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page was created on the 5th of September, 1999 by mayling =) |
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Six Great Lessons
The Important Things Life Teaches You...
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1 ~ Most Important Question
During my second month
of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious
student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one:
"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely
this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several
times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I
know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.
Before class ended,
one student asked if the last question would count towards our quiz grade.
"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers you will meet
many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and
care, even if all you do is smile and say 'Hello'."
I've never forgotten
that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.
~ 2 ~ Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30
PM, an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama
highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and
she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the
next car. A young white man stopped to help her - generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s.
The man took her to
safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. She
seemed to be in a big hurry! She wrote down his address, thanked him and
drove away. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door.
To his surprise, a giant console colour TV was delivered to his home.
A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for
assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not
only my clothes but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because
of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before
he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others."
Sincerely, Mrs. Nat
King Cole
~ 3 ~ Always remember those who serve
In the days when an
ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee
shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front
of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" "Fifty cents," replied
the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and
studied a number of coins in it. "How much is a dish of plain ice
cream?" he nquired. Some people were now waiting for a table
and the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she said
brusquely. The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have
the
plain ice cream," he
said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and
walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed.
When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed
hard at what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies - her tip.
~ 4 ~ The Obstacle in Our Path
In ancient times, a
king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched
to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest
merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many
loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting
the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load
of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden
and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his
load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder
had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king
indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from
the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.
Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.
~ 5 ~ Giving Blood
Many years ago, when
I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little
girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease.
Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her
5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and
had developed the antibodies, needed to combat the illness. The doctor
explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he
would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for
only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it
if it will save Liz." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed
next to his sister. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling
voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the boy had
misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister
all of his blood.
~ 6 ~ I've Got Two Choices
Jerry was the kind of
guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had
something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was
doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was
a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around
from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry
was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If
an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee
how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style
really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I
don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time.
How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say
to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be
in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood." I choose to
be in a good mood.
Each time something
bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from
it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining,
I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive
side of life. I choose the positive side of life." "Yeah, right,
it's not that easy,"I protested. " Yes it is," Jerry said, "Life is all
about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is
a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how
people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what
Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start
my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when
I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later,
I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant
business, he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun
point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his
hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The
robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively
quickly and rushed to the local trauma centre.
After 18 hours of surgery
and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was
released from the hospital
with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six
months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he said,
"If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined
to see his wounds but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the
robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was
that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay
on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices - I could choose to live,
or I could choose to die. I chose to live. "Weren't you
scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Jerry continued, "The
paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.
But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions
on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their
eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting
questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything.
'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they
waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and
yelled, 'Bullets!'
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing
to live. Operate
on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Jerry lived thanks to
the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.
I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all,
is everything.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Bruce
Watson, P.Eng.
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Star Thrower
A young man was picking
up objects off the beach
And tossing them out into
the sea.
A second man approached
him, and
saw that the objects were
starfish.
***
"Why in the world are you
throwing
starfish in the water?"
***
"If the starfish are still on
the beach
when the tide goes out and
the sun rises
high in the sky, they will
die," replied
the young man.
***
"That's ridiculous.
There are thousands of
miles of beach and millions
of starfish,
you can't really believe
that what you're
doing could possibly make
a difference!"
***
The young man picked
up another starfish,
paused thoughtfully and
remarked as he
tossed it out into the waves,
"It makes a
difference to this one."
-Loren Eiseley
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