NEW BEGINNINGS

New Beginnings  

How often we wish for another chance
To make a fresh beginning.
A change to blot out our mistakes
And change failure into winning.

It does not take a special time
To make a brand-new start,
It only takes the deep desire
To try with all our heart.

To live a little better,
To always be forgiving.
To add a little sunshine,
In a world for which we're living.

Never give up in despair
Nor think you are through,
For there's always a tomorrow,
"A chance to start a new."

Helen Steiner Rice

ABOUT GEESE

"About Geese"

When you look to the sky this fall and see the geese
migrating South, remember the following:

When you see geese flying in a "V" formation, you might
be interested in knowing what scientists have discovered
about why they fly that way.

FACT: As each bird flaps its wings it creates an uplift for
the bird immediately following. By flying in a "V" formation,
the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range
than if each bird flew on its own.

TRUTH: People who share a common direction and sense
of community can get where they are going quicker and
easier because they are traveling on the trust of one another.

2. FACT: Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly
feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and
quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the
lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

TRUTH: There is strength and power and safety in numbers
when traveling in the same direction with whom we share a
common goal.

3. FACT: When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in
the wing and another goose flies point.

TRUTH: It pays to take turns doing hard jobs.

4. FACT: The geese honk from behind to encourage those
up front to keep up their speed.

TRUTH: We all need to be remembered with active support
and praise.

5. FACT: When a goose gets sick or is wounded and falls out,
two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help
and protect him. They stay with him until the crisis resolves,
and then they launch out on their own or with another formation
to catch up with their group.

TRUTH: We must stand by each other in times of need.


We Are Fortunate That There Are More Geese In Life Than
Turkeys. Let's Remember To Uphold Each Other In Friendship
And Give Each Other A Big "Honk"  More Often!!!

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

               

 

 

 

 

 

 

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
IN YOUR WORLD

It's not how much you accomplish in life
that really counts,
but how much you give to others.
It's not how high you build your dreams
that makes a difference,
but how high your faith can climb.
It's not how many goals you reach,
but how many lives you touch.
It's not who you know that matters,
but who you are inside.

Believe in the impossible,
hold tight to the incredible,
and live each day to its fullest potential.
You can make a difference in your world.
-Rebecca Barlow Jordan

THE MEANING OF PEACE

      

 

The Meaning of Peace

There was once a king who offered a prize to the artist who
could paint the best picture of peace.  Many artists tried.
The king looked at all the pictures, but there were only two
that he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake.  The lake was a perfect mirror
for the peaceful towering mountains all around it.  Overhead was
a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.  All who saw this picture
thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The second picture had mountains, too.  But these were rugged
and bare.  Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in
which lightening played.  Down the side of the mountain tumbled
a foaming waterfall.  This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny
bush growing in a crack in the rock.  In the bush a mother bird
had built her nest.... a perfect picture of peace.

Which of the pictures won the prize?

The king chose the second picture.

Do you know why?

"Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a
place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.
Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be
calm in your heart.  That is the real meaning of peace."

That is the REAL meaning of peace.

~Author Unknown~

IF TOMORROW STARTS WITHOUT ME

        

 If Tomorrow starts without me....

A few weeks ago a woman teacher was killed in an auto accident.  She was
very, very well liked, so the school systems shut down for her funeral and
it was on the news and so on.

On the day the workers came back to work, they found this poem in their
e-mail that the deceased woman had sent on Friday before she left for home.

If tomorrow starts without me,
And I'm not there to see,
If the sun should rise and find your eyes all filled with tears for me;
I wish so much you wouldn't cry the way you did today,
While thinking of the many things, we didn't get to say.
I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
And each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too;
But when tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And took me by the hand,
And said my place was ready,
In heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind;
All those I dearly love.
But as I turned to walk away,
A tear fell from my eye
For all my life, I'd always thought,
I didn't want to die.
I had so much to live for, So much left yet to do,
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.
I thought of all the yesterdays,
The good ones and the bad,
I thought of all the love we shared,
And all the fun we had.
If I could relive yesterday,
Just even for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.
But then I fully realized,
That this could never be,
For emptiness and memories,
Would take the place of me.
And when I thought of worldly things,
I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did,
My heart was filled with sorrow.
But when I walked through heaven's gates,
I felt so much at home.
When God looked down and smiled at me,
From His great golden throne,
He said, "This is eternity, And all I've promised you."
Today your life on earth is past,
But herelife starts anew.
I promise no tomorrow, But today will always last,
And since each day's the same way,
There's no longing for the past.
You have been so faithful, So trusting and so true.
Though there were times you did some things,
You knew you shouldn't do.
But you have been forgiven, And now at last you're free.
So won't you come and take my hand, And share my life with me?
So when tomorrow starts without me, Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me, I'm right here, in your
heart.

TWENTY DOLLAR BILL

              "$20 Bill"

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding
up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would
like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this
$20 to one of you but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked,
"Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?"?

And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into
the floor with his shoe. crumpled and dirty.

"Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because
it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times
in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the
dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that
come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no
matter what has happened or what will happen, you will
never lose your value in God's eyes.

To God, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are
still priceless.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING   Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in South Philly. 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 always reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always 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 Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all the time. How do you do it?"   Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today, I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood. I always 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 always 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 always choose the positive side of life."
"But it's not always that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is," Jerry 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. It's your choice how you live your life."


Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: he left the back door of his restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital. After 8 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared?" I asked.   Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room 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 nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "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, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it. The only thing that is truly yours --that no one can control or take from you -- is your attitude, so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.