It is scary but it’s true
I am in charge of the world

With every action and reaction
I am the decider of my days

My own attitude
my own thoughts
set the tone and
make the mood

It is not the news
the traffic
or the weather
It is not the people in my house
the people on the street
not the cops or the criminals
the butcher or the bartender
the televangelist or the terrorist
the dentist or the democrat
the co-worker or the construction crew
the priest or the president
the media or the masses

It does not matter
who holds up traffic
who holds the remote control
who holds the purse strings
who holds all the cards
who holds an office

Because I hold the key
I have all of the power

I am in charge of my world
every action and reaction
I am the decider of my days

With every human interaction
I choose my action and reaction
And by my choice
I can help people
to feel miserable
or joyful
To feel loved
or alone
To feel appreciated
or ignored

I choose my action and reaction
And by my choice
I can set expectations,
Coax, criticize, seek control,
Or I can practice acceptance,
allow things to be as they are,
offer encouragement and assistance.

I choose my action and reaction
And by my choice
I can become an instrument of inspiration
or a tool of torture
a reminder of happiness and hope
or a harbinger of doom and gloom

I choose my action and reaction
And by my choice
In all situations
Each and every situation
I can allow a moment to explode
or decompress,
I can allow a crisis to escalate
or de-escalate.

I choose my action and reaction
And by my choice
I can fully humanize
every single person
I come in contact with
every single person
I see
in real life
on television
on the internet
I can choose to find the human
the humanity
the humanness
the oneness
the sameness
In every single person
To treat every single person
with human kindness human decency human dignity
or I can choose to patronize
ostracize
marginalize
even bestialize them
to see them as
some sort of other,
to make them somehow
less than human
to make them
somehow
less than me.

Each choice
each decision
each interaction
minute by minute
person by person
day by day
piles on top of the one before
to build the story

I make the news
I make the traffic
and the weather
My own attitude
My own thoughts
Piling up to
set the tone and
make the mood

I am the decider of my days
with every action and reaction

I am in charge of the world
It’s scary but it is true.
*******************************

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This post was directly inspired by the following Haim Ginott quote about teachers.

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.”