Great Attitude

Once a bird asked a Bee, after a continuous hard-work, you prepare the honey.

But a man steals the honey. Do you not feel sad?

Then the Bee replied: Never… Because a man can only steal my honey not the art of making honey..!!

God's embroidery

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand. I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat. She would smile at me, look down and gently say, "My son, you go about your playing for awhile, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side."

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Son, come and sit on my knee."

This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy. Then Mother would say to me, "My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre- drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."

Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, "Father, what are You doing?"

He has answered, "I am embroidering your life."

I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?"

The Father seems to tell me, "My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side."

A date with a woman

After 21 years of marriage, Tom's wife wanted him to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said I love you but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.

The other woman that his wife wanted him to visit was his MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of his work and his three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

That night Tom called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.

'What's wrong, are you well,' she asked? Tom's mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.

'I thought that it would be pleasant to be with you,' Tom responded. 'Just the two of us.'

She thought about it for a moment, and then said, 'I would like that very much.'

That Friday after work, as he drove over to pick her up he was a bit nervous.

When he arrived at her house, he noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about their date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary.

She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's.

'I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, 'she said, as she got into the car. 'They can't wait to hear about our meeting'. They went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. Tom's mother took his arm as if she were the First Lady.

After they sat down, he had to read the menu. Large print. Half way through the entries, he lifted his eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at him. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.

'It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,' she said. 'Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor,' Tom responded.

During the dinner, they had an agreeable conversation - nothing extraordinary, but catching up on recent events of each other's life.

They talked so much that they missed the movie.

As they arrived at her house later, she said, 'I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.' , Tom agreed.

'How was your dinner date?' asked his wife when he got home. 'Very nice.

Much more than I could have imagined,' he answered.

A few days later, Tom's mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that he didn't have time to do anything for her.

Some time later, he received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place they had dined.

An attached note said:
'I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.’

At that moment, Tom understood the importance of saying in time: 'I LOVE YOU!' and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than God and your family.

Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till 'some other time.'

A touch of lemon

When I met Mr. Jim Lemon, I was a sixteen-year-old freshman at Houston's Jackson Junior High and the chances of my finishing high school were slim. I was a troubled teenager with an attitude, living in a neighborhood that fostered troubled teenagers.

Mr. Lemon taught American history and it was clear from the first day that his classroom was not going to be disrupted. It was apparent, very quickly, that Mr. Lemon was quite different from the other teachers I had known. Not only was he a disciplinarian, but also he was a great teacher. He would never settle for my usual standard of classroom work. Mr. Lemon pushed and prodded and never tolerated the mediocrity that had become my standard.

On the occasion of our first semester report cards, Mr. Lemon called me aside and asked how it was possible that I was a B student in his class and a D and F student in the rest of my classes.

I was ready for that question. I passionately told him about my divorced parents, the local gangs, the drugs, the fights, and the police - all the evils that I had been subjected to. Mr. Lemon listened patiently and when I was through he responded, “There’s a problem with your list Mr. Phillips, you are not on it.”

Then Mr. Lemon explained that the only person responsible for my situation was me. And the only person with the potential to change my situation was me, and that when I personally accepted that responsibility I could make a significant change in my life.

He convinced me that I was failing not because I was a failure, but because I was not accepting the responsibility for my results in those other classes. Mr. Lemon was the first teacher I had who made me believe in myself. He inspired me to become a better student and he changed my life.

Ten years later, I spoke to him again. I was preparing to graduate from Chaminade University in Honolulu.

It had taken weeks of telephone calls to find him but I knew what I had to say. When I finally did get Mr. Lemon on the telephone, I explained what his brutal honesty had meant to me, how I finally graduated from high school, and how I was a proud staff sergeant in the Army. I explained how I had married the most beautiful and wonderful woman of my dreams and how we had a beautiful daughter.

Most of all I wanted him to know that I was about to graduate in Latin Honours after going to school for four hours a night, four nights a week for three years. I wanted him to know that I could never have done any of these things if he had not been a part of my life.

Finally, I told him that I had been saving money for two years so that I could invite he and his wife to come to Hawaii at my expense to be part of my graduation. I'll never forget his response. Mr. Lemon said, "Who is this again?"

I was just one of hundreds of students whose life he changed and he seemed genuinely surprised of his impact.

Perhaps none of us realize the impact that we have on other people nor do other people have any idea how much of an impact they have on us. How much, then, should we be aware of our influence on others to make sure that it is for the best? And how much more should we tell those who have had a positive impact on our lives?

Dare to dream

Sitting at the Marshalls, with my time card in my hand, I started to realize where I was and what I was finally doing. Thoughts of "I'm not good enough to be here" started floating around my head. As much as I tried, I could not get this thought out of my head the whole time I was sitting with my other seven competitors.

