“Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.”
— Shirley MacLaine
This story is contributed by Lori Holden.
My name is Lori. Today, I’ll share what may be the greatest life lesson in the history of humankind — spoken through the words of my Dad.
Want to have a richer life? Dad told us the secret early on…
“Draw a wider circle.”
A bit anticlimactic, you say? Well, few words can speak great volumes. Let me explain.
I grew up with two sisters. Sometimes we came home whining, “The other kids won’t play with me!” or “They’re leaving me out!” or “Nobody likes me!”
Dad would always respond simply…
“Draw a wider circle.”
Lori and her dad (both right) and family
He said it repeatedly, ad nauseum. Dad was big on aphorisms, but that’s another story.
He suspected that more often than not, we were actually excluding ourselves by making assumptions about others. He constantly reminded us that the other kids were scared of making new friends too, so we could choose to be the ones to approach them and join in on activities. Dad was determined to raise three confident and assertive young women. READ MORE