Terraces
A teacher was walking with his students . . .
A bit further along, the road turned to the right around a hill and a steep valley opened before them. The hillside above them was barren and rocky, but across the valley terraces had been built with rocks to hold the earth. A vineyard had been planted on the terraces, and they could see the green color of the vines and even the purple of ripening grapes. He looked across the valley, then sat down on a stone at the edge of the road and taught them.
"The same rain falls on one side of this valley as on the other, and the sun shines on both alike, yet one side is barren and the other alive and fruitful. It is the terraces, those flat places where the rain must stop, the sun may shine, and the vines may root, that make the difference. Where there are no terraces, the rain as it falls rushes down the hillside sweeping the fertile soil to the river below. No vines find place to take solid root, and the sun as it shines serves only to bake the rocks and clay.
"Your lives, too, must have their terraces. You must have places to stop amid the heedless rush of this world, places to take root in faith, places to grow in the strength that comes always from above. Without a place to stop, to stand, to be rooted, and to grow you too will be swept along by the things of this world as they rush by. You will be as the seed unsown, the fertile soil swept uselessly to the river, or the barren soil baked by the sun if there are no places of quiet within your lives."
Then one of those who walked with him asked, "Teacher, where in our lives are we to find these terraces, these places of peace and growth?" At that he looked down the valley, beyond the vineyard, to where men were carrying rocks and earth in baskets, and he taught them.
"The side of this valley now green with vines was once like this side, barren and rocky. Then men came, even as these men come now, and with much labor in the carrying of rocks and soil they made the terraces on which that vineyard grows. They placed the rocks carefully to hold themselves and the soil and planted the vineyards to grow there. The vinedressers continue to tend the vines and to keep in repair the terraces on which they grow, so that the fruit may continue. No valley builds terraces by itself, without the labor of workers.
"So also it is to be with you. With time and with effort, both individually and together, you must build the resting and growth places within your own lives. With care you must plant your thoughts there, so that good fruit may come from them. With even greater care as they grow must you nurture them and root out weeds, that their good fruit may continue. Others will come and see your terraces, and come to know that they too should build them. Then their barren lives can become full of life and joy even as this hillside, on which building continues even though the first vinedresser to work in this valley passed away long ago."
Commitment
By Olehile Fischer Thataone
I will never forget what my old headmaster told taught me. Normally when you are only 15 years of age you do not remember most of the things that are preached by your teachers. But, this particular story is one such lesson that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I get reminded of this story.
It was a normal Monday morning at an assembly, and he was addressing the students on important things in life and about committing ourselves to what is important to us. This is how the story went:
An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.
His house was filthy, and a stench came out of the house and it smelled horribly. The neighbors could not stand the smell anymore, so they summoned the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.
The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire. They waited outside his house in anticipation to share the good news with him. When he arrived home that evening, he was met by one the officers who told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.
He said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, got into the train, and sat at the street corner and continued to beg.
Obviously, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on the things we enjoy doing, commitment.
We should remain true to our course; which may mean committing yourselves to things that people around you would normally disapprove. Let nothing distract us from being happy, let nothing else determine our fate, but ourselves.
What makes us happy is what matters in the end... not what we acquire.
Inspire others to peak performance
It's probably true that most people who work with us will never care as deeply as we do about building our business and serving our clients. If they did, they'd probably be working for themselves.
Yet there's a great deal we can do to raise the level of their commitment and inspire them to peak performance. The operative word in the preceding sentence is inspire. You can demand that people who work for you be punctual, or that they perform at a certain level of output, or even that they do things reasonably well. Yet real commitment can only be inspired. And, inspiring people is what great leaders like John F. Kennedy and Lee Iaccoca did best.
How do great leaders such as these inspire others to commit themselves to their goals? It's not just that they have charismatic personalities, or that they give a lot of high-powered motivational talks. What they do is communicate their vision so forcefully that other people adopt it as their own vision.
For example, in the early sixties, President Kennedy set his sights on putting a man on the moon, and told the American people "We can do it!" He said it with such conviction that masses of people believed it, and committed themselves to making it happen. And, sure enough, in less than a decade, the first human being had walked on the moon.
Lee Iaccoca stepped into the ailing Chrysler Corporation and said "We're going to turn this company around!" With clear goals, a solid plan of action, and a strong conviction, he was able to inspire enough commitment from the U.S. Congress that he secured the largest loan ever made to a private company. Then he inspired enough commitment in thousands of Chrysler workers to enable the company to pay back the loan ahead of schedule.
