It’s strange how quickly things can change. One moment, people are encouraging you and the next, they are questioning you. If you’ve ever tried to do the right thing and still ended up criticized, you know how discouraging that can feel. You try to be kind, to help, to live with integrity and somehow that’s not always what people notice. Sometimes they focus on the mistake, or assume the worst. It really hurts, especially when your intentions were meant to be good.
I keep coming back to a short poem often attributed to Mother Teresa that’s become part of my daily life. I have the poem “Do It Anyway” hanging in my house, purposely set in a spot where I see and read it every day. I bought the artwork simply because I loved the words; they felt honest and easy to live by. It wasn’t until I was sitting down to write this that I finally looked up who wrote it, and there it was, tied to her name. One line in particular always catches me: “If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives: Be kind anyway.” The words are simple but not always easy. This is the charge, keep going and keep choosing what is right, even when it’s misunderstood. Not everyone will see your heart and maybe they’re not meant to. But you know why you’re doing it. So…do it anyway.
