I've been reading these postings, and finding them all very heartfelt. And dare I say, honest? I just wanted to add a couple of things. I noticed that after the first couple of postings, the first part of this thread was left behind... being honest with yourself. I've been thinking about that a lot, as I was challenged by a Pastor friend to see myself as God sees me. Whether you believe in God or not, it gets down to the basic FIRST PART of this thread. I think that the reason that idea is so threatening is because we see it as stripping away all pretense and self-rationalization, leaving ourselves with no defenses. That's only half of it, though. If we could see ourselves with complete honesty (as God sees us,) we'd see some beautiful things in ourselves that we tend to ignore. If we are to love each other as we love ourselves, then we darned well better love ourselves first. The more we love ourselves, the more we can love others. Most of us are far better than we give ourselves credit for. We have great gifts.. each and every one of us, and a potential we haven't even touched. If we could stand to face our rationalizations and false motives for good deeds, then we could change. It would mean giving up things that we love, but know are wrong. Someone told me once that sacrifice is giving up something good for a greater good. It's a wonderful, and true definition.

On the second half.. being honest with others.. let all things be guided by love. One of my sons said once, "If someone says, "I tell it the way it is," get out of the room as fast as you can." You know that people who say that aren't talking about compliments they're handing out. It's the other end of the stick.

And, to quote Ricky Nelson.. "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." I spent too much of my life trying to please everyone, and ended up pleasing no one... myself, least of all. There is only one who needs to be pleased.