That's the formula for any leader to inspire commitment -- clear goals, a solid plan of action, and a strong conviction. If you can communicate that to the people who work with you, you will have the kind of loyalty that makes them go the second mile. And the third and fourth miles if that's what it takes to get the job done.
The Lesson of Easter from an Unlikely Child
A True Story by Ida Mae Kempel
Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool, and make grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy just irritated his teacher.
One day she called his parents and asked them to come in for a consultation. As the Forresters entered the empty classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there is a five year gap between his age and that of the other students."
Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue, while her husband spoke. "Miss Miller," he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here." Doris sat for a long time after they had left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a terminal illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn to read and write. Why waste any more time trying?
As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. Here I am complaining when my problems are nothing compared to that poor family, she thought. Lord, please help me to be more patient with Jeremy. From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy's noises and his blank stares. Then one day, he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him.
"I love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear. The other students snickered, and Doris' face turned red. She stammered, "Wh-why that's very nice, Jeremy. N-now please take your seat."
Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. "Now," she said to them, "I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Miss Miller," the children responded enthusiastically - all except for Jeremy. He listened intently; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus' death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them.
That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse, and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's parents.
The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs. In the first egg, Doris found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life," she said. "When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here." A small girl in the first row waved her arm. "That's my egg, Miss Miller," she called out. The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. "We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that's new life, too." Little Judy smiled proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that one is mine." Next, Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom, "My daddy helped me," he beamed.
Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was empty. Surely it must be Jeremy's she thought, and of course, he did not understand her instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg?" Flustered, Doris replied, "But Jeremy, your egg is empty." He looked into her eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty, too."
Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was empty?" "Oh, yes," Jeremy said, "Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up."
The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the school yard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.
Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket, all of them empty.
Pearls don’t lie on the seashore.
"Pearls don’t lie on the seashore. If you want one, you must dive for it” ~ Chinese Proverb
For thousands of years most seawater pearls were retrieved by divers working across the world’s oceans. The only means of obtaining pearls was by manually gathering large numbers of pearl oysters from the ocean floor.
In order to find enough pearl oysters, free-divers were often forced to descend to depths over 125 feet (40 metres) on a single breath, without equipment and exposed to hazardous conditions. As a result, pearls of the times were extremely rare, fine and admirable. The word pearl has become symbolic of something very valuable.
The metaphor reminds us that like diving for pearls, the pursuit of our goals is equally an arduous venture. Just as the diver must surmount his fears and speculate with risks, the prized catch is often made by those willing to go beyond their comfort zone.
There is a vast sea of opportunities before us, but like the pearl diver, we too must search and strive beyond our cosy pockets of reality (i.e. the set of behaviours and environments we’ve become accustomed to).
It may not be easy, often our efforts will go fruitless, but the work is made promising in knowing that if you just persist, persevere and wait patiently, you can discover that precious pearl of your own (whatever it may be).
Every challenge brings you closer to reaching that goal. No diver knew whether it was his shell which contained a pearl. Sometimes they were paid no wages, but they received their profits when they found the pearl. Their chances multiplied with each dive, so they seized every opportunity. Let me conclude by using a quote by Dale Carnegie which says this just right.
“Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.”
Watch your words
A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour.
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his
carry on. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer
asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France
previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."
The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."
"Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in
France!" The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look.
Then he quietly explained. "Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach
on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any damn
Frenchmen to show it to."
Earning your Desk
Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she took all of the desks out of the classroom. The kids came into first period, they walked in, there were no desks. They obviously looked around and said, "Ms. Cothren, where's our desks?"
And she said, "You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn them."
They thought, "Well, maybe it's our grades."
"No," she said.
"Maybe it's our behavior."
And she told them, "No, it's not even your behavior."
And so they came and went in the first period, still no desks in the classroom. Second period, same thing, third period. By early afternoon television news crews had gathered in Ms. Cothren's class to find out about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of the classroom. The last period of the day, Martha Cothren gathered her class.
They were at this time sitting on the floor around the sides of the room. And she says, "Throughout the day no one has really understood how you earn the desks that sit in this classroom ordinarily." She said, "Now I'm going to tell you."
Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it, and as she did 27 U.S. veterans, wearing their uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. And they placed those school desks in rows, and then they stood along the wall. And by the time they had finished placing those desks, those kids - for the first time I think perhaps in their lives - understood how they earned those desks.
