02/23/2026
People are watching.
Not just children — everyone.
Donna shares a simple story that turns into a meaningful reflection on responsibility, kindness, and the energy we bring into the world.
This one really makes you pause.
People are watching
February 18, 2026
I heard the cutest story the other day from my sister about a little 3 year old girl. The little girl’s parents bought a children’s bible for her and had been reading her stories. She was eating some cut up pieces of apple. Her dad asked her what she was eating. She answered, ”The forbidden fruit.” My sister and I had a good laugh about her response. Then I started thinking in greater depth about it. Children listen to and observe their surroundings. The thing is though, we never know what it is that makes an impact that they hear, absorb, retain, and then act out themselves.
There is a song, “Watching You” by Rodney Atkins. It tells a story about a son listening, hearing, watching, absorbing, and retaining things his dad said and did. Later he acted it out.
It is a song about a dad driving with his 4 year old son in the car. He is eating his happy meal when his Dad slams on the brakes. His french fries fly all over and his orange drink is all over his lap. As the song goes, the little boy says a four letter word that starts with an S. The dad says “ son where did you learn to talk like that?”
The young boy says “I’ve been watching you dad. Ain’t that cool? I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you and eat all my food and grow as tall as you are. We got cowboy boots and camo pants yeah, we’re just alike. Hey ain’t we dad? I wanna do everything you do. So I’ve been watching you.
Later that day the dad witnessed his son get down on his knees to pray at bedtime. He says, “son where did you learn to pray like that?” The same verse is repeated, I’ve been watching you dad ain’t that cool etc.
I think we all can agree that children are impressionable. We understand we need to be mindful of what we say and how we behave in their presence. What about how we talk and behave around adolescents and adults, our peers and families? No matter what age, people are watching us, observing, absorbing, and witnessing us. I wonder what we would think about some of the things we say and some of our behaviors if we could step back and view ourselves as an observer.
Presently, we are living in a time where people are more divided than ever. There are strong beliefs, opinions, and attitudes. Finding the truth can be a challenge. I have been thinking about what each of us can do to bring about some positive change. Creating harmony. Creating love, joy and happiness. Creating understanding, gratitude and patience. Honestly, it all starts from within. Do you think if we can all practice these virtues it is possible to bring about positive change to our world? People are watching us.
I am just suggesting, rather than looking outside of ourselves, taking everyone else’s inventory, pointing out their shortcomings, perhaps we need to take a look at how we are. How do we want to show up in the world? Are we contributing to peace, harmony, love, and joy? Or are we contributing to hate, chaos, and controversy. What behaviors are we willing to change to create the world we want to live in? People are watching us.
We will never live in a world where we will all agree. For me I am working on tolerance and understanding for people that do not share my opinions, values, and beliefs. I want to be an example of kindness, harmony, forgiveness, giving people grace, making space for differences of opinion. There was a challenge recently on Facebook. The challenge was for 1 week to not speak anything negative and not have negative thoughts. I know this is a lot to ask of myself. I know there will be many times that I fail. But it’s a place for me to start in attempting to make a difference in the energy I bring to the world.
I wish it were as simple as everyone pausing, taking a deep breath, and pushing a reset button to get us all living in harmony, love, peace, and happiness.
Remember in terms of our own inner peace, it is not important what is happening around us, but how WE ARE about what is happening around us is very important. The anger, angst, stress, and anxiety we feel over things happening is detrimental to our own health and well-being. We can make changes in ourselves, but when we focus on changing other people, I believe most of the time we will lose that battle.
So just as children are watching us and learning from us, so are others. What is it we want to portray? How are we going to be the teacher to create love, harmony, and peace? I believe our behavior, what we speak, and our tone when we speak will make a difference.
Go be the light in the flow,
Donna
