Good Manners

Available for over a year

Good morning! It is said that good manners will open doors that the best education cannot. I remember my childhood days in Malawi when I would go to my father’s spices and groceries shop at the weekends. I saw his good manners towards his staff and customers. Not surprisingly, his business did rather well. The local newspaper even did a story on it. We have the newspaper cutting which shows my beaming mother displaying her spices and my late father proudly looking on. I love it when people bring good manners to the workplace. The other day a colleague of mine was getting up to make a cup of tea. She asked if I would also like one and I gratefully accepted her offer. I believe such manners work wonders for team bonding and boosts morale. We spend a considerable amount of time at work and it’s always nice to experience good manners. I try my best to display good manners and when I struggle, especially when I’m angry or unhappy about something someone has done, or not done, I remind myself that people are not automated machines programmed to always display good manners - I too have my own shortcomings. What’s important is that I treat everyone well. I’m inspired to do this by the golden rule which Jesus taught, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The Prophet Muhammad declared, “The one with the most accomplished faith out of all of you is the one who has the best manners.” I pray that God enables us to display the best manners wherever we are, amin.