WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

Author Anonymous

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately

wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little

things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always

talk to, and I learned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I

learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing,

and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn' t

feel good, and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things

hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and

productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you and wanted to say,'Thanks for all the things I saw when

you thought I wasn't looking."

LITTLE EYES SEE A LOT .

Each of us (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, & friend) influences the life of a child.

*How will you touch the life of someone today?*

*Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

Mount Everest

By Brian Cavanaugh

Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount Everest. On May 29, 1953 he scaled the highest mountain then known to man-29,000 feet straight up. He was knighted for his efforts.

He even made American Express card commercials because of it! However, until we read his book, High Adventure, we don’t understand that Hillary had to grow into this success.

You see, in 1952 he attempted to climb Mount Everest, but failed. A few weeks later a group in England asked him to address its members.

Hillary walked on stage to a thunderous applause. The audience was recognizing an attempt at greatness, but Edmund Hillary saw himself as a failure. He moved away from the microphone and walked to the edge of the platform.

He made a fist and pointed at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice, “Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I’ll beat you the next time because you’ve grown all you are going to grow… but I’m still growing!”

Dog ranover by a Car

Author Anonymous

Today, after I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side of the road holding him and crying. And just before he died, he licked the tears off my face. MMT

Building Your House

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by. 

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career. 

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, "This is your house... my gift to you."

The carpenter was shocked! 

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. 

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the "house" you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!

Believe in Yourself

There may be days when you get up in the morning and things aren’t the way you had hoped they would be.
That’s when you have to tell yourself that things will get better. There are times when people disappoint you and let you down.

But those are the times when you must remind yourself to trust your own judgments and opinions, to keep your life focused on believing in yourself.

There will be challenges to face and changes to make in your life, and it is up to you to accept them.
Constantly keep yourself headed in the right direction for you. It may not be easy at times, but in those times of struggle you will find a stronger sense of who you are.

So when the days come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities, remember to believe in yourself and all you want your life to be.

Because the challenges and changes will only help you to find the goals that you know are meant to come true for you.

Keep Believing in Yourself!

You Can Make A Difference

Author Unknown

A top business leader who made waves in the Information Technology industry was on a business trip to Tokyo. He was always very humble and shared all his success with his employees. After all his meetings, he went to a shopping mall to buy chocolates and gifts to his employees back in his country.

As he entered the mall a little lady gave a warm smile and welcomed him,he was very touched, felt good, and was not able to forget the warmth in her smile. He was noticing her as he was shopping; she was giving the same smile to all the customers who walked into the mall.*

*The business leader started wondering if she was every fed up doing the same thing again and again, he walked up to her and asked, “My dear lady, are you not tired of doing this job, and how long have you been doing this?”

*The lady smiled and said, ” No sir, I am working here from the last 10 years and I like my job.”

The business leader was shocked and asked, ” Why you have been doing this for 10 years, and why do you like your job?"

The lady smiled again and said, ” Sir, because I am serving my country.”*

This was a little amusing for the business leader. He said,” You are serving your country by smiling?”

The little lady said, “Yes sir, I smile and all the customers coming to the mall fell happy and relaxed. They shop more, my boss is happy, and pays me more. Since I am paid more, I can take care of my family. Since I can take care if my family, they are happy. As all the customers buy from us, the demand for goods is more and since the demand is more, there are many factories. Since there are many factories there are many jobs. Since there are jobs, people in the country are happy.

As most of our customers are foreigners, there is foreign exchange. Since there is foreign exchange, our country has lot of money and is richer every day. And people like you who are happy with our service visit our country more often and some time you will tell your family and friends too. My country gets more visitors, more money, more jobs and has more happy people. That’s how I serve my country.”*

Amazed with her attitude, the business leader thanked her and came back to his country. He worked hard to incorporate the same attitude among his employees, and today his company is one of the best companies in the world.

Growing Old or Growing Up

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.

I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being..

She said, 'Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?'

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, 'Of course you may!' and she gave me a giant squeeze..

'Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?' I asked.

She jokingly replied, 'I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids...'

'No seriously,' I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

'I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!' she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this 'time machine' as she shared her wisdom and experience with me..

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, 'I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.'

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, ' We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody! Can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets..'

She concluded her speech by courageously singing 'The Rose.'

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those months ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they'll really enjoy it!

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.

We make a Living by what we get. We make a Life by what we give.

Faith

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge. The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river." The little girl said, "No, Dad. You hold my hand." "What's the difference?" asked the puzzled father. "There's a big difference," replied the little girl. "If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go." 

The promise of an Ox

Motivation can do wonders..

By Vinod Bidwaik

There lived a very poor Brahmin. He got one calf in gift. After few years it grew up to in a strong ox. The Brahmin had no family. He was also very old now and he use to think that he will die in this poor state only. One day this ox said to his owner, “Master! You have brought me up like your own son. I have not done anything for you. Now, I would like to do something for you that bring you some money.

The Brahmin wondered, still he asked, “ How it is possible?” The ox said, “ Master! You tell all the villagers that I can drag a Bullock Cart loaded with 100 bags of 40 Kgs each.  You bet with them. Put a bet of Rs 10 against Rs1. Tell them that they if get 10 rupees against each one rupees if I could not drag the bullock cart. Nobody will believe you. But I promise that you will win the bet and become rich”. Brahmin became very happy and he announced at all places. The villagers could not believe that an ox can pull such a weight. So, the villagers agreed to bet immediately.

The day of bet arrived. 100 bags of loaded rice were stocked in the Bullock Cart. The poor ox kept trying and trying but the bullock cart did not move an inch. The Brahmin started to curse and abuse the ox. The ox became sad. Brahmin lost the bet and he has to give away all possessions he had. Looking at the condition of his master ox had tears in his eyes. The Brahmin shouted at ox, “Why are you crying now. Its me who should cry.”

The ox said, “Master! You did not behave well with me. You shouted at me. I was about to pull the bullock cart but you started to abuse me. That’s why I am crying. After listening to your harsh words I lost my courage and we lost the bet.” Brahmin immediately realized his mistake. Then the ox said, “Believe me sir. This time I will pull the Bullock Cart loaded with 200 bags of 40 Kgs each.  You bet with the villagers. Put a bet of Rs 20 against Rs1. After lots of thought, the Brahmin agreed to take the biggest risk in his life to bet. Villagers thought that this Brahmin has gone mad and yet they agreed to bet again.

Next Sunday the crowd gathered. 200 bags of loaded rice were stocked in the Bullock Cart. The ox tried hard to pull the bullock cart. Even after 5 minutes of try he could not move the bullock cart. Villagers thought that again this Brahmin would loose the bet. Now the Brahmin went near to his ox and said, “ Son! This is a tuff job, but I have full faith on you that you can do it. Try once more.”

After listening to such words of praise and faith the ox tried once more with all his energy and the much-awaited amazement happened, the bullock cart started to move. Everybody was surprised. Brahmin won the bet and became very rich in few moments.

Morale:

If you trust people, people will keep your trust. Motivation can do wonders.