90. Understand That When You Are Looking at the World, It’s a Reflection of You.

The world is a reflection of you.

If you're happy and think people are good, then they are.

If you think people are bad, then they are. If you're negative, the world will be.

If you smile and walk with confidence, then the world will respond.

The world is a reflection (sometimes a merciless one) of you.

There’s a story that I’ll tell you. It sounds a bit cliché, but I find it to be true. I’m paraphrasing, so bear with me. Here it is:

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There was a traveler who was about to enter into a city. He came upon a farmer working the field, and asked:

“Can you tell me what kind of people are in the city? ”

The farmer stops his work, tilts his head to the side and asks: “What kind of people were at the last city?”

The traveler answer, “They are mean, and nasty. They’d cheat you and not think twice about it.”

The farmer hangs his head and says, “Well, I’m sorry but you’ll find the same kind of people in this city.”

The next day, another traveler comes through and asks the same question.

The farmer asks again, “What kind of people were in the last city?”

This traveler says, “Oh, the best. They are good-hearted, and they strive to help others.”

The farmer smiles and says, “I’m happy to tell you that you’ll find the same kind of people in this city.”

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If your environment is messy and disorganized, then you are messy and disorganized.

If you are kind and loving, then you’ll see it everywhere you go. It happens in everyone. If you’re a cynic and think of the world as a place with so many vile and evil people, then that’s exactly what you’re going to see. You’ll also see good when you think of the world as the loving, wonderful miracle that it is too. 

The Advice in Practice:

• If you think that people aren’t friendly, then there’s a good chance that you’re not making enough of an effort to be friendly. Be the kind of friend that you want.
• Try to develop the habit of seeing the best in others. Every. Single. Person. Whatever you look for, you’ll find. One way of doing this is to make it a part of your daily affirmations in your miracle morning. Tell yourself, with emotion, “I see the best in everyone.” Repeat it often!
• Find people giving great service in your everyday life, and let them know it—and more importantly, let their manager know about it. The more you seek that, the more you’ll find it. I wrote all about that in the chapter, “Don’t Keep Compliments and Gratitude to Yourself.”
• Look at yourself in the mirror. Really. Look into the eyes of that person. Do you see a cynic? Do you see someone that’s complaining? Or bitter? Or do you see yourself as optimistic? As friendly? As a GOOD-HEARTED PERSON? Be honest. Do you need to work on this?
• Try the ten-day “No-Complaint” diet. For the next ten days, you don’t complain. If you do, then the timer starts over, and you go another ten days with no complaints. If you’re a complainer, you’ll always find things that are wrong with the world. You need to quit that, and rather than complain, practice active appreciation.

I appreciate you, my darlings, and I see some pretty amazing people staring back at me.