It does not matter where the ideas come from, and it doesn’t matter whether they are right or wrong, once an idea is in your head, it will rule your world.
Only a few months ago I gave a keynote address to 3,000 people at a regional parenting conference. In the talk I had mentioned the difficulties parents face with Drug abuse by their children. During the question and answer period following my talk a clergyman stood up in front of and offered, “I think we need to decriminalize drugs because drug use is a victimless crime.” He was offering this as a counter point to my comments in my address about how damaging drugs are to American youth.
My first reaction to this man’s comment was sheer astonishment. I could not believe that Clergyman was willing to stand in front of all of these people and say that. Then I realized that he had an idea that was ruling his world. Not only did I disagree with him, but I also have a very different idea that rules my world.
I replied, “I disagree! I do not believe that drug use is a victimless crime! In my 29 years of teaching 46 kids who sat in my classroom are now dead.”
And then...