People are often unreasonable and self-centered.

FORGIVE THEM ANYWAY.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.

BE KIND ANYWAY.

If you are honest, people may cheat you.

BE HONEST ANYWAY.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous.

BE HAPPY ANYWAY.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.

DO GOOD ANYWAY.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.

GIVE YOUR BEST ANYWAY.

For you see in the end, it is between you and God.

IT NEVER WAS BETWEEN YOU AND THEM ANYWAY.

~Mother Teresa

Comments

[Olga Farber Becker]

Thank you, Laura, that was exactly what I needed.

I'd like to add to this what Mike Dooley once sent:

"Courageous is the soul who adventures into time and space to learn of their divinity. For while they cannot lose, they can think they have, and the loss will seem intolerable.

And while they cannot fail, they can think they have, and the pain will seem unbearable.

And while they cannot ever be less than they truly are - powerful, eternal and loved - they can think they are, and all hope will seem lost.

And therein lies their test. A test of perceptions; of what to focus on, of what to believe in, in spite of appearances.

Courageous indeed...the pride of the Universe, and I should know.
The Universe."
-- from Notes from the Universe, by Mike Dooley, http://tut.com

Thanks again!
Happy New Year, :)
Olga.

[Matthew Rochte, Seasoned Coaches Coach]

Thank you Laura for being a light in the coaching community.

I've always liked this quote, and I want to draw your attention to its mis-attribution to Mother Teresa. The original author of these Paradoxical Commandments were written by Kent Keith in 1968, when he was 19, a sophomore at Harvard College. They were part of the second chapter on "Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership:"

Lovely having you in the coaching community.