Martha said, "You don't have to earn those desks. These guys did it for you. They put them out there for you, but it's up to you to sit here responsibly to learn, to be good students and good citizens, because they paid a price for you to have that desk, and don't ever forget it."
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In 2006 the Veterans of Foreign Wars named Martha Cothren their "Teacher of the Year."
Humanity
The 26-year-old mother stared down at her son who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The leukemia would see to that. But, she still wanted her son's dreams to come true. She took her son's hand and asked, "Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life? "
"Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."
Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish come true. "
Later that day she went to her local fire department in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her six year old son a ride around the block on a fire engine. Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat- not a toy one, but one with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast."
Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedic's van, and even the fire chief's car. He was also videotaped for the local news program.
Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible. One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.
The chief replied, "We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire? It's just the fire department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?
About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital, extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window and 5 firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room. With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him. With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, "Chief, am I really a fireman now?" "Yes, Billy, you are a fireman now," the chief said.
With those words, Billy smiled and closed his eyes one last time. He passed away later that evening.
A Leader’s Job
In 1982, Jan Carlson had just been named the CEO of Scandinavian Airlines. His company was in trouble. They had just been ranked by a consumer poll as the worst airline in the world. Last in service, last in dependability, and last in profits as a percentage of sales. Yet one year later, in the same poll, they were ranked number one in all three categories. What happened?
Carlson had decided to focus on what he thought was the most critical issue...serving the customer. He wanted to keep it simple:
Identify every contact between the customer and the employee, and treat that contact as..."a moment of truth."
He set out to let his people know the importance of that moment...the captain, the ticket agent, the baggage handler, the flight attendant.
"Every moment, every contact," he said, "must be as pleasant, and as memorable as possible."
He figured that he had approximately ten million customers each year, and on average each customer made contact with five of his people for approximately fifteen seconds apiece. Therefore, in his mind, these fifty million contacts, fifteen seconds at a time, would determine the fate of his company.
He set out to share his vision with his twenty thousand employees. He knew the key was to empower the front line. Let them make the decision and take action, because they were Scandinavian Airlines during those fifteen seconds. He now had twenty thousand people who were energized and ready to go because they were focused on one very important thing...making every moment count.
"A leader's job is to look into the future and see the organization, not as it is, but as it should be." -- Jack Welch
Planting – Potatoes
When I was a boy growing up we had several gardens around our old house. The largest one of all was used just for growing potatoes. I can still remember those potato planting days. The whole family helped. After my Dad had tilled the soil, my Mom, brothers, and I went to work. It was my job to drop the little seed potatoes in the rows while my Mom dropped handfuls of fertilizer beside them. My brothers then covered them all with the freshly turned earth.
For months afterward I would glance over at the garden while I played outside and wonder what was going on underneath the ground. When the harvest time came I was amazed at the huge size of the potatoes my Dad pulled out of the soil. Those little seedlings had grown into bushels and bushels of sweet sustenance. They would be turned into meal after meal of baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, and my personal favorite: potatoes slowed cooked in spaghetti sauce. They would keep the entire family well fed throughout the whole year. It truly was a miracle to behold.
Thinking back on those special times makes me wonder how many other seeds I have planted in this life that have grown unseen in the hearts and minds of others. How many times has God used some little thing that I said or did to grow something beautiful? How many times has Heaven used these little seedlings to provide another’s soul with sweet sustenance?
Every single day of our lives we step out into the garden of this world. Every single day we plant seeds that can grow into something wonderful. We may never see the growth that comes from the kind words or loving acts we share but God does. I hope then that you always tend the garden around you with care. I hope that you plant only goodness, peace, and compassion in the lives of everyone you meet. I hope that every day you help miracles to grow.
Choosing a Career
One doctor became the greatest surgeon in his country and became the president of the National society of surgeons. For this reason, a celebration in his honour was held. But he was sad.
His friend came up to him and said:
- You achieved something that others can’t even dream about – you became the greatest surgeon. Why are you so sad?
- The thing is, that I achieved something that I didn’t even wanted, - the surgeon said, - I never wanted to be a surgeon and now I can’t escape from it. If I would suffer a failure then maybe I would have a chance to do something that I really love. And now I am chained to a thing that I don’t even like.
- You must be joking? - The friend exclaimed, - the biggest honour for a surgeon is to become the president of a National society.
