Most of us are at least a bit moody, and even if we’re not moody, we’re subject to the pressures of our changing circumstances. Can’t we make it a point of honor to be constant in our love for those who have a right to expect love from us?
Rollo May said, “Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable. We cannot know at the outset how the relationship will affect us.” Yet if it is fear that keeps us from the generous joys of intimacy, we need to overcome that fear.
What we choose to preserve depends on our values. So we’re wise if we work on improving our powers of judgment. We should want to be, in the well-known words of Abraham Lincoln, “honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.”
Having favorites is fine as long as we don’t limit ourselves to them. We need to be willing to experiment. Who knows? There may be some really good things out there that could become favorites if we ever gave them a chance.
Some of the things we need to do in life aren’t very effective if they’re not done with verve (such as saying “thank you” or “I love you”). Too often, we fall below the level of effectiveness because our words and deeds are little more than lukewarm.
We can hold ourselves to higher standards, finer ethics, and better self-discipline than those who are content to just get by. If your work is worth doing, it’s worth doing with excellence. You wouldn’t want it any other way, would you?
Compliments are powerful gifts we can give to those around us. They’re powerfully encouraging and powerfully strengthening. And not only that, when they’re genuine, they bring welcome joy and delight, both to the giver and the receiver.
Let’s not underestimate the gifts we can give. We may not be able to give gifts of great monetary value, but those aren’t usually the most beneficial gifts anyway. What about the helping hand or encouraging word? The smile or friendly handshake?
We need to commit ourselves to the specific “tasks” that will turn our plans into something concrete, something real. There’s a Persian proverb that says, “Thinking well is wise; planning well is wiser; but doing well is the wisest and best of all.”
The open hand of service is a good deal more powerful than the clenched fist of anger. “In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it” (Marianne Williamson).
We haven't "chosen life" if we're not doing the kinds of things Moses commanded Israel to do in Deuteronomy 30:20, "loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to him." Choosing life is not a passive experience but an active one.