn’t handle their closed-mindedness and the hate they were giving off.  

My wife has always advocated the “be the change you want to see in the world, but don’t shake things up” attitude. My son is the opposite: believing very strongly that if you have something to say you say it – and pay no attention to the haters. In principle I agree with him; in reality I think I’m starting to adopt the attitude of my wife. Maybe my skin is getting thinner with age.

At any rate, I’ve heard a lot about the persecution people suffer when they stand up for what they believe is right. I understood it in theory, but I finally got a very little taste of it the other day. This little taste stayed with me in a big way for couple days now, and I can’t imagine being someone on the front line of it every day.

For these people I have the greatest respect, and I wish I had their strength of character. And maybe I’ll build up to that. But in the meantime I think I’ll try to be the change I wish to see in the world without shaking it up too much with others. My son would call that cowardly; my wife would call it wise. I guess I’ll have to find my own way