Be a quality person

One of my favorite inspirational talks of all time was given by Marvin J. Ashton. Here is the link.

http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.b12f9d18fae655bb69095bd3e44916a0/?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=224f9209df38b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Here is how he describes a quality person.

1. A quality person has self-respect.
2. A quality person is someone with integrity.
3. A quality person will not be offended.
4. A quality person will develop the capacity to love and be lovable.
5. A quality person ...will not find fault or criticize, belittle, or nag.
6. A quality person is one who has real faith.

He quotes a woman who was talking to a friend,
“Last summer I complained to a non-Latter-day Saint friend that I was exhausted, having no fun, living like an automaton. Nonsympathetically, she countered, ‘What do you think this is? A dress rehearsal? This is your life, Carol. Fix it.’ I expected a pat and a kind word. Instead, I got a splash of reality square in the face. She was, of course, quite right. I wasn’t giving my life value, so I didn’t feel it had value. I went home, reread the parables of the sower and of the talents, and regrouped.” (A Singular Life, ed. Carol L. Clark and Blythe Darlyn Thatcher, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987, pp. 35–36.)

He then says, "...fill your life with service, education, personality development, love for all, and other such meaningful traits. Live with purpose each day." This was something that I have looked back to frequently. I try to live the good life by living with purpose rather than drifting along. It can be so easy and comfortable to just drift.