"Do It Anyway" Poem

Do It Anyway by Mother Theresa poster

(Photo Credit: Poster from Zazzle.com.) "People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway . . . ." (See full quote below.) Over the Christmas holidays in a book in a relative's home, I was thrilled to find a re-print of this quote that I had seen years ago. An online search revealed that this quote was made famous by having been written on the wall in the Missionaries of Charity home for children in Calcutta, India, an outreach founded by Mother Theresa. The quote written on the wall was not entirely original but had been adapted from an earlier writing by Dr. Kent M. Keith, "The Paradoxical Commandments." The version printed in this post is attributed to Mother Theresa and is courtesy of the Mother Theresa of Calcutta Academy. Special thanks to the Prayer Foundation for information about the history of this quote and its two versions. These thoughts could be applied to the reality that dressing modestly often brings ridicule or rejection in Western culture, yet many benefits come from dressing modestly anyway. Not the least of those benefits is appearing beautiful to all the people in the world who highly value modest style.

Anyway

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

- Attributed to Mother Theresa, Adapted from the Writings of Kent M. Keith