Thought 04MAR2010

THE 11TH BOX
What is your most memorable Thanks giving? For me, it was on the eve of the day. The church had the names of 10 families scheduled to receive food baskets. A local merchant donated hams and groceries were purchased from the food bank. As we packed the boxes in the fellowship hall, these families were excited over the food they were taking home. It would be the best meal many had enjoyed in months. As they were picking up their boxes, another family arrived. Father, mother and three children piled out of an old pickup truck, not on our list. They had just heard there was food being distributed by a church.

I explained that we did not have enough for an extra family. And as I tried to assure them that I would do what I could, an amazing thing happened. With no prompting, a woman put down the box she was carrying and quickly found an empty box to place beside it. She began removing items from her box to share. Soon others followed her lead and these poor people created an 11th box for the new family.
Pastor Bill Simpson - submitted by M'Shel Bowen -extracted from 'a 4th course of chicken soup for the soul', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Hanoch McCarty and Meladee McCarty, Health Communication Inc, 1997
Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind - Bruce Lee

Thought 03MAR2010

DON'T PUNISH EVERY MISTAKE
In one of my assignments as a young infantry officer, I was sent to the 48th Infantry near Frankfurt, Germany. In those days our prize weapon was a huge 280-mm atomic cannon. Guarded by infantry platoons, these guns were hauled around the forests on trucks to keep the Soviets from guessing their location. One day Captain Tom Miller assigned my platoon to guard a 280. I alerted my men, loaded my .45 caliber pistol and jumped into my jeep. I had not gone far when I realized that my .45 was gone.

I was petrified. In the army, losing a weapon is serious business. I had no choice but to radio Captain Miller to tell him. "You what?" He said in disbelief. He paused a few seconds, then added, "All right, continue the mission." When I returned, uneasily contemplating my fate, Miller called me over. "I've got something for you," he said, handing me the pistol. "Some kids in the village found it where it fell out of your holster."

"Kids found it?" I felt a cold chill. "Yeah," he said. "Luckily they only got off one round before we heard the shot and took the gun away." The disastrous possibilities left me limp. "For God's sake, son, don't let that happen again." He drove off. I checked the magazine and found it was full. The gun had not been fired. Later I learned that I had dropped it in my tent before I ever got started. Miller had fabricated the scene about the kids to give me a good scare.Today the army might hold an investigation, call in lawyers and likely enter a bad mark on my record. Miller gave me the chance to learn from my mistake. His example of intelligent leadership was not lost on me. Nobody ever got to the top without slipping up. When someone stumbles, I don't believe in stomping on him. My philosophy is "Pick 'em up, dust 'em off and get 'em moving again."
Collin Powell - Extracted from the "Chicken Soup Series", Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery & Nancy Mitchell, R.N., Health Communications, Inc., 1996
It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change - Charles Darwin

Thought 02MAR2010

TWELVE LIFE VALUES
The Value of Time
The Success of Perseverance
The Pleasure of Working
The Dignity of Simplicity
The Worth of Character
The Power of Kindness
The Influence of Example
The Obligation of Duty
The Wisdom of Economy
The Virtue of Patience
The Improvement of Talent
The Joy of Origination
extracted from 'Management Thoughts' by Promod Batra, Golden Book Centre Sdn Bhd, reprinted 1995
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often - Winston Churchill

Thought 01MAR2010

COLD HANDS
I was cleaning out the pockets of my six-year-old's winter coat, when I found a pair of mittens in each pocket. Thinking that one pair must not be enough to keep her hands warm, I asked her why she was carrying two pairs of mittens in her coat. She replied, "I've been doing that for a long time, Mom. You see, some kids come to school without mittens and if I carry another pair, I can share with them and then their hands won't get cold."
Joyce Andresen - extracted from 'a 4th course of chicken soup for the soul', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Hanoch McCarty and Meladee McCarty, Health Communication Inc, 1997
Be the change you want to see in the world - Mahatma Gandhi

Thought 25FEB2010

ONE FOR THE TEAM
This story was told by an old priest one Sunday. It is a true story of when he served in the military.

