Growth and Goodness

Growth and Goodness

Something that has been on my mind a lot lately has been ‘being a better person’. At this point in my life, and in the lives of most people in their college years, I am trying to find myself and figure out who I am and who I want to be. Many people are afraid of change, but I have always been one to welcome it with open arms. Change from within can be hard and it takes a lot of commitment, but without change you cannot grow.

I’ve done some research and thought about this for a long time and I’ve developed a list of things I can incorporate into my daily life to be a better person and a good friend to the people in my life.

Be a Better Person:

1.   Be Thoughtful

2.   Be Helpful

3.   Compliment Often

4.   Smile Often

5.   Be Honest

6.   Be Direct

7.   Listen Without Thinking of What You are Going to Say Next

8.   Surprise People

9.   Put Others First (their happiness, time, problems, wants, needs)

10. Appreciate People You Love (show it through actions, words, and thoughtfulness)

11.  Don’t Expect to Be Treated the Same Way You Treat Others

12. Encourage People

13. Remember the Little Details (about someone, in a story, in their schedule)

14. Don’t Talk About Yourself or Make Things About You

15. Worry About and Protect Others

16. Be Considerate and Polite

17. Go Out of Your Way to Be Good and Do Good

18. Offer, Without Expecting Compensation

19. Love Wholeheartedly

20. Be Passionate

Treat those around you with all the love and goodness you can muster up, because you have no idea the impact you can have on a person. I hope to live a life full of goodness, because a legacy means nothing if there is no one to carry on who you were and the love you shared.

Being there for the people in your life and being good to everyone you meet, are the greatest things you can do with your life. Love passionately and appreciate the people in your life. Show compassion and forgiveness towards them. Be the shoulder they can cry on, but also be the one that doesn’t let them stay there and instead lifts them back on their feet and pushes them forward. Listen to them, accept them, be loyal to them, and be trustworthy.

The poem I’ll leave you with this week is entitled “Lockbox”. I wrote this when a good friend of mine was at an incredibly difficult and emotional point in his life and was frequently ‘opening up’ and coming to me when he needed someone to be there for him. I showed him love through it all and listened to all he had to say. I hope to be that for many people and through the steps I have listed above, grow into the person I am meant to become.

Sing to me

sweet songs of love,

compelling tunes

full of mystery and secrets.

Whisper the words

you want no one to hear,

mistakes of the past,

captured by regretful thoughts.

-^-

I will listen,

to the pain you hold.

I will absorb,

all and everything that you are.