“Watching You,” by Rodney Atkins

This video inspires me, especially the part when the son prays.  It makes me want to be a good dad, when I am one, and it reminds me that whether we like it or not, someone is always watching us.  Knowing that people are paying attention to what we do and say should not worry us, rather it should encourage us to be the very best we can at all times.

Many people are role models for others, especially people like parents, ecclesiastical leaders, and career mentors, even though they might not choose to be.  I hope we can all do our best to be our best selves in a way that inspires others to be their best.  We shouldn’t do it to look good in front of others but simply because we want to be our best, and people who happen to watch us will want to be better themselves.

What do you think?

***Here’s a brief summary of a story told at a recent BYU devotional that illustrates how knowing someone is watching you can inspire you to be better:

“Brooks told a story of how he was carrying around a BYU briefcase temporarily after his own broke, yet he’s Roman Catholic. He claimed it was changing his personality, because he wanted to live up to the LDS reputation. He didn’t want someone to see him acting like a jerk at the airport and have that give the Mormons a bad name. It was making his life better, and things were going really well for him, and the service for which the LDS have become “justifiably famous” was making him better.”

You can hear the story and whole talk here.