There’s a stranger I met long ago that told me something when I was feeling quite vulnerable.  I was walking toward the art museum on a sunny Sunday in January when I slipped and broke my ankle just a block from my car.  I didn’t have my phone with me and I didn’t have a means to get back to my car.  I sat down on the sidewalk to think about my circumstances-how would I get back home?  Plenty of people drove by and walked on with their busy lives while I considered crawling back to my car, looking foolish.

This man stopped to help me.  He had very intense, light-colored eyes and a beard. He helped me hobble back to my car.  He let me lean on him heavily while he told me one of his all time favorite quotes:

“People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People who really want help may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway.”