POSITIVE QUOTES

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Comment by Annulusgear on June 4, 2008 at 11:37pm

A friend sent me this one ...
THE OLD FISHERMAN

Our house was directly across the street from the
clinic entrance of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms

to out-patients at the Clinic.

One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there

was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly

awful looking man. 'Why, he's hardly taller than my
eight-year-old,' I thought as I stared at the stooped,
shriveled body.

But the appalling thing was his face, lopsided from
swelling, red and raw.... Yet his voice was pleasant

as he said, 'Good evening. I've come to see if you've

a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this

morning from the eastern shore, and there's no bus

'till morning.'

He told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon
but with no success; no one seemed to have a room.

'I guess it's my face. I know it looks terrible, but my

doctor says with a few more treatments...'

For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced

me: 'I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch.

My bus leaves early in the morning.' I told him we would

find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside

and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked

the old man if he would join us. 'No thank you. I have

plenty'. And heheld up a brown paper bag.

When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch

to talk with him a few minutes. It didn't take a long time

to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded

into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to
support his daughter, her five children and her husband,

who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.

He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other

sentence was prefaced with thanks to God for a blessing.

He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease,

which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked

God for giving him the strength to keep going.

At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children's room
for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens

were neatly folded, and the little man was out on the

porch.

He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his
bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said,
'Could I please come back and stay the next time I
have a treatment? I won't put you out a bit. I can

sleep fine in a chair.' He paused a moment and then

added, 'Your children made me feel at home. Grownups

are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to

mind.' I told him he was welcome to come again.

And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven
in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and

a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He

said he had shucked them that morning before he

left so that they'd be nice and fresh. I knew his bus

left at 4 a.m., and I wondered what time he had to

get up in order to do this for us.

In the years he came to stay overnight with us there
was never a time that he did not bring us fish, oysters

or vegetables from his garden.

Other times we received packages in the mail, always
by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of

fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed.

Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these and

knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly
precious.

When I received these little remembrances, I often thought

of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left

that first morning. 'Did you keep that awful looking man

last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by
putting up such people!'

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice But, oh! If only

they could have known him, perhaps their illness would

have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be

grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it
was to accept the bad without complaint and the good

with gratitude to God.

Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse. As

she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful

one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms.

But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented,

rusty bucket. I thought to myself, 'If this were my plant,

I'd put it in the loveliest container I had!'

My friend changed my mind. 'I ran short of pots,' she
explained, 'and knowing how beautiful this one would be,

I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail. It's

just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden.'

She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly,
but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. There's

an especially beautiful one,' God might have said when

he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. 'He won't

mind starting in this small body.'

All this happened long ago -- and now, in God's garden,

how tall this lovely soul must stand.

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD

looks at the heart.'

Friends are very special.

They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.

They lend an ear and they share a word of praise.
Show your friends how much you care.

Pass this on, and brighten someone's day.
Nothing will happen if you do not decide to pass it

along. The only thing that will happen if you do pass

it on is that someone might smile ~ because of you!

Comment by Annulusgear on June 4, 2008 at 11:21pm

THINGS WE CAN LEARN FROM A DOG

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
Take naps and stretch before rising.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.
No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout -- run right back and make friends.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Comment by Annulusgear on June 4, 2008 at 11:15pm

Cookiesairport.pps

Comment by Annulusgear on June 4, 2008 at 11:11pm

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a
well. The animal cried piteously for hours as
the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old and the
well needed to be covered up anyway;
it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and
help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began
to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the
donkey realized what was happening and cried
horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he
quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally
looked down the well. He was astonished at what
he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his
back, the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel
dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it
off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey
stepped up over the edge of the well and
happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds
of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well
is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of
our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out
of the deepest wells just by not stopping,
never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.

Live simply and appreciate what you have.

Give more.

Expect less


NOW ......

Enough of that crap . . . The donkey later came back
and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him.
The gash from the bite got infected and
the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.


MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON:

When you do something wrong and try to cover
your ass, it always comes back to bite you.

Comment by SUZIQJO on May 31, 2008 at 5:41am

Comment by SUZIQJO on May 15, 2008 at 9:03pm

Comment by SUZIQJO on May 15, 2008 at 9:01pm

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.
-- Robert Frost

Comment by SUZIQJO on May 15, 2008 at 8:59pm

We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.
-- George Bernard Shaw

Comment by Jim Evans on April 24, 2008 at 5:11pm

"Character will Take You Where Talent Only Dreams of Going"
Jim Evans Sept 4 2007

Comment by John Heckerman/ johnsinger on April 16, 2008 at 1:33pm

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.
Brian Tracy

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