What I'm Thinking When I See You

Tomorrow I will walk into school after an absence of 4 days. A friend of mine will probably be one of the first in my classroom after I arrive, seeking a cup of coffee and good conversation. He will ask about my weekend, I'll respond, we'll talk, we'll laugh, and we'll wish each other well for the day. He will be a welcome guest.

Soon after, I will likely face an unwelcome guest. An administrator perhaps, or a student. Some well-meaning individual will walk in with a problem of some sort, seeking my input or looking for me to do something about whatever it is they are coming in for. They will walk in and disrupt my rhythm, my rush to prepare for 1st hour. They will expect to interrupt me, and they will succeed. I will resent them, most likely.

Later in the day I'll see another friend who will make me laugh. We'll share an inside joke, exchange weekend details, and move on in our day. A student who I don't teach will invariably walk past my room, looking for nothing more than a greeting and a quick smile. They will say something humorous, and I'll respond in kind. They will validate my existence as an instructor, my value to students and humankind in general. I will like seeing them.

I will check my email accounts several times throughout the day. Parents will want answers. Co-workers and bosses will demand my presence at meetings or my reaction or two cents. Friends and family may chime in - a picture of my new niece, perhaps; a request for my presence at an event; a humorous story retold; an interesting article shared; a favor requested.

My day tomorrow will move along with various people exactly like those mentioned above moving in and out of my bubble of consciousness. And if I'm not careful, if I merely behave as I usually do, I'll view each of these people in through the exact lens through which they are described above: How will you affect my day? Are you going to make my day better or worse? Easier or more difficult? More fun or more work? In what way might you benefit or cause harm to me?

Every day I will run across hundreds of people. I will make hundreds of decisions about how to interact with them. And for all of them, I will have some sort of effect on their day. I will improve or harm their time, make them better or worse, help or hinder. Some will choose to come in contact with me, others I will seek out, still others will stumble across me by mere chance. But tomorrow there will be hundreds. And for the next day. And the next. And the next.

If I view all encounters through the lens of their possible effect on myself, the percentage of people I send away better will be much smaller. And every encounter will produce a ripple effect. The point I'm trying to make here is that before I ever do anything or behave in any manner with someone else, I come to that interaction with a mindset. That mindset, more than the actions themselves, will mean something to likely thousands of people this week. Whether I want to or not, I will affect them. And so will you.

How will you view your thousands this week?