Trust is the necessary foundation of every meaningful relationship.  Without it, the chance for closeness with another person is doomed. Many leaders have proven themselves unworthy of our trust. Once broken, it is almost impossible to regain.

Here are some attributes of a trustworthy person:

ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH-This is probably the most most important trait of a person we can trust. If you resort to a lie in certain situations, people won’t know if you are lying or telling the truth.

BE CONSISTENT-Your behavior should become predictable by others. Consistent behavior indicates adherence to a deeply felt system of values.

UNWAVERING LOYALTY-No relationship can survive on-again, off-again loyalty. Even if the other person disappoints you, you must practice unconditional love.

ACTIONS FOLLOW WORDS-Don’t say something and do the opposite.

Are you trustworthy?

If not today, when?

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. (Lucille Ball)

Some symptoms of low self esteem are: negative thinking, fewer expectations from life and a lack of self-confidence.

Here are some remedies for low self esteem: identify your strengths and use them more often; learn to accept compliments; stop criticizing yourself; become as compassionate with yourself as you are with others.

You can decide to love yourself!

If and when you make that decision, you will immediately introduce yourself to a much happier daily existence. If you have said or done something in the past, forgive yourself and move on.

You can’t relive your past. Don’t allow your mistakes to cripple your future. Life is delivered only one day at a time. Make today a good one and make tomorrow even better!

If not today, when?

Your kids must be taught the do’s and don’ts while growing up. There is a lot to be admired in those parents, who, by their very good example, help their children learn the proper values.

Some parents feel, however, that good parenting mandates a very close monitoring of their children’s actions and always telling them what to do or not do in every situation. This negates the theory that kids should make their own decisions and learn from their mistakes.

There can be two unwanted results of micro-management: When children go out into the world as young adults, they may have trouble making decisions because their parents made them. Also, the kids may resent the way they were raised and parent-child relationships may suffer in the long run.

If not today, when?

“The only thing to fear is fear itself!” (Franklin Roosevelt)

He made that statement during his first inauguration as President in 1933. This was a time when the U.S. was in The Great Depression.  He took office while 25% of all Americans were unemployed.

He put an end to the Depression and won the Second World War in Europe while he was paralyzed from the waist down.

If he had no fear, with all of his challenges, should we?

All we can do in life is give every day our best effort and let the chips fall where they may.

Thank God, we can’t see the future!

Life never turns out the way we thought it would. So, if you’re worrying about some future event that will or won’t happen, live for today.

Tomorrow will take care of itself!

If not today, when?

 

 

 

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away!” —Pablo Picasso

Who knows if he’s right? I always believed that we should do the best we can with the gifts we have.

Take some time to think about your gifts. Which of those gifts is the greatest? Now, ask yourself, “Am I using it as much as I should?” There are two ways to use a gift: For financial gain or to help others.

I think the bottom line on our lives is, “Did I help others along the way?

If you use a gift for financial gain, you could give some portion of your earnings to the poor. Or, you could use a gift to help a person directly.

What is the meaning of your life?

If not today, when?

 

 

Perhaps you had an unfair childhood while growing up. People are either the beneficiary or the victim of their childhood. Those, who had a terrible time growing up because of poor parenting, usually spend their adult years trying to recover.

I spoke with someone this morning who said that his father reminded him of the love of God. Those of us who lived in a home with parents who loved each other and us, assumed everyone grew up in that same kind of loving environment. Not so!

Many of the people who occupy our prisons, committed their crimes out of a sense of outrage and despair brought on by a life filled with rejection.

If you are a parent, you’ll make mistakes, but you’ll still succeed if you love your spouse and children unconditionally!

If not today, when?

 

 

As you know, England is pondering Brexit which is its possible withdrawal from the European Union. A new vote is scheduled for December 12th.

Above is a photo (NYTimes) of Hugh Grant at a homeowner’s door, campaigning for an anti-Brexit candidate who is running for office. He believes so strongly in the anti-Brexit cause that he’s gotten personally involved.

How about you? Do you feel passionately about some issue? If so, have you ever gotten involved in that cause or are you a bystander? This is a democracy! A democracy is a form of government in which the will of the people prevail. If the people don’t speak up, governmental decisions will not reflect the peoples’ will.

If you are unwilling to speak up, don’t complain when things go asunder!

Speak up!

If not today, when?

Dr. Tetsu Nakamura left his home in Japan in the 1980’s to treat leprosy patients in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He found out later, however, that drought was killing many more people than his clinic could save.

Although, no mechanized equipment was available, he taught the villagers a technique he learned in Japan for building canals with hand shovels. After six years, a 15 mile canal was completed that saved almost 1 million people and irrigated 60,000 acres of previously arid land which began yielding fresh crops.

On his drive into work two days ago, he was shot and killed by a passing, unknown assassin. He was 73. Prime minister, Shinzo Abe of Japan grieved his loss as well as President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan.

I am always very moved by people who devote their entire lifetime to helping the less fortunate!

If not today, when?

 

The more you judge, the less you forgive!

The two kinds of forgiveness are of self and of others. Ironically, it seems we have a more difficult time forgiving ourselves. You’ve often heard the phrase, “I’m too hard on myself.” If this true of you, learn from your mistakes, but move on free of severe self-judgement.

When our kids were little, my wife once asked an older friend, who had a large family, for advice on parenting. He replied, “See less!” He was very wise. If you see less, you judge less and have the opportunity to love more.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip have been married 72 years. We have been watching a Netflix series about their lives as a married couple. There were many serious disagreements along the way.

They, however, learned to forgive!

If not today, when?

 

 

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

If anyone had a reason to hate, Reverend King could have justification during his long battle against racial injustice. And, in the end, someone hated him enough to to assassinate him in Memphis 51 years ago.

If you hate someone, it wears on you and  saps you of your emotional energy that could be spent on something positive in your life.

If your hatred is the result of a major disagreement between you and the other person, can both of you patch up the relationship?

If you have hated someone for a long time with no apparent solution in sight, isn’t it time to let it go? Life is too short to burden yourself in this way!

If not today, when?