Free Printable Inspirational Book:Take a Moment to Stop And Smell The Roses

 Take a Moment to …

A Book Written for a Cause…

by

O’mar S. Alquber, Ed. D

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank the authors of the 50

stories featured in this little book, most of them with names UNKNOWN. I

believe these authors preferred not to be known by their name, but

through the lessons of life they have shared. It made realize that there is

an infinite greatness in the humility of spirit.

This is the main principle that catapulted to the pedestal of adoration the

great religious leaders, like Jesus Christ, Buddha and Mohammad. This is

the “Gospel of Wealth” that drives the spirit of the philanthropists (like

Andrew Carnegie and Bill Gates) to share their wealth to the poor and

oppressed and prefer not to be known by their name but by their acts of

kindness.

That humility of spirit is within every human being, it is within us, just

waiting to be awakened. I hope this little book would serve as a

wakeup call to our humanness which has long been in deep slumber

because we deprived our selves of time “to smell the roses”.

PREFACE

This book is written for a cause. A cause which I have nurtured so deeply

within my heart for so many years. This cause had been haunting me day

and night. Until I decided to act for this cause in an unusual way but not

necessarily unprecedented – to write a book for this cause.

This cause I am referring to is a cause for the underprivileged and the

poor and marginalized – the hungry people, young and old risking their

limbs while begging for food on the streets. They are the same people

who are deprived of a place called home and often, earning the ire of the

privileged when they are approached for a penny or a morsel of food.

Such sight I cannot endure to see anymore. Children wearing filthy

clothes as if trying to scratch your car’s window to make their plea for

alms. But often we ignore them by knocking angrily at same spot of our

car’s window where they are trying to penetrate their begging look at us.

At night we can see them lying on concrete pavements we call bangketa

without any form of bed to lie on. Some of them, out of necessity,

managed to build their hanging bed under bridges where they could rest

for a while and wait for the dawning of a new day.

What these humans (though out of poverty, they were reduced to being

almost non-human) need is not only the dawning of a new day, for it

really comes naturally through the POWER of the SUPREME. For such

humans, the coming of a new day brings a fresh ordeal for them – how to

survive such single day. What these humans need is the DAWN OF HOPE

brought forth by our empathy dictated by our LOVE and CARE for them.

We can do this by sharing our blessing to them, and I believe everyone

has something to share, for the mere fact of living a life unlike the life

they live is an utter proof of great blessing as compared to the

“nothingness” others have.

I know it will be hard for you to go to this people and personally hand

them over what you want to share. That might be asking too much from

you. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, “if there is a will, there is always a

way”. That thing, we will do it for you with certainty.

This author and the publisher of this simple book has made a covenant

that part of the proceeds of selling this book will be devoted for the meal

at time of the indigents we’ve been mentioning from the start. For every

purchase of one copy of this book, a price for a meal (which is to be

known as “LINGAP MEAL”) is allotted for the noble purpose above cited.

This we will religiously do as long as copies of this book are being

purchased. In case you’re wondering in disbelief how we will go about it,

our answer is: We will be opening a Trust Account intended and

exclusively for this cause and purpose. The account will be named DAWN

F. HOPE, which would definitely exemplify the dawning of hope for the

street children and homeless people around us.

We will be organizing DAWN F. HOPE Volunteers in the distribution of

“LINGAP MEALS” to the street children and homeless in areas where they

live and roam. Our target is to feed one million of them all over the

country in one year.

This target is impossible to realize without your support and cooperation.

We enjoin every Filipino to give their share to this noble cause. For every

purchase of this book you are feeding one hungry individual. Come to

think of it - A small act of kindness that will certainly make a difference.

A book normally feeds the mind, in our case at hand, a book can also

fill a hungry stomach.

At this juncture I am inviting the reader of this book to contemplate on

the following poem from a street child, and make your judgment as to

the relevance of the cause this book is promoting.

Poem by a street child of Metro Manila

I am a plastic of candy

After being used I am thrown away

I have no value and no dignity

Destruction came into my mind

A bird appears on a dead tree

It changes into a girl

Eros, love the life bringers

She gives new life and dignity for victims

She met Known, who gives suffering & fears

They fought to the last

Eros continuous to travel and met Tartarus

Tartarus begueth and lead peoples hearts

He used his power to rule over the land

The battle begins between them

She can't win against Tartarus

Because his anger for Known's death

Eros found a magical stone, was able to kill Tartarus

After the war, storm, Eros vanishes

New sunrise appears and prosperity

A dead tree grew a blossom

- ‘PJ’

(PJ, a teenager, attends the street education program of ChildHope Philippines. His

poem, presented here in its original unedited form, is an expression of his deep

emotional intelligence. He was inspired, he says, by a story session on Greek

Mythology. PJ lives, plays, works and studies on the streets of Metro Manila.)

Introduction

“The Beauty of Life is in each precious moment. Stop and smell the roses”

--- Tanja Christine Jneger

The expression “stop and smell the roses” is not simply about literal flowers, but

rather how to live our life with a deeper appreciation not only of the world around us

but the people who are living with us. It reminds us to slow down and notice the little

things that make our life worthwhile. It also teaches us that despite a busy life, it is

important to know how to be present in the moment, otherwise those precious

moments will pass you buy.

There are lots of activities we can do to “smell the roses”, like meditation, walking

along the beach, joy riding, communing with nature, bird watching, stargazing or

watching and smelling the literal rose in your garden, and a lot more.

In this simple book however, a simple but worthwhile way of “smelling the rose” is

proposed. You do not need to go any farther away from the comfort of your home or

even at your office table. What you need is a small lighted nook, a perfect moment of

silence, and of course your will or desire to “smell the rose” even just for a while.

This is by reading stories of enduring significance because of the life lessons they

teach and the inspiration they may bring to us. This begs for the introduction of the

term “Bibliotherapy” which simply means the “therapy of reading” good literatures.

Yes, reading as an art is therapeutic and educating at the same time, and this I want

you to experience by reading the stories presented in here.

The stories presented in this little book were carefully chosen to bring you specific

lessons of life and some amount of inspiration. They will help you to look back from

where you are, to analyze your present state and to at least project your future.

Some of these stories may help you solve your problem at hand or in a way mold your

character to become a better person.

Verily, reading these stories will make you stop for a moment and “smell the roses”

and don’t forget to think of those who are deeply wanting for food and little amount

of your love.

She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live. I drive to

this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on

me. She was building a sand castle or something and looked up, her eyes as blue as

the sea. "Hello," she said.

I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child. "I'm

building," she said.

"I see that. What is it?" I asked, not really caring.

"Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand."

That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes.

A sandpiper glided by.

"That's a joy," the child said.

"It's a what?"

"It's a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy."

The bird went gliding down the beach. Good-bye joy, I muttered to myself, hello pain,

and turned to walk on. I was depressed, my life seemed completely out of balance.

"What's your name?" She wouldn't give up.

"Robert," I answered. "I'm Robert Peterson."

"Mine's Wendy... I'm six."

"Hi, Wendy."

She giggled. "You're funny," she said.

TITLE THE SANDPIPER

AUTHOR ROBERT PETERSON

LESSON # 1 LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST, AND SHOW LOVE TO

OTHERS BECAUSE LIFE IS TOO SHORT

In spite of my gloom, I laughed too and walked on. Her musical giggle followed me.

"Come again, Mr. P," she called. "We'll have another happy day."

The next few days consisted of a group of unruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings, and an

ailing mother. The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the

dishwater. I need a sandpiper, I said to myself, gathering up my coat.

The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly but I

strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed.

"Hello, Mr. P," she said. "Do you want to play?"

"What did you have in mind?" I asked, with a twinge of annoyance.

"I don't know. You say.

"How about charades?" I asked sarcastically.

The tinkling laughter burst forth again. "I don't know what that is."

"Then let's just walk."

Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness of her face. "Where do you live?" I

asked.

"Over there." She pointed toward a row of summer cottages.

Strange, I thought, in winter.

"Where do you go to school?"

"I don't go to school. Mommy says we're on vacation."

She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was on other

things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day. Feeling surprisingly

better, I smiled at her and agreed.

Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no mood to

even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt like demanding

she keep her child at home.

"Look, if you don't mind," I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, "I'd rather be

alone today." She seemed unusually pale and out of breath.

"Why?" she asked.

I turned to her and shouted, "Because my mother died!" and thought, My God, why

was I saying this to a little child?

"Oh," she said quietly, "then this is a bad day."

"Yes," I said, "and yesterday and the day before and -- oh, go away!"

"Did it hurt?" she inquired.

"Did what hurt?" I was exasperated with her, with myself.

"When she died?"

"Of course it hurt!" I snapped, misunderstanding, wrapped up in myself. I strode off.

A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn't there. Feeling

guilty, ashamed, and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to the cottage after

my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn looking young woman with honey-colored

hair opened the door.

"Hello," I said, "I'm Robert Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered

where she was."

"Oh yes, Mr. Peterson, please come in. Wendy spoke of you so much. I'm afraid I

allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance, please, accept my apologies."

"Not at all -- she's a delightful child." I said, suddenly realizing that I meant what I had

just said.

"Wendy died last week, Mr. Peterson. She had leukemia. Maybe she didn't tell you."

Struck dumb, I groped for a chair. I had to catch my breath.

"She loved this beach, so when she asked to come, we couldn't say no. She seemed so

much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days. But the last few

weeks, she declined rapidly..." Her voice faltered, "She left something for you, if only

I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?"

I nodded stupidly, my mind racing for something to say to this lovely young woman.

She handed me a smeared envelope with "MR. P" printed in bold childish letters.

Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues -- a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown

bird. Underneath was carefully printed:

“A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY”

Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heart that had almost forgotten to love opened

wide. I took Wendy's mother in my arms. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," I

uttered over and over, and we wept together. The precious little picture is framed

now and hangs in my study. Six words -- one for each year of her life -- that speak to

me of harmony, courage, and undemanding love.

A gift from a child with sea blue eyes and hair the color of sand -- who taught me the

gift of love.

Reflection:

Life is so complicated, the hustle and bustle of everyday traumas can make us lose

focus about what is truly important or what is only a momentary setback or crisis.

This week, be sure to give your loved ones an extra hug, and by all means, take a

moment... even if it is only ten seconds, to stop and smell the roses.

Everything that happens to us happens for a reason. Never brush aside anyone as

insignificant. Who knows what they can teach us?

I wish for you, a sandpiper. (Below is how a sandpiper looks like)

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve

got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in

her eyes.

Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was

thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and

shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was

weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I

could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t

love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could

own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of

her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources

and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally

she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry

was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several

weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the

table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because

I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned

over and was asleep again.

TITLE A Touching Story of Marriage

AUTHOR Unknown

LESSON # 2 Making Time for Family; Fidelity in Marriage

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from

me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one

month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple:

our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our

broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I

had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.

She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom

to the front door every morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last

days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was

absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said

scornfully.

My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly

expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our

son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a

sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over

ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son

about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door.

She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I

could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman

carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine

wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For

a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was

the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I

didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by.

Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but

could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I

suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry

her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart.

Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him,

seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My

wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face

away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her

in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her

hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like

our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my

arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and

said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office… jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid

any delay would make me change my mind… I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door

and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever?

She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My

marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our

lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I

carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death

do us apart.

Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the

door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The

salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out

every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs,

only to find my wife in the bed – dead.

My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even

notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from whatever

negative reaction from our son, in case we push thru with the divorce. At least, in the

eyes of our son— I’m a loving husband…

Reflection: The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It

is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an

environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find

time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build

intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had one of those

life-changing experiences that you hear other people talk about — the kind that

sneaks up on you unexpectedly. This one occurred a mere two feet away from me.

Straining to locate my friend among the passengers deplaning through the jet way, I

noticed a man coming toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me

to greet his family.

First he motioned to his youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags.

They gave each other a long, loving hug. As they separated enough to look in each

other’s face, I heard the father say, “It’s so good to see you, son. I missed you so

much!” His son smiled somewhat shyly, averted his eyes and replied softly, “Me, too,

Dad!”

Then the man stood up, gazed in the eyes of his oldest son (maybe nine or ten) and

while cupping his son’s face in his hands said, “You’re already quite the young man. I

love you very much, Zach!” They too hugged a most loving, tender hug.

While this was happening, a baby girl (perhaps one or one-and-a-half) was squirming

excitedly in her mother’s arms, never once taking her little eyes off the wonderful

sight of her returning father. The man said, “Hi, baby girl!” as he gently took the child

from her mother. He quickly kissed her face all over and then held her close to his

chest while rocking her from side to side. The little girl instantly relaxed and simply

laid her head on his shoulder, motionless in pure contentment.

After several moments, he handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared, “I’ve

saved the best for last!” and proceeded to give his wife the longest, most passionate

kiss I ever remember seeing. He gazed into her eyes for several seconds and then

silently mouthed. “I love you so much!” They stared at each other’s eyes, beaming big

smiles at one another, while holding both hands.

For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds, but I knew by the age of their kids

that they couldn’t possibly be. I puzzled about it for a moment then realized how

TITLE DON’T HOPE, DECIDE!

