9.12.2007

A Person of Value

"Try not to become a success, but rather try to become a person of value." (Albert Einstein)

So what does that mean? If I were to break it down, I think a person of value lives a life of integrity, courage, perseverance and gratitude.
Integrity means you have a conscience and listen to it. It means that you do the same things whether people are watching or not. It defines the quality of your life. As Martin Luther King put it, "The time is always right to do what is right." I've heard it said that some people do things right while others do the right thing -- and that is integrity.

"Courage is resistance to fear, master of fear . . . not absence of fear." (Mark Twain) For me, courage comes in knowing that Heavenly Father is with me. Psalms 34:4 says "I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears." I love that and I love that it's clear that we are responsible to seek Him out and then we will be delivered from our fears.

Persistance means to keep on keepin' on! "One is defeated only when one accepts defeat" (Marshall Foch) explains it perfectly. Hang in there. Being knocked down is no disgrace as long as you continue to get back up and press on.

Gratitude is key. "Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart." (Seneca) My life is so rich and I have so many blessings and I'm so grateful. I love what Anne Morrow Lindergh said about payback: "One can never pay in gratitude; one can only pay 'in kind' somewhere else in life." I need to watch for those opportunities to pay 'in kind'.
To become a person of value is my goal and with the above as my blueprint, I will get there -- slowly but surely!

6 comments:

Cammie said...

Beautifully said. Thanks for your inspirational words.

Kristi said...

Wow--that is wonderful, Jan. And a seriously good reminder to me to try to be this kind of person, which I definietly have MUCH to do :) Thanks for the inspirational thoughts.

Mel said...

You always have the best uplifting thoughts. Thanks so much for giving me an uplift for the day, and sharing that with all of us.

hoLLy said...

Great post Jan. Thanks for the uplifting message and push to work harder to better myself. And you are already a person of value! I don't know what you're talkin bout!! :)

Darleen said...

I'm always in need to improve myself in those qualities. Sometimes I feel like I'm really good at a quality then I become lazy and then I have to boost myself to back up. Thanks for giving me that lift.

Maren said...

You're already a person of value to us Jan! Thank you for your inspiring posts.