So how does one become a person whom other people want to be around? Let me make a suggestion. Ask yourself this question every day: ‘What is it about me that other people would change if they could?

Some though Dad was irreverent – that he was not respectful enough. Once, a visiting preacher concluded his sermon by yelling to everyone that all the televisions should be thrown into the river, all the stereos and radios should be thrown into the river, and all the miniskirts and bikinis should be thrown into the river. When he finally sat down, Dad approached the pulpit and said, “Please rise and join me now in singing hymn number 481, ‘Shall We Gather at the River.

Life is a breath, a passing breeze; a blade of grass, green and vibrant for a time, only to wither, die, and disappear. Soon you will be dead.

A wise person seeks to make peace with the truth, especially when it’s personal and even when it hurts.

I see,” he said, though, clearly, he did not.

In Jones’s experience, the decision to turn one’s life around in a different direction rarely arrived with fireworks and marching bands. Often, the decision came with tears and regret. Then, almost impossibly, the power of forgiveness would fill an unseen void, allowing a new day’s optimism and sense of purpose to take hold and point that life in a new direction.

What is it about me that other people would change if they could?” He.

It’s a lot more interesting to learn and discover real-life principles when they are revealed in the form of a story.

And success in any endeavor where self-discipline is involved boils down to this question: can you make yourself do something you don’t particularly want to do in order to get a result you would like to have?

By your hand, millions – billions – of lives will be altered, caught up in a chain of events begun by you this day.