Is your life a bridge or barrier

One of the greatest motivational speakers to ever live was Zig Ziglar and one of his most profound saying which has stuck with me is, “you can get all you want in life if you’d just help enough people get what they want in life”. Mr. Ziglar is essentially saying, make your life a bridge for others to pursue and attain their God given dreams and fulfill their God given purposes. Mr. Ziglar’s quote does not emanate from a mere rhetorical dexterity but reveals an unassailable truth that - the secret to attaining success and significance in life is through lending a part of yourself for the actualization of someone else’s dreams. Dr. John Maxwell the world’s most celebrated leadership guru actually takes it a step further to say, everyday determine to add value to someone. In his book “Intentional Living” he outlines five key principles to living a fulfilled life and one of them is ensuring to add value to someone every day. He goes on to talk about his daily routine which involves asking himself at the end of each day “did I add value to anyone”, “did I add value to the people around me”? Both Dr. Maxwell and Zig Ziglar seems to be variously echoing John Quincy Adams who said “If your actions inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more you are a leader”

I am convinced the whole essence of life and the ubiquity of human existence lies in upholding each other and allowing our lives to be a bridge to others. The idea of letting your life be a bridge transcends every aspect of our daily living. If you are a leader in your organization, ask yourself this question, is my lifes a bridge or a barrier to my employees? If you are a politician, does the people you represent see your life as a bridge or barrier for advancing the good of the society, if you are a teacher does your students see your life as a bridge or barrier, to your friends and colleagues is your life a bridge or a barrier?

Everywhere you turn, all of us can ask ourselves the same question, is my life a bridge or a barrier to those around me and the world at large.

So allow me to penetrate your conscience with this question – Is your life a bridge or barrier to those around you?