Tuesday, May 28, 2019

2019-22 - A Most Important Lesson...

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely, this was some kind of joke.

I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello'." "I've never forgotten that lesson. 

I also learned her name was Dorothy.

~ Richard Dickens



The true greatness of a person is evident in the way he or she treats those with whom courtesy and kindness are not required.

~ Joseph B Wirthlin

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

2019-21 - Freckles and Wrinkles...

An elderly woman and her grandson, whose face was sprinkled with bright freckles, spent the day at the zoo where children were waiting in line to get their cheeks painted by a local artist.

"You've got so many freckles, there's no place to paint!" a girl in the line said to the little fellow.

Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head. His grandmother knelt down and said, "I love your freckles. When I was little, I always wanted freckles," while tracing her finger across the child's cheek.

"Freckles are beautiful." The boy looked up, "Really?"

"Of course," said the grandmother. "Why just name me one thing that's prettier than freckles."

The little boy thought for a moment, peered intensely into his grandma's face and softly whispered, "Wrinkles.    

~ Samuel Thorne




We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter.

~ Ellen DeGeneres

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

2019-20 - Beliefs...

A marine biologist once placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small fish into the tank. As expected, the shark quickly swam around, attacked, and ate the smaller fish.

The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the tank, creating two separate partitions with the shark on one side and a new set of small fish on the other. This time however, when the shark attacked, it slammed into the divider and bounced off.

It kept repeating this behaviour every few minutes, but to no avail. Eventually, the shark gave up.

The experiment was repeated several times. Each time, the shark made fewer attempts to attack the fish, until eventually the shark got tired of hitting the divider and simply stopped attacking altogether.

The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn't attack.  The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the bait fish, so the bait fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.


~ Author Unknown




Belief is the death of intelligence.

~ Robert Anton Wilson

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

2019-19 - Persistence...

A man's favourite donkey fell into a deep precipice. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. He couldn't pull it out no matter how hard he tried. Finally, as the animal was old, he decided to bury it alive.

He began pouring soil on the donkey from above. After some time, the man peered down into the well, and was astounded by what he saw. The donkey felt the load, shook it off, and stepped on it.
More soil was poured. It shook it off and stepped up. The more the soil was poured, the higher it rose.

Pretty soon, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the precipice and trotted off, to the shock and astonishment of the man.

By noon, the donkey was grazing in green pastures.

~ Author Unknown




Positivity, confidence, and persistence are key in life, so never give up on yourself.

~ Khalid