What Does It Take

We all could say that we have bad days to endure as we go through life, but what does it take to have a really good day?

Some would suggest that a day would be great if everything they did turned out well, or they got exactly what they needed. On the other hand, have you ever thought that what you may give someone else may be the best day you ever had especially when you put someone else's well-being or happiness first on your list?

There is special warmth available to you and that warmth can come from a helping hand, doing a small favor for a total stranger, or even a smile.

I recall a day recently that I had to attend the hospital for special tests because I wasn't feeling well and my doctor sent me to a specialist to try and determine the cause of my aliment. As I drove to the hospital, I admittedly was feeling gloomy and certainly wasn't on top of my game. As I approached the hospital, I began my search for a parking spot, a spot that was hard to come by what with everyone else trying to do the same thing. I finally found a spot not too far from the entrance to the hospital.

As I got out and brought my change out of my pocket, I noticed a man looking somewhat upset standing in front of a parking meter two cars away. He seemed to be searching his pockets for what I supposed was change for the meter.

Although, I really didn't feel that great, I thought that I should at least go over to him and find out if I could help him. As I approached him, he turned to look at me with distress. I asked him if he had a problem I could help with, and he said, without hesitation, that he had no change at all because he left in his house only thinking about visiting his ill wife.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out two loonies and gave it to him without saying a word. And, without waiting for a response, I turned on my heel and said to him as I was walking away, "Have a good day".

The funny thing was that I felt a lot brighter, a small smile came to my face, and I seemed to walk just a little quicker. I was I walking away when he called out "thank you so much". You know, I didn't even expect him to say anything; he didn't have to say a word to me. It was simply enough to know that I had made a simple gesture to help someone else who needed a little hand, a little help; that's all it took to bring a smile to my face as I went on towards completing my own business. 

You know, it doesn't take much to help someone else - it doesn't have to be a big deal - a simple gesture with a big payoff is what you get in return. 


-- Author Unknown

The ABC's of Personal Growth

Action: Taking action is an essential component of growth. Our idea’s ,our dreams, and our desires, cannot manifest unless action is taken. Too often we get stuck up in the “planning process” and forget to put forth the effort that is required. Stop thinking. Take action.

Believe: One of the deadliest epidemics around today, results from a lack of belief in ourselves. This epidemic is responsible for the death of millions of dreams. To truly live to our fullest potential we must believe in ourselves. We must believe in the purpose that that lies inside of us. We must believe in our ability to persevere. We must believe in our ability to change the world. We must believe.

Create: The potential in each and everyone of us is unlimited, yet we must manifest this potential and put it into the world for it to do any good. We must create value and share it with the world. We must create the world in which we wish to live. What are you waiting for? Create yourself today.

Desire: One of the biggest reasons we never live to our fullest potential is because we do not desire to be great. Many of us are OK with living an average life. But we are naturally wired to live a wonderful life. If you wish to live the life of your dreams it is essential you cultivate that desire. Desire to be great. You just might be.

Exercise: In pursuit of your dreams is it essential to not forget about your body. Neglecting your body will eventually catch up to you. Go out for a walk. Go out for a run. Play a sport. Be active. Take care of your body.

Fail: Fail. Yes that’s right fail. Because when we fail we learn. And when we learn we grow. Look at each one of your failure’s in a way in which you can benefit. Never get down on yourself because you “failed.” How did we learn to walk? We tried and fell. Don’t let failure determine the quality of your life. When you fail. You grow.

Grow: No matter what life throws our way, we must always choose to grow. Life will be full of ups and downs yet if we do not choose to grow from the events in which we are presented we will always be miserable. Stop whining. Live, laugh, and grow.

Help: A truly fulfilled life is a life in which we help one another. When we help people we are not only helping those individuals, we are also helping ourselves to a life of happiness. When we are truly immersed in service our ego turns off, and only when our ego turn’s off can we truly begin to live.

