The power of a side comment made to me:
When I was in my 20’s, I was at a friend’s house, finishing a glass of water. I was just about to rinse out the glass at the sink when my friend’s mother said, “I don’t understand why people rinse a glass without scrubbing the rim of the glass. Rinsing the inside of the glass doesn’t clean the dirtiest part where the lips touched the glass.”
Woa, how did she know I was just going to swish out the inside of the glass without scrubbing the rim?
From that day on, I always clean the rim with care.
My friend’s mother died recently. Yet, that side comment she made that day completely changed the way I wash dishes today.
OK, I know. The way I wash dishes is not close to finding the cure for cancer. Yet, it did change a lifelong habit in my life.
My point is, a small comment can be remembered and change someone’s life, in big or small ways. I am sure she had no idea I would remember it to this day, and that everytime I wash a glass, I think of her.
I wonder if I ever said anything that changed anyone? I hope it was positive.
You never know the power of your words.