PROMISE YOURSELF

   

I read something this past week that I thought was very profound. It comes from The Optimist Creed which is included in a book by Christian Larsen published in 1912. The book is entitled Your Forces and How to Use Them. The creed begins with “Promise Yourself” and then lists 12 affirmations, but one in particular stood out for me. It goes: [Promise yourself:] “To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.”

            That’s huge because it sounds nearly impossible. And it sounds nearly impossible because criticizing others is a favorite pastime, along with being a defense mechanism. I remember hearing William Sloane Coffin once say that we are fond of putting other people down in order to raise ourselves up. I think he’s absolutely right! Yet it is a practice that is almost second nature to us in the type of society in which we live.

            Our society gives more respect to cynicism and negativity than it does to anything that smacks of the positive and of hope.  Sadly, the negative influences on us are strong and constant from every direction—TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, etc.  They are considered to be the more “intelligent” points of view, whereas the positive is mostly regarded as Pollyannaish and naive.

            The fact is that it is much easier and much less painful to look at the faults of other people than it is to take an honest look at ourselves and what we need to do to improve. In doing so, we feel much more powerful and righteous, but it doesn’t really help anybody, including ourselves.

            Anyway, that’s all I have to say about that other than the fact that here are a few other affirmations from that same source.  Promise yourself:

·        To be so strong so that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

·        To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

·        To make all your friends feel there is something in them.

·        To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.