Initiative: Unless we learn to take initiative, our lives will continue to remain unfulfilled. In this day and age we can truly become whoever we want to be. Stop waiting for the perfect moment. It will never come. Get up and make something of yourself.

Joyful: Be joyful. Learn to relax. Learn to enjoy. Be happy.

Kind: Be kind.

Love: Love. Love yourself. Love your friends. Love your family. Radiate love. Learning to love is the single best thing you can ever do. What are you waiting for?

Mastermind: The people in which we surround ourselves with, may perhaps be the single greatest influence on the person we become. Surround yourself with people who desire to become the best they can be. Slowly weed out those negative friendships that do nothing but bring you down. Want to be great? Surround yourself with great people.

Now: For us to truly enjoy our life we must do everything in our power to live in the moment. Stop worrying about the past or the future. Worry about what’s going on now. Enjoy everything that you love to do.

Observe: One of the best way’s in which we can learn and grow is simply by observing. Model yourself after someone you look up to. Watch great people do great things. Just people watch. Through observing the greatness in humanity we to can become the greatness we seek.

Persevere: Set backs will occur. How long you remain in these setbacks is solely up to you. You can choose to quit. Or you can choose to never give up. Those who quit, live an average life. Those who never give up well, those are the people you look up to. There’s a one hundred percent chance you will reach your goal if you never stop to feel sorry for yourself.

Question: Question. Question. Question. Take every source of information and run it through your head. Does it make sense? Does it empower you? Do not be hypnotized by the all the negative media out there. You are the guardian of your mind. Something sound fishy? It probably is. Always question. Always learn.

Read: If you want to change your life, you must read. Reading is the most powerful growth tool out there. Through reading, you immerse yourself in different perspectives and as a result become a better you. Don’t take everything as fact. Use reading to empower and ignore everything else. Every problem you have, has been experienced by hundreds if not thousands of people before you. Use the gift of reading to aid you in living your dreams.

Sacrifice: Developing the greatest you requires sacrifice. It requires effort. It requires time. Sacrifice is part of growing. Your sacrifice now, will pay off later.

Talk: Locking yourself up in your own mental cage will do nothing but hinder your growth. Interact. Talk with people. Listen to people. Get out and enjoy life while in the presence of others.

Understand: As Plato would say ” We know nothing.” Our path of growth requires for us to keep an open mind, for if we don’t we will never learn. This doesn’t mean to accept everything as true. Use your logic and intuition to understand a specific perspective. If you disagree with someone, realize that you each have two different perspectives, both of which are perfectly valid.

Vision: If you wish to go places, you have to have a vision. This vision should be yours. Not your friends. Not your family’s. But yours. What do you REALLY want? Write it down. Close your eyes. Picture yourself living the life of your dreams!

Will: Your will to do something determines your success. One of my favorite quotes from “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” is ” Your I can is more important than your IQ.”If you want to do something, the only thing that’s stopping you, is you.

Xpectations: Always go into something with the expectation you will do great. Have the expectation that things will go right. So often we sabotage our success because we expect things to go wrong.

You: The most important part of your personal growth journey is you. You and only you are solely responsible for the life you create. Will it be a good one? That’s up to you.

Zest: Stop being boring. If your not jumping out of bed with enthusiasm you still have a ways to go. Go out and live your life. Dare. Take risks. Live. Laugh. Grow.

-- Bud Hennekes (A Boundless World) 

One Person

Dr. Frank Mayfield was touring Tewksbury Institute when, on his way out, he accidentally collided with an elderly floor maid. To cover the awkward moment Dr. Mayfield started asking questions, "How long have you worked here?"

"I've worked here almost since the place opened," the maid replied.

"What can you tell me about the history of this place?" he asked.

"I don't think I can tell you anything, but I could show you something."

With that, she took his hand and led him down to the basement under the oldest section of the building. She pointed to one of what looked like small prison cells; their iron bars rusted with age, and said, "That's the cage where they used to keep Annie."

"Who's Annie?" the doctor asked.