One day their drill sergeant came out and threw a hand grenade into a group of young soldiers. The men all ran away and took cover away from the grenade. Then the drill sergeant told them that the grenade was not set to explode and he just did it to see their reaction. The next day a newly recruited joined the group. The drill sergeant told the other soldiers not to tell the new soldier what was going to happen. As the drill sergeant came out and threw the grenade into the crowd of soldiers, the new soldier, not knowing it wasn't going to explode, threw himself on top of the grenade to prevent it from killing the other men. He was willing to die for his fellow soldiers.

That year the young man was awarded the only medal for courage and bravery that had not been won during battle.
Kim Noone - extracted from the "Chicken Soup Series", Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery & Nancy Mitchell, R.N., Health Communications, Inc., 1996
Min ma jgarrabx il-hazin ma jafx it-tajjeb / He who has had no experience of evil cannot know the worth of what is good - Kurdish Proverb

Thought 24FEB2010

LADY, ARE YOU RICH?
They huddled inside the storm door - two children in ragged outgrown coats. "Any old papers, lady?" I was busy. I wanted to say no - until I looked down at their feet. Thin little sandals, sopped with sleet. "Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot cocoa." There was no conversation. Their soggy sandals left marks upon the hearthstone. I served them cocoa and toast with jam to fortify against the chill outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget... The silence in the front room struck through to me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, "Lady ... are you rich?"

"Am I rich? Mercy, no?" I looked at my shabby slip covers. The girl put her cup back in its saucer - carefully. "Your cups match your saucers." Her voice was old, with a hunger that was not of the stomach. They left then, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They hadn't said thank you. They didn't need to. They had done more than that. Plain blue pottery cups and saucers. But they matched. I tested the potatoes and stirred the gravy. Potatoes and brown gravy, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job - these things matched, too. I moved the chairs back from the fire and tidied the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my hearth. I let them be. I want them there is case I ever forget again how rich I am.
Marion Doolan - extracted from 'A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul', Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communications, Inc., 1996
Hacer de tripas corazon / What can't be cured must be endured - Spanish Proverb

Thought 23FEB2010

TEN RULES OF HUMAN RELATIONS
1) SPEAK TO PEOPLE. There is nothing so nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
2) SMILE AT PEOPLE. It takes 72 muscles to frown, only 14 to smile.
3) CALL PEOPLE BY NAME. The sweetest music to anyone's ears is the sound of his own name.
4) BE FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL. If you would have friends, be a friend.
5) BE CORDIAL. Speak and act as if everything you do is a genuine pleasure.
6) BE GENUINELY INTERESTED IN PEOPLE. You can like almost everybody if you try.
7) BE GENEROUS with praise - cautious with criticism.
8) BE CONSIDERATE with the feelings of others. There are usually three sides to a controversy : yours, the other person's, and the right side.
9) BE ALERT to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for others.
10) ADD TO THIS A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOUR, a big doses of patience and a dash of humility and you will be regarded many fold.
Extracted from 'Management Thoughts' by Promod Batra, Golden Book Centre Sdn Bhd, reprinted 1995
It is easy to say "Come" difficult to say "Go" - Kurdish Proverb

Thought 22FEB2010

WINNING
His mother told us the story the day after.

Kenneth was in junior high school and was excited and eager about participating in a day of Special Olympics events. While his parents watched expectantly from the stands, he ran and won the, first race. He was proud of his ribbon and the cheers from the crowd.

He ran in the second race. Just at the finish line, when he again would have won, he stopped, then stepped off the track. His parents gently questioned him. "Why did you do that, Kenneth? If you had continued running, you would have won another race."

