What Would Your Pledge Say?

Three months before my Dad died, I had given him the book "Just Who Will You Be?," by Maria Shriver.

It served as a birthday gift. I now have it at home.

I picked it up the other day and was reminded of the Pledge in the back of the book. It's a list of the top ten things Shriver pledges to herself in order to keep focused and centered on who she wants to be.

And here they are:

1. I pledge to "show up" in my life as myself, not as an imitation of anyone else.

2. I pledge to avoid using the word "just" to describe myself. For example, I won't say, "I'm just a mother," "I'm just a student," or "I'm just an ordinary person."

3. I pledge to give myself ten minutes of silence and stillness every day to get in touch with my heart and hear my own voice.

4. I pledge to use my voice to connect my dreams to my actions.

5. I pledge to use my voice to empower myself and others.

6. I pledge to serve my community at least once a year in a way that will benefit other people.

7. I pledge to ask myself, "Who am I? What do I believe in? What am I grateful for? And, what do I want my life to stand for?"

8. I pledge to sit down and write my own mission statement.

9. I pledge to live my own legacy.

10. And I pledge to pass it on.

Good words to live by.