"Annie was a young girl who was brought in here because she was incorrigible - which means nobody could do anything with her. She'd bite and scream and throw her food at people. The doctors and nurses couldn't even examine her or anything. I'd see them trying with her spitting and scratching at them. I was only a few years younger than her myself and I used to think, 'I sure would hate to be locked up in a cage like that.' I wanted to help her, but I didn't have any idea what I could do. I mean, if the doctors and nurses couldn't help her, what could someone like me do?

"I didn't know what else to do, so I just baked her some brownies one night after work. The next day I brought them in. I walked carefully to her cage and said, 'Annie, I baked these brownies just for you. I'll put them right here on the floor and you can come and get them if you want.' Then I got out of there just as fast as I could because I was afraid she might throw them at me. But she didn't. She actually took the brownies and ate them.

"After that, she was just a little bit nicer to me when I was around. And sometimes I'd talk to her. Once, I even got her laughing. One of the nurses noticed this and she told the doctor. They asked me if I'd help them with Annie. I said I would if I could. So that's how it came about that every time they wanted to see Annie or examine her, I went into the cage first and explained and calmed her down and held her hand. Which is how they discovered that Annie was almost blind."

After they'd been working with her for about a year - and it was tough sledding with Annie - the Perkins Institute for the Blind opened its doors. They were able to help her and she went on to study and became a teacher herself.

Annie came back to the Tewksbury Institute to visit, and to see what she could do to help out. At first, the Director didn't say anything and then he thought about a letter he'd just received. A man had written to him about his daughter. She was absolutely unruly - almost like an animal.

He'd been told she was blind and deaf as well as 'deranged'. He was at his wit's end, but he didn't want to put her in an asylum. So he wrote here to ask if we knew of anyone - any teacher - who would come to his house and work with his daughter.

And that is how Annie Sullivan became the lifelong companion of Helen Keller.

When Helen Keller received the Nobel Prize, she was asked who had the greatest impact on her life and she said, "Annie Sullivan." But Annie said, "No Helen. The woman who had the greatest influence on both our lives was a floor maid at the Tewksbury Institute."

History is changed when one person asks, what can someone like me do?

-- Author Unknown

One Last Visit to the Beach, On Her Doorstep

I need to share a powerful and strangely wonderful event in my life that involves death and cancer. I am certain you are struggling with the fact that I am using the words wonderful, cancer and death in the same sentence. I think that after you hear this story you will agree that in this case it is an appropriate combination of words.

A dear friend of mine was dying of cancer. Shortly before she died she shared with me that she was very sad that she would never get to go to the beach again. She grew up near the ocean and it was a special place for her. The cancer had made her too weak to travel the 4-5 hours from her home to the ocean. I shared this with several of her friends and we decided we had to do something about it.

On a Saturday afternoon in June, while her family kept her distracted and away from the windows, the plan unfolded. We dumped three tons of white beach sand in her driveway. After the sand was spread about, out came the two cabanas, beach balls, pails, shovels, boogie boards, beach chairs, a variety of decorations and a fire pit for the bonfire on the beach at night. We even rented a sno-cone machine since it had gotten to the point where flavored ice was about all she was able to eat. There were two CDs playing. One was the sounds of waves breaking on the beach and the other alternated between The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett.

When all was in place, her daughter brought her out to her private beach where she was greeted by a few dozen friends dressed in flowered shirts. She came out of the house with some new flip-flops and a beach bag (where else would a beach going cancer patient keep her morphine drip). We shed a tear or two that day, but it was mostly filled with laughs, grins and most of all love. The guest of honor was given a squirt gun and allowed to squirt anyone at will. The day ended with a fire on her beach and s'mores for everyone.

She died two weeks later but made it out to her beach four or five more times before she left us. I guess the message of this story is that when someone is in need, we need to think out of the proverbial box for ways to help. And the next time someone tries to sell you some oceanfront land in Kansas, you might just want to check it out.

-- Tom Gerdy (http://www.helpother.org/)