There's a man who has been by himself in a prison cell with a dirt floor, crude stone walls, and there's two windows one of which looks out towards the ocean. All of the sudden, he hears a scratching noise, and he looks down at the ground that is furthest away from the window facing the ocean. He sees the ground moving, and he starts to think he's losing his mind. But soon the ground breaks, and up pops a head with long hair and a beard ... it's a prisoner.
And the prisoner says "Sssh. Listen. A group of us have been tunneling for about six years, and we've finally reached your cell. We have ways to cover up my entrance into this, but now it's all on your shoulders, man. All you have to do," he said while pointing out the window towards the ocean, "you just start digging here and go down about six feet and about 75 feet in that direction and there is freedom, and we're outta here!"
"Oh, I love that! That's great; I want to be free!"
"Okay, I'll check back with you in a few weeks."
Two weeks later, the pops back in to check on his friend's progress, and his friend nods back with great affirmation. "Yeah, I've done it."
So the man who was providing the instructions pops down the hole, and two seconds later pops right back up and says, "What have you done?!?!?"
"Huh?"
"I told you to dig in the direction towards the OCEAN! This tunnel that you dug goes back under the wall and into the prison yard."
"Well, the digging was easier in the other direction ..."
-- Guy Finley ('Secrets of being Unstoppable')
Friday, May 25, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Heart Touched by Musical Soul
I was feeling a little blue because my mother had been laid off from her job and she had lots of bills to pay. It left me wondering what was going to happen to us now. But it reassured me some when my mother told me she was relieved to be leaving since her boss wasn't the nicest person to be around.
I got off the college shuttle bus and started walking. That's when I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people and the traffic. I walked a little slower so I could find out to where it was coming from. Through the crowd I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a carriage next to her.
She was singing songs about love, keeping on trying, and not underestimating the power within yourself. The way she was singing comforted me a bit. I stood there watching her play for about fifteen minutes, thinking that it must take courage to perform on your own in the middle of a crowded New York ferry terminal.
So I stood there listening.
She must have felt my presence because she would occasionally look in my direction. By now I was telling myself that if she could perform in front of hundreds of people she didn't know the I could at least tell her how good she sounded. I walked over and put some money in her carriage and she said, "Thank you." Instead of continuing my way home, I said to her, "I have been going through a rough time lately, but you've made me hopeful again."
"I'm happy that I could help," she replied. "Why are you so sad?"
"Well, my mum told me she had got fired from her job, and that made me sad. I'm not so sure what to do ..."
"You see, here's the problem," she explained. "The way you were walking, your head was down. Don't look defeated, because opportunity come in different ways and if your head is down you might never see it. You should smile more ... lift your head up."
I smiled faintly, amazed by how she was encouraging me. So, I asked her, "Why are you playing the piano in the middle of a crowded place? I've seen you do this more then once."
She explained to me that she sees a lot of negative people in the world and she tries to alleviate the pain and bring more positivity by sharing motivational music. She told me that when she wasn't making music she studied psychology. So, that was how she knew some of the things she was telling me.
I smiled a little wider because I knew that she was doing a good thing. So, after that we parted, my heart touched and lightened by a musical soul!
-- Author Unknown
I got off the college shuttle bus and started walking. That's when I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people and the traffic. I walked a little slower so I could find out to where it was coming from. Through the crowd I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a carriage next to her.
She was singing songs about love, keeping on trying, and not underestimating the power within yourself. The way she was singing comforted me a bit. I stood there watching her play for about fifteen minutes, thinking that it must take courage to perform on your own in the middle of a crowded New York ferry terminal.
So I stood there listening.
She must have felt my presence because she would occasionally look in my direction. By now I was telling myself that if she could perform in front of hundreds of people she didn't know the I could at least tell her how good she sounded. I walked over and put some money in her carriage and she said, "Thank you." Instead of continuing my way home, I said to her, "I have been going through a rough time lately, but you've made me hopeful again."
"I'm happy that I could help," she replied. "Why are you so sad?"
"Well, my mum told me she had got fired from her job, and that made me sad. I'm not so sure what to do ..."
"You see, here's the problem," she explained. "The way you were walking, your head was down. Don't look defeated, because opportunity come in different ways and if your head is down you might never see it. You should smile more ... lift your head up."
I smiled faintly, amazed by how she was encouraging me. So, I asked her, "Why are you playing the piano in the middle of a crowded place? I've seen you do this more then once."
She explained to me that she sees a lot of negative people in the world and she tries to alleviate the pain and bring more positivity by sharing motivational music. She told me that when she wasn't making music she studied psychology. So, that was how she knew some of the things she was telling me.
I smiled a little wider because I knew that she was doing a good thing. So, after that we parted, my heart touched and lightened by a musical soul!
-- Author Unknown
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Elephant Rope
As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
-- Author Unknown
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
-- Author Unknown
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Helping Others
When my son was a young teenager, he and his friend set out in a bus across town to purchase skateboard axles. They each had $20. When they arrived downtown, they discovered they needed more money to cover bus fare and sales tax. They were short $3.75.