AUTHOR Michael D. Hargrove and Bottom Line Underwriters

Inc.

LESSON # 3 The Urgency of Showing Love and Care to Family

totally engrossed I was in the wonderful display of unconditional love not more than

an arm’s length away from me. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if I was invading

something sacred, but was amazed to hear my own voice nervously ask, “Wow! How

long have you two been married?

“Been together fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” he replied, without

breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well then, how long have you been

away?” I asked. The man finally turned and looked at me, still beaming his joyous

smile. “Two whole days!”

Two days? I was stunned. By the intensity of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been

gone for at least several weeks – if not months. I know my expression betrayed me.

I said almost offhandedly, hoping to end my intrusion with some semblance of grace

(and to get back to searching for my friend), “I hope my marriage is still that

passionate after twelve years!”

The man suddenly stopped smiling.

He looked me straight in the eye, and with forcefulness that burned right into my

soul, he told me something that left me a different person. He told me, “Don’t hope,

friend… decide!” Then he flashed me his wonderful smile again, shook my hand and

said, “God bless!”

Personal Reflection: Complete the unfinished statements below.

I now understand what the word “miss” means. It means ________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

“Don’t Hope, You Decide” means ____________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

My Personal Resolution is ___________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

My mom only had one eye. I hated her… She was such an embarrassment. She cooked

for students and teachers to support the family.

There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to

me. I was so embarrassed.

How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The

next day at school one of my classmates said, “EEEE, your mom only has one eye!”

I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her

that day and said, “If you’re only ‘gonna make me a laughing stock, why don’t you

just die?”

My mom did not respond… I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had

said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings.

I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard,

got a chance to go abroad to study.

Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy

with my life, my kids and the comforts. Then one day, my Mother came to visit me.

She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren.

When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming

over uninvited. I screamed at her, “How dare you come to my house and scare my

children! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!”

And to this, my mother quietly answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the

wrong address.” – and she disappeared out of sight.

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. So I lied to my wife

that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out

of curiosity.

My neighbors said that she died. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter

that she had wanted me to have.

TITLE MY MOM HAS ONLY ONE EYE

AUTHOR Unknown

LESSON # 4 PARENTAL LOVE and SACRIFICE

“My dearest son,

I think of you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your

children.

I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to

even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you

when you were growing up.

You see……..when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As

a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you

mine.

I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with

that eye.

With all my love to you,

Your mother.”

Personal Reflection: Complete the unfinished statements below

The great thing I learned from the story is ____________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

A great mistake I won’t do against my parents is ________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

I will show my love to my parents by __________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through

school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would

ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young

woman opened the door.

Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so

brought him a large glass of milk.

He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay

for a kindness.”

He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”

As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in

God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled.

They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare

disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the

town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went

down the hall of the hospital to her room.

Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He

went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From

that day he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to

pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the

edge and the bill was sent to her room.

TITLE A GLASS OF MILK, PAID IN FULL

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 5 SHOWING GRATITUDE

She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it

all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She

began to read the following words:

“Paid in full with one glass of milk.

Signed, Dr. Howard Kelly.”

Personal Reflection: Complete the unfinished statements below.

I now understand what gratitude means. It means ______________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

For me that “one glass of milk” represents the ________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

I know a person who gave me “one glass of milk”, he/she is my __________________

This evening as I was leaving Best Buy, I noticed this man going through the garbage

can outside of the store. As I walked to my car I watched him as he reached in the

garbage can and pulled out fast food trash bags and inspected all that was in the

thrown away bags. He did this for several minutes. He would find a few fries in one

bag and a bite or two of a hamburger in another bag. You can see the hamburger

wrapper by his knee where he was placing the food items he’d found.

He never bothered anyone or tried to stop and beg for money as people entered and

left the store. After he went through the entire trash can he neatly cleaned up the

area and wrapped up the food he found in the dirty hamburger wrapper. My heart

literally hurt for him. I am not someone who just hands out money or even helps

homeless people because so many are not truly homeless. I don’t guess I’ve ever seen

someone actually go through a garbage can to try to find food to eat.

I knew I had to help him. I got out of my car and asked him if I could buy him

something to eat. He told me he would appreciate anything I could get him. He was

on a bike and I told him if he’d follow me I’d buy him a meal at the fast food place

around the block. He followed me and I bought him the biggest meal they had on the

menu. The only request he gave me for his order was if I could get him a big glass of

sweet tea to go with his meal!

When I brought him his food, he was so thankful. He told me his name was Steve and

he’d been homeless ever since his sister died last September. He was trying to get off

the streets, but it was so hard. I told him God loved him and I would pray for him. He

told me again how much he appreciated the meal.

When I got back in my car, I drove off with such heaviness in my heart for this man. I

drove down the road and felt compelled to go back to help this man. When I came

back he had finished his meal and was riding away. I pulled up beside him and asked

him if there was any way I could help him. He told me not really. He never asked me

for money. I asked him if I could buy him a few meals and put it on a gift card for him.

He told me that would be so kind. I drove to McDonalds and bought him some meals

and gave him a gift card.

TITLE HOMELESS MAN STEVE

AUTHOR John Brantley

LESSON # 6 LEARN HOW TO COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

He broke down crying. He told me that he prayed for me today! I wasn’t sure what he

meant (I was assuming he was praying for me for what I did for him) so I thanked him.

He said, “No, you don’t understand. I prayed that God would send someone to buy me

a hot meal today… and he sent you!” I didn’t know what to say… I was speechless!

Praying for a hot meal wasn’t a prayer I had prayed today! Come to think of it, that’s

not a prayer I’ve ever prayed! I always pray over my food, but I’ve never prayed for a

meal… its expected! I’ve never doubted that I wouldn’t be able to eat… Tears began

to fill my eyes! Oh my… how blessed am I… Maybe God used me to answer this man’s

prayer… to let him know that He cares for Him and knows what goes going through!

But, maybe God used this man to show me just how blessed I am and what I take for

granted…

He said, “You see, I have cancer!” He pulled up his shirt and pointed to a huge mass

that was poking out from his stomach. He said he knew it wouldn’t be much longer. I

asked him if knew Jesus. He told me that he did. I asked if I could pray for him and he

said that I could. We prayed right there on the sidewalk of McDonalds. Tears just

poured from his eyes. He told me he knew that he was going to die and that he was

ready to die. He was tired of being in pain and he would be better off dead because

this was no life – living this way. I stayed and encouraged him for a few minutes trying

to fight back my tears. My prayer is that I showed him the love of Jesus today… that

something I said gave him a hope.

You see, everybody has a story! I know Steve’s story now… all because I felt compelled

to help him… he ended up touching me today!

When I left him, I knew I had done what God wanted me to do! God put him in my

path today… I know he did! I’ve never felt such a feeling to help someone as I did

today. I was reminded again of how blessed I am! I have a vehicle that gets me from

place to place, I have a roof over my head, clean clothes, money to buy a hot meal,

running water, electricity, my health, a job, family, and friends! Sometimes God sends

situations our way to remind us of how blessed we are! If you’ve read this far, please

remember Steve in your prayers!

Personal Reflection: Complete the unfinished statement below.

I believe I am blessed because _______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Yes, I have been blessed, God’s so good to me! Precious are His thoughts of you and

me! There’s no way I could count them, there’s not enough time, so I’ll just thank

Him for being so kind. God has been good, so good! I have been blessed! A man had a

little daughter, an only and much beloved child. He lived only for her, she was his life.

So when she became ill and her illness resisted the efforts of the best obtainable

physicians, he became like a man possessed, moving heaven and earth to bring about

her restoration to health.

His best efforts proved fruitless, however, and the child died. The father was totally

irreconcilable. He became a bitter recluse, shutting himself away from his many

friends, refusing every activity that might restore his poise and bring him back to his

normal self.

Then one night he had a dream. He was in heaven and witnessing a grand pageant of

all the little child angels. They were marching in an apparently endless line past the

Great White Throne. Every white-robed, angelic tot carried a candle. He noticed,

however, that one child’s candle was not lit. Then he saw that the child with the dark

candle was his own little girl. Rushing towards her, while the pageant faltered, he

seized her in his arms, caressed her tenderly, and asked, “How is that your candle is

the only one not lit?” “Father, they often relight it, but your tears always put it out

again,” she said. Just then he awoke from his dream. The lesson was crystal clear, and

its effects were immediate. From that hour on he was no longer a recluse, but

mingled freely and cheerfully with his former friends and associates. No longer would

his little darling’s candle be extinguished by his useless tears.

Personal Reflection: Complete the unfinished statement below.

For me the dark candles can also be the ______________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

I firmly resolve that _______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

TITLE THE DARK CANDLE

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 7 ACCEPTANCE OF LOVED ONE’S DEATH

When I was in elementary school, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class. I

have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson I

learned that day.

I was convinced that “I” was right and “he” was wrong – and he was just as convinced

that “I” was wrong and “he” was right. The teacher decided to teach us a very

important lesson.

She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and

me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly

see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. “White,” he

answered.

I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another

argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the color of the

object.

The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come

stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the color of

the object was. I had to answer, “White.”

It was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was

white. Only from my side it was black.

Sometimes we need to look at the problem from the other person’s view in order to

truly understand his/her perspective.

Personal Reflection: Complete the unfinished statement below.

I had this same experience when _____________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

TITLE BLACK OR WHITE

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 8 CONSIDERING OTHER’S PERSPECTIVE/VIEW ON A

PARTICULAR PROBLEM

But now I learned that _____________________________________________________

This parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the

farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule praying or whatever mules do when they

fall into wells.

After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but

decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead,

he called his neighbors together, told them what had happened, and enlisted them to

help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued

shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him

that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, HE WOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND

STEP UP!

This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up…

shake it off and step up!” He repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful

the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and

just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!

It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly

over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him actually helped him …

all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

THAT’S LIFE! If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to

give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity.

Personal Reflection:

This parable taught me that ________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

TITLE FACE DIFFICULTIES POSITIVELY

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 9 FACING DIFFICULTIES POSITIVELY

The phrase “SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP” means ________________________

________________________________________________________________________

There was a business executive who was deep in debt and could see no way out.

Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the

park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from

bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him. “I can see that something is troubling

you,” he said.

After listening to the executive’s woes, the old man said, “I believe I can help you.”

He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying,

“Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me

back at that time.”

Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D.

Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!

“I can erase my money worries in an instant!” he realized. But instead, the executive

decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give

him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment.

He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making

money once again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check. At the

agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand

TITLE A SHORT STORY OF SELF-CONFIDENCE

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 10 SELF-CONFIDENCE AS KEY TO SOLVE PROBLEM

back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the

old man.

“I’m so glad I caught him!” she cried. “I hope he hasn’t been bothering you. He’s

always escaping from the rest home and telling people he’s John D. Rockefeller.”

And she led the old man away by the arm.

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he’d been wheeling

and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him.

Suddenly, he realized that it wasn’t the money, real or imagined, that had turned his

life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve

anything he went after.

Personal Reflection:

The story gives me the new meaning of SELF-CONFIDENCE. It means

__________________________________________________________________________

With my present condition I firmly resolve that _________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and

he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons,

the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.

The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”

Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he

could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring

10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and

apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.

“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut

trees…”

Reflection:

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen

the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy

than ever.

Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing

wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the

truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to get close to our

Creator, giving more time for our family, taking time to read etc.

We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take

the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

TITLE THE STORY OF A WOODCUTTER

AUTHOR STEPHEN COVEY

LESSON # 11 DON’T FORGET TO REST AND SHARPEN THE SAW

Personal Reflection:

I don’t want to become dull and lose my effectiveness, so I will be sharpening the saw

by the following activities:

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

I firmly resolve to do this _________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Once a group of 50 people was attending a seminar.

Suddenly the speaker stopped and started giving each person a balloon. Each one was

asked to write his/her name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were

collected and put in another room.

Now these delegates were let in that room and asked to find the balloon which had

their name written, within 5 minutes.

Everyone was frantically searching for their name, pushing, colliding with each other,

and there was utter chaos.

At the end of 5 minutes, no one could find their own balloon.

Now each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose

name was written on it. Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

The speaker began: This is exactly happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically

looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is. Our happiness lies in the

happiness of other people. Give them their happiness, you will get your own

happiness.

And this is the purpose of human life.

Personal Reflection:

The persons I want to make happy are ________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

I will make them happy by __________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

TITLE FINDING HAPPINESS

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 12 HOW TO SEEK FOR HAPPINESS

In old times, fable retells the story of the young athletic boy hungry for success, for

whom winning was everything and success was measured by such a result.

One day, the boy was preparing himself for a running competition in his small native

village, himself and two other young boys to compete. A large crowd had congregated

to witness the sporting spectacle and a wise old man, upon hearing of the little boy,

had travelled far to bear witness also.

The race commenced, looking like a level heat at the finishing line, but sure enough

the boy dug deep and called on his determination, strength and power… he took the

winning line and was first. The crowd was ecstatic and cheered and waved at the boy.

