According to John C. Maxwell there are three roads that we can take in life:
The low road – where we treat people worse than they treat us
The middle road – where we treat people the same as they treat us
The high road – where we treat people better than they treat us
There aren’t many people who would admit to taking the low road, but I’m sure that many would admit to taking the middle road, treating people the same as they treat us. While there is good reason for this, I would advocate always taking the high road.
You see, taking the middle road suggests that we change our response according to how people treat us. If someone treats us poorly, we treat them poorly. If someone treats us well, we treat them well. If most people do this, then we end up with a society where all we do is respond, rather than making a positive impact.
What if the person who treated us poorly was having a bad day? We’ve just made it worse.
The true test of character and maturity is to always treat other better than they treat you. That may seem like a strange way of thinking, but you’ll be amazed by the positive impact this can create.
Instead of people taking advantage of your generosity, they will instead treat you better than expected. Instead of anticipating negative interactions with others, if you begin to assume positive interactions then your expectations will be matched.
In the gospels, Jesus teaches us how to take the high road on a daily basis. That’s good enough for me.
See you on the high road!
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