Attitude
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The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can
alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. - William James
How hard to feel the rhythm of Grace When the noise of confusion
surrounds! The Kind words that fill: forgiveness, caress, gentle,
ease, quiet, alone, tenderness, belief, hold, tremble, sweet. My
vocabulary shall brim with them all day: words spoken aloud, thoughts
held to myself. Rhythm makes a connection from the wanting-to-be to
the-being. And Grace fills in the missing parts. Whatever's missing -
ask Grace and trust Honestly. Grace will abound. Promise. ©Stella
Savoie
Fear and worry run rampant in our society, and prescriptions for
stress-relieving drugs are at an all time high. We try to control
different situations, and when the outcome is not to our liking, we
tend to seek new circumstances. Once again, the outcome is the same,
so the cycle continues. We can only do our best - the final results
are out of our hands. Worrying is just wasted energy that negatively
affects our entire being.
Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow. - Philip Gulley
THE FOUR EMOTIONS THAT CAN LEAD TO LIFE
CHANGE Back to top
(excerpted from Seven Strategies for Wealth and Happiness)
Emotions are the most powerful forces inside us. Under the power of
emotions, human beings can perform the most heroic (as well as
barbaric) acts. To a great degree, civilization itself can be defined
as the intelligent channeling of human emotion. Emotions are fuel and
the mind is the pilot, which together propel the ship of civilized
progress. Which emotions cause people to act? There are four basic
ones; each, or a combination of several, can trigger the most
incredible activity. The day that you allow these emotions to fuel
your desire is the day you'll turn your life around.
1) DISGUST
One does not usually equate the word "disgust" with
positive action. And yet properly channeled, disgust can change a
person's life. The person who feels disgusted has reached a point of
no return. He or she is ready to throw down the gauntlet at life and
say, "I've had it!" That's what I said after many
humiliating experiences at age 25. I said, "I don't want to live
like this anymore.I've had it with being broke. I've had it with
being embarrassed, and I've had it with lying."
Yes, productive feelings of disgust come when a person says,
"Enough is enough."
The "guy" has finally had it with mediocrity. He's had it
with those awful sick feelings of fear, pain and humiliation. He then
decides he is not going to live like this anymore. Look out! This
could be the day that turns a life around. Call it what you will: the
"I've had it" day, the "never again" day, the
"enough's enough" day. Whatever you call it, it's powerful!
There is nothing so life-changing as gut-wrenching disgust!
2) DECISION
Most of us need to be pushed to the wall to make decisions. And once
we reach this point, we have to deal with the conflicting emotions
that come with making them. We have reached a fork in the road. Now
this fork can be a two-prong, three-prong, or even a four-prong fork.
No wonder that decision-making can create knots in stomachs, keep us
awake in the middle of the night, or make us break out in a cold
sweat. Making life-changing decisions can be likened to internal
civil war. Conflicting armies of emotions, each with its own arsenal
of reasons, battle each other for supremacy of our minds. And our
resulting decisions, whether bold or timid, well thought out or
impulsive, can either set the course of action or blind it. I don't
have much advice to give you about decision-making except this:
Whatever you do, don't camp at the fork in the road. Decide. It's far
better to make a wrong decision than to not make one at all. Each of
us must confront our emotional turmoil and sort out our feelings.
3) DESIRE
How does one gain desire? I don't think I can answer this directly
because there are many ways. But I do know two things about desire:
a. It comes from the inside not the outside.
b. It can be triggered by outside forces.
Almost anything can trigger desire. It's a matter of timing as much
as preparation. It might be a song that tugs at the heart. It might
be a memorable sermon. It might be a movie, a conversation with a
friend, a confrontation with the enemy, or a bitter experience. Even
a book or an article such as this one can trigger the inner mechanism
that will make some people say, "I want it now!"
Therefore, while searching for your "hot button" ofpure,
raw desire, welcome into your life each positive experience. Don't
erect a wall to protect you from experiencing life. The same wall
that keeps out your disappointment also keeps out the sunlight of
enriching experiences. So let life touch you. The next touch could be
the one that turns your life around.
4) RESOLVE
Resolve says, "I will." These two words are among the most
potent in the English language. I WILL. Benjamin Disraeli, the great
British statesman, once said, "Nothing can resist a human will
that will stake even its existence on the extent of its purpose."
In other words, when someone resolves to "do or die,"
nothing can stop him.
The mountain climber says, "I will climb the mountain. They've
told me it's too high, it's too far, it's too steep, it's too rocky,
it's too difficult. But it's my mountain. I will climb it. You'll
soon see me waving from the top or you'll never see me, because
unless I reach the peak, I'm not coming back." Who can argue
with such resolve? When confronted with such iron-will determination,
I can see Time, Fate and Circumstance calling a hasty conference and
deciding, "We might as well let him have his dream. He's said
he's going to get there or die trying."
The best definition for "resolve" I've ever heard came from
a schoolgirl in Foster City, California. As is my custom, I was
lecturing about success to a group of bright kids at a junior high
school. I asked, "Who can tell me what 'resolve' means?"
Several hands went up, and I did get some pretty good definitions.
But the last was the best. A shy girl from the back of the room got
up and said with quiet intensity, "I think resolve means
promising yourself you will never give up." That's it! That's
the best definition I've ever heard: PROMISE YOURSELF YOU'LL NEVER
GIVE UP.
Think about it! How long should a baby try to learn how to walk? How
long would you give the average baby before you say, "That's it,
you've had your chance"? You say that's crazy? Of course it is.
Any mother would say, "My baby is going to keep trying until he
learns how to walk!" No wonder everyone walks. There is a vital
lesson in this. Ask yourself, "How long am I going to work to
make my dreams come true?" I suggest you answer, "As long
as it takes." That's what these four emotions are all about.
These things I wish for you
Back to top
Subject: Paul Harvey writes
We tried so hard to make things better for our kidsthat we made them
worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better.
I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and
homemade ice cream and leftover meatloaf sandwiches. I really would.
I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn
honesty by being cheated.
I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the
car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.
It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and
your old dog put to sleep.
I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.
I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And
it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the
room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because
he's scared, I hope you let him.
When you want to see a movie and your little brother wants to
tagalong, I hope you'll let him.
I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that
you live in a town where you can do it safely.
On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask
your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding
with someone as uncool as your Mom.
If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one
instead of buying one.
I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.
When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and
subtract in your head.
I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush
on a girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what
ivory soap tastes like.
May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove
and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.
I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.
And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is
not your friend.
I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandpa and go
fishing with your Uncle.
May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.
I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through you
neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas
time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.
These things I wish for you ~ tough times and disappointment, hard
work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.
We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them.
Paul Harvey
Always continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you
choose if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work
with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it.
