Unquestionable Character

Hi friends,
Here is a powerful question for each one of you – When your friends, relatives or anyone you have known in life, come to your funeral, what do you want them to say about you?
Well, many of us would answer “I don’t know, I have never thought about it”, and some might even say “Who cares; after it’s all over”.
But the fact is, the answer to this question depends completely on the answers to questions like: what kind of an individual you are; how have you been leading your life; what values have you imbibed in yourself; how are you living them; how has your relationship and/or interaction with people in your life been and many more such critical aspects of life.

In my opinion, below are some of the behaviors that we need to make a way of life for ourselves. We need to adopt and live with these habits if we really want to create a positive impact on people and make a difference to the lives of those we meet and interact with throughout our life.

• Always have a smile on your face and greet everyone you meet with warmth and a sense of caring.
• Make friends with everyone you meet in your life. Friendship is the purest form of any relationship. As long as you are able to maintain the sanctity in your friendship, and are able to be there for your friends through thick and thin, you will always be appreciated as a true friend.
• Maintain a good character in life. Be committed to your parents, to your friends, family and to your loved ones. A person with unquestionable character is loved by everyone.
• Lead a life based on values. Have a set of personal values which you believe in and live them every day of your life. Some powerful values to live with include maintaining integrity in everything you do, treating everybody with equal respect, valuing human beings for who they are, always appreciating the good things done by the people around and doing everything you can to enable them to succeed. Leading a value-based life makes you a valuable person.
• Think, wish, say and do good things to others. Whatever you say and do, in all your interactions must do good to people around you. Become selfless, never ask ‘what is in it for me?’ because the greatest joy is in giving and in being an enabler for the happiness of other people in your lives, be it your family or friends.
• Hatred, jealousy, greed, hurting people with harsh words, disrespecting or insulting people and their self-respect, being egoistic , being selfish, cheating others –this is the garbage of life. Throw it out of your life today.
  
  Well, if you can practice all the above as a way of your life, there might be a chance that people may say a few good things about you at your funeral. I still say it as chance because this is only easier said than done. Living a life of this kind is a challenge. Moreover, as human beings we are imperfect. With imperfections come errors. So, there are chances that we might commit mistakes which may strain our relationships or the friendships we have built. If that happens, don’t hesitate to apologize immediately. In the case of misunderstandings, talk it out immediately and sort things out. Forgive each other whole heartedly because ‘to err is human but to forgive is divine’. This will only make your relationships strong and long lasting. Never let go of any relationships without doing everything you can to retain them first..
  
  You must be able to relate everything you say and do to the ultimate powerful question ‘what will this person say about me, based the way I have interacted with them?’ Once you start thinking in this manner, you are on your way to becoming a wonderful human being. This is what I call living with the ‘end in mind’.
  
  Take on the challenge of leading a life with the end in mind. It is not easy, but if you can strive towards this and get positive answers for that one powerful question, then your life on this earth as a human being will be considered really worthwhile and valuable. Isn’t this the real achievement of life? After all, this life is the only one chance each of us has been given. Shouldn’t we make this worthwhile?.