How to Be a Great Person

Although religious leaders may disagree with each other, they all agree on one important principle for living your life.

You might find this principle difficult to follow. For some, it may be nearly impossible to live this way. Yet, when you use this rule in your life, you earn the most wonderful gifts in the world.

Not only does this advice make you happy, it lowers your stress, boosts your intelligence and increases your courage. It truly helps make you successful.

“What Is Greatness?”

“The hardest task one can have is to continue to love his fellows despite all reasons he should not.”

“For the one who can achieve this, there is abundant hope.

“For those who cannot, there is only sorrow, hatred and despair. And these are not the things of which greatness, or sanity or happiness are made.

“A primary trap is to succumb to invitations to hate.

“Never use what is done to one as a basis for hatred. Never desire revenge.

“It requires real strength to love man*. And to love him despite all invitations to do otherwise, all provocations and all reasons why one should not. (*Man: mankind; the human race.)

“Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe.” — L. Ron Hubbard from “What is Greatness?“

Examples

1. As soon as you arrive at your family’s holiday party, your stomach twists when you see your Aunt Jane. Ever since you were young, Aunt Jane has criticized you. “What’s happening with you? I can’t believe you are failing. You have such potential!”

If you had known Aunt Jane would be at the family gathering, you would have found an excuse to miss it. You see her and want to leave. But she sees you and yells, “There you are! Have you been avoiding me?”

You decide to be a great person and love your Aunt Jane despite all reasons you should not. As you hug her, you notice she is now in her 70’s. You suddenly realize she hasn’t criticized you for more than 20 years. You are surprised to find you actually do love her.

2. You are going down the road enjoying the drive when some idiot cuts in front of you. You slam on the brakes to avoid an accident. You send him a mental curse and hope he has a rotten life.

You notice you feel rotten. You blame the other driver for this feeling and start driving recklessly yourself.

But then you think, “Hey! I don’t want to hate anyone. I’m going to love that guy.” You change your attitude and feel a little understanding for him. You think, “He must be late for work” and you wish him well.

Within seconds, you feel better and forget about it. You go back to enjoying your drive.

3. A few years ago, you and your friend Peter bought a small van. He used it during the day to make deliveries from his flower shop and you used it at night for your Uber gig.

One night, you notice the van is missing. You call Peter who says, “Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you that I sort of rented it to this guy. I mean, uh, well, I sold it because I had to pay off some bills. I think you owe me some money anyway, so I think we should call it even.”

You say, “I can’t believe this! You sold our van? You really did it this time Peter!” You hang up and vow to never speak to him again.

You plot your revenge. You’ll spray paint his windows. You’ll steal his bike. You’ll spread rumors about him.

Every time you think about Peter and the van, you get upset. Even two months later, you still feel hatred. It ruins your mood every day.

But then you learn about becoming a great person. You decide to love Peter despite all reasons you should not. After a few days, you decide to call him.

As soon as Peter hears your voice, he says, “I’m so glad you called! I’m so sorry about that van! I truly regret selling it without talking to you.”

You say, “Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry our arrangement failed. Good luck Peter.”

The van memory stops hurting you. People like being around you again. You feel great!

Five Ways to Become a Greater Person

1. Take a few minutes today and try loving everyone around you. People in your family, neighborhood, workplace, everyone. Love them for no reason. Why not?

2. Whenever someone tries to get you to hate him or her, refuse to play the game. Who needs more enemies? Instead, generate some love for the person, even if only a small amount.

3. Make yourself tougher by loving difficult people. You can certainly love people without letting them control you. In fact, it’s easier to face and handle difficult people, if you love them.

4. Eliminate revenge as a purpose in your life. Who do you want to get even with? Change that intention into something positive. Wish them well and see how you feel.

5. Finally, improve your mood by loving people. Whenever you feel depressed or desperate, find people to love. You don’t even need to see or talk to them, just love them.

“To love, in spite of all, is the secret of greatness. — L. Ron Hubbard