You'll Get Through It! By Joni-Ann Bartley

Have you heard the story of the old farmer whose mule fell into a well?
Since there was no way to get him out, the farmer decided to bury him there. But the mule had a different idea. Initially when the shovels of dirt began landing on him he became hysterical. Then this thought struck him; ‘Just shake it off and step on it.’ So he did. Hour after hour as the dirt fell on him he kept telling himself, ‘Just shake it off and step on it.’ No matter how much dirt they threw on him, he just kept shaking it off and stepping on it - until finally he stepped triumphantly out of the well.

Life will either bless you or bury you; the difference lies in having the right attitude. When they throw dirt on you, and they will, just shake it off and step on it. Use it as fertilizer and grow stronger.


 "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.."

What’s important is not what others say about you – it’s what you say to yourself after they get through talking! Jesus said, ‘Offences will come’ (Luke 17:1), so expect them. People will take from you without giving back. They’ll criticize you for simply rising above your beginnings.
When you decide to seize the moment and move ahead, you’ll leave others behind and some of them won’t be too happy about it. The only way to avoid that, is to do nothing and stay where you are. And that’s simply not acceptable - is it?

Are You Dynamic By Emmet Fox

What is a dynamic person?

 

Many people think they would like to be what is called dynamic but it does not appear that they always have a very clear idea of what that expression really means.  Sometimes they think it means being somewhat aggressive and noisy, or even bombastic, in manner.  In other cases, they seem to think it means drawing attention to themselves in some less blatant but equally effective way.  In reality nothing could be farther from the truth.

 

A dynamic person is a person who really makes a difference in the world; who does something that changes things or people. The magnitude of the work done may not be very great, but the fact still remains that the world is a little different because that person has lived and worked. That is a dynamic person.

 

Dynamic people like St. Paul or Washington, or Napoleon, change the lives and destinies of millions of people, and their work is known to all; but there are many men and women up and down the country whose works are not well known or known at all, and yet on their own scale they are dynamic, because they have actually changed the world in even a small way.

 

If you really get something done, no matter how small a thing it may be, you are dynamic, and the world is different because you lived in t.  If you are only pretending to do things or talking about them, or building up appearances, you are not dynamic; you are play acting.

Stopped By A Brick

About ten years ago, a young and very successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighbourhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black,  Jaguar, which was only two months old. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed out and - WHUMP! - it smashed into the Jag's shiny black side door!   SCREECH...!!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.

 

Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. "That's my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?"

"Please, mister, please...I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do!" pleaded the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!"

Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he pointed around the parked car. "It's my brother, Mister," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat.

Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining, Jaguar - a long and slow walk.

Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention.

At times in our lives, we tend to become so wrapped up in other things. We become focused on ourselves or our job we do not realize there are others around us that need our help.

We can react in a negative way to a situation without fully realizing or taking the time to look at the other person’s situation. Or to take the time to find out the reason the other person has taken the action that they did.

Don't let the bricks in life hit you, be sensitive to those around you.

The Art of Achievement by Wilfred A. Peterson

You hold in your hand the camel's hair brush of a painter of Life. You stand before the vast white canvas of Time. The paints are your thoughts, emotions and acts.

 

You select the colors of your thoughts; drab or bright, weak or strong, good or bad.

You select the colors of your emotions; discordant or harmonious, harsh or quiet, weak or strong.

You select the colors of your acts: cold or warm, fearful or daring, small or big.

 

Through the power of your creative imagination you catch a vision...

you dream a dream.

You visualize yourself as the person you want to be.

 

You see yourself as a triumphant personality striding toward far horizons of constructive accomplishment.

You see yourself as a master servant of the race, ministering to human needs, radiating happiness.

You see yourself as a builder, making a creative contribution to the evolution of modern civilization.

 

You strive to make the ideal in your mind become a reality on the canvas of Time.

You select and mix the positive colors of heart, mind and spirit into the qualities of effective living: patience, determination, endurance, self- discipline, work, love and faith.

Each moment of your life is a brush stroke in the painting of your growing career.

 

There are the bold, sweeping strokes of one increasing, dynamic purpose.

There are the lights and shadows that make your life deep and strong.

There are the little touches that add the stamp of character and worth.

 

The art of achievement is the art of making life - your life - a masterpiece.

 

A Lesson in Life

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.  He passed the first interview; the director did the last interview, made the last decision.

 

The director discovered from the CV, that the youth's academic result was excellent. The director asked, “Did you obtain any scholarship in school?” and the youth answered "no". The director asked, " Is it your father who paid for your school fees?" the youth answered, “My father passed away when I was one year old, it is my mother who paid for my school fees.” The director asked, "Where did your mother work?" the youth answered, “My mother worked as a cleaner.” The director requested the youth to show him his hands. The youth showed a pair of hand that were smooth and perfect.

 

The director asked, "Did you ever help your mother wash the clothes?" The youth answered, “Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books, furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.” The director said, “I have a request, when you go home today, look at your mother's hand, and then come and see me tomorrow morning.” The youth felt that as the chance of landing the job is high, when he went back, he happily wanted to see his mother's hand. His mother felt strange, happy but mixed with fear, she showed her hands to the kid. The youth looked at his mother's hand slowly, his tears rolled down he cheeks.  He never noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and that there are so many bruises in her hand.

 

This is the first time the youth realized and experienced that it was this pair of hand that washed clothes everyday to earn him the school fees, the bruises in the mother's hand is the price that the mother paid for his graduation and academic excellence and probably his future. After looking at him Mum’s hands, the youth quietly cleaned all remaining clothes for his mother. That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

 

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office. The director noticed the tear in the youth's eye, asked: “Can you tell what have you done and learned yesterday?" The youth answered, " I looked at my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes.”' The director asked, “Please tell me your feelings."

 

The youth replied:

Number 1 - I now appreciate the fact that without my mother, I would not be successful today.

Number 2 -, I now know how to work together with my mother; I realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done.

Number 3 - I know the importance and value of family relationships.

 

The director said, “This is what I am asking, I want to recruit a person that can appreciate the help of others, a person that understands the challenges of others to get thing done, and a person that would not put money as his only goal in life to be a Manager. You are hired.”

 

Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates, every employees worked diligently and in a team, the company's result improved tremendously.

 

A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, develops an  "entitlement mentality" and always put himself first. He is ignorant of others effort. When he starts work, he assumes every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a Manager, he never understands the challenges facing his employee and always blames others.

 

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash the dishes together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way and give them an appreciation that everything in life does not come easy.

 

The most important thing we all need to learn is how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty, and learn the ability to work with others to get things done.

 

I Shall Be Glad By Grace Noll Crowell

If I can put new hope within the heart

Of one who has lost hope,

If I can help a brother up

Some difficult long slope

That seems too steep for tired feet to go,

If I can help him climb

Into the light upon the hill's far crest,

I shall begrudge no time

Or strength that I spend,

For well I know

How great may be his need.

If I can help through any

Darkened hour, I shall be glad indeed.

 

For I recall how often I have been

Distressed, distraught, dismayed,

And hands have reached to help,

And voices called

That kept me unafraid.

If I can share this help that

I have had, God knows I shall be glad.

 

Mr. Meant-to

Mr. Meant-to has a comrade,

And his name is Didn't-do.

 

Have you ever chanced to meet him?

Did he ever call on you?

 

These two fellows live together

In a house of Never-Win.

 

And I'm told that it is haunted

By the ghost of Might-have-been.