The wise man remained still and calm, expressing no sentiment. The little boy,

however, felt proud and important.

A second race was called, and two new young, fit, challengers came forward, to run

with the little boy. The race was started and sure enough the little boy came through

and finished first once again. The crowd was ecstatic again and cheered and waved at

the boy. The wise man remained still and calm, again expressing no sentiment. The

little boy, however, felt proud and important.

“Another race, another race!” – pleaded the little boy.

The wise old man stepped forward and presented the little boy with two new

challengers, an elderly frail lady and a blind man. “What is this?” – quizzed the little

boy. “This is no race.” – he exclaimed.

“Race!” – said the wise man. The race was started and the boy was the only finisher,

the other two challengers left standing at the starting line. The little boy was

ecstatic, he raised his arms in delight. The crowd, however, was silent showing no

sentiment toward the little boy.

“What has happened? Why don’t the people join in my success?” – he asked the wise

old man.

“Race again”, replied the wise man, “this time, finish together, all three of you,

finish together.” – continued the wise man.

TITLE THE THREE RACES

AUTHOR DARREN EDWARDS

LESSON # 13 GREATNESS COMES WITH GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

The little boy thought a little, stood in the middle of the blind man and the frail old

lady, and then took the two challengers by the hand. The race began and the little

boy walked slowly, ever so slowly, to the finishing line and crossed it. The crowd were

ecstatic and cheered and waved at the boy. The wise man smiled, gently nodding his

head. The little boy felt proud and important.

“Old man, I don’t understand! Who are the crowd cheering for? Which one of us

three?” – asked the little boy.

The wise old man looked into the little boy’s eyes, placing his hands on the boy’s

shoulders, and replied softly, “Little boy, for this race you have won much more than

in any race you have ever ran before, and for this race the crowd cheer not for any

winner!”

Personal Reflection:

I want to succeed in ________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

I am committed to realize this by _____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

However, I am aware that success can only be attained by _______________________

__________________________________________________________________________

I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighboring town of Venice,

Italy, the city of lights and water.

As we enjoyed our coffee, a man entered and sat at an empty table beside us. He

called the waiter and placed his order saying, “Two cups of coffee, one of them there

on the wall.”

We heard this order with rather interest and observed that he was served with one

cup of coffee but he paid for two.

When he left, the waiter put a piece of paper on the wall saying “A Cup of Coffee”.

While we were still there, two other men entered and ordered three cups of coffee,

two on the table and one on the wall. They had two cups of coffee but paid for three

and left. This time also, the waiter did the same; he put a piece of paper on the wall

saying, “A Cup of Coffee”.

It was something unique and perplexing for us. We finished our coffee, paid the bill

and left.

After a few days, we had a chance to go to this coffee shop again. While we were

enjoying our coffee, a man poorly dressed entered. As he seated himself, he looked at

the wall and said, “One cup of coffee from the wall.”

The waiter served coffee to this man with the customary respect and dignity. The man

had his coffee and left without paying.

We were amazed to watch all this, as the waiter took off a piece of paper from the

wall and threw it in the trash bin.

Now it was no surprise for us – the matter was very clear. The great respect for the

needy shown by the inhabitants of this town made our eyes well up in tears.

TITLE COFFEE ON THE WALL

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 14 RESPECT AND DIGNITY

Ponder upon the need of what this man wanted. He enters the coffee shop without

having to lower his self-esteem… he has no need to ask for a free cup of coffee…

without asking or knowing about the one who is giving this cup of coffee to him… he

only looked at the wall, placed an order for himself, enjoyed his coffee and left.

A truly beautiful thought. Probably the most beautiful wall you may ever see

anywhere!

Personal Reflection:

I learned from this story that ________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

For me “coffee on the wall” means __________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

This unique tradition can be replicated in other things, such as: _________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons. They were

peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious

birds to his head falconer to be trained.

Months passed, and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of

the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not

moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.

The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but

no one could make the bird fly.

He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw

through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch.

Having tried everything else, the king thought to himself, “May be I need someone

more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem.” So he

cried out to his court, “Go and get a farmer.”

In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace

gardens. He said to his court, “Bring me the doer of this miracle.”

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king

asked him, “How did you make the falcon fly?”

With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, “It was very easy, your highness. I

simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting.”

Reflection:

We are all made to fly — to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But at

times we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The

TITLE THE FALCON AND THE BRANCH

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 15 CONQUER FEAR AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE

possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to

the familiar, the comfortable, and the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are

mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling. Let us learn to destroy the

branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight!

Once upon a time, a lonely hawk lived on a tree by the riverside. He was young and

handsome but he had no friends.

One day, he saw a beautiful she-hawk sitting on a tree and wanted to marry her but

the she-hawk refused to marry him, as he had no friends.

“Will you marry me if I make three friends?” – he asked. She said that she definitely

would.

The hawk then went looking for friends. While flying on the other bank of the river, he

saw a huge tortoise. The hawk flew down to him and said, “Dear tortoise, will you be

my friend and help me in my hour of need?” The tortoise agreed to become his friend

and said, “Call me whenever you need me and I shall come to your side.”

The hawk also promised him his help at any time and then flew in search of the

second friend. Soon, he came upon an osprey. The hawk went to it and asked her if

she would be his friend and help him in time of his need. The osprey very gladly

accepted his friendship and offered her help whenever he needed it.

The hawk was glad that he had made two friends.

He went on searching for a third friend. He flew over the jungle and saw a tiger.

Fearless as he was, he went near the tiger and requested him to be his friend. The

tiger readily accepted his friendship and said, “From now onwards, I am your friend.

Nobody will harm you. If anyone tries to harm you, call me and I will be there to help

you.”

The hawk was very happy. He thanked the tiger, flew back to the she-hawk and said,

“I have made three friends, a tortoise, an osprey and a tiger. Will you marry me now?”

The she-hawk agreed to marry him. Soon, their marriage took place. The three friends

attended the hawk’s marriage.

After some-months, she-hawk gave birth to two baby hawks. The parent hawks were

very happy to have cute little babies. They lived happily in their nest.

TITLE THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING FRIENDS

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 16 TRUE FRIENDS ARE IMPORTANT IN OUR LIFE

One day, two hunters came and sat under that tree. They were tired and hungry. They

had not been able to hunt any animal. They decided to catch some fish. But, they

couldn’t catch even a single fish.

It was getting dark and the hunters decided to spend the night under that tree. To

keep themselves warm, they lit a fire. The fire soared high. The hawk-babies on the

tree could not bear the heat and the smoke coming out of the fire. They started

crying. The Hunters heard their cries. One of them said, ”There are birds on this tree.

Let us catch them. We shall roast them on the fire and eat them.” The other one

agreed.

The hawks heard them and were really worried about the safety of their babies. The

she-hawk suggested that they seek help from their friends. The hawk went to the

osprey and told her his problem. The osprey said, “Go home and protect your babies. I

shall tackle with the hunters.”

The osprey dived into the river and then flew over the fire. The water from her wet

feathers fell on the fire. She repeatedly dived into the river and flew over the fire.

The water from her feathers put off the fire.

The hunters decided to light the fire again; however, as soon as they lit the fire, again

the osprey put it off.

In the meantime, the hawk went to get help from the tortoise. When the tortoise

heard about the hawk’s problem, he said to him, “Do not worry dear friend, I will be

there in no time and tackle the hunters in my own way. Go and protect your family.”

The hawk flew to the tree and the tortoise reached the tree. He went quite close to

where the hunters were sitting and trying to light the fire again. The hunters saw the

tortoise and one of them said, “Look there is a huge tortoise. Let’s forget about the

hawks and catch this tortoise.”

The other hunter agreed and said, “Let’s tear our shirts and make a rope. We shall tie

its one end to the tortoise and other to our waists. Then we will pull the tortoise with

all our strength.” The other hunter liked the idea. Soon, they make a rope out of their

shirts. They tied one end of the rope to the tortoise’s legs. Then, trying the other end

to their waist, they could not pull the tortoise. The tortoise’s strength was much

greater than the two hunters were together.

The tortoise pulled the two men into the water. Once, inside the water, it was very

easy for the tortoise to drag them. With great efforts, they cut the rope that was tied

to their waist and swam back to the bank. They were now feeling very cold. They had

lost their shirts. They thought of making a fire again.

Seeing them collecting leaves and twigs, the hawk was worried again. He flew to the

forest and called his third friend, the tiger. He found the tiger at the edge of the

forest. When the tiger heard the hawk’s problem, he immediately rushed towards the

riverbank.

The hunter had now lighted the fire and one of them was preparing to climb the tree

to get the hawk babies. Just then, the tiger reached the tree. Seeing the tiger, the

hunters ran from there and never came back again.

The hawk thanked all his three friends for their kind and timely help. He also realized

that it is very important to have at least a few friends. The female-hawk was very

wise in advising the hawk to make friends before marrying him.

Personal Reflection: Complete the unfinished statement below:

The important thing I learned from the story is _______________________________

______________________________________________________________________

I got my own friends; they are _____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

I am decided to win more friends by _______________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold.

The hedgehogs, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This

way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their

closest companions.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began

to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of

their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little

wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the

heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

Reflection:

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when

each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the

other person’s good qualities.

Hedgehogs stay in group during cold season

TITLE LESSON FROM THE HEDGEHOGS

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 17 TEAMWORK and COMPANIONSHIP

When you see geese flying along in “V” formation, you might consider what science

has discovered as to why they fly that way. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an

uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in “V” formation, the whole flock

adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. People

who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going

more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of

trying to go it alone — and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the

lifting power of the bird in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in

formation with those people who are headed the same way we are.

When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies

point. It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs, whether with people or with

geese flying south. Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up

their speed.

What messages do we give when we honk from behind? Finally — and this is important

— when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out of formation, two

other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection.

They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then do

they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that.

Reflection: Complete the unfinished statements below:

The geese flying in “V” formation tells us a great lesson. The lesson is ____________

______________________________________________________________________

TITLE THE GOOSE STORY

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 18 TEAMWORK; ORGANIZATION

A boy and a girl were playing together. The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl

had some sweets with her.

The boy told the girl that he will give her all his marbles in exchange for her sweets.

The girl agreed. The boy kept the biggest and the most beautiful marble aside and

gave the rest to the girl. The girl gave him all her sweets as she had promised.

That night, the girl slept peacefully. But the boy couldn’t sleep as he kept wondering

if the girl had hidden some sweets from him the way he had hidden his best marble.

Reflection:

If you don’t give your hundred percent in a relationship, you’ll always keep doubting

if the other person has given his/her hundred percent..

This is applicable for any relationship like love, employer-employee relationship etc.

Give your hundred percent to everything you do and sleep peacefully.

TITLE GIVE YOUR BEST TO RELATIONSHIPS

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 19 IN ANY RELATIONSHIP, DON’T KEEP RESERVATIONS

Charles Plumb, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam.

After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb

ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a

communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons

learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table

came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft

carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.

The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure

did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn’t be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept

wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the

back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and

not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a

fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."

Plumb thought of the man hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the

bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute,

holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone

who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that

he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy

territory-he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional

parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before

reaching safety.

TITLE WHO PACKS YOUR PARACHUTE? – A TRUE STORY

ABOUT CHALES PLUMB

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 20 URGENCY OF GRATITUDE FOR THOSE WHO DO

GOOD TO US

Reflection:

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important.

We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something

wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice

for no reason.

As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize the people who pack

your parachute.

What do you do when you’re born with two digits on each hand and your legs are

amputated at the knees when you’re three? Well, if you’re Hee Ah Lee, you become a

concert pianist. She is quite a pro at it now, and you’ll love hearing her play...

Hee Ah Lee was born with severe physical deformities. She only had two fingers on

each hand. And her legs ended at her knees. Her doctors didn’t expect her to live.

But she did live. At the age of six she started to play piano. At the time, her four

fingers were very weak. She couldn’t even hold a pencil. Her mother hoped playing

piano would strengthen her grip.

It worked. But more than that, Lee found a calling. She now tours the world, playing

for stunned audiences. She plays pieces that would be difficult for able-bodied

pianists.

The videos are real and Hee Ah Lee is Authentic. It is the story of a mother and a

daughter who have overcome odds from the very beginning.

Lee’s mother became unexpectedly pregnant while married to a disabled man.

Doctors told her that because of a medication she had been taking her child would not

be normal. She elected to continue with the pregnancy and in 1985 in Seoul, South

Korea, little Hee Ah Lee was born with only two fingers on each hand, disfigurement

of her legs, and slight brain injury. The hospital told Sun that she could not care for

the child at home and relatives wanted her to place the child for adoption in a foreign

country. Sun thought her baby was beautiful, however, and was determined that she

would live a successful life.

