Most of us are!

It has probably become a habit. Like most habits, however, there is an upside and a downside.

UPSIDE– If you’re hard on yourself, it can be a good thing if you push yourself to succeed at your chosen objectives.

DOWNSIDE– The negative consequence of being hard on yourself is low self esteem.

My dad always had a saying that I heard all through my childhood: “In the middle stands the truth!”

Translated into today’s topic, he would say,

“It’s OK to be hard on yourself if it helps you get out there and accomplish something with your life!

But, don’t be so critical that you no longer believe in yourself!”

Life is much more fun if you like yourself. Give yourself a break.

Our lives are difficult enough without you piling on!

If not today, when?

My neighbor, Jim, had trouble deciding if he wanted to retire from the construction field.

That was until he ran into a younger man he’d worked with previously.

The young man had a wife and three children and was finding it difficult to make ends meet, since he hadn’t worked in some time.

The next morning, Jim went to the union office and submitted his retirement paperwork. As for his replacement, he gave them the name of the young man.

That was six years ago, and that young husband and father has been employed ever since. (Miranda MacLean, Brutus, Michigan) 

Like Jim, from time to time, you will find yourself in a situation where you see an opportunity to help someone else.

Will you help the other person or walk away because you “don’t want to get involved.”

If not today, when?

When the supermarket clerk tallied up my groceries, I was $12 over what I had on me.

I began to remove items from the bags, when another shopper handed me a $20 bill. 

“Please don’t put yourself out,” I told him.

“Let me tell you a story,” he said. “My mother is in the hospital with cancer.

I visit her every day and bring her flowers.

I went this morning, and she got mad at me for spending my money on more flowers.

She demanded that I do something else with that money. So, here, please accept this.

It is my mother’s flowers.” (Leslie Wagner, Peel, Arkansas.)

The next time you see a stranger with some need, will you offer assistance?

Or, is it your habit to turn away?

Our daily lives are comprised of many choices.

CHOOSE KINDNESS!

If not today, when?

Aaron Collins passed away just three weeks after his 30th birthday, but he left a legacy that has touched thousands of people.

One of his final wishes was to give a waiter or waitress a $500 tip.

When his brother Seth fulfilled his wish, giving a waitress a $500 tip, he recorded a video and put it on YouTube.

Within days, the video was viewed over one million times, and $30,000.00 had been donated to continue the cause, now known as “Aaron’s Last Wish.”

In the video, Collins gave the waitress, Sarah Ward, the $500 tip, explaining that his brother had just passed away and that giving a $500 tip was his final wish.

Ward told him, “I’m going to be telling this story for the rest of my life.”

Over a hundred waitresses have now received $500 tips! (thelist.com)

Let us never forget the inherent goodness in people!

If not today, when?

Americans donate approximately 2 percent of their disposable income to charity.

Then there are Julia Wise and Jeff Kauffman.

Since 2008, the couple, now 31 and 30, respectively, have donated half their income to charity, a total of $585,000.

“We have what we need, so it makes sense to share with other people,” Wise told today.com.

Wise, a social worker, and Kauffman, a computer programmer, plan on passing the philanthropy bug to their daughters, two-year-old Lily and six-month-old Anna.

“We hope they’ll grow up thinking this is a normal part of life,” Wise said.

What example are you giving your kids?

Are you teaching them to be givers or takers?

I wanted you to hear this story, but I don’t expect you to give away half your income.

What will you give of yourself, however, so that others can have a better life?

Make a positive difference with your life!

If not today, when?

As I searched for opportunities to volunteer, I noticed that a large veteran’s hospital in our area needed a Chaplain’s Assistant.

The priest, who was in charge, gave me a list each week of the patients to visit. There were two floors where patients who had been long time smokers had to have their voice boxes removed.

I felt very uncomfortable going there.

One of the men, who could only write on a tablet, shooed me away several times and I was glad.

However, after about three rejections, he motioned for me to come to his bedside.

He had antagonized his family so much, that he had not had visitors for years.

He seemed interested in renewing those relationships.

After a few more weeks, the priest told me that the man had reconciled with his family.

The next time I visited, he had died and I celebrated his victory over himself.

A party of men were shipwrecked and adrift in a small boat on a stormy sea in the mid-Atlantic Ocean.

One night, the men saw the light of a passing ship. But how could they attract the attention of those on the ship?

They had a lantern—but only one match.

That solitary match was all that stood between them and the liner that was steaming by.

With a prayer on his lips and with trembling fingers, a young sailor struck the match.

Shielding the match with his cupped hands, he lit the lantern.

On the liner, the lookout man spotted the light, informed the captain, and soon the men were saved.

Amid the stormy seas of life and against the background of eternity, the present moment flickers like that lighted match.

What will you do with your moment?    (billygraham.org)

Ms. Wong, a cab driver picked up a passenger who robbed her at knifepoint.

She surrendered all she had and said: “This is all I have earned today. You can take the coins in my pocket too.”

The robber was stunned by her frankness.

Wong continued: “Where do you live? It’s late. Your family may be worried about you. I’ll take you home.”

Her thoughtfulness moved the robber, and he put his knife away.

Ms. Wong elaborated: “My family has lived a hard life, but we are better off than before.

If you keep going along this path, your life is doomed!”

When they arrived at the robber’s home, Wong said: “Listen! You didn’t rob from me. I gave you the money.”

“Do something good with it and don’t rob again.”

The robber gave the money back to Wong. “I promise I won’t do this again, no matter what!” he said.       (David Jirard, visiontimes.com)

A shabby man approached me several days ago while I was eating rice soup at the university I am currently working for.

Looking pale and without hope, he reported to me several of his troubles regarding his life and family. I sat there, silent while my attention was all on him.

Telling story after story, the man admitted that he was rejected by many people just because he was old. He called himself, useless and stupid.

And continued calling himself with these adjectives throughout his talk. I sensed that this man just needed someone to listen to his stories.

Just before leaving the table, he looked at me and said, “Son, you are the first person to listen to my stories with kind attention.”

“Thank you for being kind hearted.”

Then, he walked away with a smile on his face.

If not today, when?

(Pang Amarnh) (lifeaward.blogspot.com)

In 2007, Barbara Mangi’s daughter Dana, 25, was murdered. Mangi not only has forgiven the murderer, but she writes occasional letters to him in prison, where he is serving a 35-year sentence.

“I was angry at first, but I didn’t want horrible things to happen to him. I just wanted justice.”

At the sentencing, “my heart was still hardened.” The murderer said how very sorry he was. He told them he never meant to hurt Dana and “all he was able to do for the rest of his life was pray for us.”

Mangi remembers that “he had a quivering voice and tears in his eyes. At that moment, I actually realized I felt compassion for him. That’s how my forgiveness started.”

“After I was able to forgive him, I felt so much more freedom!” (Reawakening: Return of Lightness and Peace after My Daughter’s Murder.)