Kenneth innocently replied, "But, mom, I already have a ribbon. Billy didn't have a ribbon yet."
Clifford and Jerie Furness - extracted from 'a 4th course of chicken soup for the soul', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Hanoch McCarty and Meladee McCarty, Health Communication Inc, 1997
El mundo es un panuelo / (It's a) Small world! - Spanish Proverb

Thought 19FEB2010

TRUE FORGIVENESS
Forty-three years seems like a long time to remember the name of a mere acquaintance. I have duly forgotten the name of an old lady who was a customer of my paper route when I was a twelve-year-old boy in Marinette, Wisconsin back in 1954. Yet it seems like just yesterday that she taught me a lesson in forgiveness that I can only hope to pass on to someone else someday. On a mindless Saturday afternoon, a friend and I were throwing rocks onto the roof of the old lady's house from a secluded spot in her backyard. The object of our play was to observe how the rocks changed to missiles as they rolled to the roof's edge and shot out into the yard like comets from the sky.

I found myself a perfectly smooth rock and sent it for a ride. The stone was too smooth, however, so it slipped from my hand as I let it go and headed straight for a small window on the old lady's back porch. At the sound of fractured glass, we took off from the old lady's yard faster than any of our missiles flew off her roof. I was too scared about getting caught that first night to be concerned about the old lady, with the broken porch window. However, a few days later, when I was sure that I hadn't been discovered, I started to feel guilty for her misfortune. She still greeted me with a smile each day when I gave her the paper, but I was no longer able to act comfortable in her presence. I made up my mind that I would save my paper delivery money and in three weeks I had seven dollars that I calculated would cover the cost of her window. I put the money in an envelope with a note explaining that the seven dollars would cover the cost for repairing it.

I waited until it was dark, snuck up to the old lady's house and put the envelope of retribution through the letter slot in her door. My soul felt redeemed and I couldn't wait for the freedom of, once again, looking straight into the old lady's eyes. The next day, I handed the old lady her paper and was able to return the warm smile that I was receiving from her. She thanked me for the paper and said, "Here, I have something for you." It was a bag of cookies. I thanked her and proceeded to eat the cookies as I continued my route. After several cookies, I felt an envelope and pulled it out of the bag. When I opened the envelope, I was stunned. Inside was the seven dollars and a short note that said, "I'm proud of you."
Jerry Harpt - extracted from 'a 5th portion of Chicken Soup for the Soul', Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communications, Inc., 1998
It is easier to make a camel jump a ditch than to make a fool listen to reason - Kurdish Proverb

Thought 18FEB2010

AH, BAMBINI
My husband and I were traveling in Italy with two small babies and an au pair. We would trade sightseeing time with the au pair so we could all visit the requisite churches and museums. But on this day we took the babies along, since we had only one day to go to Assisi and all of us urgently wanted to see it. The morning was wonderful - feeling like happy pilgrims, we read each other stories of St. Francis while the babies cooed and gurgled as we drove up the winding streets. But by the end of a very hot day, traipsing uphill and downhill in the 90-degree Italian sun, the two kids were crying nonstop. One was throwing up; the other had diarrhea. We were all irritable and exhausted and we had a three-hour trip ahead of us to get back to Florence, where we were staying. Somewhere on the plains of Perugia we stopped at a little trattoria to have dinner.

Embarrassed at our bedraggled state and our smelly, noisy children, we sheepishly tried to sneak into the dinner room, hoping we could silence the children long enough to order before they threw us out. The proprietor took one look at us, muttered, "You wait-a-here," and went back to the kitchen. We thought perhaps we should leave tight then, but before we could decide what to do, he reappeared with his wife and teenage daughter. Beaming as they crossed the dining room, the two women threw out their arms, cried, "Ah, bambini!" and took the children from our arms, motioning us to sit at a quite corner table.

For the duration of a long and hospitable dinner, they walked the babies back and forth in the back of the dining room, cooing, laughing and singing them to sleep in gentle, musical Italian. The proprietor even insisted we stay and have an extra glass of wine after the babies were asleep! Any parent who has reached the end of his or her rope with an infant will appreciate that God had indeed sent us angels that day.
Editors of Conari Press - extracted from 'Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Maida Rogerson, Martin Rutte & Tim Clauss, Health Communications, Inc., 1996
Habit is worse than rabies - Kurdish Proverb