A branch of our bank was nearby, so they decided to go in and take out a loan. The teller told them that was not possible, but that they could get a cash advance on their parents' credit card. So they called home, but got no answer. They tried the teller again to see if anything more could be done. She referred them to the desk of the vice president. When he asked why the bank should give them a loan, they answered, "Because we're Boy Scouts and good students, and very trustworthy." He said that since they had no collateral, they would have to write out and sign an IOU. They did, and he in turn gave them the money they needed to complete their mission.
We found out later that this wonderful man lent the boys his own money. (My husband called him the next day asking for the same terms on a home loan!) In talking with the man, we learned that he had made many such loans, including a large one to a Navy wife whose allotment was delayed. He said he's been repaid almost 100 percent of the time, and that the opportunity to help others in this way was one of the most rewarding parts of his job.
My son and his friend hopped on the bus the very next morning. They paid off their loan and received their IOU signed by the vice president. It was banking at its best.
-- Author Unknown
A branch of our bank was nearby, so they decided to go in and take out a loan. The teller told them that was not possible, but that they could get a cash advance on their parents' credit card. So they called home, but got no answer. They tried the teller again to see if anything more could be done. She referred them to the desk of the vice president. When he asked why the bank should give them a loan, they answered, "Because we're Boy Scouts and good students, and very trustworthy." He said that since they had no collateral, they would have to write out and sign an IOU. They did, and he in turn gave them the money they needed to complete their mission.
We found out later that this wonderful man lent the boys his own money. (My husband called him the next day asking for the same terms on a home loan!) In talking with the man, we learned that he had made many such loans, including a large one to a Navy wife whose allotment was delayed. He said he's been repaid almost 100 percent of the time, and that the opportunity to help others in this way was one of the most rewarding parts of his job.
My son and his friend hopped on the bus the very next morning. They paid off their loan and received their IOU signed by the vice president. It was banking at its best.
-- Author Unknown
Thursday, May 10, 2012
YOU
Think what a remarkable, unduplicatable, and miraculous thing it is to be you! Of all the people who have come and gone on the earth, since the beginning of time, not ONE of them is like YOU!
No one who has ever lived or is to come has had your combination of abilities, talents, appearance, friends, acquaintances, burdens, sorrows and opportunities.
No one’s hair grows exactly the way yours does ... No one’s finger prints are like yours. No one has the same combination of secret inside jokes and family expressions that you know.
The few people who laugh at all the same things you do, don’t sneeze the way you do. No one prays about exactly the same concerns as you do. No one is loved by the same combination of people that love you – NO ONE!
No one before, no one to come. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE!
Enjoy that uniqueness. You do not have to pretend in order to seem more like someone else. You weren’t meant to be like someone else. You do not have to lie to conceal the parts of you that are not like what you see in anyone else.
You were meant to be different. Nowhere ever in all of history will the same things be going on in anyone’s mind, soul and spirit as are going on in yours right now.
If you did not exist, there would be a hole in creation, a gap in history, something missing from the plan for humankind.
Treasure your uniqueness. It is a gift given only to you. Enjoy it and share it!
No one can reach out to others in the same way that you can. No one can speak your words. No one can convey your meanings. No one can comfort with your kind of comfort. No one can bring your kind of understanding to another person.
No one can be cheerful and lighthearted and joyous in your way. No one can smile your smile. No one else can bring the whole unique impact of you to another human being.
Share your uniqueness. Let it be free to flow out among your family and friends and people you meet in the rush and clutter of living wherever you are. That gift of yourself was given you to enjoy and share. Give yourself away!
See it! Receive it! Let it tickle you! Let it inform you and nudge you and inspire you! YOU ARE UNIQUE!
-- Author Unknown
No one who has ever lived or is to come has had your combination of abilities, talents, appearance, friends, acquaintances, burdens, sorrows and opportunities.
No one’s hair grows exactly the way yours does ... No one’s finger prints are like yours. No one has the same combination of secret inside jokes and family expressions that you know.
The few people who laugh at all the same things you do, don’t sneeze the way you do. No one prays about exactly the same concerns as you do. No one is loved by the same combination of people that love you – NO ONE!
No one before, no one to come. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE!
Enjoy that uniqueness. You do not have to pretend in order to seem more like someone else. You weren’t meant to be like someone else. You do not have to lie to conceal the parts of you that are not like what you see in anyone else.
You were meant to be different. Nowhere ever in all of history will the same things be going on in anyone’s mind, soul and spirit as are going on in yours right now.
If you did not exist, there would be a hole in creation, a gap in history, something missing from the plan for humankind.
Treasure your uniqueness. It is a gift given only to you. Enjoy it and share it!
No one can reach out to others in the same way that you can. No one can speak your words. No one can convey your meanings. No one can comfort with your kind of comfort. No one can bring your kind of understanding to another person.
No one can be cheerful and lighthearted and joyous in your way. No one can smile your smile. No one else can bring the whole unique impact of you to another human being.
Share your uniqueness. Let it be free to flow out among your family and friends and people you meet in the rush and clutter of living wherever you are. That gift of yourself was given you to enjoy and share. Give yourself away!
See it! Receive it! Let it tickle you! Let it inform you and nudge you and inspire you! YOU ARE UNIQUE!
-- Author Unknown
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