As my race approached and I clambered up the stairs and got behind my lane, ready to race, the thought started to disappear.

I started to look around the crowd. I saw the officials and finally my competitors. Seeing their faces, their concentration, their anguish, I finally glanced down my lane.

At the start and the end of this lane were two walls. In between the two walls was water. And in the water was my DREAM.

What came next was my realization. A dream is based on your reality, your strengths and your weaknesses. If my dream was above the ground then I just made the foundations to make it concrete, a reality. "I'm here aren't I?" - I said to myself.

I swam the race of my life. I wasn't placed anywhere, but just to be here was my dream. People often thought that I couldn't do it and I wouldn't do it. So when I got here, the best feeling I had was when I figured out that "I was good enough, not only because I made the qualifying time but mainly because I never gave up; I gave my dream a shot."

An aim, a dream, a focus; never think you have set your goals too high. You will just have the bigger challenge of achieving it.

 

Precious Stone

A wise woman who was travelling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream.

The next day she met another traveller who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food.

The hungry traveller saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveller left, rejoicing his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. "I've been thinking," he said. "I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone."

Sometimes it not the wealth you have but what's inside you that others need.

Being Polite

I walked with a friend to the newsstand the other night, and he bought a paper, thanking the owner politely. The owner, however, did not even acknowledge it.

"A sullen fellow, isn't he?" I commented as we walked away.

"Oh, he's that way every night," shrugged my friend.

"Then why do you continue being so polite to him?" I asked.

And my friend replied, "Why should I let him determine how I'm going to act?"

2 days we should not be worried about.

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is Yesterday with all its mistakes and cares,its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said.
Yesterday is gone forever.

The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow with all its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and its poor performance; Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise,
either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in Tomorrow, for it is yet to be born.

This leaves only one day, Today.

Any person can fight the battle of just one day.

It is when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities Yesterday and Tomorrow that we break down.

It is not the experience of Today that drives a person mad,it is the remorse or bitterness of something which happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring.

Let us, therefore, Live but one day at a time.

Spirit

There were two men both whom decided to get a horse. One man found a red Rhone with much spirit. The other chose one more docile. They would go riding together every day. It so happened on the route they would take around the countryside, there was a ditch about eight or nine feet wide, after a time it was apparent that the Rhone's spirit could not be shaken and he gave everything he had in all he did.

When coming up to this gap in the trail he hurled it the first time. Because of the spirit in him he was quick to respond and jumped it with no problem. Yet the more docile horse would balk every time he came to the edge. He wasn't sure of the distance; he would stand on the edge trembling with indecision and doubt because the distance to him looked too great.

Then one day after awhile, coming up to the ditch and watching his companion take it with ease, something happened within him, a knowing was born that he could too. So with agility and ease he gracefully bounded over the barrier.

Life is much like the two horses. When we as people come up against trials or situations we just don't feel like we can make the distance or that it just is too big and we don't know if we'll make it. So we balk standing on the edge trembling. It's not until we depend upon the spirit within. Then we are able to make it with ease. Until we quit looking at the obstacle or trial through our eyes, they will always seem too big for us.

But there is a spirit within us that can judge the distance to the other side and will give us the strength to make it through it.

As long as we let it.

It all comes to a choice whether we look for the spirit within or just stand on the edge and balk. We will always have a choice.

The best gift.

There were two elderly men living at Mount Hogenakkal ; one lived down at the lake shore, the other lived up in the forest a fair distance away. Both had long been retired and being childhood friends, they found a lot of joy and solace in each others company.

It happened that, during winter, the man down near the lake took seriously ill. The friend from the forest came to visit him and brought him a precious gift. The sick man was happy with the gift. Soon he got over his illness and was up and about. The two continued visiting each other off and on as often as possible, their age being a limiting factor.

After a while, the man living up in the forest stopped making his regular visits to the lakeside, so his friend walked up to the forest to see him, and found him sick and in bed. He also brought his friend a special gift. And every day he trudged up that hill and paid his forest friend a visit, always bringing along a special gift. It was always the same gift. In fact it was the very same kind of gift that he himself had been presented with when he was bedridden the previous winter.

When both men were well, and up and about, they used to take refreshing strolls either in the forest or around the small lake. And both enjoyed the gift which the other always brought. What was the gift? They had not bought it in any store; in fact, it could not be bought. Nor was the gift wrapped up in any fancy paper, as at any festival. Whenever they visited each other, the visitor did not carry the gift with him, but inside him. That way he could never lose it. It was, in fact, such a big gift that all the wrapping paper in the world could not cover it.

Do you know what the gift was ?

Each visitor gave the other his TIME.