Tuesday, August 30, 2016

2016-35 - What forgiveness will buy...

Think of the time and energy a little forgiveness could buy you. Being frustrated, annoyed or angry uses up your precious time, energy, thoughts and actions.

When someone does something to annoy you, consider how much of your valuable time you could save by forgiving that person, in your own mind, right then. When you forgive before you've even shown any anger, the matter will die and you can quickly move on.

Expect the best from those around you, and you'll very likely get it. Yet when someone falls short of your expectations, don't aggravate the problem by letting it sap your time and energy. Look for a way to quickly forgive and forget.

The more little things you can forgive, the more big things you can accomplish.

~ Ralph Marston



One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is to forgive.

~ Maya Angelou

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

2016-34 - You can be different...

My parents had split up and my sister and I were in a foster home. It wasn't a nice place to be and all of the children were eventually removed. It wasn't a good start in life. Some of the kids that were there were already well on their way to a life of crime.

Waiting for the bus one morning they engaged in screaming at one of the teachers as she drove by. I was told that they would beat me up if I didn't scream at her too.

Those were still the days of slapping your hand with a ruler if you misbehaved in school. She was my teacher. I crept into the classroom. My eyes and head down. I heard my name and cowered my way to the teachers desk fully expecting the ruler. She took me by the arm and pulled me close as I was pulling the other way.

She said stop... Come here. She gently cupped her hands around my ear and said "You can be different."

I was stunned. I looked her in the eyes and she said again "You can be different, you don't have to be like them."

It made all the difference. It was an epiphany that struck at a very early age.

I became successful in life and never felt the need to ever engage in activities that were damaging to another person. I could be me. The beating in the flesh was far less than the beating I took in my soul the day I was so unkind to my teacher... and yet she gave me a life well lived with those few simple words...

You can be different.

~ Author Unknown



Everybody is different. Everybody has different styles. Just do it the best way you know how.

~ Vince Carter

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

2016-33 - Keep Your Dream

This is a story about a young man who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.

That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track.

He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, "See me after class."

The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, "Why did I receive an F?"

The teacher said, "This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. There's no way you could ever do it. If you rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade."

The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all.

He stated, "You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream."

~ Author Unknown



You have to dream before your dreams can come true.

~ A. P. J. Abdul Kalam


Tuesday, August 2, 2016

2016-31 - Want to!

I remember the night in Miami when our son, Ian, was just five years old.

We were staying with relatives and it was his bedtime. When I looked at the living room floor, I knew we had a problem.

Toys were all over the place. "Ian," I said, "you need to pick up all those toys before you go to bed."

"Daddy," he said, "I'm too tired to pick up my toys."

My immediate inclination was to force him to clean up the room. Instead, I went into the bedroom, laid down, and said, "Ian, come here. Let's play Humpty Dumpty." He climbed up on my knees and I said, "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall." And he fell.

Ian laughed and said, "Let's do it again." Well, after the third "fall," I said, "Okay, but first go pick up those toys."

Without thinking, he ran into the living room and in ninety seconds he finished a job that could have taken half an hour.

Then he jumped back on my knees and repeated, "Daddy, let's do it again."

"Ian, I thought you were too tired to pick up those toys."

He answered, "I was, daddy, but I just wanted to do this!"

~ Author Unknown



We can finish any job when we have the "Want to!" 

~ Author Unknown