Jordan Crystal as Bernard Shaw States: We

Jordan Crystal As Bernard Shaw states: We all have a choice in life: This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. There exists only one truism in life: Some day, we will leave this earth.

It may be tomorrow. It could be a year from now. It can be in two decades. Unless an individual has been told by a doctor that he/she only has so many days/weeks to live, there is no way of knowing when one's time will come. That is why it is necessary to live each day as if it were the last. This does not mean trying to gain as much as one can from each day.

Rather, it means trying to give as much as one can in these same 24 hours. Since we are here such a short time -- even if we live until our 100th year -- it is our responsibility to make the world a better place for others around us and humanity as a whole. Whether one believes in God or a similar higher being or not, one has to recognize that there is some purpose in life. Each person has a choice.

he/she can go from day-to-day, just getting by and not making any kind of impact. Or, he/she can believe that there is a reason for being here, whatever that may be. In assessing how successful we are in life, our attitude toward our situation and others is key. It is very difficult to accept how little control we have over life. Overall, there are so many things that just happen for good reason or no apparent reason at all.

This is even more cause to assume responsibility and control over those things we can. In many cases, we can set goals and objectives; we can say "yes," or "no"; we can agree or disagree, or agree to disagree. Thus, we can choose to do whatever is possible to make the world a better place. We may not succeed as much as we would like, especially if setting high ideals. However, we will know that we have tried: That is what is most important.

It is always very surprising and disheartening for me to see how cruel and uncaring people can be. What gives them cause to be like this? It is so much more difficult to be negative and to treat others badly than it is to be positive and behave kindly toward others. There is no excuse for a person to intentionally mistreat someone else, no matter what experiences that person has had in the past and how much he/she is hurting.

As trite as the saying is, two wrongs do not make a right. Is it not much easier to do one's best to make other people laugh or smile, to complement them even on something that appears inconsequential? Is it not much better to look for the goodness and kind qualities in others than spend one's time worrying about how they are going to make your life more difficult or miserable? Unfortunately, the world is not always a perfect place. There is disease, hunger, poverty, inequality.

There are good people who are continually treated poorly, and horrible people who always seem to get the best of things. Each one of us can only do so much. On our own, we cannot solve life's smaller inequities, let alone the larger ones. However, we can be a resource and add our strength, skills and fortitude to the resources of others. A few years ago, a movie came out called "Pay It Forward." It is based on the book of the same name, as well as an organization.

Trevor, the 12-year-old hero of "Pay It Forward," thinks of quite an idea that many people call idealistic or utopian. He describes it to his mother and teacher this way: "You see, I do something real good for three people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward. To three more people. Each. So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven." He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers.

"Then it sort of spreads out, see. To eighty-one. Then two hundred forty-three. Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?" It is a simple concept with a huge reward -- the multiplicity of caring for others. Nowhere in this essay am I saying that a person should be selfless and self-sacrificing. Nowhere do I say that we have to try to be perfect. Neither of these are realities.

The ironic thing is that as we do things for others, as we try to be the best we can be, we become more pleased with life, more.