Thought 20NOV2008

ON EXAMPLE
A Chinese general put it this way :
If the world is to be brought to order, my nation must first be changed. If my nation is to be changed, my hometown must be made over. If my hometown is to be reordered, my family must first be set right. If my family is to be regenerated, I myself must first be.
A Purnell Bailey - Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994.

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I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do - Helen Keller

Thought 19NOV2008

WE'RE RAISING CHILDREN, NOT FLOWERS
I was buying a sport coat a few weeks ago and Mark Michaels, the owner of the store and I were discussing parenting. He told me that while he and his wife and seven-year-old daughter were out for dinner, his daughter knocked over her water-glass. After the water was cleaned up without any recriminating remarks from her parents, she looked up and said, "You know, I really want to thank you guys for not being like other parents. Most of my friends' parents would have yelled at them and given them a lecture about paying more attention. Thanks for not doing that!"

Once, when I was having dinner with some friends, a similar incident happened. Their five-year-old son knocked over a glass of milk at the dinner table. When they immediately started on him, I intentionally knocked my glass over, too. When I started to explain how I still knock things over even at the age of 48, the boy started to beam and the parents seemingly got the message and backed off. How easy it is to forget that we are all still learning.
Jack Canfield - extracted from 'A 2nd helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul' Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communication, Inc., 1995

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Not until just before dawn do people sleep best; not until people get old do they become wise - Chinese Proverb

Thought 18NOV2008

BE ANGRY
Anyone can become angry - that is easy
But to be angry with the right person,
to the right degree,
at the right time,
for the right purpose,
and in the right way - that is not easy.
Source Unknown

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Vision isn't enough unless combined with venture. It's not enough to stare up the steps unless we also step up the stairs - Vance Havner

Thought 17NOV2008

SIX SINS OF MANAGING YOUR EMPLOYEES
1) Doing things more to be liked than to be respected.
2) Failing to ask for advice.
3) Failing to develop a sense of responsibility.
4) Failure to keep them informed.
5) Failure to keep criticism constructive.
6) Failure to solve problems and complaints.
extracted from 'Management Thoughts' by Promod Batra, Golden Book Centre Sdn Bhd, reprinted 1995

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The end result of kindness is that it draws people to you - Ken Rockwell, Your Camera Does Not Matter, 2005

Thought 13NOV2008

LITTLE THINGS
Most of us miss out on life's big prizes.
The Pulitzer. The Nobel. Oscars. Tonys. Emmys.
But we're all eligible for life's small pleasures.
A pat on the back. A kiss behind the ear.
A four-pound bass. A full moon.
An empty parking space. A crackling fire.
A great meal. A glorious sunset. Hot soup. Cold drinks.
Don't fret about coping life's grand awards.
Enjoy its tiny delights.
There are plenty for all of us.
A message as published in the Wall Street Journal (1982) by United Technologies Corporation, Hartford, Connecticut 06101

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If you really want something you can figure out how to make it happen - Cher

Thought 12NOV2008

TIME
Time is the one thing we all posses. Our success depends upon the proper use of our time and its by-product, the odd moment. Every minute that you save by making it useful or more profitable is that much added to your life and its possibilities. Every minute lost is a neglected by-product - once gone, you will never get it back. Think of the odd quarter of an hour before breakfast, the odd half-hour after lunch. Remember the chance to read, or figure, of think with concentration about your own career, that presents itself now and again during the day. All of these opportunities are the by-products of your daily existence. Use them and you may find what many successful companies have found - that the real profit is in the utilization of the by-products.
Among the aimless. unsuccessful, or worthless, you often hear talk about "killing time". Those who are always killing time are really killing their own chances in life. Those who are destined to become successful are those who make time live by making it useful.
Arthur Brisbane - Extracted from Bits & Pieces, The Economics Press, Inc., Fairfield, New Jersey, USA - From the Library of Puan Hajah Zaihani Abdul Hamid

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A year from now you may wish you had started today - Karen Lamb

Thought 11NOV2008

MARRIAGE ADVICE FROM 1886
Let your love be stronger than your hate or anger. Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break. Believe the best than the worst. People have a way of living up or down to your opinion of them. Remember that true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship. The person you choose to marry is deserving of the courtesies and kindness you bestow on your friends. Please hand this down to your children and your children's children: The more things change the more they are the same.
Jane Wells (1886) - Submitted by Carol Abbs; extracted from 'Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne & Marci Shimoff, Health Communications, Inc., 1996.

Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit - Conrad Hilton

Thought 10NOV2008

DREAMS
All men and women are born, to live, suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things, and what we do to make them come about ... We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
Joseph Epstein

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing - Theodore Roosevelt, Speech in Chicago 3rd April 1903

Thought 07NOV2008

IT'S UP TO YOU
One song can spark a moment, One flower can wake the dream, One tree can start a forest, One bird can herald spring, One smile begins a friendship, One handclasp lifts a soul. One star can guide a ship at sea, One word can frame the goal, One vote can change a nation, One sunbeam lights a room.

One candle wipes out darkness, One laugh will conquer gloom. One step must start each journey, One word must start each prayer. One hope will raise our spirits, One touch can show you care. One voice can speak with wisdom, One heart can know what's true, One life can make the difference.

You see, it's up to you!
Author Unknown - extracted from "A 4th course of Chicken Soup for the Soul", Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Hanoch McCarty and Meladee McCarty; Health Communications, Inc., 1997.

Pure gold does not fear furnace - Chinese Proverb

Thought 06NOV2008

GOING THE RIGHT WAY
In 1939, in a small town in Oklahoma, a young couple had been married a few short and disappointing months. He never dreamed there were so many ways to ruin fried chicken. She couldn't imagine why she ever thought his jokes were funny. Neither one said aloud what they were both thinking - the marriage was a big mistake. One hot afternoon, they got into a terrible argument about whether they could afford to paint the living room. Tempers flared, voices were raised, and somehow one of the wedding gift plates crashed to the floor. She burst into tears, called him heartless and a cheapskate. He shouted that he'd rather be a cheapskate than a nag, then grabbed the car keys on his way out. His parting words, punctuated by the slam of the screen door, were, "That's it! I'm leaving you!"

But before he could coax their rickety car into gear, the passenger door flew open and his bride landed on the seat beside him. She stared straight ahead, her face tear-streaked but determined. "And just where do you think you're going?" he asked in amazement. She hesitated only a moment before replying, just long enough to be sure of the answer that would decide the direction of their lives for the next forty-three years. "If you're leaving me," my mother said, "I'm going with you."
By Lynne Kinghorn - from A Second Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul, Copyright 1998 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne and Marci Shimoff

The beginning and the end reach out their hands to each other - Chinese Proverb