the power of 'I'

I have come to the frightening conclusion

that I am the decisive element.

It is my personal approach that creates the climate.

It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

.....

I possess tremendous power

to make life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or

an instrument of inspiration;

I can humiliate or humor,

hurt or heal.

.....

In all situations, it is my response that decides

whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated,

and

a person is humanized or de-humanized.

......

If we treat people as they are,

we make them worse.

If we treat people as they ought to be,

we help them become

what they are capable of becoming.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe