Episode 669 - Self Aware

In this week's episode, Phil shares his experiences at the world's busiest airport, where a regular day of travel reveals how our society has changed. From people glued to their phones blocking walkways to someone holding up an ATM line without caring who's waiting, Phil explores how we've drifted from common courtesy to self-absorption. He poses the vital question: When did we stop seeing each other? Using these real moments at the airport, he shares a hopeful challenge that could help bring back simple kindness in our daily lives.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Top performers in every field surround themselves with those who inspire them, who seek to build them up, and who push them to reach beyond their current limits. I'm Phil Buchanan, Executive Chairman of Cannon Financial Institute. I designed Monday Morning Mojo to provide you with a weekly spark, a push, and motivational insight to live your best life.

Thanks for joining. Good Monday morning. It is Phil here with episode 669 of Monday Morning Mojo. I've been up in the air a lot in recent weeks with my good friends at Delta Airlines. And if it's Delta Airlines and it's the southeast, that means Hartsville Jackson Airport, the busiest airport in the world.

Now, having flown from there extensively for 35 plus years, I can usually navigate it pretty [00:01:00] well. But last week, the trains connecting you from the terminals to baggage claim were out. So everyone was walking. Now, there are moving sidewalks that help a bit, but it's still a pretty decent walk. I actually like to walk, but that walk, already a challenge due to the volume of travelers, was made much worse by people walking slowly while texting and doing video calls with someone from their phone.

And this wasn't just one person. It was numerous individuals. Now, the first couple of times this happened, I was curious if it's so important for you to text someone or to do a FaceTime call with someone, why not step to the side, stop, get your message done. Certainly that would be a quicker manner to do it and then get back towards baggage claim.

But this occurred time and time again, not only on the moving sidewalks, but on the concourses as well. [00:02:00] None of these individuals seemed to be aware of Or to care that they were impeding numerous others who were simply trying to get to their destinations. Now, later that day, while waiting for colleagues to arrive by a different flight, I watched another individual monopolize an ATM for 15 minutes.

Now, to the three people waiting behind her, she yelled, You're just going to have to wait. My bank screwed up my deposit and it hasn't shown up yet. I don't know if she thought it was going to show up immediately. I don't know what was going on. But rather than stepping back and letting others transact their business, this individual just monopolized the machine with seemingly no regrets.

This calls me to question, when did we begin to lose sight of others and become, I guess, so self absorbed in our own world? For me, it's a rhetorical question. I'm [00:03:00] sure that there are social scientists out there that have an informed opinion. But regardless, the lack of demonstrated self awareness is not a good trend.

Neither is the surprised look on someone's face when what was once a common courtesy, i. e. holding a door for another, Last night, when I was leaving the convenience store, I held the door for two guys who were walking towards the entrance. One of the guys gave me a curious look, while the other fellow said, Wow, thank you.

Now, to me, it's an act that's been ingrained by my parents and grandparents for years. They taught me common courtesy. Now, I can and I should do more common courtesies. I shouldn't let little things become big things. I should attempt to be even more self aware. Now, none of us are perfect. Certainly not me.

We can all [00:04:00] pursue the art of perfection with intentionality. When my girls were little, they watched a cartoon show named Barney. It's a show about a purple dinosaur that teaches great life lessons. Barney's comment was, Please and thank you. They are the magic words. He was right. Of course, actions can be magic too.

This week, I want to challenge all of us to find ways where we can recognize and praise others who we observe doing good things. Tell the clerk that you appreciate their positivity. Thank the cleaning crew at your office. If you see someone go out of their way to be helpful, tell them that you admire their actions.

When we are the examples of what humanity should be, Others may notice. And when we identify and praise the positive actions of [00:05:00] others, we affirm in them, the goodness of their efforts in both instances, it'll likely cause repeated positive behaviors. Monday Morning Mojo is a production of Cannon Financial Institute, executive producer of Monday Morning Mojo.

is Sarah Jones, managing producer of Monday Morning Mojo is McCall Chamberlain. Editing and mixing is done by Danny Brunner. Until next time, I'm Phil Buchanan reminding you to be a force for good. Have a great week and thanks for being part of the Mojo community.