Oprah Winfrey
A SLAVE TO HIS DESTINY Back to top
One morning a sixteen-year-old boy was kidnapped from his house by a
band of knife-wielding thugs and taken to another country, there to
be sold as a slave. The year was 401 a.d.
He was made a shepherd. Slaves were not allowed to wear clothes, so
he was often dangerously cold and frequently on the verge of
starvation. He spent months at a time without seeing another human
being - a severe psychological torture.
But this greatest of difficulties was transformed into the greatest
of blessings because it gave him an opportunity not many get in a
lifetime. Long lengths of solitude have been used by people all
through history to meditate, to learn to control the mind and to
explore the depths of feeling and thought - to a degree impossible in
the hubbub of normal life.
He wasn't looking for such an "opportunity," but he got it
anyway. He had never been a religious person, but to hold himself
together and take his mind off the pain, he began to pray, so much
that, "...In one day," he wrote later, "I would say as
many as a hundred prayers and after dark nearly as many again... I
would wake and pray before daybreak - through snow, frost, and rain..."
This young man, at the onset of his manhood, got a "raw
deal." But therein lies the lesson. Nobody gets a perfect life.
The question is not "What could I have done if I'd gotten a
better life?" but rather "What can I do with the life I've got?"
How can you take your personality, your circumstances, your
upbringing, the time and place you live in, and make something
extraordinary out of it? What can you do with what you've got?
The young slave prayed. He didn't have much else available to do, so
he did what he could with all his might. And after six years of
praying, he heard a voice in his sleep say that his prayers would be
answered: He was going home. He sat bolt upright and the voice said,
"Look, your ship is ready."
He was a long way from the ocean, but he started walking. After two
hundred miles, he came to the ocean and there was a ship, preparing
to leave for Britain, his homeland. Somehow he got aboard the ship
and went home to reunite with his family.
But he had changed. The sixteen-year-old boy had become a holy man.
He had visions. He heard the voices of the people from the island he
had left - Ireland - calling him back. The voices were persistent,
and he eventually left his family to become ordained as a priest and
a bishop with the intention of returning to Ireland and converting
the Irish to Christianity.
At the time, the Irish were fierce, illiterate, Iron-Age people. For
over eleven hundred years, the Roman Empire had been spreading its
civilizing influence from Africa to Britain, but Rome never conquered Ireland.
The people of Ireland warred constantly. They made human sacrifices
of prisoners of war and sacrificed newborns to the gods of the
harvest. They hung the skulls of their enemies on their belts as ornaments.
Our slave-boy-turned-bishop decided to make these people literate and
peaceful. Braving dangers and obstacles of tremendous magnitude, he
actually succeeded! By the end of his life, Ireland was Christian.
Slavery had ceased entirely. Wars were much less frequent, and
literacy was spreading.
How did he do it? He began by teaching people to read - starting with
the Bible. Students eventually became teachers and went to other
parts of the island to create new places of learning, and wherever
they went, they brought the know-how to turn sheepskin into paper and
paper into books.
Copying books became the major religious activity of that country.
The Irish had a long-standing love of words, which expressed itself
to the full when they became literate. Monks spent their lives
copying books: the Bible, the lives of saints, and the works
accumulated by the Roman culture - Latin, Greek, and Hebrew books,
grammars, the works of Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Homer, Greek
philosophy, math, geometry, astronomy.
In fact, because so many books were being copied, they were saved,
because as Ireland was being civilized, the Roman Empire was falling
apart. Libraries disappeared in Europe. Books were no longer copied
(except in the city of Rome itself), and children were no longer
taught to read. The civilization that had been built up over eleven
centuries disintegrated. This was the beginning of the Dark Ages.
Because our slave-boy-turned-bishop transformed his suffering into a
mission, civilization itself, in the form of literature and the
accumulated knowledge contained in that literature, was saved and not
lost during that time of darkness. He was named a saint, the famous
Saint Patrick. You can read the full and fascinating story if you
like in the excellent book How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.
"Very interesting," you might say, "but what does that
have to do with me?"
Well... you are also in some circumstances or other, and it's not all
peaches and cream, is it? There's some stuff you don't like - maybe
something about your circumstances, perhaps, or maybe some events
that occurred in your childhood.
But here you are, with that past, with these circumstances, with the
things you consider less than ideal. What are you going to do with
them? If those circumstances have made you uniquely qualified for
some contribution, what would it be?
You may not know the answer to that question right now, but keep in
mind that the circumstances you think only spell misery may contain
the seeds of something profoundly Good. Assume that's true, and the
assumption will begin to gather evidence until your misery is
transformed, as Saint Patrick's suffering was, from a raw deal to the
perfect preparation for something better.
Adam Khan
Be true to the best you know. This is your high ideal. If you do your
best, you cannot do more. Do your best everyday and your life will
gradually expand into satisfying fullness... - H. W. Dresser
According to the International Listening Association, within
twenty-four hours, we forget half of any information we've heard.
Forty-eight hours later, we've forgotten 75 percent of it. And we
don't grasp everything we hear in the first place. But these numbers
change when what we hear is repeated. And the more it's repeated, the
better the numbers look.
All this has a huge bearing on how you make changes in your life. You
change your behavior by changing the way you think. But the way you
think is as ingrained and habitual and as resistant to change as any
physical habit.
So learning new ways of thinking and behaving -- and learning them
well enough to actually make a difference -- requires repetition. If,
for example, you find a book that really makes a difference to you,
read it again and again. Make it an annual event. Every time you read
it, you'll come across things you'd forgotten about. Audiotapes are
ideal for repetition. Listen to tapes in your car and traffic jams
will be transformed from an annoyance to an extended opportunity to
improve the quality of your life.
Telling your friends about something you've learned helps cement the
new information in your mind. The more you share it, the better you
learn it. The effort and concentration it requires to explain
something to someone makes it clearer in your own mind and more permanent.
There are always so many new books, new tapes, new shows, new ideas,
new information - we know we'll never get to it all, but our
curiosity constantly pulls us toward it. But keep this in mind: Most
of that new stuff isn't very good. And even less applies to your
situation. So when you come across something that is good and does
apply to your situation, hold onto it. Reread it. When you come
across a good chapter in this book that applies to you, read it again
in a month. Write a letter to someone and explain the idea to them
and how you used it and how it worked. Post it on your refrigerator.
Read it onto a tape and listen to it in your car. Keep it in your
life. Repetition makes a difference.
With repetition you can take a fleeting hope sparked by a good idea
and turn it into an actual change in your life. Instead of that
possibility fading with your memory, it can grow stronger and
stronger until your life is changed for the better. The distance
between hope and actuality is crossed by repetition.
