F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,"Oh excuse me please" was my reply.He said, "Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you."We were very polite, this stranger and I.We went on our way and we said goodbye.But at home a different story is told, How we treat our loved ones, young and old.Later that day, cooking the evening meal,My son stood beside me very still.When I turned, I nearly knocked him down. "Move out of the way," I said with a frown.He walked away, his little heart broken.I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said,"While dealing with a stranger,common courtesy you use,but the family you love, you seem to abuse.Go and look on the kitchen floor,You'll find some flowers there by the door.Those are the flowers he brought for you.He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."By this time, I felt very small,And now my tears began to fall.I quietly went and knelt by his bed;"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said."Are these the flowers you picked for me?"He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay.I love you anyway."I said, "Son, I love you too,and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."FAMILYAre you aware that if we died tomorrow, the companythat we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.And come to think of it, we pour ourselves moreinto work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed,don't you think?So what is behind the story?Do you know what the word FAMILY means?FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

Positive Attitude

Positive Attitude
Steve 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, would reply,
"If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, Steve 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 Steve and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a
positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Steve replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself,
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. Choose the positive side of life.
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is," Steve 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 affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."
I reflected on what Steve 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 Steve was involved in
a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications
tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care,
Steve was released from the hospital with rods placed in
his back.
I saw Steve 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 I 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," Steve 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.
Steve 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 expresions 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 Steve. "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."Steve 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.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own." After all today is
the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
Moses closed Deuteronomy with this advice: choose life.
You have two choices now:
1. Delete this.
2. Forward it to the people you care about.
You know the choice I made.
Enjoy each day, each breath and mostly--each and every friend