Am I the only one missing the experience of civility and politeness in everyday life?
Civility … does anyone even know what that means?
To refresh, civility comes from the Latin for citizen and means civilized conduct or polite act or expression. The definition implies that it is the responsibility of all citizens to act in this manner.
So, the practice of civility involves demonstrating basic respect for one another. It involves listening for understanding. Maybe you won’t agree, but at least this disagreement will be based on understanding each others viewpoints. Civility never involves name calling.
Seen much of this lately?
I grow weary of all the angry voices. This anger appears to have gone viral – certainly anger (and perhaps its root cause fear) has spread throughout all forms of media. And hostility is becoming more prevalent in the workplace, government, schools, along with both secular and religious institutions.
Have you had enough of the anger?
Here’s the thing. You can’t make others change, but you can change yourself. You can resolve to not buy into this prevalent hateful behavior.
You might be interested in learning about the newly formed (but unincorporated) Civility Corps. The mission of the Civility Corps is as follows:
Members will strive to the best of their ability to:
- Be encouragers of others.
- Refrain from name calling when confronted by those with whom we disagree. We will recall the wise words of Coach John Wooden: “ We can disagree but we don’t need to be disagreeable.”
- Stand up to bullies with courage and civility.
- Live by the Golden Rule (Treat others as you wish to be treated.)
- Share joy rather than hate.
All are invited to join the Corps. Membership is free with automatic free renewal. There are no meetings because corps members are too busy being civil.
Here’s how to join:
- Agree to follow the Mission of the Civility Corps.
- Email the Interim Director at Linda@Beginwithjoy.com to request your official, suitable for framing and highly coveted Certificate of Membership.
- Share this membership offer with others.
Sustainable change happens one step, one action at a time.
I encourage you to live your unique and precious life from a place of joy and love rather than from a pit of anger and fear. Light your world with civility.
