Thought 20NOV2009

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
My friend Mark Tucker produces and delivers multi-media slide presentations to audience across the country. One night, following one of shows on the East Coast, a woman came up to him and said, "You know, you really should be using my son's music in your show." So Mark started to give her the usual rap. First, her son should make a demo tape. It didn't have to be professional, he explained. In fact, her son could just go into his bedroom and play some simple chords on his guitar - just enough to give Mark an idea of the type of music he played. After he had explained the whole process, the woman gave him a funny look and said, "Well, my son is Billy Joel."

As soon as he had recovered from the shock, Mark quickly assured her that her son would not need to send a demo tape! He then listened as this woman urged him to consider using one particular song her son had written. She felt it contained a positive message about self-worth that would fit Mark's work beautifully. And she went on to describe how the seeds of that song had been planted in early childhood. As a young boy, she explained, Billy Joel often wanted to be someone else, someone different from who he was. It seems he was teased a lot because he was shorter than the rest of the kids. It was common for him to come home from school or play and complain that he wasn't good enough. And he truly believed that if he could be just a little taller, then he'd be okay.

His mother, of course, never believed for a minute that her son was anything less than perfect. So every time he expressed something negative about himself, she said to him, "Don't worry - it doesn't matter. You don't have to be like anyone else because you're already perfect. We're all unique, we're all different. And you, too, have something wonderful to share with the world. I love you just the way you are." Remember that old expression about words coming back to haunt you? In this case the words of a mother who unconditionally loved her son came back many years later in the form of a song. You see, Billy Joel grew up, he learned who he was and he found his dream of creating music for the world. And millions of people got to hear with their hearts, as his mother did, the words of his Grammy Award-winning song : Don't go changin'... to try and please me ... I love you just the way you are
Jennifer Read Hawtrhorne - extracted from 'Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne & Marci Shimoff, Health Communications, Inc., 1996
Quien hace la ley hace la trampa / Every law has its loophole - Spanish Proverb

Thought 19NOV2009

SECRETS OF BEING VERY HAPPY (3 of 3)
(14) The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
(15) Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.
(16) The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
(17) When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling - live your life so that when you die, you're smiling and everyone around you is crying.
Source Unknown - Got this from Puan Norazlina Amran of AFFIN Bank, many many many moons ago
No hay dos sin tres / Misfortunes always come in threes - Spanish Proverb

Thought 18NOV2009

SECRETS OF BEING VERY HAPPY (2 of 3)
(7) It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone and a day to love someone - but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
(8) Don't go for looks; it can deceive; don't go for wealth - even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile coz' only a smile makes a dark day seem bright. Hope you find that person.
(9) Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be cuz you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want in life.
(10) May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.
(11) Always put yourself in other's shoes. if you feel that it hurts you, it probably does hurt the person, too.
(12) A careless word may kindle strife; a cruel word may wreck a life; a timely word may level stress; a loving word may heal and bless.
(13) The beginning of friendship is to let those we consider friend be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them with our own image - otherwise, we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
Source Unknown - Got this from Puan Norazlina Amran of AFFIN Bank, many many many moons ago
Consejo no pedido, consejo mal oido / Never give advice unasked - Spanish Proverb

Thought 17NOV2009

SECRETS OF BEING VERY HAPPY (1 of 3)
(1) Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we should know how to be grateful for that gift.
(2) A sad thing about life is that when you meet someone who means a lot to you only to find out in the end that it was never bound to be and you just have to let go.
(3) When one door of happiness closes, another opens but often we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.
(4) The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch, swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had.
(5) Its' true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.
(6) Never say goodbye when you still want to try - never give up when you still feel you can take it.
Source Unknown - Got this from Puan Norazlina Amran of AFFIN Bank, many many many moons ago
El mayor aborrecimiento, en el amor tiene su cimiento / The greatest hate springs from the greatest love - Spanish Proverb

Thought 16NOV2009

EXCELLENCE
Some people may have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them. They achieve it. They do not achieve it unwittingly, by doing what comes naturally and they don't stumble into it in the course of amusing themselves. All excellence involves discipline and tenacity of purpose.
John Gardner - Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994.
La verdad a medias es mentira verdadera / Half the truth is often a whole lie - Spanish Proverb

Thought 12NOV2009

CHOOSING CHOICES CAREFULLY
We are who we are today because of the choices we made yesterday. Likewise, tomorrow will become the result of today's choices. Mary Crowley, successful businessperson and author, says this about choices. "We are free up to the point of choice, then the choice controls the chooser."

I am told the Canadian Northlands experience only two seasons, winter and July. As the back roads begin to thaw, they become muddy and vehicles travelling through the backcountry leave deep ruts. The ground freezes hard during the winter months and the highway ruts become part of the travelling challenges. For vehicles entering this underdeveloped area during the winter, there is a sign which reads, "Driver, please choose carefully which rut you drive in, because you'll be in it for the next 20 miles."

Choose carefully the path your life takes. Once you choose, your choices will control you.
Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994
La perdiz por el pico se pierde / If you talk too much you're likely to give yourself away - Spanish Proverb

Thought 11NOV2009

BEND, DON'T BREAK
One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream, and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down.

When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back or return to it's original position, the word resilience comes to mind. When used in reference to a person this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person's emotions. Have you ever felt like you are about to snap? Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point? Thankfully, you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.

During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt emotionally drained, mentally exhausted and you most likely endured unpleasant physical symptoms. Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point, bend but don't break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.

A measure of hope will take you through the unpleasant ordeal. With hope for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem to be. The unpleasant ordeal may be easier to deal with if the end result is worth having. If the going gets tough and you are at your breaking point, show resilience. Like the bamboo tree, bend, but don't break!
Found at: Weekly Thought. Got this from Wendy A Rodrigues of AFFIN Bank (many many many moons ago)
Hay ropa tendida / Walls have ears - Spanish Proverb

Thought 10NOV2009

ON EXCELLENCE
Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.
Mario Andretti - Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994
El remedio puede ser peor que la enfermedad / Sometimes the remedy is worse than the disease - Spanish Proverb

Thought 09NOV2009

ON COURAGE
Courage... is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow.
Dorothy Thompson (1894 – 1961), Journalist - Cited in BITS & PIECES
Los trabajos vienen al trote y se van al paso / Mischief comes by the pound and goes away by the ounce - Spanish Proverb

Thought 06NOV2009

WINNING
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while ... you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit.

Unfortunately, so is losing. Make the most of what we have. Make winning, not losing, a habit.
Vince Lombardi
De cuerdo y loco todos tenemos un poco / We're all a little crazy in one way or another - Spanish Proverb