Thoughts

"When I was a young man, I served as counselor to a wise district president in the Church. He tried to teach me. One of the things I remember wondering about was this advice he gave:

'When you meet someone, treat them as if they were in serious trouble, 

and you will be right more than half the time.' 

I thought then that he was pessimistic. Now, more than 40 years later, I can see how well he understood the world and life." -Henry B. Eyring, April 2004

I have just spent the last half hour talking to someone who nearly everyone in the world assumes is the life of the party, the perpetual jokester, the guy who never takes life seriously. I'm here to tell you that they're wrong. This man, nearly twice my age and a relative of mine, is actually trying to battle some pretty sobering dragons. You'd never guess.

Many of you know how strongly I feel about this. That is, that people need more love, more patience, more support, more validation, more encouragement, more compassion, more benefit of the doubt, and more overt words of kindness and love and appreciation than they generally receive. I won't go into a long-winded soapbox sermon, but this is just a call to any reader to treat those around you--drivers on the road, people in the checkout line, family members, children, neighbors, coworkers, associates--with more gentleness, kindness, and warmth than you think is necessary. Let's aim high when sharing our love--the world around us may need it more than we realize.