What You Are Is As Important As What You Do

What You Are Is As Important As What You Do
by: Patricia Fripp, A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in Oklahoma City. My friend and proud father Bobby Lewis was taking his two little boys to play miniature golf. He walked up to the fellow at the ticket counter and said, "How much is it to get in?"

The young man replied, "$3.00 for you and $3.00 for any kid who is older than six. We let them in free if they are six or younger. How old are they?"

Bobby replied, "The lawyer's three and the doctor is seven, so I guess I owe you $6.00."

The man at the ticket counter said, "Hey, Mister, did you just win the lottery or something? You could have saved yourself three bucks. You could have told me that the older one was six; I wouldn't have known the difference." Bobby replied, "Yes, that may be true, but the kids would have known the difference."

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Who you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying." In challenging times when ethics are more important than ever before, make sure you set a good example for everyone you work and live with.

Power of One

Author Unknown, Source Unknown

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 a prayer
One hope will raise our spirits
One touch can show you care
One voice can speak with wisdom
One heart can know what is true
One Life can make a difference

When I asked God for.....

When I Asked God for Strength He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brain & Brown He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Peace He Showed Me How to Help Others

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted He Gave Me Everything I Needed.

Comfort Zone

Comfort Zone
by: Author Unknown, Source Unknown

I use to have a Comfort Zone
Where I knew I couldn't fail
The same four walls of busy work
Were really more like jail.

I longed so much to do the things
I'd never done before,
But I stayed inside my Comfort Zone
And paced the same old floor

I said it didn't matter,
That I wasn't doing much
I said I didn't care for things
Like diamonds, furs and such

I claimed to be so busy
With the things inside my zone,
But ddep inside I longed for
Something special of my own.

I couldn't let my life go by,
Just watching others win.
I held my breath and stepped outside
And let the change begin.

I took a step and with new strength
I'd never felt before,
I kissed my Comfort Zone "goodbye"
And closed and locked the door.

If you are in a Comfort Zone,
Afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners were
At one time filled with doubt.

A step or two and words of praise,
Can make your dreams come true.
Greet your future with a smile,
Success is there for you!

Learn from Mistakes

Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, "All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing."

Edison replied very confidently, "Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We now that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb."

Two Choices

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a
good mood and always has something positive to say. When
someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I
were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator. If an employee was havinga bad
day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the
positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to
Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive
person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself,
'Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a
good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to
be in a good mood.

"Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim
or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

"Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to
accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of
life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it isn't that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," Michael said. Life is all about choices. When you
cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose
how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect
your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. "The
bottom line is: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the tower
industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often
thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of
reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a
serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications
tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care,
Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his
back.

I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked
him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins.
Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone
through his mind as the accident took place. "The first thing that
went through my mind was the well being of my soon-to-be-
born daughter," Michael
replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had
two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I
chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

Michael continued, "The paramedics were great.They kept
telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me
into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors
and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead
man.' I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse
shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was
allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses
stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep
breath and yelled, 'Gravity.' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I
am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because
of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we
have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Fifteen Things God Won’t Ask

God won’t ask what kind of car you drove, but will ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation.

God won’t ask the square footage of your house, but will ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

God won’t ask about the fancy clothes you had in your closet, but will ask how many of those clothes helped the needy.

God won’t ask about your social status, but will ask what kind of class you displayed.

God won’t ask how many material possessions you had, but will ask if they dictated your life.

God won’t ask what your highest salary was, but will ask if you compromised your character to obtain that salary.

God won’t ask how much overtime you worked, but will ask if you worked overtime for your family and loved ones.

God won’t ask how many promotions you received, but will ask how you promoted others.

God won’t ask what your job title was, but will ask if you reformed your job to the best of your ability.

God won’t ask what you did to help yourself, but will ask what you did to help others.

God won’t ask how many friends you had, but will ask how many people to whom you were a true friend.

God won’t ask what you did to protect your rights, but will ask what you did to protect the rights of others.

God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, but will ask how you treated your neighbors.

God won’t ask about the color of your skin, but will ask about the content of your character.

God won’t ask how many times your deeds matched your words, but will ask how many times they didn’t.

Are you making the most of your time?

I came across this quote today:

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot,”

Michael Althsuler.

I like the sound of that!

Author Unkown

One hundred years from now
It will not matter
What kind of car I drove,
What kind of house I lived in,
How much I had in my bank
Nor what my clothes looked like.
One hundred years from now
It will not matter
What kind of school I attended,
What kind of typewriter I used,
How large or small my church,
But the world may be …
a little better because…
I was important in the life of a child.