When Lee was a pre-schooler her mother decided that she wanted her daughter to

take piano lessons and for two reasons. One was that she felt it would help her

strengthen her hands so she could hold a pencil. The other was that she felt that if

she could master the piano, she could master anything. For six months piano schools

turned them down then the one teacher who did accept the task got discouraged and

wanted to quit. It became a three-month contest of wills between mother and

daughter that led to a confrontation in which Sun actually threw her daughter on the

TITLE 4-FINGER PIANIST

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 21 OVERCOMING ADVERSITY; STRONG DETERMINATION

floor in frustration. She said Lee got back up on the piano bench and for the first

time played the children’s song she had been trying to learn. That was the turning

point and one year later Lee won the grand prize in a piano concert for

Kindergartners. It was at age 7 that Lee won Korea’s 19th National Handicap Conquest

Contest and was presented with her award by the President of Korea.

Today Lee is 22, has won numerous awards, and is a widely traveled concert pianist

with more than 200 appearances. Her first album titled “Hee-ah, a Pianist with Four

Fingers” was to be released in June, 2008.

Lee gives tribute to her mother for challenging her to master the piano and said that

although her training was difficult, “as time went by, the piano became my source of

inspiration and my best friend.”

Reflection: Complete the unfinished statements below:

What I learned from this story is _________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

If I got a friend with a handicap, I will encourage him/her to _________________

____________________________________________________________________

There is a kind soul working in the dead letter office of the U.S. Postal Service

somewhere...

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4-year-old

daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She

asked if we could write a letter to God, so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would

recognize her. I told her that I thought we could, so she dictated these words:

..........................................................................................................

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I

miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she

got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am

sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really

miss her.

Love, Meredith.

(written by the mother of Mer Claire)

..........................................................................................................

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed

it to: God in Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several

stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to

get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box

at the post office.

A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought

He had. Yesterday there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch

addressed, "To Meredith" in an unfamiliar hand.

Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers, titled, "When a Pet Dies." Taped

to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope.

On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

TITLE A LETTER TO GOD – A TRUE STORY

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 22 FAITH IN GOD AND LOVE OF PET

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey

right away. Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in

your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I

don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this

little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and

sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I

send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I

am wherever there is love.

"Love, God"

Reflection: Complete the following unfinished statements:

This story taught me that _______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

I know that someone out there wrote the letter for Meredith, but the story just want

to tell us that __________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

In the Police Academy they told us over and over again to be ready for anything when

we show up on a scene. As I am driving around in my patrol car a citizen calls 911 to

report an issue in my city. The dispatcher takes the call, talks with the caller, and

translates the conversation into a call type and a sentence or two that comes across

my computer screen on what I need to respond to and where.

The dispatcher looks and sees the address is in my area and comes over the air to let

me know I have a call holding. I acknowledge to her that I am en route to whatever

call she has put in my que. She assigns the amount of officers depending on the call

type. A fight situation might need 4 officers where as a vandalism report usually only

needs one officer. The dispatchers have to use their best discretion on translating

what is told to them over the phone into how many officers will go to the call. There

are about 20 different call types that include traffic accidents, lost kids, property

checks, drunk drivers, and welfare checks just to name a few. The dispatchers are

awesome and they really watch out for our safety and do a great job.

En route to the call I always think through the scenarios of what might possibly

happening so that I can formulate a plan of action. Sometimes a call comes across

where it seems there will be a battle and it turns out to be nothing. Sometimes a call

comes across that seems very small and it turns into a huge deal.

Last night I was dispatched as a single responder to a traffic hazard call.

The caller told dispatch there was a dead dog in the road that was causing a traffic

issue. Fortunately it was 11pm on a smaller street and I knew there couldn’t be too

much of a traffic issue so I was in no hurry. While driving to the call I didn’t even give

it a second though. My plan was to get to the scene, move the dog to the side of the

road, and let animal control know they needed to pick it up in the morning. I was

already finished with the call before I got there and did not even contemplate there

could possibly be more to the story.

TITLE A NIGHT ON CALL – A TRUE STORY

AUTHOR DAVE GOMEZ (A POLICE OFFICER)

LESSON # 23 LIFE IS TOUGH BUT INSTEAD OF GIVING UP, BE

STRONG, OTHERS HAVE TOUGHER LIVES THAN OURS

As I approached the area I turned on my spotlight and easily found the dog as it was a

large retriever dog and was right in the middle of a two lane road. I turned on my

overheads (blue and red flashing lights) so no one would run me over as I was moving

the dog. One truck approached and went around me pausing briefly to look at the dog

on the roadway. I was putting on rubber gloves to move the dog when a smaller

passenger car approached and came to a stop right next to the dog. As I looked inside

I saw a woman in her late 40’s open the window and lean out to look at the dog. I was

about to tell her to move on as she was blocking the only route around my patrol car.

As I approached her she put her head back into her seat, covered her face with her

hands, and started uncontrollably sobbing. I was not sure if she really loved dogs or if

this was her dog that had been hit. I approached her window and asked her if it was

her dog that was on the road. She could only slightly nod her head yes through her

tears. I asked her to move over to the side of the road so that other traffic could pass

and I would be right there to talk to her.

I moved the dog to the opposite side of the road from where the lady had parked and

turned my car around and parked directly behind the lady. I approached the vehicle

and gave her a moment to calm down because I couldn’t understand anything she was

saying through her sobs. Once she could talk she explained that her son was in the

military and had been killed last month. She explained this was his dog, “Charlie” and

that it was the best reminder she had of her dead son. She broke down sobbing again

as she tried to explain to me that she didn’t know how she would tell her two

grandchildren that Charlie had been killed such a short time after their father had

been killed. At this time I had to take a step back and compose myself and try and be

as strong as I could for this poor lady. In the end all I could do was put a hand on her

shoulder and tell her I was sorry for her loss.

The lady had a 15 year old son in the car with her. The 15 year old was being very

brave himself and trying to comfort his mom as best he could. I asked her if she had

any family close by she would like me to call for her and she said she just moved here

recently to be by the grand-kids and didn’t have family here. The 15 year old did not

have a license and could not drive her home like I would have liked. I told her I would

follow her home to make sure she got home safe as I was very concerned for her.

Before we left the scene she asked if I would take the collar off Charlie so that she

could bury it and remember him. I told her of course I would get the collar for her. I

took Charlie’s collar off him and placed it in a small brown paper evidence bag. I went

to the opposite side of the car and gave the bag to the 15 year old who was quietly

sitting in the passenger seat. I explained to the 15 year old as I gave him the bag that

he would have to be the man of the house tonight and take extra good care

of his mother. He bravely took the bag and placed it under his seat where his mom

could not see it and said he would do his best to take care of her.

I followed her to her house which was very close and made sure she made it home

safe. I waved goodbye and cleared my call so that I would be available for the next

call to come across my computer screen.

A short while later I ended up transporting a young lady to jail for a probation

violation. It is about a 15 minute drive time to the jail from any place in the city and I

often talk with my passengers. This young lady began to tell me how rough her month

and year had been. I told her the story about the dog in the road that I had just come

from and her attitude quickly changed. While still upset she was going to jail she

decided some people have much tougher problems.

I signed up for this job because of the adventure and the excitement. You never know

what will be at the address you are going to and I love every bit of it.

It will be a while before I go to a traffic hazard call without thinking of Charlie the

dog who was a much bigger story than could fit onto two lines of my computer screen.

Reflection: Complete the following unfinished statements:

I learned from this story that ____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

I have now my firm resolve that __________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

When I was only 18 months old, I was diagnosed with lead poisoning. I was supposed

to end up in the hospital in a wheelchair.

My parents told me that the day I was brought into the hospital, my face was yellow

and I wouldn't stop crying. The doctor said it was permanent. But in just one month, I

went back to the doctor, and he said the lead poisoning was completely gone. My

parents had prayed for me throughout the whole month, hoping it would go away.

My dad always drank. My older brother and I always got scared of him when he came

home drunk. One day, my dad had to go to the hospital because he drank too much.

He was in the hospital for one month, and I prayed every day for him to get better. My

dad was in pain and agony, and no medicine made him feel better. By the time my dad

was able to come home, the doctor said he had one year to live. My dad is now 52,

and it has been six years. My dad stopped drinking when I got into second grade. It

was a miracle. Ever since, my dad never drank again.

The doctor told me 11 years ago that I would be in a wheelchair, unable to talk, see,

move or do anything. Yet in second grade, I was entered in a Talented Artist Program;

in fifth grade, I was in honors classes; in sixth grade I was in a play and on two

softball teams; and in seventh grade, I am in a play, am president of my class, and I

am in a Documentary Film Club.

I thank God every day for the blessings he gave me. He is what motivates me and

inspires me every day. He inspires me to be the best I can. My parents' love for me

also inspires me to be the best of the best. I love God and my family.

Reflection:

TITLE A STORY OF MIRACLES BY A 7TH-GRADER

AUTHOR MARTHA, C., 7TH-GRADER

LESSON # 24 MIRACLE WORKS FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE

I learned from this story that miracle is ____________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

I have experienced miracle in my life somehow when ________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies

school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be

forgotten. On the first day of school, with permission of the school superintendent,

the principal and the building supervisor, she took all of the desks out of the

classroom. The kids came into first period, they walked in, there were no desks. They

obviously looked around and said, "Ms. Cothren, where's our desks?"

And she said, "You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn them."

They thought, "Well, maybe it's our grades."

"No," she said.

"Maybe it's our behavior."

And she told them, "No, it's not even your behavior."

And so they came and went in the first period, still no desks in the classroom. Second

period, same thing, third period. By early afternoon television news crews had

gathered in Ms. Cothren's class to find out about this crazy teacher who had taken all

the desks out of the classroom. The last period of the day, Martha Cothren gathered

her class.

They were at this time sitting on the floor around the sides of the room. And she says,

"Throughout the day no one has really understood how you earn the desks that sit in

this classroom ordinarily." She said, "Now I'm going to tell you."

TITLE EARNING YOUR DESK

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 25 BEING A RESPONSIBLE STUDENT

Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it, and as she did

27 U.S. veterans, wearing their uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one

carrying a school desk. And they placed those school desks in rows, and then they

stood along the wall. And by the time they had finished placing those desks, those

kids - for the first time I think perhaps in their lives - understood how they earned

those desks.

Martha said, "You don't have to earn those desks. These guys did it for you. They put

them out there for you, but it's up to you to sit here responsibly to learn, to be good

students and good citizens, because they paid a price for you to have that desk, and

don't ever forget it."

In 2006 the Veterans of Foreign Wars named Martha Cothren their "Teacher of the

Year."

Reflection: Complete the following unfinished statements:

From what I learned from the story, “earning a desk” means ___________________

______________________________________________________________________

This story is one way of teaching __________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Oxford and Cambridge have now decided to remove the words “CAN'T” and

“IMPOSSIBLE” from their dictionary. Jessica Cox, 25, a girl born without arms, stands

inside an aircraft. The girl from Tucson , Arizona got the Sport Pilot certificate lately

and became the first pilot licensed to fly using only her feet. Jessica Cox of Tucson

was born without arms, but that has only stopped her from doing one thing: using the

word "can't."

Her latest flight into the seemingly impossible is becoming the first pilot licensed to

fly using only her feet.

With one foot manning the controls and the other delicately guiding the steering

column, Cox, 25, soared to achieve a Sport Pilot certificate her certificate qualifies

her to fly a light-sport aircraft to altitudes of 10,000 feet.

She's a good pilot. She's rock solid," said Parrish Traweek, 42, the flying instructor at

San Manuel's Ray Blair Airport . Parrish Traweek runs PC Aircraft Maintenance and

Flight Services and has trained many pilots, some of whom didn't come close to Cox's

abilities.

When she came up here driving a car," Traweek recalled, "I knew she'd have no

problem flying a plane."

TITLE FLYING WITH NO HANDS

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 26 HANDICAP IS NOT AN OBSTACLE FOR DETERMINED

PEOPLE

Doctors never learned why she was born without arms, but she figured out early on

that she didn't want to use prosthetic devices. So, the next time you are ready to

tell yourself, "I can't possibly..." remember this amazing young woman and change

your vocabulary.

Reflection: Complete the following unfinished statement:

This inspiring story tells us that ___________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Blind, Wheelchair-Bound Student Doesn't Fail to Inspire

Patrick Henry Hughes Plays the Piano, Is a Member of the Band --

And Doesn't See His Physical Shortcomings

When I met 18-year old Patrick Henry Hughes, I knew he was musically talented. I had

been told so, had read that he was very able for someone his age and who had been

blind and crippled since birth.

Patrick's eyes are not functional; his body and legs are stunted. He is in a wheelchair.

When we first shook hands, his fingers seemed entirely too thick to be nimble. So

when he offered to play the piano for me and his father rolled his wheelchair up to

the baby grand, I confess that I thought to myself, "Well, this will be sweet. He has

overcome so much. How nice that he can play piano."

The original plan, I thought, would be this: We were going to talk a bit as he played.

That was the plan. Hughes would explain how he managed to navigate the keyboard

and how he first learned the piano and what his favorite songs were.

But then Patrick put his hands to the keyboard, and his fingers began to race across it

-- the entire span of it, his fingers moving up and back and over and across the keys so

quickly and intricately that my fully-functional eyesight couldn't keep up with them. I

was stunned.

The music his hands drew from that piano was so lovely and lyrical and haunting, so

rich and complex and beyond anything I had imagined he would play that there was

nothing I could say. All I could do was listen.