Adam Khan
We grow with each attempt Back
to top
Sometimes we're our own worst enemies when it comes to moving forward
with regards to an idea we have. We start out with this wonderful
idea. Yet before we actually take the first step towards realizing
it, we've actually picked it apart and come up with all the reasons
why it's undoable! Sound familiar? If so take heart I think it's
something we can all relate to in some form...
Rather than looking for ways to talk ourselves out of it, instead
affirm clearly that with its attempt we're growing ourselves! Looking
at things in this light helps us to focus in on the more important
goal. That being our own personal development! Doing so helps take
the emphasis off of the "what if I fail" thoughts and
places it more clearly on the "what I can learn by the experience".
In a nutshell it's important we keep in mind that we're just as
qualified and competent to realize our dreams as anyone who's done so
before us. True enough we may need to increase our life experiences
in order to do so, but after all that's what living the life journey
is all about isn't it?...
The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a
particular mood of happiness, but in allowing happiness to change its
form without being disappointed by the change, for happiness, like a
child, must be allowed to grow up. - Charles L. Morgan
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't
matter, and those who matter don't mind.
Dr. Suess
I have simply tried to do what seemed best each day, as each day
came. - Abraham Lincoln
It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is
mighty, but action with faith is mightier. Desiring is helpful, but
work and desire are invincible. - Thomas Robert Gaines
Things to say in the morning
Back to top
I have the strength to fight for everything I believe in.
I have the will to make every dream come true.
I have the faith to love all that surrounds me.
And I have the courage to just be myself. - Monica Sawdaye
The smallest deed is better than the grandest intention. - Larry Eisenberg
Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but
your dream will not. Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need
not obscure it. Because the dream is within you, no one can take it
away. - Tom Clancy
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected
without trials. - Chinese Proverb
Think you can, think you can't; either way, you'll be right. - Henry Ford
The person who seeks all their applause from outside has their
happiness in another's keeping. - Claudius Claudianus
We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong.
The amount of work is the same. - Carlos Castaneda
Has it been your experience in life that things just seem to... 'work
out'? You know, like maybe your car breaks down, it's two weeks until
payday, your credit card's maxed out... and an unexpected IRS refund
check (including interest) shows up in the next morning's mail?
And...magically, there's just enough of the check left over for lunch
at McDonalds while your car is being fixed? It's amazing, isn't it?
Such things happen. They happen a lot. When they happen for the
little stuff, we call them 'coincidences'. When they happen for the
really important stuff, we call them... miracles.
This morning I overslept. My alarm clock was set on PM rather than
AM. I missed my 8:00 o'clock flight. When I arrived at the counter
(at 8:05), the ticket agent informed me (as she vigorously punched
away at her keyboard), that the next flight (the 10:45) was oversold.
"But," she offered, "it looks as if you might be able
to get out sometime this afternoon." My initial thought?
"Great, I've lost an entire day." Then I caught myself.
After all, things always seem to 'work out'. I smiled. Upon her
recommendation, I went to retrieve my luggage and check it through.
When I returned, I was met with, "I've got you booked through on
the 10:45." Now... how could such a thing happen on an
"oversold" flight? I didn't ask. I simply smiled (again),
and offered a hearty, "thank you!" Yes, this was simply the
longest in a long long line of things 'working out'.
It's all in the knowing...
Back to the question: do such things happen for you? Maybe you never
really gave it much thought. Well... think about it. If you do (or
already have), it's a cinch to see that your expectations most always
equal your outcome. The 'secret' resides within your confidence, your
'knowing', your... faith. It's like a direct link... a pipeline... to
the 'magic' of the universe. Expect something good and wonderful...
that's exactly what you get. Expect something bad, and, well... you
know the rest. Call it Providence, call it 'coincidence', call it
luck... call it whatever you like. What you call it matters not. It's
simply the way things work: You become what you think about.
So... think about it. Put your desires, your wishes, your dreams out
there. Lay them before you. Lay them before God. Then... go forward.
Abandon the "why not's". Forget about "how".
Simply listen, pay attention, and put one foot in front of the other.
The details will take care of themselves. Lose the 'adult' reasons,
rationalizations, and excuses. Be as a child. Take your next step
with bubbling enthusiasm... with confident 'knowing'. For the big
things... for the small things... the results will be incredible.
And, by the way... remember to smile and say 'thank you' as each
piece of your journey unfolds before you.
So, are you...'praying for rain'?
A couple of years ago, a drought took hold in the mid-western United
States. Following a particular Sunday morning service, a church
congregation assembled outside to pray for rain. They all gathered
'round in a large circle to hold hands. All, that is, except for one
small boy, who stood amidst the others... holding an umbrella.
Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own. - Chinese proverb
Unquestioning Acceptance Back
to top
Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it,
than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to,
everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or
despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful,
evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with
an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision
to recognize it as such.- Henry Miller
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers
his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self.- Aristotle
One should guard against preaching to young people success in the
customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for
work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its
result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the
community.- Albert Einstein
Spill a cup of coffee in your lap and get burned? That's okay, it's
not your fault - sue the restaurant! Get fired for doing a lousy job?
Go buy a gun and teach your boss a lesson! We've all read the
headlines... it seems we're all victims and no longer accountable for
our own lives and actions. As long as there are others to blame, we
can do just as we please - right? Wrong.
These examples are extreme, but they do suggest a frightening trend
in this country and other parts of the world, where people often see
themselves as victims. And as such, they cease to take responsibility
for their lives and actions. Not only does the world owe them, but if
something goes wrong along the way, watch out, because someone
besides themselves are going to take the fall and the blame.
One of the most recurrent themes in the letters I receive is that of
someone involved in an affair and who now seeks some sort of
affirmation that what they're doing is justified. The most popular
excuse is that they, out of no fault of their own, are unhappy and
unsatisfied in their current relationship. My wife just doesn't give
me what I need. My husband spends too much time at the office. The
spark just seems to have vanished from our relationship... yadda,
yadda, yadda.
Well it's high time indeed that we stop blaming others for our own
indiscretions, mistakes, poor decisions, and bad situations. Didn't
get that promotion at work? Try working harder. Denied credit? Start
making your payments on time. Not happy in your relationship? How
much effort are you really putting into it?
Sure, it's easy to put our heads in the sand and play the victim, but
by doing so, we give up our dignity, our self-respect and our pride.
Contrary to popular belief, life isn't easy and no one owes us
anything. The simple truth is; we still have to work and sacrifice
for what we want in this world. If we want success, happiness,
fulfillment, etc., it's up to each of us to go out and fight for it.
