December 13
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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:
I like the
idea of thinking of character as a product. It's
true-- our character is the result of things we do, and
we're developing and producing it with almost every act we
take in our lives. I develop my character in my
interactions with my family, my friends, my co-workers,
and every stranger with whom I come in contact. I
become the person I am as a result of my thoughts and my
actions. I may think things that would not show a
great deal of character, but it's up to me to reject those
thoughts and respond in a loving way if I want to develop
my character into something I can be proud of.
We
all face situations in which we'd like to do something
mean to someone else-- to call them just the right
insulting name, to offend them because they just offended
us, to do some damage to property of theirs because they
just damaged something of ours that is dear to us.
Sometimes we'd even like to hit someone because we feel so
frustrated and annoyed and we can't think of anything else
that would express those feelings. The person who's
building an admirable character, though, would definitely
not make the decision to harm someone else-- our decisions
are based on something much deeper than immediate angry
responses would allow for.
I
really hope that someday my character will be something
that I'm proud of, something that I know will carry me
through hard times better than anything else, and that
will teach other people the importance of being honest,
forthright, and dependable. I hope that my character
will make people trust that all that I do will be the best
I can do, and that they can rely on me to take care of the
things that are most valuable to them, simply because they
know by my character that they can trust me to do so.
In
our world of today, it seems more difficult to build
character. Social media give everyone the chance to
criticize, to insult, to mock, or to be just mean to other
people whom they may never meet face-to-face. Our
media attack people and make them look stupid every single
day. One true test of character, though, is to rise
above this sort of behavior and choose the loving ways of
dealing with others. This world of today definitely
needs more people of character to grow and share their
positive qualities with others. Let's try to be the
trend-setters in the attempt to fulfill this need, because
the people of this world definitely need more such people.
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Questions to
consider:
In what specific and concrete ways may you build character
that you are proud of?
Are you committed to excellence in all that you do?
How might such a commitment be a reflection of your
character?
What kind of obstacles keep people from developing the
positive sides of their character? |
For further
thought:
Your
character is your destiny. Building
character is a task
for the brave
and dedicated. There are no shortcuts
when it
comes to building character. If you wish to cure minimalism
in
your own life, to develop
a complete
commitment to
excellence and an
absolute
rejection of mediocrity, the
question
you need to start
asking yourself is, "What is
the most I can
do?"
Matthew
Kelly
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