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Today's
Quotation:
Character is the product of daily, hourly
actions, words and
thoughts: daily forgiveness, unselfishness, kindnesses,
sympathies, charities, sacrifices for the good of others,
struggles against temptation, submissiveness under trial.
It is these, like the blinding colors in a
picture,
or
the blending notes of music, which constitute the person.
John MacDuff |
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Today's
Meditation:
What
kinds of actions am I committing and thoughts am I having today that are
contributing to my character? Am I building up the
positive, loving, caring parts of myself, or am I allowing
the disinterested, thoughtless parts of myself to grow more
strongly? We are who we are, many will argue, but
there are many others who argue that we are what we make of
ourselves. Character
isn't made in defining moments such as rushing into a
burning building to save a baby or sacrificing your life so
that somebody else may live. Character is built over
long periods of time, in the little ways, day in and day
out. Character is built in the decisions that we make
that at the time may seem trivial and unimportant, but which
over time start to add up to something very important.
One brick can't shelter us from the elements, but if you put
many bricks together to make walls over the course of time,
you find that those seemingly insignificant blocks have come
together to be something much bigger than the sum of
themselves. All
day, every day we are creating our character, refining it,
honing it, adding new elements to it and getting rid of
others. How great it would be if we could banish fear,
jealousy, and envy and strengthen our kindness, compassion,
and love. And every day of our lives we face the
little decisions, the little obstacles, that help us to move
in that direction. In
what ways are you developing your character today?
What decisions are you making that will add the beautiful
notes or the vibrant colors to the wonderful work of art
that you are? |
