Wish for Others What You Wish for Yourself

Xuxa 

Years ago on my mission to Brazil, there was a popstar that was very popular with children and considered "family friendly" entertainment.  Her name was Xuxa.  Any North American (and especially those of us in the more conservative LDS culture) would probably have a little chuckle at how "appropriate" she really is for kids because she was always a little scantily clad, and her back up dancers were a little provocative.  That is a discussion for another time.  The reason I bring her up is that when I was down there in 1993, she was the center of some controversy that caused a little bit of bad press.  I don't recall the details, and was most likely not privy to them anyhow because I was a missionary.  However, there was this one time when we arrived to have lunch at a member's house, and the family was watching the last 5 minutes of the show.  I remember thinking that I knew nothing of this woman, Xuxa, but was surprised at her final comments before the end.  They zoomed in on her face and she simply said, "Wish for Others What You Wish for Yourself."  I remember thinking that this was very poignant for a children's show, and those words have stuck with me.

Interestingly enough, this is part of a greater quote by the ancient Islamic leader, Muhammed.  The full quote reads, "Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself."  In the LDS faith we refer to this as the "golden rule."  The Savior Jesus Christ taught, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." These are words to live by.

Now, almost 20 years later, we have been in a very vibrant business for over 15 years.  The "golden rule" is one of the things we try to live by in business.  Sometimes the circumstances are difficult when we have a big decision to make, but we stive to err on the side of generosity.  This gets really hard when money is involved because the bottom line is what keeps us in business--not the fluffy, loving feelings we have towards our customers.

Through the years we have always grown, and tried to do right by our customers.  Sometimes we have made mistakes, but we always try to remedy them.  I never cease to be amazed by customers that really don't want to give us a change to fix problems.  They are few and far between, but as I have dealt with them I usually find that they have other very big things happening in their life that are causing them grief and pain.  So, I have learned to tread lightly.  Many of those customers are actually counted among my personal friends now.  The only way I have been able to sleep at night is to remember that we always try very hard to take care of our customers, and that we wish for them what we would wish for ourselves and our family.

Salt Lake City Temple

Why do I bring this up?  Well, for starters, we recognize that we are all part of one big human family.  So, even though we may not always have really kind feelings about our competitors, they are still our brothers and we always try to take the high road and not bad talk them to customers.  Secondly, we would rather focus our efforts on becoming the company that people turn to when they think about what they need to outfit a missionary.  We have made this business one of our life's pursuits, and we put quite a bit of time, energy, and resources into it.  We genuinely care.

Being in business in the LDS community is always interesting.  People assume things about us, and we assume things about our customers--usually that people will take the "high road" and be kind in their dealings with us and vice versa.  This isn't always the case, but that is because we are real people and so are our customers.  We are all here to learn and grow, and we are all trying to be the people that a loving Heavenly Father intends us to be.  So, let's work at it.

A couple of years ago, we had many customers coming in our store and regurgitating the things they had heard at a competitor.  We did nothing to retaliate, nor did we take any legal action.  This has been our policy.  We have just tried to "turn the other cheek"--especially in front of customers.  The result?  We don't hear customers coming in from those other competitors with venom on their tongues spewed from the mouths of the salespeople at that competitor.  Even better, we have a kind of "gentlemanly understanding" between us that if they have something we don't, or we can do something they can't then we will refers customers between us.  We both recognize that in the end we are both helping missionaries.

Today in the information age, we can easily give our opinions and put our rage or disgust out there without restraint, or even having to face those that we are addressing.  This gives so many people the ability to really just let loose in ways that they wouldn't if they were face to face.  So, the adage, "Wish for Others What You Wish for Yourself" is very relevant today because we need to show courtesy, respect, and restraint more than we ever have.  We also need to stop thinking that we can just put bad feelings out there, or "bear false witness about our neighbor" to get back at them and think that it doesn't affect us.  It does.  We are the sum of our thoughts.  So, I'll say it again,  "Wish for others what you wish for yourself."  If there was a little more of that going around, the world would really be a better place.

We are all in this together, and we truly do wish for you and yours what we would wish for ourselves. Thank you for your business.