I like to watch a certain TV Evangelist, Joyce Meyers. She tells it like it is. She’s humorous in the telling. She tells it from a human perspective. I don’t watch her very often anymore, but the other day I caught about 5 minutes at the end of her program. What she said really stuck with me and I have been thinking about it ever since. I am sure someone some where has said it before, but it must be what I need at this time. And I guess I should also add that I have forever been a believer in the motto of being where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be there.
This is what she said: (And I paraphrase)

“You must do the right thing at all times. If things are going badly for you, you must still do the right thing.”

Immediately I thought about my habit of heading for the sweets when I worry or get depressed. I don’t need the sweets. I shouldn’t be eating the sweets. The sweets are not good for me. But there I go anyway, eating sweets.
Then I thought about other aspects of life where we all might not be doing the right thing.
What kind of words might come out of someone’s mouth when they are angry or hurt?
Swearing? Name calling? Negative remarks?
What times do people lie? Do they lie to cover up a sin or to get out of doing something?
Do people rationalize to make themselves feel better, look better than others, or justify actions?

I wear a ring on my hand. It says CTR. Some people wear bracelets in different colors. They say CTR, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Faith, etc., Return with Honor, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). We have pictures of the Savior and temples in our homes. We have sayings cross-stitched on the walls such as, Love Is Spoken Here, Families Are Forever, Faith, Hope, & Charity. We listen to talks, often several times a week. We attend the temple. We teach lessons. We take all of them into our minds and hopefully our hearts.
But when we come down to that defining moment, when all the knowledge and faith we have is tested, what do we do?
When people are deliberately cruel, selfish, damaging…. What do we do when what they say is not true? What do we do when they don’t acknowledge the wrong or even understand that what happened was wrong?
The choices we make, whether consciously or unconsciously determine the direction our lives will take. I submit that we have to be conscious of what our choices are as often as possible so that when we are making an unconscious decision it will be the right one. Making the right decision will be a habit in our lives with no second guessing.
President Hinckley says: “It is not enough to be good…you must do the very best you can.”
Have you ever heard the poem called If Jesus Walked With Me Today?
Basically the poem says: If Jesus walked with me today would I….
Change the tone of my voice?
Change my clothes?
Put away the books I read?
Change the TV shows or movies I watch?
Change what I put into our body?

If Jesus walked with me today….
Would he gossip?
Would he ignore the lonely?
Would he shake your hands and make others welcome?
Would he deliberately deceive?
Would he deliberately hurt?

He would pay attention to the details and the choices to be made on a daily basis because they make a difference.

There is a story about an old man walking along the beach, picking up starfish which had washed up on the shore and throwing them back into the ocean. A young man came along and asked the old man if he thought he was making a difference. The old man bent down and picked up another starfish which he threw back into the sea. Then he said, “I made a difference to that one.”
The little things do count. Doing the right thing at all times, counts. Being in the right place at the right time, counts. Smiling, loving, reaching out to others, stepping outside of your comfort zone ALL COUNT.