Find the courage to face your problems and affect positive change in
your life - do it today. - T.W. Winslow
Hope is the companion of power, and mother of success; for who so
hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles.- Samuel Smiles
Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's
gift of himself. - Mother Teresa
What lies before us and what lies behind
us are tiny matters compared to what lies
within us. - Oliver Wendell Holmes
Driving down the road recently, I had a flashback to
about twenty-five years ago. We were on a family
vacation, driving to see family in New York State and
then on to Pennsylvania. Mom and Dad, probably
looking for ways to keep their two young kids busy,
borrowed a sign about fifteen inches long and three
inches high. On one side of the sign was painted "Smile"
and on the other side, "Thanks!". The sign got a lot of
use on the trip. One of us would hold up the sign, so a
car behind us could read "Smile". If they did, we turned
the sign over and they got the reward of "Thanks!"
This was in the days before seat belts and we would
often be turned around, pressing the sign to the glass,
hoping the following vehicle would see the sign and we
could elicit a smile. Or we would try to get passengers as
they passed us, pressing the sign up to our windows. The
biggest scores came from trucks who would often
punctuate their smiles with a blow of their airhorns!
These were the memories I pondered as I drove last
weekend, with everyone else in the car asleep. I
wondered if the exercise would build the same kinds of
memories for my kids some day as it did for Paula (my
sister) and I. I smiled as I drove and figured that was
about that. But then I couldn't seem to get it out of my
mind. I started to realize that the sign taught me much
more than a fun way to pass time in a car. It taught me
some thing about human nature, sharing and giving, and
the power of a smile and a thank you.
Have you ever noticed how much better you feel when
you are smiling? Scientists can tell us about real changes
in our body chemistry when we are smiling, and most of
us have heard about the fact that it takes more muscles
to frown than to smile. All of that is interesting, but not
as important as the mental and physical feeling we have
when we are smiling. It is very powerful.
It is human nature to smile when we are happy or when
things are going well, but did you know how easy it is to
just smile (it is just a choice)? Also do you know how
easy it usually is to make someone else smile? I do this all
the time. Walking through an airport or down a hallway
where other people are, if you make eye contact and
smile, what happens? Invariably people smile back -
regardless of how sour they looked before that! You
don't have to say anything, just smile. And what happens
to you when you do that little test? You keep smiling
long after they pass. (And I suspect so do they.) They
have benefited from your simple act, but you have
benefited at least as much or more.
The smile lesson is important, but no more so than the
flipside, the thanks! Playing this driving game was one of
the many ways my parents taught me the importance and
value of gratitude, most easily expressed with a simple
thank you.
The story goes that a farmer took some of his corn to
the State Fair and won the blue ribbon, for the best corn.
A reporter asked him what he was going to do with the
prized ears of grain he was holding. He said that he
would share the seed with his neighbors. The reporter
was visibly surprised and asked, "Why would you want to
do that?" The farmer calmly answered that his corn was
only as good as his neighbors. "Why sir," said the farmer,
"didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the
ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my
neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will
steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow
good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."
So it is with smiling. You are the wind. You can produce
smiling faces by spreading your pollen. The cost to you is
slight, but the fruits of your pollen will be felt all
around. So who are you going to smile to today? (Right now?)
Smile! :) Thanks!
Kevin Eikenberry
(c) Copyright 1999, the Discian Group.
All rights reserved.
Light is born of darkness Back to top
Beautiful light is born of darkness, so the faith that springs from conflict is often the strongest and the best. - R. Turnbull
I've always believed that if you put in the work,
the results will come. I don't do things halfheartedly.
Because I know if I do, then I can expect halfhearted
results. - Michael Jordan
If you bring forth what is inside of
you, what you bring forth will save
you. If you don't bring forth what
is inside of you, what you don't
bring forth will destroy you. - Jesus
Yesterday is ashes; Tomorrow wood.
Only today does the fire burn brightly. - Old Eskimo Proverb
There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag
of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer
a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into
the fence.
Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to
hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally
the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told
his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull
out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his
father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by
the hand and led him to the fence.
He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in
the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things
in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a
knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times
you say 'I'm sorry', the wound is still there."
The Whole World Stinks? Back to top
Wise men and philosophers throughout the ages have disagreed
on many things, but many are in unanimous agreement on one
point: "We become what we think about." Ralph Waldo Emerson
said, "A man is what he thinks about all day long." The Roman
emperor Marcus Aurelius put it this way: "A man's life is what
his thoughts make of it." In the Bible we find: "As a man thinks
in his heart, so is he."
One Sunday afternoon, a cranky grandfather was visiting his family.
As he lay down to take a nap, his grandson decided to have a little
fun by putting Limburger cheese on Grandfather's mustache. Soon, grandpa
awoke with a snort and charged out of the bedroom saying,
"This room stinks." Through the house he went, finding every room
smelling the same. Desperately he made his way outside only to find that
"the whole world stinks!"
So it is when we fill our minds with negativism. Everything we
experience and everybody we encounter will carry the scent we
hold in our mind.
Unknown
It all depends on the way you look at things. One day a father
and his rich family took his son on a trip to the country with
the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent
a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they
got back from their trip the father asked his son, "How was the
trip?"
"Very good Dad!"
"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.
"Yeah!"
"And what did you learn?"
The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they
have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the
garden, they have a creek that has no end. We have imported
lamps in the garden, they have the stars. Our patio reaches
to the front yard, they have a whole horizon."
When the little boy was finished, his father was speechless.
His son added, "Thanks, Dad for showing me how poor we are!"
Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things?
If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a
positive attitude towards life - you've got everything!
You can't buy any of these things, but still, you can have all
the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the
future, etc.; but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing!
IN THE MOVIE MADE IN AMERICA, a daughter raids the files at the
sperm bank her mother used, and despite her shock in finding out
her dad is an infamously slick car salesman, she loves him because
he's her dad. Everything is beautiful until they discover it was
a mistake. He really wasn't her dad after all.
She loved him because she thought he was her dad. Most of us
are like that. We have an automatic acceptance of people in
our family -- even a distant cousin we meet for the first time.
What if we treated all people as relatives? If they are older,
we can imagine them to be uncles or aunts or great uncles or
great aunts. If close to our own age, they could be long lost
siblings or cousins. Youngsters could be our nieces and nephews.
Love comes naturally when we haven't labeled someone as "other."
It's really not much of a stretch. In truth, we all are related
in one way or another, probably more closely related than you'd
think. According to the experts on genetics, you wouldn't have
to go very far back in time to find where your family tree
intersects with your friend's or spouse's family tree, or anyone's
tree you know. And as you keep going back, the trees cross again
and again. We are all, at the very least, distant cousins of one another
many times over.
Keep this in mind when you interact with people and the world will
feel like a friendlier place.
This doesn't mean you have to become an easy target for con
artists. You don't have to turn off your good judgement. But
you interact with people every day: the bus driver, the clerk
at the store, a neighbor, the people you work with. Think of
them as family and you'll feel differently toward them, and
that'll make you act differently toward them, which will make
them act differently toward you, and voilą! The world is a
friendlier, happier place for real.
