A Tale of Two People
I'll admit, despite the fact that I do genuinely love my job, there are still days where I feel "off" a bit. This could be due to any excuse ranging from a poor night's sleep, to having an enormous To-Do list for the day, or maybe the fact that, as a self-proclaimed introvert, sometimes I simply become exhausted from spending the entirety of my afternoons and evenings surrounded by people, blaring music, weights crashing, and questions thrown my way every few seconds.
However, I've found that the scary thing is, you never know how you may permanently impact someone - whether for good or for bad - by a simple "off the cuff" statement directed their way. And you need to be especially considerate of this during those hours that you're particularly tired, edgy, when your patience has worn thin.
One of my favorite short stories - to remind me that you just never know, and to always be cognizant of how you treat other people despite your external circumstances - is A Tale of Two People by Alwyn Cosgrove. For those of you who haven't read it, I hope it impacts you as much as it did me.