It’s a fine thing if others can say that contact with us helps them to be healthier physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. May we aspire to that kind of impact on others — and avoid actions that would pull people in the other direction.
Positiveness is the outlook of opportunity. It deals realistically with what now is, but it’s also confident of what COULD be, if energy and intelligence were used. Positiveness separates the doers from the doubters, the achievers from the agonizers.
One person gives us something, and we give them something else. Or perhaps we initiate the transaction, and the other person responds. Either way, a good bit of what we do consists of exchanging things we have for other things that somebody else has.
Human dignity deserves to be respected no matter how foolishly a person may have failed. For this reason, we are to love every person unconditionally. Yes, the love must often be tough love, but it must never be anything less than respectful love.
We need to help our children retain their sense of awe in the presence of phenomena like these: sunrises and sunsets, full moons, mountains, oceans — and yes, even skyscrapers and theme parks! It’s a true tragedy not to wonder at what’s wonderful.
We can’t expect others to see us as honorable persons just because we manage to do something good on rare occasions. It’s in our habits — our typical, consistent patterns of behavior — that we show what kind of people we really are.
The world is full of things that invite our engagement and energy. There are too many beautiful things not to be amazed by them . . . and too many powerful things not to be awed by them . . . and too many gracious things not to be humbled by them.
We fall into the pattern of losing friends and gaining new ones, losing friends and gaining new ones, losing friends and gaining new ones. Surely friendship was meant to be a more durable thing than our personal histories often make it appear.
The time comes when we need to recast our lives and take a new direction. Comfort is nice — at the end of the day — but during the day there is a path to be followed. And if the road’s a new one, or one with many new turnings, that’s not all bad.
If we hold ourselves in reserve until people have “proven” their worthiness with a long history and lots of collateral, we’re not engaging in love but a business transaction. That’s the way the loan officer down at the local bank “trusts” people.