That is the power of Patrick Henry Hughes. He quietly makes you listen.

'God Made Me Blind -- Big Deal'

"I mean, God made me blind and didn't give me the ability to walk. I mean, big deal."

Patrick said, smiling. "He gave me the talent to play piano and trumpet and all that

good stuff."

TITLE GOD MADE ME BLIND – BIG DEAL

AUTHOR ERIN HAYES

LESSON # 27 ACCEPTANCE OF FATE AND POSITIVISM

This is Patrick's philosophy in life, and he wants people to know it. He isn't fazed by

what many of us would consider insurmountable obstacles.

"I'm the kind of person that's always going to fight till I win," he said. "That's my main

objective. I'm gonna fight till I win."

Patrick also attends the University of Louisville and plays trumpet in the marching

band. The band director suggested it, and Patrick and his father, Patrick John Hughes,

who have faced tougher challenges together, decided "Why not?"

"That's right," the younger Patrick said.

"Don't tell us we can't do something," Patrick's father added, with a chuckle. He looks

at Patrick with a mixture of love and loyalty and admiration, something not always

seen. in the eyes of a father when he gazes at his son.

"I've told him before. He's my hero," the elder Hughes said.

Father and Son Together at Band Practice

Patrick's father attends every practice and every game with him, and learns all the

routines. It's fascinating to watch them together, with Patrick focused on his trumpet's

notes, swaying with the rest of the band in time with the music, and his father

focused on being his son's eyes and legs.

And this is no sit-still-in-the-wheelchair-while-the-band-marches-around-you routine:

Patrick and his father are right in the thick of it, with the wheelchair sprinting and

spinning in formation and Patrick hanging on and playing his heart out.

Patrick says the other students in the band have been great to them.

"The students always help out Dad because sometimes he might get out of step," he

explained impishly.

Patrick's father grins and nods. He concedes that navigating a wheelchair across the

thick grass of a football field, in formation, sometimes at top speed, offers many

exciting challenges for a man old enough to be the father of a college student.

Fortunately, fellow band members are eager and willing to point him in the right

direction.

"The biggest problem is sometimes when I'm backing up with Patrick, I can't stop quick

enough." he said. "I'll have a horn player behind me, and they've gotten smart enough

now that, rather than running into their horn, they put their hand up."

Moral Lesson: Blindness as a Gift and a Blessing

Some parents might see some bigger problems in all of this. For example, Patrick's

father works an overnight shift at a shipping company and gets four or five hours of

sleep so he can attend Patrick's classes and band practices with him all day.

Patrick's mother, Patricia Hughes, works full-time to supplement their income. She

also takes care of the household, Patrick's medical needs, and siblings, and handles

the concerns of every parent of a disabled child who looks down the road and wonders

how it could possibly work out.

That's just not how the Hughes family looks at things. Patrick taught them to see it all

differently, his father says.

"Back then he was born it was, 'Why us? What did we do that this happened to us?'" he

said. "And we ask the same question nowadays, but we put it in a whole new light.

You know, 'What did we do to deserve such a special young man, who's brought us so,

so much."

Patrick John Hughes' gaze drifted again to his son, and both their faces lit up with

smiles.

"He sees the world in a way that we can't even imagine," the father said.

Just listen to young Patrick and you know what his father means.

"I've always felt that my talent has really been a gift from God," he said.

Patrick includes his blindness, by the way, in the list of gifts.

"That's one of the great benefits I've found of being blind. I don't see the skin color, I

don't see the hair length, I don't see the eye shape, I just see what's inside the

person," he said.

Actually, Patrick said, blindness more than a gift to him.

"I would have to say a blessing, because overall, it's shown me a complete world."

That's how young Patrick Henry Hughes sees the world.

"He has so much more to teach me," his father said. "And I think to myself: I see just

what you mean. He's taught me so much already.

NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan

coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal

facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said.

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen, and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds),

was swept down the Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean , then forced back to shore

when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, 2004, before wildlife

rangers rescued him.

It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a

century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother', ecologist

Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park , told AFP.

After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for

something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and

established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together, the ecologist added.

The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody

approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological

mother, Kahumbu added.

The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are

social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years, he explained.

Reflection: Complete the unfinished statement below:

This story teaches as that even animals ____________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

TITLE HIPPO TSUNAMI SURVIVOR

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 28 SURVIVAL AND UNUSUAL FRIENDSHIP

I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner

even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the "GOOD" living room and worried much less

about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because

my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while

watching life.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go

into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil

or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment

realizing that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist

God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later, now go get

washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you's" ... more "I'm

sorry's" ... but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute ... look at

it and really see it ... live it .. and never give it back.

TITLE IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER…

AUTHOR ERMA BORMBECK (Written after discovery of her

terminal cancer)

LESSON # 29 LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST TO AVOID REGRETS

On May 12, 2008, a 98 year old Catholic social worker named Irena Sendler died in

Poland. Here is why her story is so important... and TRUE!

During World War II, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a

Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ulterior motive...

Being German, Sendler KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews.

She convinced Jewish parents that their children were facing death either in the

Ghetto or in concentration camps and offered to rescue them. She smuggled the

children out of the Warsaw Ghetto and hid them in the homes of Poles, who adopted

them, or in orphanages or convents. She smuggled infants out in the bottom of the

tool box she carried, and smuggled larger kids in a Burlap sack.

She also had a dog, in the back of her truck, that she trained to bark when the Nazi

soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do

with the dog, and the barking covered up any noises the children might make.

Irena made lists of the children's names and family connections and hid them in jars in

her garden so that someday she could find the children and tell them who they were.

Sendler was eventually discovered, arrested, and tortured (where they broke her arms

and legs), and imprisoned by the Nazis. The Polish underground bribed a guard to let

her escape and she spent the rest of the war in hiding.

During her time and the course of this rescue mission, she managed to smuggle out

and save the lives of Twenty Five Hundred (2500) infants and older kids.

After the war, she tried to locate any of their parents who may have survived it all,

and reunite the families. Most of the parents, however, had been eliminated in the

famous gas chambers.

Last year Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

She lost to Al Gore, who won for a slide show on Global Warming.

TITLE IRENE SENDLER – A TRUE STORY ABOUT A WORLD

WAR II HEROINE

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 30 WOMAN’S UNUSUAL HEROISM

Related Story

A teacher in a rural Kansas town discovered a short magazine article that claimed that

a Polish woman saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 and 1943. He

gave the story to four high school students and asked them to check it out. He said

he'd never heard of the woman and speculated that the article may have gotten the

facts wrong. The students looked into the story and discovered that Irena Sendler was

real, her story was accurate. The students in Kansas developed a performance

titled Life In a Jarthat tells the story of Irena Sendler. Those performances and the

publicity that resulted have thrust the news about Irena Sendler around the world.

Irena Sendler was not widely known until a series of events that started in Kansas,

U.S.A., in 1999.

Reflection: Complete the unfinished statement below:

The story teaches us about heroism, and heroism is defined by this story as ________

_______________________________________________________________________

I’ve never talked about this before. Doing so now is a result of my sister

Lorraine reminding of these events that happened over 50 years ago.

While running high school track during my sophomore year in the spring of

1955, I pulled up with a pulled hip muscle. The coach said to take it easy, but

before long, I could not stand on the right leg. The pain was unbearable.

Down to the ground I went, and the EMTs were called, and a trip to the

hospital was in order. The x-ray showed a fracture of the pelvic bone caused

by (of all things) the musculature being so tight or strong that the muscles

splintered a part of the hip bone.

The prescribed treatment by our family doctor was to lie on my back with a board

between the mattress and box spring for a month. No cast or brace was needed;

just lie flat and do not move.

When I inquired as to when I would be able to run again, the doctor said I may

not be able to run again. With my muscular and skeletal configuration as it

was in the hip, running track again could be out of the question.

Needless to say, I was stunned by the doctor's statement, but decided that was

not going to happen.

Fast-forward to the fall six months later. It was September, and I had worked my way

to the starting halfback position for the high school football team and was ready to

run the first play in the first game of the season. My number was called, and 65 yards

later, standing in the end zone, I felt that I could put that never-running-again theory

to rest. I was fortunate to score 12 TDs and average over 100 yards a game--all in a

seven-game schedule!

Again, fast-forward to age 70, almost three years ago. Standing on our SUV

bumper attempting to throw a piece of luggage up onto the luggage rack, I

slipped and fell and broke my hip once again. Another ride to the hospital, three

screws in the hip, and a long recovery regimen.

TITLE IT’S ALL IN THE STATE OF MIND

AUTHOR JACK BOTTINGER

LESSON # 31 POSITIVISM; YOU ARE AS WELL AS HOW YOUR MIND

THINKS OF

While in the hospital after surgery, my son-in-law Kyle Horga challenged me

to be well enough in six months to walk in the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon, a

distance of 13.1 miles, which at that time seemed as far away as the moon to

me.

However, five months later I walked the half marathon in Myrtle Beach and have

walked two additional walks since and plan to do two more this year.

When you reach my age, you will reach the concrete conclusion that human

achievement is based solely on the proper state of your mind.

Reflection: Complete the following unfinished statement:

I have learned from this story that proper state of mind is ______________________

_______________________________________________________________________

In Washington DC, there can never be a building of greater height than the

Washington Monument...

this is a LAW.

On the aluminum cap, atop the Washington Monument in Washington DC, are two

words: Laus Deo. No one can see these words. In fact, most visitors to the monument

are totally unaware they are even there and for that matter, probably couldn't care

less.

These words have been there for many years; they are 555 feet, 5.125 inches high,

perched atop the monument, facing skyward to the Father of our nation, overlooking

the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia, capital of the United

States of America.

Laus Deo! Two seemingly insignificant, unnoticed

words. Out of sight and, one might think, out of

mind, but very meaningfully placed at the highest

point over what is the most powerful city in the

most successful nation in the world.

So, what do those two words, in Latin, composed

of just four syllables and only seven letters,

possibly mean? Very simply, they say... "Praise be

to God!"

Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848, when James Polk was

President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument was

inaugurated and opened to the public. It took twenty five years to finally cap the

memorial with a tribute to the Father of our nation, "Laus Deo... Praise be to God!"

From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure, visitors may take in the

beautiful panoramic view of the city with it's division into four major segments. From

that vantage point, one can also easily see the original plan of the designer, Pierre

Charles l'Enfant... a perfect cross imposed upon the landscape, with the White House

TITLE LAUS DEO – A HISTORY LESSON

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 32 A GREAT LEADER’S CONVICTION TO THE POWER OF

GOD

to the north. The Jefferson Memorial is to the south, the Capitol to the east and the

Lincoln Memorial to the west.

A cross you ask? Why a cross? What about separation of church and state? Yes, a cross;

separation of church and state was not, is not, in the Constitution. So, read on . How

interesting and, no doubt, intended to carry a profound meaning for those who bother

to notice.

Praise be to God! Within the monument itself are 898 steps and 50 landings. As one

climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message! On

the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore; on the 20th is a

memorial presented by some Chinese Christians; on the 24th a presentation made by

Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke

18:16 and Proverbs 22:6. Praise be to God!

When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848,

deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible

Society. Praise be to God! Such was the discipline, the moral direction, and the

spiritual mood given by the founder and first President of our unique democracy ."One

Nation, Under God."

George Washington's Prayer - have you ever read it? If not, do so now.

"Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in

Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a

spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly

affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United states at

large." And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do

justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and

pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our

blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we

can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Laus Deo!

When one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over our nation's

capitol, he or she will easily find the signature of God, as it is unmistakably inscribed

everywhere you look.

You may forget the width and height of "Laus Deo," it's location, or the architects...

but no one who reads this will be able to forget it's meaning, or these words: "Unless

the Lord builds the house its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the

city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." -- Psalm 127:1

Laurie Johnston took a gift of $200 more than a half-century ago and turned it into $1

million.

The retired pharmacist donated $500,000 on Friday to both the Misericordia Health

Centre Foundation and the Riverview Heath Centre Foundation.

The impetus for his philanthropy dates back to 1949 when Johnston was a cashstrapped

student in his fourth year of pharmacy school. He was considering taking a

year off to work when a friend of the family called him over one day and handed him

an envelope containing $200.

"That was a huge amount of money back then. She told me to use it for my schooling

and pay it back for somebody else in the future," Johnston said.

His experience as a child of the Great Depression also played a key role in his

philanthropic tendencies. Johnston's mother would cook for young men who would

ride the railway in search of odd jobs to make a few dollars here and there.

"They'd knock on the door, sometimes two or three times a day, and she'd make them

a big meal of soup and bread and pack them a lunch. She said to me, 'These men have

nothing, no roof over their head, no food, so everybody should help them.' That made

quite an impression on me," he said.

So, he decided to build a special legacy fund. Shortly after he graduated from

university, Johnston started saving money and 22 years later, he had accumulated

$80,000. In 1977, he immersed himself in the investing field and started putting

money into the stock market.

"I hate the expression, 'Playing the stock market.' When you work like I do, you invest

and you do it on a rational basis," he said.

