Tuesday, February 22, 2011

2011-09 - The house of 1000 Mirrors…

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."
~ Author Unknown

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"All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the
people you meet."
~ Author Unknown
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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

2011-08 - Expect The Best…

A little girl walked daily to and from school. Though the weather this particular morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her trek to the elementary school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning.
The child's mother, concerned that her daughter would be frightened and possibly harmed by the storm got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school.
As she did so, she saw her little daughter walking along happily but at each flash of lightning the child would stop, look up, and smile.
Stopping the car, the mother called to the child to get in with her. As they drove toward school, the girl continued to turn toward each lightning flash and smile.
The Mother asked, "What are you doing?"
The child answered, "Well, I must do this, God keeps taking pictures of me."
~ Author Unknown

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"Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A word of optimism and hope. And you can do it when things are tough."
~ Richard M. DeVos
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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

2011-07 - Filling a Sieve With Water…

A Teacher had given a discourse on creative thinking.
Afterwards his disciples approached him and asked him to set them a problem that required them to think creatively. The sage gave them a sieve and asked them to fill it with water at the sea, nearby. They were gone for a long time. Finally he went down to the beach to see what they were doing, and found them seated morosely around the sieve.
They scrambled to their feet when they saw him.
"You’ve set us an impossible task, sir," said the oldest of the disciples. "It’s just not possible to fill a sieve with water."
"Are you sure?" asked the Teacher, picking up the sieve.
He waded into the water and threw the sieve far out into the sea. It sank.
"There!" said the Teacher. "It’s full of water now."
~ Author Unknown

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"Sometimes it helps to step back and view the problem from a different angle."
~ Author Unknown
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

2011-06 - Bend, But Don't Break…

One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream, and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down.
When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back or return to its original position, the word resilience comes to mind. When used in reference to a person this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person's emotions.
Have you ever felt like you are about to snap? Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point? Thankfully, you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.
During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt emotionally drained, mentally exhausted and you most likely endured unpleasant physical symptoms.
Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point, bend but don't break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.
A measure of hope will take you through the unpleasant ordeal. With hope for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem to be. The unpleasant ordeal may be easier to deal with if the end result is worth having.
If the going gets tough and you are at your breaking point, show resilience. Like the bamboo tree, bend, but don't break!
~ Author Unknown

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"Nothing can sabotage winning, except for fear of losing. Success usually lies just beyond failure."
~ Mario Cortes
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