Wash The Plate

So maybe you are thinking about how to show special love in these Christmas days.  You think that if you do this or that, you will make someone happy.  But watch what you choose to do.  You very well might pick something that makes you happy, with some expected response from the receiver of your good deed.  Well, what if their response is rather off-putting or even negative?  Then you are not so happy, nor are they.  Why not do something that might help you to grow into a better person, that will also benefit someone else, even if they do not know it?  Do something that is loving, even if you don't want to do it.  This type of action is a real self-changer for the better.  Like what?  Wash the plate, or even the dishes.  Say what?  Well, no less than Mother Theresa says, "Wash the plate not because it is dirty, but because you love the person who will use it next."  You don't like to do dishes?  And there may be a lot of them in big Christmas meals.  So now you do something you do not like to do, and you do it with as much love as you can muster, for some other person.  They will never know or even thank you.  They may be irascible and difficult to love, but this will be all the better to make you a better person.  Our Good Deeds cannot make other people better.  We can only work on ourself.  Or give others the chance to work on themselves.  Give your children or some young people this blog and ask them to do the dishes after a big meal.  Oh the whining!