To Look

to look up and not down,
To look forward and not back,
To look out and not in, and
To lend a hand.

~ Edward Everett Hale

Perspective

The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty wasted thirty years of his life.

~Muhammad Ali

Perspective

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.


~Richard Bach

Times Like These

In times like these, it helps to remember that there have always been times like these.

~Pail Harvey

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

Two angels on their travels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were shooed out of sight and given a small space in the cold basement. 

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and quietly repaired it. When the younger angel asked why he would do a kindness to fix the home a family that had treated them so poorly, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem."

The next day the angels continued on their travels and that night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food the couple had with the angels, they let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.
The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him, the angel accused. The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die. "Things aren't always what they seem," the older Angel replied. 

"When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. It will remain there until someday, a future, and hopefully more deserving owner will find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer's bed, the angel of death came for his wife. Rather than let him take the woman who had so generously given so much, I gave him the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem." 

The lesson is that things when things seem to have gone wrong or not to have turned out the way you feel they should, step back and be patient.  You may just need to trust that everything happens for a reason, and right now, you cannot see the reason, even if it is there.  It will be evident later.

A Great Pitcher

The son in little league had been bragging to his father about what a great batter he was.  Finally the father said "OK son, show me."
All excited, the young boy grabbed his bat and ball and they went out to the back yard. The father stood off to the side as the son threw the ball up in the air and swung with all his might.
"Strike one" he said as he missed the ball completely.
"Strike two" he said when he missed again. Then he threw the ball up again, knowing his father was watching, and swung as hard as he could. "Strike three" he said when he hit nothing but air. The boy paused a moment, and then looked at his father and said "Boy dad, am I a great pitcher or what?!"

The lesson here is about perspective.  We don't always have the results we want, but we can change our perspective on the outcomes and still have a positive attitude.

It's How We See It...

One day a father and his rich family took his son to a trip to the country with the purpose of showing him how poor people can be. He wanted him to understand how blessed they were.

They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip the father asked his son, "What did you think of the trip?"

"It was great Dad!" the son replied.

"Did you understand now, how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah!" said the son.

"And what did you learn?" asked the father.

The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, but they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden, but they have the sky lit with the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, but they have a field and the whole horizon."  On and on the boy went listing all the thing the family "had". He finished saying "Thanks Dad for showing me how rich they are and poor we really are!"

The lesson here reminds us how powerful perspective can be.  What one person see's as poor another see's as rich.  All we need to do is shift our perspective and realize what riches we have in our lives.