You’re given a choice each time you’re hurt.

You could return fire and respond in kind. Or you could let it go and move on.

Be wary of the path you choose.

In selecting your response, you decide the person you’ll become.

There are few, if any, neutral decisions. Each one helps form the picture of who you are today, and who you’ll be down the road.

It may feel good to dish sarcasm, wit and venom upon your foes, but at what cost?

A victory pursued, or even attained, in the wrong way is a hollow one. In fact, it’s not a victory at all. It’s a loss. In becoming like your enemy to beat your enemy, you become the thing you hated in the first place. Becoming evil to beat evil allows evil to win.

You’re not called to take the path that feels good. You’re called to take the path of righteousness. The path that leads to kindness, gentleness, and character.

Choose the right path regardless how difficult or hard it is. Stay out of the mud.

Do it enough and you’ll become the man or woman you hoped to be. And that will make all the mud slung your way worth it, even if no one else can tell.

Ken Blanchard was famous for his concept of creating raving fans. He used to say that satisfying customers wasn’t the goal. Creating situations where they’re absolutely blown away is.

Creating those experiences isn’t as difficult as you think. It takes going that extra inch to make every encounter with you and your business remarkable. It’s being different in a way that improves how your customer feels about working with you.

You want people to walk away not only satisfied but raving about you. You want them obsessed and telling everyone about it.

Put others first. Be interested in the lives of others. Be present everywhere you are, not distracted by your phone or what’s going on around you. Look people in the eye. Smile. Care enough to listen. Say “please,” and “thank you.”

These are simple things. We can all do better at creating raving fans. Whether they’re fans of our business or fans of us personally.

Aim to leave a great impression on everyone you meet.

Do this and you’ll have a stellar reputation. Not only that, but you’ll have a life full of more love and kindness than you thought possible.