About a week ago, I sat down with an old mentor of mine, and he printed out the following and gave it to me.
—
Do It Anyway
People are often unreasonable,
illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest anyway.
What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
Mother Teresa
1910 – 1997
—
One of the main things that we discussed about this was the last stanza: “It’s between You and God.”
It’s not between you and your parents.
It’s not between you and your boss.
It’s not between you and your spouse.
It’s not between you and your guru.
It’s not between you and your pastor.
It’s between you and God – whatever you conceive God to be (even if it’s just your own conscience).
These people may or may not be important to you. They may have ideas about life that you want to adopt as your own.
At the same time, what they think or believe may not be helpful to you.
Only you can be the final judge of what works or doesn’t work.
Always question. Always test. Then do the best you can.
And even if you make a mistake, keep trying anyway.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Lyman,
I struggle with that one all the time. Remembering it isn’t all competition. It is about doing the right thing regardless if anyone cares, notices, or rewards you.
Thanks for reminding…
You’re welcome, Steve… the reason he gave it to me was because I needed the reminding myself.
Thanks for what you write. It encourages me through the bad times.
Betsy
PS: Iknow it’s not all original. But being wise helps one to know who to steal from–and when.
Betsy
Thank you for saying that, Mom. I’ll be giving you a call this weekend. I love you.
Hi …
This is the most inspiring post I have read. Perhaps it might be because of the frame of mind I am currently in. It seems as if there is a hidden message in this post for me, I was meant to read it.
Well! Do you mind if I copy this down?
GBU
Arti
Arti – feel free to have at it. Since I got it from someone else who printed it off from an email they sent me, I have no idea what the original source is.
I’m glad it inspired you! Thanks for letting me know.
Copied, printed and pinned to the wall already
Thanks
GBU
Arti
Awesome, Arti. It’s on mine too!