It's all about me... I mean you!

I saw an article on MSN a couple days ago about the latest generation being totally narcissistic, (self absorbed). It talked about how now we give our children "Princess parties", tell them they are "doing Great", their teachers try to make sure everyone "Feels good about Themselves". They interviewed a young lady who was in her twenties and her comment was something like, "Yea, I love myself. What's wrong with that?"

Well, I agree with her.

Nothing is wrong with that IF;

If that love of self is tempered with a LARGE PORTION of serving others.

We should tell our daughters they are princesses. We should tell our sons they can be the best ball player in the world if they want. We should encourage them, tell them we love them unconditionally, support them in every worthy endeavor they undertake, sacrifice some of our needs for them. We should help them to love themselves. These are all healthy things!

BUT,

They also need to be taught service to others. If we fail to teach them respect for others feeling, property, needs and beliefs, we end up with a society filled with spoiled rotten primadonnas, (Paris Hilton and Terrel Owens come to mind, along with most of Hollywood's actors and actresses).

If children are taught to serve others, they learn to be humble yet confident. They learn to love others and themselves. They learn that we feel the best about ourselves when we have been able to do something for someone else. They learn that it really isn't "All about me". It's all about me helping others.

There are opportunities for service everywhere; in the home, at school, at work, at your church. Especially now, with a lot of people having more needs than a couple years ago, you can find more opportunities to serve than you have time in the day. Every family member should have responsibilities at home, no matter how young or old. Sometimes it can be hard to get others, especially those teens, to look outside of themselves and see that service can be very satisfying and gratifying. One way is to do the service as a group; family, class, friends group, church group, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts.

If we teach service, we will love ourselves, but for all the right reasons and in the right way. Love yourself doing service for others and the world will be a better place because of YOU!

Playing for another Angels team now

You probably have heard the news about Nick Adenhart. The Los Angles Angels 22 yr. old pitcher who was killed by a drunk driver the night of April 8, 2009. It is a tragedy for a man as young as Nick, who had just made the Major Leagues in baseball, to have his life here on earth cut short.

Don't feel sorry for him though.

Nick Adenhart worked hard to get where he was, overcoming a career threatening injury, the surgery and then the physical therapy to get back. As he said after the game he pitched that night, "I feel like a Major Leaguer". His dad had come from Maryland to see him pitch and he pitched a gem, 6 scoreless innings before coming out of the game.

A Greater Tragedy

The young man who drove the vehicle that killed Nick was also 22 years old. He had a suspended license from previous DUI convictions, was over the legal limit when arrested and fled the accident scene leaving a companion in his vehicle who was injured. What a tragedy. This young man will most likely spend a significant portion of the rest of his life in prison. If you are a believer in an afterlife, then you can understand the eternal problems this young man has before him. What a wasted life.

It drives home the fact that we never know what the future holds for us. Nick I'm sure felt he was in complete control of his life and was on top of the world.

Whether you leave this world at 22 or 102, don't leave things undone!

Did you tell your kids, wife, husband, parents, special people that you loved them today?

Did you strive to do your best at whatever task, endeavor, job or project you were doing?

Did you feel good at the end of the day, that you accomplished everything you could?

When you leave this world, will the people at your funeral say that you lived life?

Or will they say it was a tragedy that you wasted your life?

Don't live an existence, LIVE LIFE!

Live like Nick Adenhart did. He accomplished much in his short life!

Life is a gift. You are special. You owe it to yourself to make your life the special life it was meant to be!