Bedford Eagles Landing Homeowners Association

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Mar 01, 2002

For the new year I wanted to share with you an article I read in an Ann Landers column many years ago. I cut it out and read it periodically. Its message seems more poignant now then ever before.

Vow to do some of the things you?’ve always wanted to do but couldn?’t find the time. Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge and replace it with some pleasant memories. Share a funny story with someone whose spirits are dragging. A good laugh can be very good medicine. Vow not to make a promise you don?’t think you can keep. Pay a debt. Free yourself of envy and malice. Encourage a youth to do his or her best. Share your experience and offer support. Make a genuine effort to stay in closer touch with family and good friends. Resolve to stop magnifying small problems and shooting from the hip. Find the time to be kind and thoughtful. All of us have the same allotment: 24 hours a day. Give a compliment. It might give someone a badly needed lift. Forgive an injustice. Listen more. Be kind. Apologize when you realize you are wrong. An apology never diminishes a person. It elevates him. Don?’t blow your own horn. Try to understand a point of view that is different then your own. Few things are 100% one way or another. Examine demands you make on others. Listen up. When you feel like blowing your top, ask ourselves, will it matter a week from today? Laugh the loudest when the joke is on you. The sure way to have a friend, is to be one. We are all connected by our humanity and we need each other. Avoid malcontents and pessimists. Don?’t discourage a beginner from trying something risky. Nothing returned means nothing gained. Take better care of yourself. Remember, you are all you?’ve got. Walk tall and smile more. You will look 10 years younger. Don?’t be afraid to say, ?“I love you?” They are the sweetest words in every language. If you have love in your life, it can be the best year ever.

Kathryn Ude
31 January 2002