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| A certain little boy had developed a
bad temper, flaring up at quite small things.
After failing in all attempts to help him reign in this disturbing habit, his father one day gave him a bag of nails. "Listen, son," he said, "every time you
lose your temper, go and hammer a nail in the fence. OK?"
The boy reluctantly agreed, and by the end of the day there were 37 nails in the fence. Over the next few weeks, this helped him control his anger, and the
number of nails in the fence each day gradually dwindled. Finally the day came when not one nail had been hammered into the fence, and his father praised him, gave him a cuddle and suggested
that he now pull one nail out for each day he was able to hold his temper in check. The days passed, and soon he was able to tell his dad that all the nails were gone.
Taking him by the hand, his father led him to the fence. "You have done well, my son, but… look at all the holes in the fence! It's never going to be the same,
is it?"
"Well, no, I suppose it isn't," the boy replied.
"You see, son," his father went on, "when you say things in anger, they leave scars in the person you're angry with, just like the holes in the fence. You can
put a knife in a person and then pull it out, and it won't matter how many times you say you are sorry, the wound is still there. And a wound caused by angry words is as bad a physical one.
Sorry doesn't undo the hurt."
The boy had gone pale, and his eyes filled with tears.
" Friends," his father added, picking him up, "are very rare jewels. They make you smile, they encourage you, they lend an ear, and they want to open their
hearts to you. Hurting them with anger makes them feel unwanted. You're my friend. I'm honoured. Will you be mine?"
Submitted by Lindsay, Melbourne, Australia
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A
group of alumni, highly established in their careers...
...
got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation
soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his
guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a
large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic,
glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite -
telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
After all the students had a cup of coffee in
hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking
expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.
While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is
the source of your problems and stress." "Be assured that the cup itself
adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it's just more expensive
and in some cases even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not
the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups & and then began
eyeing each other's cups."
"Now consider this: Life is the coffee. The
jobs, houses, cars, things, money and position in society are the cups.
They are just used to hold and contain life. The type of cup we have
does not define nor change the quality of life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we
fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." God brews the coffee, not
the cups . . . enjoy your coffee. Being happy doesn't mean everything's
perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections. Live
in peace and peace will live in you.
Submitted by Andy, Gettysburg, Pa.
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John 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, John
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 and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't
be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
He 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," he 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 he 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 he
was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a
communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive
care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I
saw him 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," he 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.
He 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 John. "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."
He 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.
Submitted by Andy, Gettysburg, Pa.
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I'm Just a Farmer, Plain
and Simple
I'm just a farmer, plain and simple.
Not of royal birth, but rather a worker of the earth.
I know not of riches, but rather of patches on my britches
I'm just a farmer, plain and simple.
I know of drought and rain, of pleasure and pain.
I know the good, the bad, the happy and the sad.
I'm a man of emotions.
A man who loves this land and the beauty of its sand.
I'm just a farmer, plain and simple.
I know the spring's fresh flow and autumn's golden glow.
Of a new born calf's hesitation and an eagle's destination.
I'm just a farmer, plain and simple.
I know of tall pines and long waiting lines.
I know the warmth of campfires and the agony of flat tires.
I'm just a farmer, plain and simple.
I'm a man who loves his job
And the life that I live.
I'm just a farmer, plain and simple
And I'm a reaper of harvest.
I'm the sower of seeds and I'm the tender of stock.
I'm just a farmer, plain and simple.
I know of planting corn and bailing hay and animals going astray.
I live in a complex world, but my faith guides me.
I'm just a farmer, plain and simple.
I am a man who works with God. I cannot succeed without his help.
For you see, I'm just a farmer, plain and simple.
Submitted by Andy, Gettysburg, Pa.
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Motivations
- You can't just sit there and wait for people
to give you that golden dream. You've got to get out there and make it
happen for yourself. Diana Ross
- If you want to gather honey, don't kick over
the beehive, Dale Carnegie
- Champions know that success is inevitable,
that there is no such thing as failure, only feedback. They know that
the best way to forecast the future is to create it. Michael J. Gelb
- Never let your failures go to your heart or
your successes go to your head. Anon
- The biggest mistake is to believe that you're
working for someone else. Nashua Cavalier
- You are your own yardstick. You may never be
the champion, but if you measure up to your best you are the best.
Anon
- The universe is full of magical things
patiently waiting for out wits to grow sharper. Eden Philpotts
- Accomplishment is easiest when we work the
hardest, and hardest when we work the easiest. Anon
- Whenever we do what we can we can immediately
do more. James Freeman Clarke
- There are very few things we can achieve
without someone's help. Anon
- Success is never ending, failure is never
final. Dr. Robert Schuller
- One of the secrets of success is to refuse to
let temporary setbacks defeat us. Mary Kay
- A wise man, when asked how he had learnt so
much about everything, replied, "By never being afraid to ask
questions about anything of which I was ignorant." John Abbott
- Like a ten-speed bike, most of us have gears
we do not use. Charles Schultz
- He that is good at making excuses is seldom
good at anything else. Benjamin Franklin
Submitted by Lindsey, Melbourne,
Australia.
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| One evening an old Cherokee told
his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
 He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Submitted by Audrey, Emmitsburg, Pa.
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| A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell.
He painted a sign advertising for 4 pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a
tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of little boy.
"Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."
"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got
thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"
"Sure," said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran
Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.. Slowly another little ball appeared, this one
noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never
be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running
down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who
understands."
With tears in his eyes, farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully handed it to the little boy.
"How much?" asked the little boy.
"No charge," answered the farmer, "There's no charge for love."
Submitted by Kermit
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| I don't think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion, was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that "old-time apron" that served so many purposes.
Send this to those who would know, and love the story about Grandma's aprons.
REMEMBER Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.
Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.
Submitted by Jim, formally of Emmitsburg, Md.
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