MAGNIFICENT

A few months ago, one of my Facebook friends (a chap I have never met in person but usually find rather amusing) put up on his status something like:-

**** is desperately in need of a new approach to life as his current one is driving him to the edge.

I'm not one to ignore an apparent cry for help so I dropped **** a short e-mail asking him what his current approach to life was.

"It is to have sex with as many women as I possibly can without my wife finding out," was his response. "What about yours?"

I thought about it for only a few minutes and then came up with a response which I think will have an impact on my life until the day I die.

My response was 'Be magnificent."

Now, at first glance you may read that and think it sounds terribly arrogant. But let me make it clear. I am not saying that I think I am magnificent. I don't think I am superior to anyone. However, my goal is always to strive to be magnificent. It is a fundamental principle I live by.

What does this mean?

We go through life making decision after decision and by doing so we create our circumstances. Put simply, I try to approach every decision, every interaction with the world and my fellow inhabitants of it by asking myself:-

What would I do in this situation if I were being magnificent?

Let us take my friend above as an example. Is he being magnificent to his wife? Is he being magnificent to the other women he is using? Is he being magnificent to himself? Far from it. If he were to adopt the life stance 'be magnificent', it would render him unable to engage in behaviour so damaging for all concerned.

I am often faced with opportunities to be little. See Justice for an example. When I am tempted, I think about what a magnificent person would do in the situation. It helps me to consistently make the right choices, so much so that making the right choices becomes a habit.

But it doesn't have to be just about avoiding damaging behaviour. I can be proactive and just determine to do magnificent things every day. Go the extra mile to help someone because to do so is magnificent. Be magnificent in my relationship with my daughters. Be magnificent with my friends. Be magnificent with strangers. Wear magnificent hats! :-)

I heartily recommend giving it a try. If you don't like mine, choose your own splendid adjective. There's a good one! Be splendid!

By the way. If you are feeling curious as to who **** might be, don't bother looking in my Friends list because I think his account got deactivated. Maybe his wife finally found out?

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