What if today you gave yourself permission to be outrageously kind? What if you extended as much good will and kindness as you can possibly muster to every person you meet? And what if you did it with no thought of reward? I’m sure of one thing: it will be a day you will never regret.

The sun rises every morning and sheds light, vanquishing the night’s darkness. The rooster also rises every morning only, unlike the sun, he simply makes noise. But the darkness of the night is dispelled by sunshine, not by the rooster’s crowing. The world can use more light and less noise. Wherever I can, I want to be light.

There are few qualities more vital than a strong yearning. That desire to reach a little farther, to be a little more, yearning... for a piece of something greater, can often make all the difference.

I don’t know how often opportunity knocks, but temptations to make foul decisions bang on my door all day long. And smelly decisions make for smelly problems later on. A few little decisions, good or bad, can make a big difference in a life. Better to run from those skunks than with them.

None of us lives in isolation. We’re in it together. And some conflict along the way is inevitable. But our highest priority, when all is said and done, has to be commitment to each other –- sticking together.

I think there is a difference between aloneness and loneliness. Aloneness is necessary for the soul to thrive – even to come alive. Not loneliness.

We pay a tax to succeed at anything worthwhile. That tax is called dedication, and here’s the most wonderful part. Once you pay it, once you truly dedicate yourself to something important, you’ll find the price was worth it.

You probably have the ability to get what you want. And you likely have everything you need to be completely satisfied. But do you also have the ability to want what you’ve got? That just may be one of the most important questions you will ever answer.

Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, people can become discouraged and cynical. But lives can also be mended. Put back together well, they won’t be just like they were before. Damaged pieces reassembled with a golden bonding of patience and love will help form a person into an exquisite masterpiece. It is as if people have to be broken before they can become whole and complete.

Have you noticed that you feel better around some people than others? You smile more in their presence and afterward feel a little lighter, a bit more cheerful? I think of those people as “purveyors of hope.” They help me to know that beyond every mountain I face there is a path... even if I can’t see it from the valley.