BonaResponds Mantras/Guiding thoughts

An unopened fortune cookie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What guides your thinking?  I got thinking this morning about that question upon seeing a fortune cookie picture on facebook.  The fortune (which was posted by Make-a-Wish of Western New York) said:

"Look for someone's strength instead of weakness". 

So, here is a list of items (call them mantras, sayings, thoughts, or views) that guide my thinking and planning for BonaResponds on an almost daily basis. 

1. Everyone has something to offer. 
2. It is better to go and not be needed than to not go and be needed.
3. Better not perfect.
4. The intended job is often the least important thing we do.
5. Walking in others' shoes not enough, we need to see things through their eyes.
6. People handle stress in various ways: some get busy, some get lost, and some overwhelmed.
7. Ignoring a problem is not always laziness, it can be a means of coping as well. 
8. Even the best cars need help around some roadblocks.  The same with people.
9. Bumpy patches of road can be followed by many miles of smooth sailing.
10. Prepare for the unexpected, but act before all is certain. 
11. Bureaucracy kills (spirit and sometimes people). 
12. We can't do everything, but we can do something.  
13. There are always a million reasons not to help, help anyway.
14. A small job to society is often an enormous help to those helped. 
15. Much can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit. 
16. Many hands make light(er) work. 
17. All voluntary activities must be "win-win". 
18. What type of group would we be if we only helped when it was convenient?
19. At the end of the day, it is all economics.  But the measuring stick is not merely dollars and cents, but utility and well being.
20. Make a positive difference
21. Some people are especially tough to please.  There is probably a reason.  
22. Showing up is not enough, but it beats the alternative.
23. Have a positive value added (EVA in finance, WAR in baseball, plus in hockey). 
24. Don't forget opportunity costs. The cost of one job, is another.
25. Life is filled with randomness.   Your position at the top or at the bottom is in part random.
26. Little things matter.  Ripples (both positive and negative) can start with a little splash.  
27. People are good. Conditions and circumstances can hide this but the truth eventually shines through.
28. Take care of the big things and the small things will take care of themselves.  Money is a small thing.
29. Helping some, is better than helping none.
30. We are all neighbors in universe space. 
31. Sometimes all it takes is a smile and a kind word.
32. Everyone is a role model.
33. No one is perfect.