And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. -From John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
It’s a well-known line from a very popular president’s inaugural address. One we should all remember and try to practice. But as I was thinking about how far off base we have come in our own lives, I thought of this line from President Kennedy’s inaugural address.
We are such selfish people. Selfish people everywhere. We can look around and point fingers at all the selfish people. BUT when we are pointing our finger at all of those selfish people, we still have 3 fingers pointing back at ourselves.
So I say to myself on my high horse, “I’m not selfish. They are.”
And then I start to think about all of things I want for MYSELF. I want traffic to go smoothly and the slow pokes to get out of my way. I want my waitress to be at my beck and call. I want my husband to treat me like a queen. I want my kids to seek advice from me for everything. I want to be the employee that gets the VIP nod and I want to find the golden egg in the rat race of life hunting. ME…..ME…..ME…. What can people do for me????
But what if we all took the line from President Kennedy’s inaugural address and tweaked it a bit to find a way to overcome our selfishness.
Ask not what your spouse can do for you but what you can do for your spouse.
Ask not what your employer can do for you but what you can do for your employer.
Ask not what your kids can do for you but what you can do for your kids.
Ask not what your church can do for you but what you can do for your church.
Ask not what your parents can do for you but what you can do for your parents.
Ask not what your friends can do for you but what you can do for your friends.
Ask not what God can do for you but what you can do for God.
If we all approached each day with these thoughts, our world could turn around in an abundance of kindness.
Today ask not what you can do for yourself but what you, yourself, can do for others.
