Cherish #553

It’s a great name for a band but horrible way to live. This is message 553 and day 20 in the New Year Resolution Challenge and this message is dedicated to one of the good ones Bern Bertsche. It is a wise aphorism that bad company corrupts good morals. Bad company is a a great name for a rock and roll band but an awful life choice. Jim Rohn use to say a person is the average of the five people they spend the most time with. Who do you spend the most time with? You know you don’t have to actually be physically in person to spend time with people. I’m not talking about Zoom calls. You don’t have to have ever met a person or even know them to spend time with them. You can spend time with anyone in your mind. Seneca said, ‘Cherish some man of high character, and keep him always in mind, living as if he were watching you, and ordering all your actions as if he saw them.’ I have people I am with everyday. They are nearly always with me. But I haven’t seen them in person for months or years. I’ve mentioned my Hero Wall before. I have pictures pinned in my closet of people I cherish. They speak to me. One of them always tells me to be more gentle. Another encourages me to remain consistent. I can’t actually hear them of course. It’s their character that is a daily influence. I saw an article on a research study that showed who people worked near impacted performance. Sitting close to a high performer improved performance by 15%. Sitting close to a low performer decreased performance by 30%. Remember that Sunday School story about the person standing on a folding chair? Someone else had to stand on the ground and try to lift them up. It was impossible. But if the person on the ground tried to pull the person off the chair, it was a piece of cake. So, do whatever you must to be close to good people. Proximity is power, and that power works both ways. Surround yourself with positivity, and watch as it transforms your life!