What you must do...

A writer tells of an assignment given by her mentor. The object was to begin to set goals in her life. She was to make two lists...the first was all the New Year's resolutions she WANTED to keep and the second was a list of resolutions she WOULD keep. She was to write the "want" list first. She says she spent several hours working on the lists. Her "want" list swelled to fill an entire page and contained all her visions for living an ideal life. The second was easier to write. She committed to ten practical resolutions that were both realistic and helpful.

At the next meeting her mentor asked her about her lists. She said "The first contains all the things I SHOULD do and the second contains all I COULD do." He asked to see the second list and without even glancing at it he ripped it into tiny pieces. She was annoyed to say the least. After a few minutes (to calm down) she realized that the second list was really a "cop out" and the first was the only one that mattered.

She then handed him the first list...without reading and in silence, he crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it away. She was livid! Why would he do such a thing? Then her mentor began to speak "What you SHOULD and COULD do with your life no longer matters. The only thing that matters from this day forward is what you MUST do." He then handed her a folded piece of paper from his back pocket. She carefully opened it and found one word in the middle of the page: "Love"...