Your wife is happy, your children are happy; everyone has the highest respect for you!
- But I don’t respect myself – that’s what bad. I wanted to be a dancer, but my parents were against it, and I’ve listened to them.
I was weak. And because of that, now I’m unhappy, by becoming a great surgeon I now am mediocre in that field which I wanted to dedicate my life to.
Hunters
One time, two hunters hired an airplane to get to the distant forest zone. After two weeks the pilot returned to take them back. After looking at their hunting trophies he said:
- The plane won’t be able to carry more than one buffalo. You will have to leave one of them behind.
- But last year the pilot agreed to take on board two buffalos the same size as these,- the hunter protested.
The pilot thought about it and in the end said:
- Ok. If it worked the last year, it should work and this time.
The plane tried to take off with two passengers and two buffalos on board, but not able to reach the required height, crashed into the nearest hill. After getting out from the plane wreck, the hunters looked around. One of them said to another:
- Where do you think we are?
His pal examined the surroundings and answered:
- I think we are two miles south from the place that we crashed the last time.
Friendship
A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert like island.
The two survivors who have been a good friends, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God. However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.
The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man’s parcel of land remained barren.
After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing.
Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing.
Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island.
He considered the other man unworthy to receive God’s blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.
As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven booming, “Why are you leaving your companion on the island?”
“My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them,” the first man answered. “His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything.”
“You are mistaken!” the voice rebuked him. “He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings.”
“Tell me,” the first man asked the voice, “What did he pray for that I should owe him anything?”
“He prayed that all your prayers be answered “
For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of another praying for us (Congregational Prayer). Value your friends, don’t leave your loved ones behind.
Toss a Coin
- Can´t decide? Why not toss a coin?
I looked at my friend.
- Toss a coin? Are you nuts? That´s no way to make important decisions!
I had been sitting deep in my thoughts. I needed to make a big decision about my job. It seemed that the more I thought about it, the more complicated the issue became in my mind. My friend had invited me over for lunch and now looked at me with a slightly bored expression. No wonder - I hadn´t talked much, thinking about my problem.
- Why don´t you try? I have a special coin just for the occasion.
She opened her bag and took out a small purse. When she opened it I saw only one coin. A genuine old silver dollar.
- This belonged to my grandfather, she said, - And he always used it to make important decisions when he did not know which way to go.
- You mean your grandfather flipped a coin and based his decisions on it?
- When ever he couldn´t decide, yes.
Now I had know her grandfather and always thought of him as one of the most down-to-earth kind of a person.
- You can´t be serious… I looked at my friend, unbelieving.
She just gave me the coin. It felt heavy in my hand.
- Quickly. Decide which answer is heads and which is tails.
Oh what the hey - why not play along. I nodded to show I had made my decision.
- Now toss it.
I did.
- Heads. That would be "Yes". But that can´t be so! I mean if I did that, it would mean… What are you smiling at?
She really was, and looked very amused.
- You see: you got your answer.
- No, I didn´t! It showed "yes" but that can´t be right…
- Now you see why my grandfather used to toss a coin. He did not follow the answer it showed - head or tails, yes or no. Instead he listened very carefully what was his first emotional reaction to the answer the coin gave. And THAT was the real answer. With this coin he passed his analytical mind and let the subconscious wisdom come through.
I looked at the coin in my hand.
- Wow, I never thought about it that way.
- Well - now you know. Can I have my coin back?
Get Rich Fast
… and so the only way for us to go to that wedding would be to get rich fast, other one of the women finished her sentence to a friend of hers.
Janet was reading her book, sitting on her towel, and listening in to a conversation of the two
women in front of her. It was late afternoon,
almost time to leave the beach. The light had already turned more yellow, but it was so warm
no one on the beach was in a hurry to leave.
One of the ladies had two small children with her,
a boy and a girl. Now they were sitting on
a blanket eating sandwiches while the ladies talked. The mother of the children told how their family got an invitation to her sister's wedding. Unfortunately her sister lived in another country and travelling there was too expensive to a family of four.
Janet was wearing sunglasses and while pretending to read her book she observed the little group in secret.
The mother sighed and smiled to her children. It looked like they were twins. And very fast little children they were - Janet was almost exhausted by simply looking at how they had been running and swimming and playing in the water for hours.
