Do Not Burn Bridges

A lot of people close the door to future opportunities simply because of how they parted ways with people in the past. Trust me, the same person you meet on your way out may be the one to provide help for you on your way in, so do not burn bridges. In your personal dealings with people, you have to understand that there is tomorrow. Even if you want to part ways with someone, mind how you do that, because of the future. You may not need them directly but you can use their recommendation, so be wise.

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No matter how powerful you are and how independent you have become, the fact still remains that you will still need people in order to move to the next phase of your life. In fact, humans are the bridges with which you move from where you are now to where you are going to. Everyone you meet at each phase of your life is for a reason, so value and respect them. The way you relate with people at the moment might influence the future. You have to learn how to be courteous with people. Apart from the fact that courtesy makes you a better person, it also places opportunities to you. You will be surprised how many opportunities people have lost simply because they treated people with lack of courtesy and they burnt that bridge.

One of the truths you need to know is that every human can also be blunt with the way they talk to others, they can also be direct and may even be straitjacketed. But another truth is that you need to employ courtesy, diplomacy, and even emotional intelligence, mixed with sensitivity, so as to know what to say and how to say it. The person you want to be rude to today might be your destiny helper tomorrow. Some people have used their mouth and their actions to pursue their potential helpers and they are complaining that no one wants to help them, but they are the ones scaring them away.

Story was told of a young lady that was going for an interview in the morning, well-dressed. She boarded a mini bus going to the destination. On the way, it started to drizzle and increased a bit heavily. They passed by a man standing under the drizzle and he waved them down, so he can enter the bus. When the driver stopped, the man was about to enter when the lady talked rudely to him. Even to shift for him to seat was a problem. She rudely told him not to allow his wet body to touch her before he wets her own clothes. As a matter of fact, it was as if the lady had issues with him before then because of how she kept complaining about the man entering the bus with wet clothes.

When they got to the destination, by then the rain has stopped and the man's wet clothes had dried on him, they alighted from the bus. Surprisingly, both of them were going to the same place. It became more surprising that they both entered the same company. Well, the lady thought that he also came for the same interview. Of course, a lot of people came for it because they pay really well. Little did she know that the man she actually talked rudely to was, in fact, the CEO of the company. His car broke down on the road and he could not reach his driver to bring a replacement for him, so he decided to board a commercial transport before the drizzling began and soaked him.

When the lady saw the same man in the interview panel, she automatically knew that she stood no chance for the job because she had already burnt that bridge. She came so close to securing the job; Imagine, she even sat close to the person she needed the most at the moment, yet she blew away the opportunity. If she had related with the man nicely, it may have given her a pass to the job. Well, she learnt her lessons, but only in a really hard way. The people we meet have specific purposes they can serve which you may not even be aware of. If you have this consciousness, you will treat people fairly.

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If you know the importance of people, you will learn to value people. The person may not look like it today, but you should not underrate anyone. Even someone that was regarded as "the stone which the builders rejected" today, by tomorrow, the same person can become "the chief corner" stone as cited from the Holy Book.

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