I have noticed, wherever I am, I play a role in the cultural norms there. When I open a door for someone I don’t know, the person behind me and observing me from across the room, tends to do the same. It becomes an accepted cultural norm.

When you smile and are gracious, others around you tend to get with the same program. When you show a giving spirit around you, people tend to (or want to) return the favor. With every round of actions and reactions, you are helping to nurture and create the “culture” we call our world.

Think about the “culture” where drug dealing is not only allowed, but in some cases even heralded and accepted as a cultural norm. There is nothing wrong with the people in that community, they have simply been over-run by what I call “thug culture.”

What kind of culture are you creating in your home, on your street, in your classroom or at your place of business, or church, or even when you are out shopping for groceries in the local market? You have powers that even you are not fully aware of.

As someone once said, “watch how you live your life, it may be the only Bible that anyone else reads.”

– Posted by John Hope Bryant

John Hope Bryant is the founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE and Bryant Group Companies, Inc., author of bestselling business book LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass), and member of the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability

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