The Influence of a Good Teacher

Day 47

Affirmation:

I see the best in myself and others.

I offer encouraging, uplifting, and supportive comments to myself and others.

I promote others and myself with compliments and positive reinforcement.

I am a teacher to myself and others, and will be remembered as one who made a positive difference.

---

Criticism divides and disempowers; compliments promote confidence.  When we think of someone who has made a positive difference in our lives, whose influence positively directed or shaped us, we tend to think of those who were complimentary toward us.  That one special teacher who made a difference in your life was probably the one who pointed out your excellence, your ability, your gift, your special talent, or your potential.  It was the teacher who complimented you, made you feel good about yourself, and left you feeling that you were competent, good at something.   Those we remember making a positive difference in our lives are rarely those who criticized, pointed out our flaws or mistakes, or made us feel incapable.

When we talk to ourselves we want to be our own champion, complimenting and promoting, not criticizing or judging.  When we talk to others, we want to be their champion too.  We don’t want to point out their imperfections, their lapses in judgment, their shortcomings or errors.  We want to point out their talents, encourage their dreams, and help them see beyond their faults to their potential.

We are all teachers in this world, to ourselves and to others, adults and children alike.  Let’s be the best teachers we can be.  Let’s be the teacher who is remembered as making a positive difference in a life, including our own.