Practice it on the next three people you talk to, and you'll see
what it's like. In your mind, imagine the person is a relative.
You don't have to do anything differently. Simply entertain the
idea that the person may be related. We all know intellectually
we're all members of the same human family, but it's nice to feel
it too.
Adam Khan
It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of
our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription.
It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10
years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas -- oh, not
the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of
it -- overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute
to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for
Grandma -- the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't
think of anything else.
Knowing that he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the
usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something
special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior
level at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there
was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church,
mostly black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so
ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them
together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy
blue uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was
wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to
protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team
obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them.
We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up
from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado,
a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly. "I wish just one
of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential,
but losing like this could take the heart right out of them."
Mike loved kids -- all kids -- and he knew them, having coached
youth league football, baseball, and lacrosse. That's when the
idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local
sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear
and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note
inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift
from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that
year, and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the
tradition -- one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters
to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of
elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week
before Christmas, and on and on.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always
the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring
their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad
lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the
children grew, their toys gave way to more practical presents, but
the envelope never lost its allure.
The story doesn't end there.
You see, we lost Mike last year to dreaded cancer. When Christmas
rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the
tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree,
and in the morning, it was joined by three more.
Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an
envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown, and
someday will expand even further, with our grandchildren standing around
the tree with wide-eyed anticipation, watching as their
fathers take down the envelope.
Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season,
and the true Christmas spirit, this year and always.
Unknown
WHERE I'M SUPPOSED TO BE Back to top
I could have gone to a couple of gatherings at the homes of
friends and family on Boxing Day. I could have stayed home
and curled up with a good book all day. The last thing I
intended to do with a perfectly good stretch of peace and
quiet, was join the throng of post-Christmas shoppers. Yet,
when my husband called and asked me to meet him at the mall,
I went.
Long lines of loud shoppers stood outside most of the stores.
Everyone was noisy and animated. They couldn't get into those
stores fast enough to spend their money. We were surprised by
the number of young people in the mall. They outnumbered the
adults 2 to 1 - easy.
After my husband found what he was looking for, we grabbed a
quick bite to eat in the Food Court. I felt a little restless
and decided to stay behind and do some research at the book
store. I grabbed a pile of reference books, found myself an
empty chair, and started making notes. Four hours slipped
away from me.
Still feeling restless, I decided to use the gift certificate
from the bookstore my daughter had given me for Christmas. I
found a beautiful book called 'The Quiet Little Woman' by Louisa
May Alcott, and picked it up for my granddaughter. Then I found
'A Memory of Christmas Tea' by Tom Hegg, and picked that one up
for myself. Since both of the books were Christmas books, they
were 50% off. Perfect. My gift certificate would cover the cost
of both of them.
My research was done, my shopping was finished and I was getting
tired. I couldn't shake the odd, aimless feeling in my gut, but
I'd run out of excuses to stay in the store. Finally, I left.
Since my truck had been sitting out in the cold all afternoon, I
let it warm up for a few minutes before I put it into gear. While
I was sitting there, I noticed a young boy in the next aisle of
the parking lot. He kept ducking down. I knew he wasn't trying to
break into a car, he was in the middle of the aisle-way. The truck
was parked in the farthest spot from the mall entrance, which gave
me plenty of time to watch him make his way past the cars and trucks.
It wasn't until he crossed over to the aisle I was parked in, that
I realized he was bending down and picking up change off the ground.
He bent down in front of my truck, and when he stood up, we made eye
contact. I took him to be around ten-years-old.
In that split second, the contrast between the frenzied kids on
their shopping sprees inside the mall, and the one lone kid picking
up change off the ground outside the mall, was terribly apparent.
The youngster in front of me was wearing one blue glove and one tan
glove. His coat was about two sizes too small. The zipper was held
in place with a big safety pin. As he walked away from me, I saw his
shoes. They looked like they'd outlived their usefulness a couple
hundred miles ago.
I rolled down my window and called him over. He came, sort of. He
left a good distance between us, standing hesitantly - poised for
flight. I could tell by the fearful look on his face that he half
expected me to yell and chase him off. My heart hurt.
I asked him if he needed some money. His reply was instantaneous.
"No, no. That's okay."
The parking lot was wet and slushy. I could tell his feet were cold
by the way he kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Please," I insisted, holding out a five dollar bill. "It's not
much, but when money is shared, it seems to go a lot further."
He took a step closer. "Would it be okay if I spend it at
McDonald's?" he asked, hiking his thumb over his shoulder, in
the direction of the fast food restaurant across the street.
"Sure you can," I answered. "You can spend it wherever you like."
He pulled off one of his gloves and reached for the money. His
small hand was red and chafed. That thinly knitted glove wasn't
keeping his hand warm at all.
"Would you mind taking these off my hands," I asked, picking up
the spare pair of gloves my husband keeps in the truck. They were
old, but they were good warm gloves. "I bought my husband a new
pair for Christmas, but as long as he's got these ones, those new
ones will sit on the shelf at home and never get used. What do you
say? Will you help me out?"
"Okay," he answered. "I'll help you."
He took the five-dollar bill, stuffed it inside his glove and put
the glove back on his hand. I passed him my husband's gloves and watched
him put them on. A big smile, the first one I'd seen,
spread across his face. "Thanks! These are great!"
"Glad you like them kiddo," were the only words I could get past
the lump in my throat. The gloves were way too big for him... and
he was so very happy to have them. Most kids his age wouldn't be
caught wearing them, period, let alone in public.
He looked over his shoulder, towards McDonalds.
"Are you hungry?" I asked.
He looked down at the ground, "Yes."
"Me too!" I said.
He started to pull the glove off. "Do you want your money back?"
he asked, with genuine concern in his voice.
"No, no. I just meant I better get home."
"Oh. Okay."
After another big 'thank you', he walked away. I watched him go.
When he got to the road, he turned and waved his small hand,
encased in that great big glove, at me. I waved back, put the
truck in gear and drove away. I didn't want him to see me cry.
The next time I feel restless and off kilter, unable to figure out
why I'm not doing what 'I' think I should be doing, I'm not going
to analyze it and wonder what the heck is wrong with me. I know I'll end
up exactly where I'm supposed to be.
© 2000 Terri McPherson
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has 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 natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael 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 Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 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," Michael 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 affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life," I reflected on what Michael said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon to be born daughter, " Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, 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.
Michael continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER 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 Michael.
"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, "Gravity."
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Michael 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.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
All time is now - make the best of it.
The Blind Man and the Hunter Back to top
The Blind Man and the Hunter: A tale from West Africa
Once there was a blind man who lived with his sister in a hut near the forest.
Now, this blind man was very clever. Even though his eyes saw nothing, he seemed to know more about the world than people whose eyes were sharp. He would sit outside his hut and talk to passersby. If there were things they wanted to know, he would tell them, and his answers were always the right ones.
