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Today's
Quotation:
We
are responsible for what we are, and what we wish ourselves
to be,
we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are
now has been the result of our past actions,
it certainly follows
that whatever we wish to be in future can be
produced
by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.
Swami
Vivekananda
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Today's
Meditation:
What
I will be next week or next year depends on what I do
today. When I look at things that way, today becomes
much more important. The way I treat people, the way I
talk to them, the ways in which I act, the actions that I
neglect--all of these things seem to be much more important
when I realize that each of these aspects of my day today
will go some way towards defining the person I will be in
the future.
My
hope is that I'm not going to grow and develop into a new
person by making many mistakes and learning through regret
and embarrassment and my own poor example. My hope is
that my actions of today help me to grow in dignity, love,
peace and hope, and help to spread dignity, love, peace, and
hope. If I'm able to do this, then not only my future
will be brighter, but perhaps the future of someone else
will be brighter because of the way that I have treated him
or her.
I've
noticed that almost all of the people who talk about present
actions are focused on our actions that affect other people,
our selves, or other living creatures, not actions like
buying a new TV set or filling our tank with gas.
Though these things can be important, they aren't the things
that help us to grow and expand and become more than we are
today. The things that help us to grow are those
things that help others (or our selves) to see their own
value and value their own lives.
Sometimes
actions take a firm schedule and a lot of dedication--if you
want to write a novel, it doesn't happen in an hour or
two. Sometimes actions are quick and fleeting, like
the smile and the sincere "thank you" for the
person who held the door open for you. Whatever kinds
of actions we commit, though, it's important that we keep in
mind that they are the parts of our lives that are shaping
us, molding us, and defining us as we grow into tomorrow.
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