When their mother had managed to make them stop for a while, they had been eating and reading a book. It was a very colourful, big book. The story happened on a tropical island. The story told about a young man who wanted to marry the daughter of the king of the island but was too poor to do so. And so he decided to make a fortune. Every day he walked along the beach for hours, collecting the most beautiful sea shells and then making beautiful necklaces from them. He went door to door, selling his necklaces for a few coins. This he continued for years. The young princess refused to marry anyone else.
The story had a happy ending, as expected. Eventually the young man gained so much wealth from his necklace-business that the king agreed for the princess to marry him. It sure was not a get rich fast - story.
Janet knew the wedding by heart already as the little girl wanted to read it aloud over and over again. Palm trees, turquoise water, parrots, coconuts and tame animals… They were all there. Sounded a lot like a Disney film.
The story ended so that the young man gave his bride a big sea shell as a gift. When she opened it there was a pearl big enough to buy the whole island if they wanted to.
- How rich should we be to get to aunt Anne´s wedding? the little boy asked.
- Well we´d need a pretty big pearl for sure, the mother smiled, - But never you mind about that, children don´t need to worry about how to get rich fast. Aunt Anne promised they would come here on their honeymoon, so you get to see her even if we don´t go to the wedding.
The sandwiches were eaten and the kids darted our again. The ladies sat silently, keeping their eyes on the children. Soon Janet started reading again and almost forgot they were there.
- Mom! Look what we brought to you!
Janet looked up. The twins were standing in front of their mother holding a big plastic buckets in their hands. No idea where they had found it - it was no children´s toy.
The mother looked at them in surprise. They were dirty, sand up to their hair. But the eyes were bright and their smile would have put a piano in disgrace.
- Brought for me? Did you bring me something?
- You said you need to get rich fast, the little girl said, - So I said to Pete we should help you. We collected all the pretty shells from the shore to a bucket so we can make necklaces! We haven´t looked into all of them but we hope there would be a pearl for you too! That way you could go to aunt Anne´s wedding! she smiled.
They stood there, all proud of themselves, holding a treasure bucket of hundreds of little shells.
- Come here, you two! the mother laughed and spread her arms, not minding the mess the children made to her dress when they hugged. - How lucky I am to have you two as my children - you just made me the richest person on earth! And faster than anyone could have imagined!
And Janet was quite certain she wasn´t talking about money.
One step at a time
It had been a tiring day. There were four of us in the car - and we were talking about a challenging situation that had come up at work. The bank would not give us a loan that we seriously needed to continue our business. Frankly speaking the very survival of our company was at stake. We knew we had a chance to put things right, but it would take a huge amount of work - and luck.
- The task is impossible, Mary finally said, - What´s the point in even trying. We´ll never succeed.
John, the eldest of us all, was driving the car. He hadn´t said much the whole time. But now he suddenly turned off the main road.
- Hey! What´s this? We need to get home! we protested.
- Sorry, there´s something wrong with the car. I know there´s a good garage here. Won´t take long.
We did not understand what could have been wrong with the car - it seemed to be running perfectly. But it was his car, so he ought to know. We returned to discuss the impending doom.
I gazed out of the window. The road went downhill for a long time. The terrain was rugged. I could see big trees - their form told of strong winds and drought.
Then a lake came into view. It was a big lake, dotted with tiny islands. There was a small village at the edge of the water. I had never been around here and would have enjoyed the view if I hadn´t been so worried.
John drove to the small village and sure enough - there was a garage there. A young man walked out when he saw us.
- John! Good to see you! He shook hands with John, - Problems with the car?
- Yes, lets go inside so I´ll explain.
They walked indoors. We didn´t want others to hear about our problems so we just stood there, hoping it wouldn´t take long to repair the car.
John walked out.
- We need to stay for an hour or two, he said.
- Thank goodness we had good breakfast, Bob said.
- But we don´t need to stay here. Let´s go out on the lake.
- You have a boat too?
- The garage owner borrows his. I´ve used it before.
Well - there didn´t seem to be much else to do so we headed for the pier. There was a big, old fashioned motor boat. We got into the boat and John started the engine. The motor gave a deep roar and the boat glided effortlessly over the water. It was a bit windy, but not too much. The sun was peeking from between the clouds, painting brighter spots on the otherwise grey water. In other circumstances we would really have enjoyed this little boat trip.
John seemed to know where he was taking us so we just sat back and breathed deeply. The boat curved around the islands so that eventually we lost track of time and location. Then there were no more islands - except for one, a long way from the shore. It didn´t seem to have much vegetation. John headed right to it.