Johnston never took a nickel out of the fund for himself and credited a simple mantra

for being able to pull off his millon-dollar feat.

"Never buy what you want, just buy what you need," he said.

TITLE MILLION-DOLLAR GIFT 50 YEARS IN THE MAKING

AUTHOR GEOFF KIRBYSON

LESSON # 33 UNUSUAL DISPLAY OF GRATITUDE

Sheldon Mindell, manager of Riverview, said Johnston's gift will be put towards

refurbishing its 30 palliative care beds, including installing flat-screen televisions and

a Wi-Fi system. Mindell also wants to upgrade a meeting area into a place where a

family could eat a meal in relative privacy, rather than in the cafeteria.

"This donation is huge for us. I believe generosity isn't a characteristic you're born

with. You learn it by examples that are set in your childhood or adulthood," Mindell

said.

Patti Smith, executive director at Misericordia, agreed. She said Johnston's donation

will be put towards its $7-million commitment to its Future of Care redevelopment

program. Construction of the $45-million facility, which will house the Buhler Eye

Care Centre, the Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre, and PRIME, a health centre for

seniors, will begin next week.

"This isn't a rich man who gave away $1 million, he's a man who decided 35 years ago

that he wanted to do something significant," Smith said.

It happens every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembles a giant

orange and is starting to dip into the blue ocean. Old Ed comes strolling along the

beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand is a bucket of shrimp.

Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to

himself. The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now. Everybody's gone, except for a

few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his

thoughts... and his bucket of shrimp.

Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a thousand white dots come

screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there

on the end of the pier. Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their

wings fluttering and flapping wildly.

Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely,

you can hear him say with a smile, 'Thank you. Thank you.'

In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn't leave. He stands there lost

in thought, as though transported to another time and place. Invariably, one of the

gulls lands on his sea-bleached, weather-beaten hat - an old military hat he's been

wearing for years.

When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the

birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly

away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.

If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem

like 'a funny old duck,' as my dad used to say. Or, 'a guy that's a sandwich shy of a

picnic,' as my kids might say. To onlookers, he's just another old codger, lost in his own

weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.

To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem

altogether unimportant... maybe even a lot of nonsense. Old folks often do strange

things, at least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters. Most of them would probably

write Old Ed off, down there in Florida.

TITLE OLD EDDIE AND THE SEAGULLS

AUTHOR MAX LUCADO

LESSON # 34 APPRECIATION AND SPECIAL ACT OF GRATITUDE

That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better. His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker.

He was a famous hero back in World War II. On one of his flying missions across the

Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men

survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft. Captain

Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They

fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger. By the eighth day

their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and

no one knew where they were. They needed a miracle.

That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle. They

tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time

dragged. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft.

Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. It was a seagull! Old Ed

would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of

his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck. He

tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal - a very slight meal

for eight men - of it. Then they used the intestines for bait. With it, they caught fish,

which gave them food and more bait... and the cycle continued.

With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea

until they were found and rescued (after 24 days at sea).

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the

sacrifice of that first lifesaving seagull. And he never stopped saying, 'Thank you.'

That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a

bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.

This story is a rewritten excerpt from a book titled, "In the Eye of the Storm," by Max

Lucado, a popular minister and inspirational author. Eddie Rickenbacker became a

race car driver, an aviation consultant, and airline executive. Rickenbacker was

influential in the General Motors acquisition of Eastern Air Transport, which was later

renamed Eastern Air Lines. In January, 1934, Rickenbacker became general manager

for Eastern Air Lines and later served as president.

Every once in a while, we find a story that embodies the triumph of the human spirit,

the successful achievement against all odds, the individual passion for a better life

that transcends all the noise from the digital, technology, blogosphere — just mano-amano

against the darkness and the sadness. In this case, the manos are two women

refugees whose stories give us all a moment to pause and consider our many blessings,

particularly at this time of year.

Iraqi native Inas Khammi, 28, arrived in San Diego on Sept. 29, 2010. Speaking through

an interpreter, she said her Chaldean Catholic family fled Iraq because of kidnapping

threats due to their religion. In the U.S., she was eligible for $345 a month in cash

assistance for eight months. Wanting to earn her own money, she looked at becoming

a child-care provider to serve families in her community since she didn’t speak

English.

Her case manager told her about the WE Center for STAR Women, a partnership of

Women’s Empowerment International and the International Rescue Committee in San

Diego that provides services to refugee and poor women who want to start or expand

an existing business.

Lubna Saleem, a microenterprise business counselor whose salary is paid by WE,

arranged for Khammi to attend child-care training in El Cajon, where she lives, in

Arabic, and also helped her complete the application and coordinated the analyst

home visit.

The STAR program also provided business management training and a $2,000 loan at

7.25 percent interest repayable over a two-year period so that Khammi could buy

appropriate furniture and supplies. Khammi is current on her loan payments.

Today, Khammi’s child-care business has a gross monthly revenue of $6,000. Her

husband, Waad Gorges, (they met shortly after her arrival in San Diego) is proud that

his pregnant wife is earning more money than he is. After their baby is born, they are

planning to rent a bigger house and expand the day-care center. At that point, she

will be eligible for another $15,000 loan. “I am much happier because we can buy

what we want and have a comfortable life,” said Khammi.

TITLE REFUGEES SHARE INSPIRING SUCCESS STORIES

AUTHOR NEIL SENTURIA AND BARBARA BRY

LESSON # 35 PERSEVERANCE AND INNOVATIVENESS

Another inspiring story is that is STAR Fashion, a small shop owned by another refugee

woman, Fowsia Osman from Somalia. She sells scarves and shawls, jewelry and Somali

garb.

Osman arrived in San Diego in 1998 when she was pregnant with her oldest son. Now a

single mom, she has three sons — ages 13, 11 and 6. Through IRC, she learned English

and attended child development classes, which allowed her to get a job with Head

Start, where she worked for eight years. By 2007, she had saved $5,000, and with a

$5,000 loan (which she has since repaid) and business assistance from STAR, she was

able to open her shop.

Women’s Empowerment International was started by two enterprising women —

Winifred Cox, who had retired as director of communications for the University of

California San Diego, and Leigh Fenly, who had retired as the Quest section editor

with The San Diego Union-Tribune.

“Our goal is to help women build long-term sustainable businesses,” said Cox. “We

call what we’re doing a business incubator because we’re giving them one-stop

shopping from idea through launch through growth and expansion. And you can always

come back if you have a problem.” Since inception in 2003, the WE organization,

which has more than 700 members and supporters, has raised $540,000.

She was not the most popular girl in high school. She was in advanced studies, in a

school system that idolized their honors program. My daughters thought the world of

her, and with good reason. Aimee was a patriot. No apologies nor excuses. She was an

officer in her high school JROTC program. She was disciplined. Courageous. And she

loved her country.

You could always pick Aimee out in a field filled with young, military hopefuls

marching in formation. She was sharp. She was proud. And, in spite of her petite

form, she always looked tall. But Aimee did not have it easy. She was the butt of

jokes and ridicule. Aimee worked her heart out in her classes, and she was about to

graduate with a better than 5.0 average, which she had maintained for four straight

years.

In a school system where the grade point average of the "honors" classes went up to

6.0, Aimee didn't stand a chance for Valedictorian. Some unseen experts decided that

Aimee would not become Valedictorian, because it would be unfair to the honors

students. Although she had never made less than an "A" in her entire high school

career, some "A-B" student in the honors program outranked Aimee.

The high school Principal fought his way up through the School Board on Aimee's

behalf, to give her the honor she deserved. It was an outrage that such excellence

would be ignored. It didn't make the papers, but on graduation day, Aimee received

her victory, and she became Co-Valedictorian of her high school class, although many

of us thought she had earned the honor to stand alone. Aimee did not sit with the

other graduates. She stood, proudly, with her JROTC unit, as the assembly turned

towards them to salute the flag. Aimee did not hold the flag, because she was

graduating, but she was there, as always, proud to serve.

Graduation was held in the football field. It was sunny and windy, and it was wet, as

it had rained torrents the night before. Suddenly, the wind kicked up, and the

beautiful colors of the red, white, and blue tottered in the air, as the flag holder lost

his footing, and the flag careened toward the ground. Without hesitation, breaking

formation, Aimee launched herself through the air, catching the flag and landing in

the mud, on her face.

TITLE SAVING THE FLAG

AUTHOR JAYE LEWIS

LESSON # 36 A SIMPLE ACT OF PATRIOTISM

Many in the crowd roared their laughter, but not all of us. Some of us were in tears, as

Aimee, carefully steadied her country's flag, and came back into formation, her

JROTC uniform covered in mud. But not the flag. It never touched the ground. Aimee

had saved the flag.

Aimee graduated with honors, and she went on to college with an ROTC Scholarship,

and on into a military career. My daughters still speak of her as a hero, which she was,

and in our hearts still is. Aimee's story is what legends are made of. I have no doubt

that Aimee is somewhere on the front lines, today, still defending the American flag.

As a Hospice Volunteer, I'm told my Nursing Home patient is not responsive to

stimulation. She doesn't respond to anyone. She doesn't speak. She doesn't show

emotion. When I visited, even though it was July, I 'played' a tape of Christmas

Carols... something we all can relate to... something we're all familiar with. She has

dementia. She has forgotten so much. She has forgotten how to live. I hold her hands.

I look into her eyes. I talk to her as the music plays. I watch as I see a smile upon her

face. I listen as she tries to speak. I hug her. I remind her she is a 'child of God'. I

remind her of the gift He is to each of us. As we listen to songs that speak of His birth,

I remind her that He died for us. He hung upon the Cross at Calvary for our sins.

I glance around to see her friend has tears streaming down his face. Why? "She hasn't

smiled or spoken for so long... I can't remember", he says. He's been there every day

for 8 years to watch over her. He has been there but everyone has told him she

doesn't respond. So he just sits with her. He does what he can, but frankly, he doesn't

know what to do. He too is lost. He has watched her plight as she diminished in health

over the years, but he never let her down in his faithfulness to her. He was always a

loving presence for her. Now, once again, he has just seen 'a spark' in his sweet lady.

He too smiles.

Most every time I visited after that I'd find him... There in her room, talking to her, as

he held her hand and he never left without telling her "I love you" and hugging her.

There wasn't much response... but there was 'that little bit' and he reached out for it

on every visit. One day, as he was about to leave he reached behind her to hug me.

He then said "I love you" to her, as he has so many times before. She doesn't respond.

He walks past her to leave, his back to her, and says "She knows I love her, don't you

gal?". There! A sudden, loud 'Yes' is in the air. She spoke. He moved on. He couldn't

stop. He couldn't compose himself. She'd confirmed what we all knew by then. She

heard. She loved. She was trying so hard to express herself.

Did I make a difference? Yes... But only because I was trained to believe that hearing

is the last sense to leave us. I leaned heavily on that belief and her friend learned

from me. No one had ever told him what to do, how he could communicate with her,

that she might hear him though she didn't respond, so he had given up. But he never

gave up on loving her. He never gave up on coming to check on her.

TITLE SHE’S IN MY HEART FOREVER

AUTHOR JO ANN SMOTRYS

LESSON # 37 GREATNESS OF LOVE

Now she responds. It's a smile... a word here and there... a little move of her fingers

against his as he hold her hands. But it's all communication. She had it all along. Is it

because no one was listening to her? Because no one was talking to her? I suppose. But

that's all changed.

One night I sit in a chair beside her bed and told her how fortunate she was to have

someone to come visit her each day, reminding her of how much he loved her! How

much I loved her! How very much God loved her! I knew in my heart she understood

me. I cried as I talked. I let my emotions go. She squeezed my hand, as I saw tears

roll from her eyes. She did hear. She remembered love and compassion, though she

may have forgotten all else over the years.

The circumstances are different... but that's the way God is toward us. We forget

Him. We put Him aside for worldly things. And though we think He isn't hearing us,

when we call out to Him, He is there. He is our Guide and our Protector. He constantly

shows us Love and Compassion, but we have to open our hearts to hear Him and feel

His warmth. Only then can we truly share Him with others... like this woman who may

have needed to be reminded that God was still with her.

I stayed with her the night she died. Her face glowed with "the peace of God, which

passeth all understanding," as she took her last breath. Philippians 4 describes it best.

Like most elementary schools, it was typical to have a parade of students in and out

of the health clinic throughout the day. We dispensed ice for bumps and bruises,

Band-Aids for cuts, and liberal doses of sympathy and hugs. As principal, my office

was right next door to the clinic, so I often dropped in to lend a hand and help out

with the hugs. I knew that for some kids, mine might be the only one they got all day.

One morning I was putting a Band-Aid on a little girl's scraped knee. Her blonde hair

was matted, and I noticed that she was shivering in her thin little sleeveless blouse. I

found her a warm sweatshirt and helped her pull it on. "Thanks for taking care of me,"

she whispered as she climbed into my lap and snuggled up against me.

It wasn't long after that when I ran across an unfamiliar lump under my arm. Cancer,

an aggressively spreading kind, had already invaded thirteen of my lymph nodes. I

pondered whether or not to tell the students about my diagnosis. The word breast

seemed so hard to say out loud to them, and the word cancer seemed so frightening.

