As my students and I were watching a John Maxwell video yesterday, he quoted this poem which hit me between the eyes. I’m asking myself: do I intentionally lift or do I lean.
Now, admittedly, we all lean sometimes. That is the nature of being human. However, lifting, as Maxwell says, is intentional. You have to decide to lift up others.
Which Are You?
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
There are two kinds of people on earth today;
Just two kinds of people, no more I say,
Not the sinner and saint, for it’s well understood,
That the good are half-bad and the bad half-good.
Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man’s wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life’s little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.
Wherever you go, you will find the earth’s masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find too, I wean,
There’s only one lifter to twenty who lean.
So, today, as we ponder excellence yet again, let’s ask ourselves: do we lift or do we lean?
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