When we got nearer we saw an opening on the side of the island. Not a cave, but a deep crack in the rock. John carefully steered the boat through to the calm waters inside the island.
We gasped in awe. The island was circular in shape, the terraced slopes rose all around us. A natural harbor right in the middle of it was a real haven - no wind could reach this place. The waters were calm and small fish could be seen swimming under the boat. From the lake you would never have guessed there were so many trees inside the island. Lush green trees - but that was not all.
Roses. It was like someone had poured the colors of sunset inside the island. Veils of red, pink and white cascaded down the slopes. There must have been hundreds of rose bushes there. Butterflies and little birds were everywhere. The first touch of autumn had already started to color the trees with red and orange and they were aflame against the blue and white of the sky. It was so beautiful it was almost like we had somehow landed in a fairy tale.
We just sat there in total silence, surrounded by the wonderland of roses. Then John spoke.
- I wanted to bring you here to tell you a story. In the past this island was barren. There were some trees here, but that´s about it. A young fisherman lived here. You can see his little house over there.
John pointed at a little house behind the trees.
- One day he met a girl he wanted to marry. But he knew no young woman would want to live so far away from the shore on such a barren island. But he was a fisherman and knew no other way to make a living so he would have to stay on the island.
John smiled.
- Love is a mighty thing… This your fisherman decided he would make the island beautiful enough to the young woman in question. He made a plan. He bought a beautiful rose and some earth and brought them to this island. He planted the little rose and took the best care of it - and when the next summer came he noticed a big flower bud. When it began to open, he took his boat, fetched the girl and took her to see the beautiful rose. It had just opened, a deep red beautiful rose - the only speck of color on the island. He asked her to marry him and told he would love and take care of her, just like he had taken care of the delicate rose. He would make her life beautiful. She answered there was no need for roses - life was beautiful to her just because he was there.
And so they married. Years passed and they were young no more. They raised their children, they worked together. Life was hard but they were happy.
The fisherman never forgot his promise. From the day she said yes to his proposal, when ever he went out with his boat, he returned with a bucket of earth. When he got some extra money , he always bought her roses - and saplings. They planted them, the trees and the roses, one at a time, all over the island. And so this rocky island turned into a most beautiful garden.
The fisherman and his wife passed away many years ago already, but their roses are still here. They tell the story of their love - and remind us all what you can achieve if you put your mind to it. One step at a time.
John stopped talking. We didn´t want to say anything because that might break the spell of this enchanted island.
- When you say we won´t make it because we didn´t get one loan - think of this island. Think of the young man who started carrying the earth and roses here. This whole island was turned into a rose garden one bucket at a time. Thousands of buckets of earth from all around the lake. He and his wife made this island what it is. The Rose Island.
- One step at a time… I said and John nodded.
- So how about it? Are we going to give in - or shall we start carrying buckets of earth?
We decided we would carry the buckets. And there was nothing wrong with John´s car - he simply had decided to show us an example of succeeding by taking it one step at a time.
It took us over a year of hard work but we made it. Once I asked John how he learned of the story of the fisherman and his wife. He showed me a faded sepia photograph on the wall. An old couple was posing in a studio. He had an old fashioned suit, she wore a scarf.
- My great grandparents, he said, - His name was John. Can you guess what her name was?
I looked at what she was holding in her hands. A big… And I guessed right.
- Rose.
Words of Affirmation
It was a Monday morning. A dark, wet Noveber morning when it seemed like it would take a million years to get to summer again. So dark I was sure I did not even remember what summer looked like anymore. And no affirmation seemed to work. I thought bears got it right - what a perfect idea to sleep through the lousiest part of the year and wake up when spring came!
I got into a conversation with a coworker about this when I got to work.
- You don't think words of affirmation work? He asked me.
- Today - no.
- I used to think so too, he said, - Until I realized the effect my words had on a certain person.
- What do you mean?
- Well, it was someone I knew pretty well. I have to say I treated him rather badly.
- You? But you are always so positive! How did you treat him badly?
- I told him I did not like anything about him, really. I looked at him and said he had grown a belly. That his face was sagging. His hair was thinning. I told him I did not even like his name.
I could not find words. I just did not believe him. He could see what I was thinking and nodded.
- I swear this is true. You can imagine what it did to his self esteem. If we hear such negative affirmations about ourselves, we tend to believe them, don't you agree?
