“Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.” - Albert Camus
 
What do you base your respect for others on?

“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul.” - Carl Jung
 
How do you stand up to your soul?

“If a person knows not to which port they are sailing, no wind is favorable.” - Seneca
 
Where should favorable winds take you?

“The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting you are special also.” - Ernest Hemmingway
 
How do you love others without losing yourself?

How have you used humor to defuse a tense situation and create goodwill?

Few people have the gift of being able to use self-deprecating humor to turn hostility into friendship. While humor won't work in every situation, there are circumstances where it can be used to show your humility and vulnerability and disarm people you may be in conflict with.

Watch this video to hear the story of how U.S. diplomat Henry P. Fletcher used humor to charm the business elite of a foreign country to improve trade relations with that nation.

Leave me a comment below about a time in your life when you used humor to improve a situation or a time when you wished you had lightened the mood during a stressful situation. 

“Everyone takes the limits of their own mind for the limits of the world.” - Arthur Schopenhauer
 
What limits are you placing on your mind?

Courage
  
Early in 2003 Fred Evans fell and broke his hip. Not unusual for a man of 88. However, it was the events over the next few weeks that showed the world what this man was made of.

The next day he had an operation which turned out to be a total hip replacement.

Within a few days he was sent to a Rehabilitation Hospital, with all the usual hopes for a complete recovery for a man of his age and situation: 'absolutely none,' said the medical experts and nursing staff!

Funny about that, absolutely no hope at all.

My first conversation with Dad was a few days after his admittance to the Rehab Hospital.

'A bit of pain Son,' he tells me ... 'but I'll be okay.'
 
'See all of these other old guys in here, most of them have been in here for between 3 and 6 months, with no hope of ever going home.'

'"No way will I end up like them!'
 
'I will go home to your Mom within the next few weeks!'

Because of the distance between my home and his Rehab Hospital, I didn't get to see him every day but phoned regularly. I was able to see him each weekend.

On my next visit, I stopped at reception on the way to his room. The duty nurse gave me a 'rave review' of his progress, saying that they didn't believe what they were seeing. 'Your Father is a walking miracle,' I was told.

As I entered Dad's room, I saw him getting something from the other side of his bed as he was swinging himself into a position to get up and spend some time with me.

'Thanks for coming in to see me, Son, it's good to see you, come for a slow walk with me,' he said.

He proudly assured me that he was okay to do it on his own, but it would be nice if I were right there next to him as we 'walked.' Sure enough, he had been so determined to get home to his wife of 62 years, he had been training hard every day!

So we went for a stroll around the corridors of his prison, and was he proud of his ability to conquer the odds? You bet he was!

Only three weeks after being admitted to that 'depressing place,' he walked out without any assistance from anyone. Just as I had been told - a walking miracle.

He only had one motive, but a very powerful one. To get home to his beautiful wife of 62 years, my Mom Margaret ... he missed her. His determination, courage, and incredible love and devotion towards my Mother (after all that time together) was an inspiration to me that can't be overstated. I thank him for that!

Fred Evans was a gentle caring man, with the courage and inner strength of a lion, and the heart of a Saint.

I had only recently grown to appreciate that I was so lucky to have such a mentor and to realize that I was absolutely blessed to have had that experience. It wasn't too late though. I got to tell him how much he meant to me, and to thank him for being who he was, and to share some amazing moments with him towards the end of his humble, quietly-lived life.

Over the next few months fate stepped in and other medical complications took him from us, but he left us all with memories of what it's like to spend some time with someone special. Thanks Dad.

May this inspire you to overcome some form of adversity in your own life by showing some courage - despite the odds.
 
 
Written by Phil Evans

“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” - Aristotle
 
What are you not doing, that you should, to avoid criticism?

“Person-to-person is the way the gospel was originally communicated. Person-in-love-with-person, person-respecting-person, person-forgiving-person, person-touching-person, person-crying-with person, person-hugging-person: that’s where the Spirit is so beautifully present.” - Fr. Richard Rohr
 
Where is the Spirit present in your life?