I find that when I make an effort and treat a person “as if” he or she were the most important thing in my life at that instant, amazing things happen.

People respond positively; sometimes they return the kindness.

The effort it takes to be kind or thoughtful or patient or simply to listen is rewarded tenfold. It is triply blessed; it brings peace to the heart of the other, it brings peace into my heart, and it strengthens God’s qualities inside me.

The more these qualities gather and strengthen, the more peace I feel and, though it may be imperceptible, the closer I am to God.