When it became evident that the children were going to find out one way or another,

either the straight scoop from me or possibly a garbled version from someone else, I

decided to tell them myself. It wasn't easy to get the words out, but the empathy and

concern I saw in their faces as I explained it to them told me I had made the right

decision. When I gave them a chance to ask questions, they mostly wanted to know

how they could help. I told them that what I would like best would be their letters,

pictures and prayers.

I stood by the gym door as the children solemnly filed out. My little blonde friend

darted out of line and threw herself into my arms. Then she stepped back to look up

into my face. "Don't be afraid, Dr. Perry," she said earnestly, "I know you'll be back

because now it's our turn to take care of you."

No one could have ever done a better job. The kids sent me off to my first

chemotherapy session with a hilarious book of nausea remedies that they had written.

A video of every class in the school singing get-well songs accompanied me to the next

chemotherapy appointment. By the third visit, the nurses were waiting at the door to

find out what I would bring next. It was a delicate music box that played "I Will Always

Love You."

TITLE THANKS FOR TAKING CARE OF ME

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 38 SHOWING LOVE AND CARE

Even when I went into isolation at the hospital for a bone marrow transplant, the

letters and pictures kept coming until they covered every wall of my room.

Then the kids traced their hands onto colored paper, cut them out and glued them

together to make a freestanding rainbow of helping hands. "I feel like I've stepped

into Disneyland every time I walk into this room," my doctor laughed. That was even

before the six-foot apple blossom tree arrived adorned with messages written on

paper apples from the students and teachers. What healing comfort I found in being

surrounded by these tokens of their caring.

At long last I was well enough to return to work. As I headed up the road to the

school, I was suddenly overcome by doubts. What if the kids have forgotten all about

me? I wondered, What if they don't want a skinny bald principal? What if I caught sight

of the school marquee as I rounded the bend. "Welcome Back, Dr. Perry," it read. As I

drew closer, everywhere I looked were pink ribbons - ribbons in the windows, tied on

the doorknobs, even up in the trees. The children and staff wore pink ribbons, too.

My blonde buddy was first in line to greet me. "You're back, Dr. Perry, you're back!"

she called. "See, I told you we'd take care of you!"

As I hugged her tight, in the back of my mind I faintly heard my music box playing... "I

will always love you."

Steve, a twelve-year-old boy with alcoholic parents, was about to be lost forever, by

the U.S. education system. Remarkably, he could read, yet, in spite of his reading

skills, Steve was failing. He had been failing since first grade, as he was passed on

from grade to grade. Steve was a big boy, looking more like a teenager than a twelve

year old, yet, Steve went unnoticed... until Miss White.

Miss White was a smiling, young, beautiful redhead, and Steve was in love! For the

first time in his young life, he couldn't take his eyes off his teacher; yet, still he

failed. He never did his homework, and he was always in trouble with Miss White. His

heart would break under her sharp words, and when he was punished for failing to

turn in his homework, he felt just miserable! Still, he did not study.

In the middle of the first semester of school, the entire seventh grade was tested for

basic skills. Steve hurried through his tests, and continued to dream of other things,

as the day wore on. His heart was not in school, but in the woods, where he often

escaped alone, trying to shut out the sights, sounds and smells of his alcoholic home.

No one checked on him to see if he was safe. No one knew he was gone, because no

one was sober enough to care. Oddly, Steve never missed a day of school.

One day, Miss White's impatient voice broke into his daydreams.

"Steve!!" Startled, he turned to look at her.

"Pay attention!"

Steve locked his gaze on Miss White with adolescent adoration, as she began to go

over the test results for the seventh grade.

"You all did pretty well," she told the class, "except for one boy, and it breaks my

heart to tell you this, but..." She hesitated, pinning Steve to his seat with a sharp

stare, her eyes searching his face.

"...The smartest boy in the seventh grade is failing my class!"

TITLE THE DIFFERENCE A TEACHER CAN MAKE

AUTHOR JAYE LEWIS

LESSON # 39 TEACHER’S CARE FOR STUDENTS CAN MAKE A

DIFFERENCE

She just stared at Steve, as the class spun around for a good look. Steve dropped his

eyes and carefully examined his fingertips.

After that, it was war!! Steve still wouldn't do his homework. Even as the punishments

became more severe, he remained stubborn.

"Just try it! ONE WEEK!" He was unmoved.

"You're smart enough! You'll see a change!" Nothing fazed him.

"Give yourself a chance! Don't give up on your life!" Nothing.

"Steve! Please! I care about you!"

Wow! Suddenly, Steve got it!! Someone cared about him? Someone, totally

unattainable and perfect, CARED ABOUT HIM??!!"

Steve went home from school, thoughtful, that afternoon. Walking into the house, he

took one look around. Both parents were passed out, in various stages of undress, and

the stench was overpowering! He, quickly, gathered up his camping gear, a jar of

peanut butter, a loaf of bread, a bottle of water, and this time...his schoolbooks.

Grim faced and determined, he headed for the woods.

The following Monday he arrived at school on time, and he waited for Miss White to

enter the classroom. She walked in, all sparkle and smiles! God, she was beautiful! He

yearned for her smile to turn on him. It did not.

Miss White, immediately, gave a quiz on the weekend homework. Steve hurried

through the test, and was the first to hand in his paper. With a look of surprise, Miss

White took his paper. Obviously puzzled, she began to look it over. Steve walked back

to his desk, his heart pounding within his chest. As he sat down, he couldn't resist

another look at the lovely woman.

Miss White's face was in total shock! She glanced up at Steve, then down, then up.

Suddenly, her face broke into a radiant smile. The smartest boy in the seventh grade

had just passed his first test!

From that moment nothing was the same for Steve. Life at home remained the same,

but life still changed. He discovered that not only could he learn, but he was good at

it! He discovered that he could understand and retain knowledge, and that he could

translate the things he learned into his own life. Steve began to excel! And he

continued this course throughout his school life.

After high-school Steve enlisted in the Navy, and he had a successful military career.

During that time, he met the love of his life, he raised a family, and he graduated

from college Magna Cum Laude. During his Naval career, he inspired many young

people, who without him, might not have believed in themselves. Steve began a

second career after the Navy, and he continues to inspire others, as an adjunct

professor in a nearby college. Miss White left a great legacy. She saved one boy who

has changed many lives. I know, because I am the love of his life.

You see, it's simple, really. A change took place within the heart of one boy, all

because of one teacher, who cared.

Mary Kay Ash banged her head on the corporate glass ceiling one too many times.

Working for several direct sales companies from the 1930's until the early 1960's, she

achieved considerable success. She climbed the corporate ladder to become the sole

woman on the board of directors of the World Gift Company - quite an

accomplishment for a woman in the 1950's.

But life wasn't rosy at the top. Even though Mary Kay had the title and the track

record, she was not taken seriously by her male peers. In board meetings, her

opinions and suggestions were ignored, dismissed, or even ridiculed. Male board

members minced no words in their judgment - pronouncing her guilty of "thinking like

a woman."

Since the sales force was almost entirely female, Mary Kay thought that thinking like

a woman was an asset. But her fellow board members disagreed. Finally, in

frustration, she retired in 1963, intending to write a book to assist women in the

male-dominated business.

Sitting at her kitchen table, she made two lists: one list was all the good things she

had seen in the companies where she'd worked, and the other list was all the things

she thought could be improved. As she re-read her lists, she realized that what she

had in front of her was a marketing plan for her ideal company. In just four weeks,

her "book" had become a business plan, and her retirement was over.

Both her accountant and her attorney did their best to discourage her, warning that

she would be throwing her money away on this venture. But Mary Kay had heard

enough male nay-saying in her corporate years - she ignored her advisors.

Her husband, unlike her accountant and attorney, was very supportive. With his help,

Mary Kay developed the cosmetic products, designed packaging, wrote promotional

materials and recruited and trained her female sales force.

Then the unthinkable happened; her husband of twenty-one years died of a heart

attack. Another woman might have dropped her plans, or at least delayed them, but

Mary Kay was a strong Texas woman. She stayed on track with the help of her twentyyear-

old son, Richard Rogers and rolled out her new business in September of 1963.

TITLE THE MARY KAY ASH STORY

AUTHOR BJ GALLAGHER

LESSON # 40 NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A WOMAN WITH A MISSION

Beginning with a storefront in Dallas and an investment of $5,000, Mary Kay Cosmetics

earned close to $200,000 in its first year - quadrupling that amount in its second year.

When Mary Kay took her company public in 1968, sales had climbed to more than $10

million.

Mary Kay's unusual corporate motto, "God first, family second, career third," was

unconventional, to say the least. But she understood the need for women to have

balance in their lives, and she was committed to providing unlimited opportunity for

women's financial AND personal success.

Mary Kay authored three books, all of which became best-sellers. Her business model

is taught at the Harvard Business School. She received many honors, including the

Horatio Alger Award. Fortune magazine has named Mary Kay Cosmetics as one of the

Ten Best Companies for Women, as well as one of The 100 Best Companies to Work for

in America.

At the time of her death in 2001, Mary Kay Cosmetics had 800,000 independent

beauty consultants in 37 countries, with total annual sales of over two billion dollars.

Never underestimate the power of a woman with a mission!

"The Mary Kay Ash Story" is an excerpt from "

The Best Way Out is Always Through." Watch this short movie about the book...

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of John Hopkins

Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to outpatients

at the clinic. One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock

at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. "Why, he's hardly taller than

my eight-year-old," I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body. But the

appalling thing was his face - lopsided from swelling, red and raw.

Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, "Good evening. I've come to see if you've a room

for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and

there's no bus 'til morning. "He told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon but

with no success, no one seemed to have a room. "I guess it's my face... I know it looks

terrible, but the doctor says with a few more treatments..."

For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: "I could sleep in this

rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning."

I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and

finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us.

"No thank you. I have plenty." And he held up a brown paper bag. When I had finished

the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn't take a

long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body.

He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her

husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury. He didn't tell it by way of

complaint. In fact, every other sentence was prefaced with a thanks to God for a

blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently

a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going.

At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children's room for him. When I got up in the

morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch.

He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great

favor, he said, "Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I

won't put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair." He paused a moment and then

TITLE THE OLD FISHERMAN

AUTHOR MARY BARTELS BRAY

LESSON # 41 ACCEPT THE BAD WITHOUT COMPLAIN AND THE GOOD

WITH GRATITUDE TO GOD

added, "Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but

children don't seem to mind." I told him he was welcome to come again.

And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he

brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had

shucked them that morning before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh. I knew his

bus left at 4:00 am, and wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for

us.

In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not

bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times we received

packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish or oysters packed in a box of

fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk

three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly

precious.

When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our nextdoor

neighbor made after he left that first morning. "Did you keep that awful looking

man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!"

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But oh! If only they could have known him,

perhaps their illness would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be

grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad

without complaint and the good with gratitude to God.

Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse. As she showed me her flowers,

we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with

blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I

thought to myself, "If this were my plant, I'd put it in the loveliest container I had!"

My friend changed my mind. "I ran short of pots," she explained, "and knowing how

beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail. It's

just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden." She must have wondered why

I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in Heaven. "Here's an

especially beautiful one," God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet

old fisherman. "He won't mind starting in this small body."

All this happened long ago - and now, in God's garden, how tall this lovely soul must

stand.

Our Lives are not determined by what happened to us, but by how we react to what

happens, not by what life brings us but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive

attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a

catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.

One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is

overtaken by temporary defeat. Every person is guilty of this mistake at one time or

another. An uncle of R. U. Darby was caught by the "gold fever" in the gold-rush days,

and went west to DIG AND GROW RICH. He had never heard that more gold has been

mined from the brains of men than has ever been taken from the earth. He staked a

claim and went to work with pick and shovel. The going was hard, but his lust for gold

was definite.

After weeks of labor, he was rewarded by the discovery of the shining ore. He needed

machinery to bring the ore to the surface. Quietly, he covered up the mine, retraced

his footsteps to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland, told his relatives and a few

neighbors of the "strike." They got together money for the needed machinery, had it

shipped. The uncle and Darby went back to work the mine.

The first car of ore was mined, and shipped to a smelter. The returns proved they had

one of the richest mines in Colorado! A few more cars of that ore would clear the

debts. Then would come the big killing in profits.

Down went the drills! Up went the hopes of Darby and Uncle! Then something

happened! The vein of gold ore disappeared! They had come to the end of the

rainbow, and the pot of gold was no longer there! They drilled on, desperately trying

to pick up the vein again-all to no avail.

Finally, they decided to QUIT. They sold the machinery to a junk man for a few

hundred dollars, and took the train back home. Some "junk" men are dumb, but not

this one! He called in a mining engineer to look at the mine and do a little

calculating. The engineer advised that the project had failed, because the owners

were not familiar with "fault lines." His calculations showed that the vein would be

found JUST THREE FEET FROM WHERE THE DARBYS HAD STOPPED DRILLING! That is

exactly where it was found!