People would shake their heads with amazement:
"
Blind man, how is it that you are so wise?" And the man would smile and say: "Because I see with my ears." Well, the blind man's sister fell in love with a hunter, and they were married. When the wedding feast was finished, the hunter came to live with his new wife. But the hunter had no time at all for her brother, the blind man. "What use," he would say, "is a man with no eyes?"
Every day the hunter would go into the forest with his traps and spears. And every evening, when the hunter returned to the village, the blind man would say: "Please, tomorrow, let me come with you, hunting in the forest."
But the hunter would shake his head: 'What use is a man with no eyes?'
One evening, the hunter was in a good mood. He had returned home with a fat gazelle. His wife had cooked the meat, and when they'd finished eating, the hunter turned to the blind man and said: 9fery well, tomorrow you will come hunting."
So the next morning they set off into the forest, the hunter with his traps and spears leading the blind man by the hand. Suddenly, the blind man stopped: "Shhhh, there is a lion!"The hunter looked about - he could see nothing.
"There is a lion," said the blind man, "but it's all right he's fast asleep. He won't hurt us."
They went along the path and there, sure enough, was a great lion fast asleep under a tree. The hunter asked, "How did you know about the lion?""Because I see with my ears."
They continued deep into the forest until they came to a clearing. The hunter set one of his traps and showed the blind man how to set another one. Then the hunter said, 'We'll come back tomorrow and see what we've caught."
The next morning they walked into the forest to where the traps had been set. The hunter saw straight away that there was a bird caught in each trap. And he saw that the bird caught in his trap was a little grey one, and the bird in the blind's man trap was a beauty, with feathers of green, crimson and gold. "We've each caught a bird," he said. "I'll fetch them out of the traps."
And what did he do? He gave the man the little grey bird, and he kept the beautiful bird for himself. Then they set off for home. As they walked, the hunter said: "If you're so clever and see with your ears, then answer me this: Why is there so much anger and hatred in this world?"
And the blind man answered, "Because the world is full of so many people like you who take what is not theirs."
And the hunter was filled with shame. He took the little bird from the blind man's hand and gave him the beautiful one instead. "I'm sorry," he said.
As they walked, the hunter said, "If you're so clever, then answer me this: Why is there so much love and kindness in this world?"
And the blind man answered: "Because the world is full of so many people like you who learn by their mistakes."
From that day on, if the hunter heard anyone ask "Blind man, how is it that you are so wise?," he would put his arm around the blind man's shoulders and say: "Because he sees with his ears ... and hears with his heart."
Adapted from Tales of Wisdom & Wonder, 1998 by Hugh Lupton.
The House of 1000 Mirrors Back to top
Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place
known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little
dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he
arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway
of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears
lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To
his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other
happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as
his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000
great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the
House, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place.
I will come back and visit it often."
In this same village, another little dog, who was not
quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the
house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head
low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000
unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled
at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs
growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself,
"That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there
again."
All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kind of
reflections do you see in the faces of the people you
meet? What reflection do others see when they look at you?
~ Author Unknown
It was evening as I climbed aboard the jumbo jet. I was tired.
It had been a hectic, emotionally stormy week. I had endured
more than the usual schedule changes, telephone calls, interruptions,
childrens activities, and arguments.
I settled into my seat, relieved to see the plane was nearly empty.
Maybe I could get some much needed rest. The giant plane took off
and climbed up over the condominium complexes hugging the white
stretch of beach bordering the deep blue sea of the Atlantic Ocean.
As we passed over Fort Lauderdale, I looked down at the twinkling
lights reflected in the many canals and waterways and realized why
our city is referred to as the Venice of America. I never tire of
the beauty of South Florida.
I settled down, grateful for the quiet, Suddenly I noticed dark,
ominous clouds off the left side of the wing. Soon bolts of
lightning began to streak across the dark clouds.
I sat mesmerized by this vicious storm only a few miles away.
It was frightening, yet fascinating. It brought to mind many
of the tempests I had experienced in my life. Financial storms,
physical storms, emotional storms, relational storms, So many
different types of storms with varying degrees of intensity.
Some had been as fearful and terrifying as this large thunderhead,
others had been sudden, Some storms had resembled a weather front
that moves in and wont go away.
As I sat there contemplating the severity of the weather outside
the window, and the storm that had raged within my own life, I
suddenly saw beyond the storm.
There, along the horizon, was one of the most magnificent sunsets
I had ever been priveleged to witness, Brilliant gold blending with
deep crimson fading into multiple shades of yellow, peach, apricot,
and rose. What absolute, breathtaking beauty.
I watched with wonder and awe.
From the vantage point of 42,000 feet up, I knew that at any
moment this formidable thunderstorm would probably hit our home
west of Fort Lauderdale. But I could also see beyond the storm,
and knew that in just a short space of time, those who would
be hit by the storm, would also experience incredible beauty.
I was suddenly aware of how God must look upon the storms that
hit our lives.
Often I have been in the midst of a fearful squall, and like the
disciples, cried out, " Lord don't you care? Don't you see that
I can't take any more?"
Of course He cares. In 1 Peter He reminds us that he cares for us.
That we are his personal concern. But, from his vantage point, He
also sees the glory that is to follow. His message? Don't be
discouraged in the midst of life's storms. Be assured that God
cares and that his plans for us include a future and a hope.
There was this little girl sitting by herself inthe park. Everyone passed by her and never stopped to see why she looked so sad. Dressed in a worn pink dress, barefoot and dirty, the girl just sat and watched the people go by. She never tried to speak. She never said a word. Many people passed by her, but no one would stop.
The next day I decided to go back to the park in curiosity to see if the little girl would still be there. Yes, she was there, right in the very spot where she was yesterday, and still with the same sad look in her eyes. Today, I was to make my own move and walk over to the little girl. For as we all know, a park full of strange people is not a place for young children to play alone.
As I got closer I could see the back of the little girl's dress was grotesquely shaped. I figured that was the reason people just passed by and made no effort to speak to her. Deformities are a low blow to our society and, heaven forbid if you make a step toward assisting someone who is different. As I got closer, the little girl lowered her eyes slightly to avoid my intent stare. As I approached her, I could see the shape of her back more clearly. She was grotesquely shaped in a humped-over form. I smiled to let her know it was OK; I was there to help, to talk. I sat down beside her and opened with a simple, "Hello."