Well I sure agreed.
- I still cannot believe you! I said, - You are always encouraging others. How can it be possible you would have said such words to anyone you know?
- Such words and even more, he nodded, - Now I am not proud of myself, but I thought this would be useful for you to know when you wonder if words of affirmation work.It wasn't only what I said - I also did pretty bad things to him. When he was feeling low, I did not want to sympathize but told him he should snap out of it and play cheerful. When he was hungry I did not give him a chance to eat proper food. When he felt like doing something fun I said to him that he was being childish and having fun was not productive. After all he was always short on cash so obviously he was a lazy worker.
- No...
- And worst of all - when he was sick and needed care, I did not care. I told him to get up and get to work. And when he did, I never told him he did good work. Oh no, I only told him he could do better.
I knew my coworker had been a boss at a smaller firm before. But still - surely he would never have behaved in such a way towards his employees?
- You could say I was ashamed of him, he said, - I wanted to get rid of him because he just wasn't good enough for me - but couldn't.
- But… That was heartless!
He nodded.
- I agree. I was a horrible person. I was cruel towards him. And I could see the effect of my words on him. He was depressed most of the time, tried to drown his sorrows by watching TV, drinking too much and calling in sick when ever he could.
- Well no wonder! I exclaimed, - But I have to say I never would have believed you could behave in such a way!
- Then one day it all changed, he said.
- What happened?
- I stood there in front of the bathroom mirror one morning. I saw the dark circles under his eyes, I saw the excess weight. I saw the hair that needed cutting. And I saw the eyes that once had looked at the world eagerly. Now they were so sad and tired. And there and then I realized he deserved better.I knew the time had come to start finding good things about myself.So I told the man whom I had disliked so many years that he was a good person after all. I decided to like every likeable thing about myself and tell it to myself too.
My jaw dropped.
- Yes. The man I disliked all those years was me. When I started working on liking myself, and telling that to myself every morning in front of the bathroom mirror, miracles began to happen. I reversed the negativity of the past. Positive words of affirmation have had a great effect!
I looked at him - full of positive energy, in good shape, always ready to encourage others.
- Wow…
He winked his eye.
- So how about having a little positive conversation with the bathroom mirror? The person in there has the greatest effect on you!
Ok, I agree - it sure feels odd to smile at your own reflection in the mirror - at first. But take a habit of it and see the results. Tell yourself aloud what a great person you are. Repeat the words of affirmation so many times you feel an emotional effect. Convince yourself. Encourage yourself. And keep doing it. Because it really is so that the person in the bathroom mirror is the one whose words of affirmation you believe the most. So work together with him/her to make yourself feel better about yourself!
You Sure Are Lucky...
It was a hot, muggy August afternoon, and I had every reason to feel sorry for myself. A comedy of hassles began with the normal airport security gauntlet, followed by a random drug test, and a missed flight home due to a number of mechanical, weather and late inbound flight problems. Now my flight home was full and late.
During the usual pandemonium at the gate, I noticed a 5-year-old boy standing by his mother and watching me. He looked at me, then my bag, then back at me.
Cautiously, he left his mother's side and slowly began to walk toward me, glancing between my bag, his mother, and me.
"Great," I thought, "now I have to baby-sit a 5-year-old. My day is now complete."
As he came closer, I was both relieved and alarmed that it wasn't me he was after. It was my hat!
I started to tell him not to bother my things, but something made me stop and watch. He stopped in front of my bag, looking at my hat, then up at me.
With wide eyes, he gently touched the bill of my hat. Running his index finger slowly along the edge, carefully touching the emblem.
Again, he looked up at me, now smiling, but saying nothing. I asked him if he would like to wear my captain hat.
He excitedly nodded his head, still smiling. I placed my hat on his head, but it fell down around his ears. He didn't seem to mind and held it up in the proper position with both hands. He ran to show his mother, then back to me still smiling from ear to ear.
With much reverence and ceremony, he slowly removed my hat with both hands and presented it to me as though it were the crown jewels.
I put my hat on and gave him an airplane card. This, too, he held with both hands in awe.
After this exchange, he still hadn't spoken, although I knew he was excited. I also was happy that I had been briefly distracted from my self-pity fest.
Still holding the card carefully with both hands, he looked up at me and said, "Mister, you sure are lucky."
"Yes," I said, "I sure am."
I contemplated the wisdom of a 5-year-old, as I got the last seat on that flight home.