Be Thankful

I AM THANKFUL :

FOR THE WIFE WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT
because she is home with me, and not out with someone else.


FOR THE HUSBAND WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO
because he is home with me and not out at the bars.


FOR THE TEENAGER WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
because it means she is at home, not on the streets.


FOR THE TAXES I PAY
because it means I am employed.


FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
because it means I have been surrounded by friends.


FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
because it means I have enough to eat.


FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
because it means I am out in the sunshine.


FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
because it means I have a home.


FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
because it means we have freedom of speech.


FOR THE PARKING SPOT I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
because it means I am capable of walking and I have been blessed with transportation.


FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
because it means I am warm.


FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY
because it means I can hear.


FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
because it means I have clothes to wear.


FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY
because it means I have been capable of working hard.


FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
because it means I am alive.

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee. 

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.  When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.  He then asked the students if the jar was full.  They agreed that it was. 

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.  He shook the jar lightly.  The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.  He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was. 

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.  He asked once more if the jar was full.  The students responded with a unanimous "yes." 

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed. 

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.  The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. 

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff.  "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.  The same goes for life.  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. 

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.  Play with your children.  Take time to get medical checkups.  Take your spouse out to dinner.  Play another 18.  There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.  Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.  Set your priorities.  The rest is just sand." 

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.  The professor smiled.  "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Being Twenty Something

They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when
you stop going along with the crowd and start
realizing that there are many things about yourself
that you didn't know and may not like.

You start feeling insecure and wonder where
you will be in a year or two, but then get scared
because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and
that, maybe, those friends that you thought you
were close to aren't exactly the greatest people
you have ever met, and the people you have lost
touch with are some of the most important ones.
What you don't recognize is that they are realizing
that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or
insincere but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close
to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe
you are looking for a job and realizing that you are
going to have to start at the bottom, and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see
what others are doing and find yourself judging
more than usual because suddenly you realize
that you have certain boundaries in your life and
are constantly adding things to your list of what is
acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are 

insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of
your life. You feel alone and scared and
confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and
you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but
soon realize that the past is drifting further and
further away, and there is nothing to do but stay
where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how
someone you loved could do such damage to you.
Or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet
anyone decent enough that you want to get to
know better. Or maybe you love someone but love
someone else too and cannot figure out why you
are doing this because you know that you aren't a
bad person.

One-night-stands and random hook-ups start to
look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an
idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the
same emotions and questions over and over, and
talk with your friends about the same topics
because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans, money, the future and
making a life for yourself... and while winning the
race would be great, right now you'd just like to be
a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone
reading this relates to it. We are in our best of
times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we
can to figure this whole thing out.

The Power of Holding Hands

I was sitting on a beach one summer day, watching two children, a boy and a girl, playing in the sand. They were hard at work building an elaborate sandcastle by the water's edge, with gates and towers and moats and internal passages.  Just when they had nearly finished their project, a big wave came along and knocked it down, reducing it to a heap of wet sand.  I expected the children to burst into tears, devastated by what had happened to all their hard work.  But they surprised me. Instead, they ran up the shore away from the water, laughing and holding hands, and sat down to build another
castle.

I realized that they had taught me an important lesson.  All the things in our lives, all the complicated structures we spent so much time and energy creating, are built on sand.  Only our relationships to other people endure.  Sooner or later, the wave will come along and knock down what we have worked so hard to build up.  When that happens, only the person who has somebody's hand to hold will be able to laugh.  

TWOgether

The power of two. God Created Adam, but it was not good for man to be alone, so He made Eve. One is unique, but two is better. Two is more, two can be lovelier, stronger. As the songs goes, love is lovelier the second time around.

A union is made of at least two. Twins are a pair of reflections. Two is a pair, a couple, partners. You need two to have a friendship, a relationship, even a divorce. A secret is more delicious when shared with one other, i.e., just the two of you.

Two is the number of duality. Sun and Moon. Black and White. Body and Soul. Good and Evil. Light and Shadow. Male and Female. Long and Short. Hot and Cold. Love and Hate.

In music, G clef and F clef. You sing a duet, you dance a pas de deux. 

It takes two to tango. 

We have two eyes, two ears, two lips, two arms, two hands, two legs. Some of us have two left feet. 

Tea for two is not as good as tea drunk in solitude, but there’s an exception to every rule. 

Two is too much when it comes to having and owning a spouse. In china, having two kids is having one too many. 

In astrology, people born under the sign of the Twins (Gemini) are entitled to two of everything such as two first names, two friends with the same name, two houses and two cars and maybe two families, two children of each gender, two cellphones, two lawyers, etc. 

The second sign of the Chinese horoscope is Ox, who come after Rat and before tiger. Can anyone tell me the astrological significance of that? 

A two-timer is a heel and a jerk. A bigamist is a lawbreaker. Beyond bigamy, a polygamist is stupid, maybe rich but stupid just the same.           

Why are Joe de V and company so hot about changing from a bicameral Congress to a unicameral parliament when they don’t even know what to call it in the national language? They can’t call it Batasan because that was Marco’s name for it. The old two-party system was definitely wiser and more reliable than the present schizophrenic multiparty system. 