The little girl acted shocked, and stammered a "hi," after a long stare into my eyes. I smiled and she shyly smiled back. We talked until darkness fell and the park was completely empty. I asked the girl why she was so sad. The little girl looked at me with a sad face said, "Because I'm different." I immediately said, "That you are!" and smiled. The little girl acted even sadder and said, "I know." "Little girl," I said, "you remind me of an angel, sweet and innocent." She looked at me and smiled, then slowly she got to her feet and said "Really?" "Yes, you're like a little Guardian Angel sent to watch over all those people walking by." She nodded her head yes, and smiled. With that she opened the back of her pink dress and allowed her wings to spread, then she said "I am. I'm your Guardian Angel," with a twinkle in her eye. I was speechless-sure I was seeing things. She said, "For once, you thought of someone other than yourself. My job here is done." I got to my feet and said, "Wait, why did no one stop to help an angel?"
She looked at me, smiled, and said, "You're the only one that could see me," and then she was gone. And with that, my life was changed dramatically.
So, when you think you're all alone, remember, your angel is always watching over you..
A store owner was tacking a sign above his door that read 'Puppies for Sale.' These signs had a weird way of attracting children. And sure enough, a little boy appeared at the sign. "How much are you gonna sell those puppies for?" he asked.
The store owner replied "Anywhere from $30-$50,"
The little boy reached into his pocket and pulled out some change. "I have $2.37, can I have a look at them?"
The store owner smiled and whistled and out of the kennel came Lady, who ran down the aisle of his store followed by five teeny, tiny balls of fur.
One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said "What's wrong with that little dog?"
The store owner explained that when the puppy was born, the vet had said that the puppy had no hip socket and would limp for the rest of its life.
The little boy got really excited and said "That's the puppy I wanna buy!"
The store owner replied "No, you don't wanna buy that little dog. If you really want him, I'll give him to you."
The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store owner's eyes, pointing his finger and said, "I don't want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as the other dogs and I'll pay the full price. In fact, I'll give you $2.37 now and 50 cents every month until I have him paid for."
The store owner countered, "You really don't want to buy this puppy. He is never gonna be able to run, jump and play like other puppies!" To this the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the store owner and said softly, "Well, I don't run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands."
IN LIFE, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU ARE, BUT WHETHER SOMEONE APPRECIATES YOU FOR WHAT YOU ARE.
What's Important to You Back to top
A Native American and his friend were in downtown New York City, walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their horns, taxicabs were squealing around corners, sirens were wailing, and the sounds of the city were almost deafening. Suddenly, the Native American said, "I hear a cricket."
His friend said, "What? You must be crazy. You couldn't possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!" "No, I'm sure of it," the Native American said, "I heard a cricket." "That's crazy," said the friend.
The Native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly amazed. "That's incredible," said his friend. "You must have super-human ears!"
"No," said the Native American. "My ears are no different from yours. It all depends on what you're listening for." "But that can't be!" said the friend. "I could never hear a cricket in this noise."
"Yes, it's true," came the reply. "It depends on what is really important to you. Here, let me show you." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and discreetly dropped them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs.
"See what I mean?" asked the Native American. "It all depends on what's important to you."
~ Author Unknown
As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt before the Lord along with all the other souls. Before each of us laid our lives like the squares of a quilt in many piles. An angel sat before each of us sewing our quilt squares together into a tapestry that is our life.
But as my angel took each piece of cloth off the pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares were. They were filled with giant holes. Each square was labeled with a part of my life that had been difficult, the challenges and temptations I was faced with in everyday life. I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all.
I glanced around me. Nobody else had such squares. Other than a tiny hole here and there, the other tapestries were filled with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune. I gazed upon my own life and was disheartened. My Angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, threadbare and empty, like binding air.
Finally the time came when each life was to be displayed, held up to the light, the scrutiny of truth. The others rose, each in turn, holding up their tapestries. So filled their lives had been. My angel looked upon me, and nodded for me to rise. My gaze dropped to the ground in shame. I hadn't had all the earthly fortunes. I had had love in my life, and laughter.
But there had also been trials of illness, and death, and false accusations that took from me my world as I knew it. I had to start over many times. I often struggled with the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and begin again. I spent many nights on my knees in prayer, asking for help and guidance. In my life I had often been held up to ridicule, which I endured painfully, each time offering it up to the Father in hopes that I would not melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of those who unfairly judged me.
And now, I had to face the truth. My life was what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was. I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of my life to the light. An awe-filled gasp filled the air. I gazed around at the others who stared at me with wide eyes. Then I looked upon the tapestry before me.
Light flooded through the many holes, creating an image. The face of Christ. Then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in His eyes. He said, "Every time you gave over your life to Me, it became My life, My hardships, My struggles. Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let Me shine through, until there was more of Me than there was of you."
~ Author Unknown
The Second Ten Commandments Back to top
- Thou shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.
- Thou shall not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.
- Thou shall not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.
- Thou shall face each problem as it comes. You can only handle one at a time anyway.
- Thou shall not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.
- Thou shall not borrow other people's problems. They can better care for them than you can.
- Thou shall not try to relive yesterday for good or ill, it is forever gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now!
- Thou shall be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It is hard to learn something new when you are talking, and some people do know more than you do.
- Thou shall not become "bogged down" by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action.
- Thou shall count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death ... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare, even in the United States. If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful ... you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.
If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder ... you are blessed because you can offer healing touch.
If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.
Have a good day, count your blessings, and pass this along to remind everyone else how very blessed we all are.
The woman was old and ragged and gray
And bent with the chill of the Winter's day.
The street was wet with a recent snow
And the woman's feet were aged and slow.
She stood at the crossing and waited long,
Alone, uncared for, amid the throng
Of human beings who passed her by
Nor heeded the glance of her anxious eye.
Down the street with laughter and shout,
Glad in the freedom of 'school let out,"
Came the boys like a flock of sheep,
Hailing the snow piled white and deep.
Past the woman so old and gray
Hastened the children on their way.
Nor offered a helping hand to her--
So meek, so tired, afraid to stir
Lest the carriage wheels or the horses' feet
Should crowd her down in the slippery street.
At last came one of the merry troop,
The gayest laddie of all the group;
He paused beside her and whispered low,
'I'll help you cross, if you wish to go."
Her aged hand on his strong young arm
She placed, and so, without hurt or harm,
He guided the trembling feet along,
Proud that his own were firm and strong.
Then back again to his friends he went,
His young heart happy and well content.
'She's somebody's mother, boys, you know,
For all she's aged and poor and slow,
'And I hope some fellow will lend a hand
To help my mother, you understand,
'If ever she's poor and old and gray,
When her own dear boy is far away.'
And "somebody's mother" bowed low her head
In her home that night, and the prayer she said
Was, 'God be kind to the noble boy,
Who is somebody's son, and pride and joy!"
Mary Dow Brine
Our Father which art in heaven."
--- Yes?
Don't interrupt me. I'm praying
--- But you called me
Called you? I didn't call you. I'm praying. "Our father which art in heaven."
--- There you did it again.
Did what?
--- Called me. You said, "Our Father which art in heaven." Here I am. What's on your mind?
