Self

You know, I sometimes wonder if humans ever really know what is good and bad for themselves.

They seem to always make themselves unhappy by wanting things that they are never going to get,

and wanting to change things about themselves that are beautiful and wonderful.

They want to look like someone else,

or they judge themselves by whether they are as strong or as skilful or as brainy as those around them,

or even better.

They seem to prefer being miserable about the way they are,

rather than happy and thankful for who they are and what they have been given.

Now obviously there is nothing wrong with wanting to be better than you are at some things,

after all, as humans grow from babies to kids, then from big kids to fully grown, they cant help but get better at some things.

They get bigger and stronger,

they learn different skills as they learn to control their muscles better,

and they fill their brains with more knowledge and understanding of the world about them.

And to see how they have got better at things they test themselves against other people

in different kinds of competition.

They play different kinds of sports

to see how strong and fast and skilful they have become

and they take exams at school to test how much they have learned.

But if you are running in a race there is only ever going to be one winner,

and at school there is only one person who can be top of the class.

So does that make all the rest no good?

In those sorts of competition, the most important thing to learn is to be happy with being the best you can be,

doing the best you can.

And with those sorts of competition you know how you are doing

because things can be measured.

You can measure the time it takes for you to run from one place to another,

and know if you have been faster or slower,

and when a school test has been marked you know how well you have done.

But what about all the things in our lives that can't be measured in the same way,

things about us that come from inside us and can be seen but can't be measured,

things like being kind or generous,

or being patient, honest or brave.

Would you rather that someone you know is brainy or good at sports,

or that they are kind to you and a good friend,

someone who shares what they have with you and keeps their promises?

Those are the people that we love the most,

and if we are like that we will be loved in the same way,

and that is really what makes us happy.

Those kinds of being good aren't connected to how strong we are,

or how clever, or how we look.

Those things come from the heart,

and that is the part of us that God looks at

Surely if we are to look to anyone as an example to follow it should be the Messenger,

who was not a sportsman and who did not read or write,

but was patient and honest and humble and brave,

who was loved by everyone who knew him,

and who was known as the most laughing and smiling of men.