I had dinner tonight with a client and his daughter. The client faces great trouble. His daughter loves him with a heart bursting with pride. The pain of allegations without foundation weighs heavily on the client. Finding words to encourage him is hard. Tonight his daughter surprised us both by reading the following words of Mother Teresa. Somehow the words fought their way past my inbred cynicism and inspired hope.
"People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
"If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
"If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
"If you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
"If you find security and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
"The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
"Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
"You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway."
Thanks for much-needed words of encouragement, A., in a time of great stress in a difficult case,