It isn’t always apparent where material for a blog will come from. Today’s came from a post on Facebook last Friday that stood out because it was highlighted in yellow. It was an excerpt from a book with no title given; just a single highlighted paragraph, and here it is:

The people we surround ourselves with either raise or lower our standards. They either help us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves or encourage us to become lesser versions of ourselves. We become like our friends. No man becomes great on his own. No woman becomes great on her own. The people around them help to make them great. We all need people in our lives who raise our standards, remind us of our essential purpose, and challenge us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves.

Upon doing a little research I discovered that this quote is from one of many books written by a forty-four-year-old  Australian author, Matthew Kelly. However the title of the book was not revealed. Matthew Kelly has written many other quotable quotes and I will mention one or two later.

But let’s take a look at this particular one. I agree with the first sentence except for letting someone lower my standards.  The second sentence leaves me wondering how we would let someone encourage us to be lesser versions of ourselves. Continuing on, if we become like our friends, hopefully it would be the friends that we admire, the ones who live kind, courteous, sincere, helpful lives. No, we don’t become great on our own. We become great by emulating the best qualities of great people and by ridding ourselves of our own idiosyncrasies that keep us from being the best we can be; somewhat like separating the wheat from the chaff.

We do need people who raise our standards but that can only be achieved by being open to what is being offered in that regard. We do need to be reminded of our essential purpose which is to live the golden rule; do to others as you would have them do to you…not as they do to you , but as you would have them do to you. That is such a profound statement and can only be lived by reflecting on its true meaning. Finally, it is up to us to accept the challenge to become the-best-version-of-ourselves. We all know what that version is and must strive for it continually.

And now more Matthew Kelly quotes:

Life is about love. It’s about whom you love and whom you hurt. Life’s about how you love yourself and how you hurt yourself. Life’s about how you love and hurt the people close to you. Life is about how you love and hurt the people who just cross your path for a moment. Life is about love.

“In fact, the more each person can remove his or her ego from the discussion and focus on the subject matter, the more fruitful the conversation will be for all involved.”

“Withholding love is a bit like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”