The "Junk" man took millions of dollars in ore from the mine, because he knew enough

to seek expert counsel before giving up. Most of the money which went into the

machinery was procured through the efforts of R. U. Darby, who was then a very

TITLE THREE FEET FROM GOLD

AUTHOR NAPOLEON HILL, from “THINK AND GROW RICH”

LESSON # 42 FAILURE IS THE HABIT OF QUITTING WHEN ONE IS

OVERTAKEN BY TEMPORARY DEFEAT

young man. The money came from his relatives and neighbors, because of their faith

in him. He paid back every dollar of it, although he was years in doing so.

Long afterward, Mr. Darby recouped his loss many times over, when he made the

discovery that DESIRE can be transmuted into gold. The discovery came after he went

into the business of selling life insurance (latter part of the 19th century).

Remembering that he lost a huge fortune, because he STOPPED three feet from gold,

Darby profited by the experience in his chosen work, by the simple method of saying

to himself, "I stopped three feet from gold, but I will never stop because men say `no'

when I ask them to buy insurance."

Darby is one of a small group of fewer than fifty men who sell more than a million

dollars in life insurance annually. He owes his "stickability" to the lesson he learned

from his "quitability" in the gold mining business.

By a two-step process of invention, Earl S. Tupper created one of the most practical

items of Americana to date: the airtight plastic food container that still bears his

name.

Earl Silas Tupper was born on a farm in New Hampshire in 1907. As a boy, he applied

his native creativity to building devices that made work around the family's farm and

greenhouses easier. In fact, he earned a patent for a frame used to dress chickens for

sale. The young Tupper also showed a talent for salesmanship: he increased his

family's income by selling poultry and produce door to door rather than from a stand

or at the market.

A couple years after graduating from high school in 1925, Tupper set out to earn his

fortune. After working for various Massachusetts operations, he decided that he could

best use his agricultural experience by branching out into tree surgery and

landscaping. From 1928 through the early 1930s, Tupper Tree Doctors ran a fairly

successful landscaping and nursery business, until the Great Depression took its toll,

forcing the company into bankruptcy in 1936.

However, in his free time Tupper had been filling notebooks with scientific inquiries,

experiments and inventions. Tupper found a job at Viscoloid, DuPont's plastics division

in Leominster, Massachusetts. Although he worked there for only one year, Tupper

always considered his formal training in design, research, development and

manufacturing the true beginning of his education. Tupper took this experience and

founded a plastics company of his own (1938).

The Earl S. Tupper Company soon changed the bulk of its business from subcontracting

for DuPont to equipping American troops with gas masks and other items for World

War II. It was only after the War that Tupper decided to focus on producing plastic

consumer goods. This was a challenge, because plastics were still primitive, being

generally brittle, slimy and smelly --- and consumers could certainly afford to be more

finicky than soldiers.

Tupper rose to the occasion first by inventing a method to transform polyethylene

slag, a black, malodorous by-product of the crude oil refinement process, into a

TITLE THE TRUE STORY OF TUPPER AND TUPPERWARE

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 43 CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

plastic that was resilient, solid, and grease-free, but also clean, clear and

translucent. This was a significant step forward in itself, allowing products that would

not offend a homemaker's senses or sensibilities. But Tupper also developed an airand

watertight seal, modeled on those of paint cans, for containers made of his

improved plastic. This created an entirely new alternative to tin foil for the short- or

long-term storage of food.

By 1946, Tupper was marketing his home products, which now came in a range of

bright colors: cases for cigarettes, tumblers for the bathroom, and containers for

leftovers. But despite a glowing feature in Home Beautiful magazine the next year ---

"Fine Art for 39¢!" --- the public remained unconvinced. Then, in 1948, Tupper

discovered that two Stanley Home Products sales representatives were selling a great

deal of his products. Stanley salespersons introduced their products to homemakers

assembled at a "party" a hostess' home. Mindful of his own youthful door-to-door sales

success, Tupper met with several Stanley distributors to combine forces. The result

was Tupperware Home Parties, which is still the exclusive distributor of Tupperware®.

By the end of the 1950s, Tupperware Parties were a national phenomenon. Even after

other companies were able to imitate Tupper's products, the "home party" sales

technique guaranteed Tupperware® such a unique and preeminent status in the

industry that its trademark has become practically an international generic term.

When Earl Tupper sold his company for $16 million in 1958, his combined Yankee

ingenuity and sales savvy had already won him a form of immortality.

For evidence of Tupperware® as an international sensation today, readers of German

can discover "das Tupperwearen Syndrom."

Every Sunday morning I take a light jog around a park near my home. There’s a lake

located in one corner of the park. Each time I jog by this lake, I see the same elderly

woman sitting at the water’s edge with a small metal cage sitting beside her.

This past Sunday my curiosity got the best of me, so I stopped jogging and walked

over to her. As I got closer, I realized that the metal cage was in fact a small trap.

There were three turtles, unharmed, slowly walking around the base of the trap. She

had a fourth turtle in her lap that she was carefully scrubbing with a spongy brush.

“Hello,” I said. “I see you here every Sunday morning. If you don’t mind my

nosiness, I’d love to know what you’re doing with these turtles.”

She smiled. “I’m cleaning off their shells,” she replied. “Anything on a turtle’s shell,

like algae or scum, reduces the turtle’s ability to absorb heat and impedes its ability

to swim. It can also corrode and weaken the shell over time.”

“Wow! That’s really nice of you!” I exclaimed.

She went on: “I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning, relaxing by this lake

and helping these little guys out. It’s my own strange way of making a difference.”

“But don’t most freshwater turtles live their whole lives with algae and scum hanging

from their shells?” I asked.

“Yep, sadly, they do,” she replied.

I scratched my head. “Well then, don’t you think your time could be better spent? I

mean, I think your efforts are kind and all, but there are fresh water turtles living in

lakes all around the world. And 99% of these turtles don’t have kind people like you

to help them clean off their shells. So, no offense… but how exactly are your

localized efforts here truly making a difference?”

The woman giggled aloud. She then looked down at the turtle in her lap, scrubbed

off the last piece of algae from its shell, and said, “Sweetie, if this little guy could

talk, he’d tell you I just made all the difference in the world.”

TITLE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD

AUTHOR MARC CHERNOFF

LESSON # 44 UNUSUAL WAY OF MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The moral: You can change the world – maybe not all at once, but one person, one

animal, and one good deed at a time. Wake up every morning and pretend like what

you do makes a difference. It does.

Once upon a time a psychology professor walked around on a stage while teaching

stress management principles to an auditorium filled with students. As she raised a

glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the typical “glass half empty or

glass half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked, “How

heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?”

Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds.

She replied, “From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter.

It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. If

I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a little. If I hold it

for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and

paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the weight of the

glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me.”

As the class shook their heads in agreement, she continued, “Your stresses and

worries in life are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a while

and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to ache a little.

Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed –

incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.”

The moral: It’s important to remember to let go of your stresses and worries. No

matter what happens during the day, as early in the evening as you can, put all your

burdens down. Don’t carry them through the night and into the next day with you. If

you still feel the weight of yesterday’s stress, it’s a strong sign that it’s time to put

the glass down

TITLE THE WEIGHT OF THE GLASS

AUTHOR MARC CHERNOFF

LESSON # 45 UNBURDEN YOURSELF WITH WORRIES AND STRESS

During a research experiment a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding

tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank.

As you would expect, the shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and ate the

smaller fish.

The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the tank,

creating two separate partitions. She then put the shark on one side of the fiberglass

and a new set of bait fish on the other.

Again, the shark quickly attacked. This time, however, the shark slammed into the

fiberglass divider and bounced off. Undeterred, the shark kept repeating this

behavior every few minutes to no avail. Meanwhile, the bait fish swam around

unharmed in the second partition. Eventually, about an hour into the experiment, the

shark gave up.

This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks. Each

time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the bait fish,

until eventually the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass 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.

The moral: Many of us, after experiencing setbacks and failures, emotionally give up

and stop trying. Like the shark in the story, we believe that because we were

unsuccessful in the past, we will always be unsuccessful. In other words, we continue

to see a barrier in our heads, even when no ‘real’ barrier exists between where we

are and where we want to go.

TITLE SHARK BAIT

AUTHOR MARC CHERNOFF

LESSON # 46 TO BE SUCCESSFUL MEANS NEVER GIVE UP

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large

sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly,

fancied the farmer’s beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would

forgo the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter.

Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning

money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them

that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then

the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt

would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her

father’s debt would still be forgiven. If she refused to pick a pebble, her father would

be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the

moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed

girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He

then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you

were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Take a moment to ponder this. What would you recommend that the girl do?

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it,

she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became

lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me!” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the

one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

TITLE THE TALE OF TWO PEBBLES

AUTHOR EDWARD DE BONO

LESSON # 47 TO SOLVE A PROBLEM, SOMETIMES WE NEED TO THINK

IN A DIFFERENT WAY

The moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty. The girl changed what seemed an

impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

Moral: Most problems do have a solution, sometimes we just need to think in a

different way.

Once upon a time, there lived a big mango tree. A little boy loved to come and play

around it every day.

He climbed to the tree top, ate the mangoes, took a nap under the shadow… He loved

the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

Time went by… The little boy grew, and he no longer played around the tree.

One day, the boy came back to the tree with a sad look on his face.

“Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy.

“I am no longer a kid, I don’t play around trees anymore.” The boy replied, “I want

toys. I need money to buy them.”

“Sorry, I don’t have money… but you can pick all my mangoes and sell them so you

will have money.”

The boy was so excited. He picked all the mangoes on the tree and left happily. The

boy didn’t come back. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy grown into a man returned. The tree was so excited.

“Come and play with me,” the tree said.

“I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter.

Can you help me?”

“Sorry, I don’t have a house, but you can chop off my branches to build your house.”

So the man cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see

him happy but the boy didn’t come back afterward. The tree was again lonely and

sad.

One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted.

“Come and play with me!” The tree said.

TITLE THE MANGO TREE

AUTHOR SHEL SILVERSTEIN

LESSON # 48 LOVE YOUR PARENTS WHILE THEY’RE ALIVE

“I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a

boat?”

“Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.”

So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and didn’t come back

for a long time.

Finally, the man returned after he had been gone for so many years.

“Sorry, my boy, but I don’t have anything for you anymore. No more mangoes to give

you.” The tree said.

“I don’t have teeth to bite,” the man replied.

“No more trunk for you to climb on.”

“I am too old for that now,” the man said.

“I really can’t give you anything… the only thing left is my dying roots,” the tree said

with sadness.

“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years,” the

man replied.

“Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest. Come sit down with me

and rest.”

The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled.

Moral: The tree in the story represents our parents. When we are young, we love to

play with them. When we grow up, we leave them and only come back when we need

help. Parents sacrifice their lives for us.

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who

lived two hundred miles away.

As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my

mother and I don’t have enough money.”

The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.”

He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers.

As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can

take me to my mother.”

She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet

and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.

Reflections:

What do you think is the reason why the man changed his Mind? That instead of wiring

the flowers to his mother he decided to deliver it personally to her.

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TITLE MOTHER’S DAY

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 49 HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE YOUR MOTHER?

Ram received an automobile from his brother as Birthday present.

One day when Ram came out of his office, he saw a street urchin was walking around

the shiny new car, admiring it.

“Is this your car?” – He asked.

Ram nodded, “My brother presented me on my birthday.”

The boy was astounded. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you

nothing? Boy, I wish…” – He hesitated.

Of course Ram knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a

brother like his brother but what the lad said jarred Ram all the way down to his

heels.

“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.”

Ram looked at the boy in astonishment, and then impulsively he added, “Would you

like to take a ride in my automobile?”

“Oh yes, I’d love that.”

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, “Would you mind

driving in front of my house?”

Ram smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his

neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile.

But Ram was wrong again.

“Will you stop where those two steps are?” The boy asked. He ran up the steps. Then

in a little while Ram heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was

TITLE BROTHERHOOD

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

LESSON # 50 ONE MEANING OF BROTHERHOOD

carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of

squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.

“There he is, brother. Like I told you upstairs, his brother gave it to him and it didn’t

cost him a penny. Some day I’m going to give you one just like it then you can see for

yourself all the pretty things in the shop windows that I’ve been trying to tell you

about.”

Ram got out and lifted the crippled boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed

older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable ride.

Reflections: Complete the unfinished statements.

Now, I fully understood what brotherhood truly means. I t means

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__________________________________________________________________________

I am greatly affected by the _________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

My Personal Resolution is ____________________________________________________

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END NOTE

Life Is A Gift

Author Unknown

Today before you think of saying an unkind word–

think of someone who can’t speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food–

think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife–

think of someone who is crying out to God for a companion.

Today before you complain about life–

think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before you complain about your children–

think of someone who desires children but they’re barren.

Before you argue about your dirty house, someone didn’t clean or sweep–

think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before whining about the distance you drive–

think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job–

think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job.

But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another–

remember that not one of us are without sin and we all answer to one maker.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down–

put a smile on your face and thank God you’re alive and still around.

Life is a gift – Live it, Enjoy it, Celebrate it, and Fulfill it.