But I didn't mean anything by it. I was, you know, just saying my prayers for the day. I always say the Lord's prayer. It makes me feel good, kind of like getting a duty done.
--- All right. Go on.
"Hallowed be thy name."
--- Hold it. What do you mean by that?
By what?
--- By "Hallowed be thy name?"
It means... it means... Good grief, I don't know what it means. How should I know? It's just a part of the prayer. By the way, what does it mean?
--- It means honored, holy, wonderful.
Hey that makes sense. I never thought about what "hallowed" meant before. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
--- Do you really mean that?
Sure, why not?
--- What are you doing about it?
Doing? Nothing, I guess. I just think it would be kind of neat if you got control of everything down here like you have up there
--- Have I got control of you?
Well, I go to church.
--- That isn't what I asked you. What aboutt your temper? You've really got a problem there, you know. And then there's the way you spend your money - all on yourself. And what about the kinds of books you read and what you watch on TV?
Stop picking on me! I'm just as good as the rest of those people at church.
---Excuse me. I thought you were praying foor my will to be done. If that is to happen, it will have to start with the ones who are praying for it. Like you, for example.
Oh, all right. I guess I do have some hang-ups. Now that you mention it, I could probably name some others.
---So could I.
I haven't thought about it very much until now, but I'd really like to cut out some of those things. I would like to, you know, be really free.
--- Good. Now we're getting somewhere. We'lll work together, you and me.
Some victories can be truly won. I'm proud of you. Look, Lord, I need to finish this up here. This is taking a lot longer than it usually does. "Give us this day our daily bread."
--- You could cut out the bread. It would hhelp you lose weight.
Hey, wait a minute! What is this, "Criticize me day?" Here I was doing my religious duty, and all of a sudden you break in and remind me of all my hang-ups.
--- Praying is a dangerous thing. You couldd wind up changed, you know. That's what I'm trying to get across to you. Keep praying. I'm interested in the next part of your prayer... (Pause) Well, go on.
I'm scared to.
--- Scared? Of what?
I know what you'll say.
--- Try me and see.
"Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us."
--- What about Ann?
See? I knew it! I knew you would bring her up! Why Lord, she's told lies about me, spread stories about my family. She never paid back the money she owes me. I've sworn to get even with her?
--- But your prayer? What about your prayerr?
I didn't mean it.
--- Well, at least you're honest. But it's not much fun caring that load of bitterness around inside, is it?
No. But, I'll feel better as soon as I get even. Boy, have I got some plans for that neighbor. She'll wish she had never moved into this neighborhood.
--- You won't feel any better. You'll feel worse. Revenge isn't sweet. Think of how unhappy you already are. But, I can change all that.
You can? How?
--- Forgive Ann. Then I'll forgive you. Theen the hate and sin will be Ann's problem and not yours. You will have settled your heart.
Oh, you're right. You always are. And, more than I want to get revenge against Ann, I want to be right with you. (Pause)...(Sigh) All right. I forgive her. Help her to find the right road in life, Lord. She's bound to be awfully miserable now that I think about it. Anybody who goes around doing the things she does to others has to be out of it. Some way, some how, show her the right way.
--- There now! Wonderful! How do you feel?
Hmmm. Well, not bad. Not bad at all. I feel pretty great. You know, I don't think I'll have to go to bed uptight tonight for the first time since I can remember. Maybe I won't be so tired from now on because I'm not getting enough rest.
--- You're not through with your prayers. GGo on.
Oh, all right. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
--- Good! Good! I'll do that. Just don't puut yourself in a place where you can be tempted.
What do you mean by that?
--- Don't turn on the TV when you know the laundry needs to be done and the house needs to be picked up. Also, about the time you spend with your friends, if you can't influence the conversation to positive things, perhaps you should re-think the value of those friendships. Another thing, your neighbors and friends shouldn't be your standard for "keeping up." And please don't use me as an escape hatch.
I don't understand that last part.
--- Sure you do. You've done it a lot of tiimes. You get caught in a bad situation. You get in trouble and then you come running to me: "Lord, help me out of this mess, and I promise you I'll never do it again." You remember some of those bargains you tried to make with me?
Yes and I'm ashamed. Lord, I really am.
--- Which bargain are you remembering?
Well, there was the night that my husband was gone and the children and I were home alone. The wind was blowing so hard I thought the roof would go any minute and tornado warnings were out. I remember saying, "Oh God, if you spare us, I'll never skip my devotions again."
--- I protected you, but you didn't keep yoour promise, did you?
I'm sorry, Lord I really am. Up until now I thought that if I just prayed the Lord's Prayer every day, then I could do what I liked. I didn't expect anything to happen like this.
--- Go ahead and finish your prayer.
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen"
--- Do you know what would bring me glory? What would really make me happy?
No, but I'd like to know. I want to please you. I can see what a mess I've made of my life. And I can see how great it would be to really be one of your followers.
--- You just answered the question.
I did?
--- Yes. The thing that would bring me glorry is to have people like you truly love me. And I see that happening between us.
Now that some of these old sins are exposed and out of the way, there is no telling what we can do together Lord, let's see what we can make of me, OK?
--- Yes, let's see...
Kinda hits home doesn't it ?
~ Author Unknown
You can't be all things to all people.
You can't do all things at once.
You can't do all things equally well.
You can't do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.
So...
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first , and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of "being you".
Then...
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due,
And you'll be a being that's vitally alive.
Dare To Believe...
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it's more than a right, it's your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you'll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.
~ Author Unknown
One day an expert in time management was speaking
to a group of business students, and to drive home
a point, used an illustration those students will
never forget. As he stood in front of the group
of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time
for a quiz."
Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouth mason
jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then
he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and
carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks
would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said yes.
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table
and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped
some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of
gravel to work themselves down into the space between
the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is
the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him.
"Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and
brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the
sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left
between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked
the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted.
Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher
of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled
to the brim.Then he looked at the class and asked, "What
is the point of this?" One eager beaver raised his hand
and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule
is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more
things in it!"
"No" the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The
truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put
the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
What are the big rocks in your life? Time with your
loved ones? Your faith, your education, your dreams? A
worthy cause? Teaching or mentoring others?
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first, or you'll
never get them in at all.
I hereby officially tender my resignation as an adult. Back to top
I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities
of an 8 year old again.
I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star
restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle
and make ripples with rocks.
I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.
I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with
my friends on a hot summer's day.
I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew
were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that
didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know
and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were
blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.
I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good.
I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious
to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.
I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of
paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month
than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and
loss of loved ones.
I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth,
justice, peace, dreams, imagination, humankind, and making angels
in the snow.
So, here's my chequebook and my car-keys, my credit card bills
and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.
And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me
first, because...
Tag! You're it!
~ Author Unknown