Linda Goodman on the Number 2, from her book, Star signs: “The Number 2 vibrates to the Moon. It represents imagination, parenthood, and sensitivity. Two is the number of conception, childhood, and dreams. “A person or entity is influenced by the Number 2 if born on the second, eleventh, twentieth, or twenty-ninth day of any month, in any year.” According to Goodman, 2 people possess a very romantic nature and are secretly psychic. Their intuition is highly developed, but they are afraid of shadows--and must guard against fearing shadows of fears. They fear conceivable kind of loss--loss of love, property, money, friendship, employment, loved ones through death or any kind of separation. “They are frantically devoted to or involved with (in either negative or positive sense) the parents, especially the Mother. They make ideal parent themselves, but they must be careful not to smother their children with possessive love.” 

For myself (a Number One), two is a good number as long as I’m not No. 2, as long as I’m nobody’s second choice, and I don’t need seconds to be satisfied.

Lesson from the Donkey

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. 

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. 

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off! 

MORAL :

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

"Challenges are what make life interesting, overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

You have two choices...smile and close this page, or pass this along to someone else to spread the fun.

Finding Mr. Right

In a brief conversation, a man asked a woman he was pursuing the question, "What kind of man are you looking for?"

She sat quietly for a moment before looking him in the eye and asking, "Do you really want to know?" Reluctantly, he said, "Yes."

She began to expound…

"As a woman in this day and age, I am in a position to ask a man what he can do for me that I can’t do for myself. I pay my own bills. I take care of my household without the help of any man…or woman for that matter. I am in the position to ask, "What can you bring to the table?"

The man looked at her. Clearly he thought that she was referring to money.

She quickly corrected his thought and stated, "I am not referring to money. I need something more."

"I need a man who is striving for perfection in every aspect of life."

He sat back in his chair, folded his arms, and asked her to explain.

She said, "I am looking for someone who is striving for perfection mentally because I need conversation and mental stimulation. I don’t need a simple-minded man."

"I am looking for someone who is striving for perfection spiritually because I don’t need to be unequally yoked… believers mixed with unbelievers is a recipe for disaster."

"I need a man who is striving for perfection financially because I don’t need a financial burden. I am looking for someone who is sensitive enough to understand what I go through as a woman, but strong enough to keep me
grounded."

"I am looking for someone who I can respect. In order to be submissive, I must respect him. I cannot be submissive to a man who isn’t taking care of his business. I have no problem being submissive… he just
has to be worthy. God made woman to be a helpmate for man. I can’t help a man if he can’t help himself."

When she finished her spill, she looked at him. He sat there with a puzzled look on his face. He said, "You’re asking a lot."

She replied, "I’m worth a lot."

The 90/10 Principle by Stephen Covey

Discover the 90/10 Principle. It will change your life.

What is the 90/10 Principle?

10% of life is made up of what happens to you.

90% of life is decided by how you react.

What does this mean?

We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us.

We cannot stop the car from breaking down.

The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off.

A driver may cut us off in traffic.

We have no control over this 10%.

The other 90% is different.

You determine the other 90%.

How?

By your reaction.

You cannot control a red light, but you can control your reaction.

Don’t let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.

Let’s use an example…

You are eating breakfast with your family.

Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt.

You have no control over what just what happened.

What happens when the next will be determined by how you react.

You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over.

She breaks down in tears.

After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table.

A short verbal battle follows.

You storm upstairs and change your shirt.

Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school.

She misses the bus.

Your spouse must leave immediately for work.

You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school.

Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit.

After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school.

Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye.

After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase.

Your day has started terribly.

As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse.

You look forward to coming home, When you arrive home, you find a small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.

Why?

Because of how you reacted in the morning.

Why did you have a bad day?

A) Did the coffee cause it?

B) Did your daughter cause it?

C) Did the policeman cause it?

D) Did you cause it?

The answer is D.

You had no control over what happened with the coffee.

How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day.

Here is what could have and should have happened.

Coffee splashes over you.

Your daughter is about to cry.

You gently say, "It’s ok honey, you just need, to be more careful next time."

Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs.

After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus.

She turns and waves.

You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff.

Your boss comments on how good the day you are having.

Notice the difference?

Two different scenarios.

Both started the same.

Both ended different.

Why?

Because of how you REACTED.

You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens.

The other 90% was determined by your reaction.

Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.

If someone says something negative about you, don’t be a sponge.

Let the attack roll off like water on glass.

You don’t have to let the negative comment affect you!

React properly and it will not ruin your day.

A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.

How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic?

Do you lose your temper?

Pound on the steering wheel?

A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off!

Do you curse?

Does your blood pressure skyrocket?

Do you try and bump them? WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work?

Why let the cars ruin your drive?

Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it.

You are told you lost your job.

Why lose sleep and get irritated?

It will work out.

Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.

The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day.

Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant?

She has no control over what is going on.

Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger.

Why get stressed out?

It will just make things worse.

Now you know the 90-10 principle.

Apply it and you will be amazed at the results.

You will lose nothing if you try it.

The 90-10 principle is incredible.

Very few know and apply this principle.

The result?

Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache.

There never seem to be a success in life.

Bad days follow bad days.

Terrible things seem to be constantly happening.

There is constant stress, lack of joy, and broken relationships.

Worry consumes time.

Anger breaks friendships and life seems dreary and is not enjoyed to the fullest.

Friends are lost.

Life is a bore and often seems cruel.

Does this describe you? If so, do not be discouraged.

You can be different!

Understand and apply the 90/10 principle.

It will change your life.

Have a Great Day & and even Greater Tomorrow!