Anyway...

"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love 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 some true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you.
Be honest and frank 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.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.
Give the world your best anyway."
Often attributed to Mother Teresa**

This reminds me of when I was about 5 or 6 years old and my Mom told me to wash my hands. I asked her why and pointed out that my hands were just going to get dirty again, anyway. I'll never forget her reply: "Well then, why eat lunch? You're just going to get hungry again, anyway."

Can't argue with Mom's wisdom.

Take a look at all of the excuses above, including my excuse for not washng my hands. They all have one thing in common. Can you see what that one thing is?

They're all TRUE!

But they're still just excuses.

** Note: I used a slightly different version of this quote for my Healthy Thought back on March 25th of this year. This quote is usually attributed to Mother Teresa, but was originally written in 1969 as The Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership by Kent M. Keith, a 19 year old sophomore at Harvard. Mother Teresa is known to have had the quote hanging on the wall of her children's home in Calcutta.

To learn more about The Paradoxical Commandments, and to read the original version, click here.