Count Your Blessings, Not Your Problems

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 continued, "what if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now 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: dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you." "The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but in WHO WE ARE. You are special. Don't ever forget it."

Count your blessings, not your problems.

A complaint received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:

"This is the second time I have written you, and I don't blame you for not answering me, because what I have to say sounds kind of crazy.

"But it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of ice cream for dessert after dinner each night. but the kind of ice cream varies. so, every night, after we've eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. "It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem. You see, every time I buy vanilla ice cream, when I start back from the store my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. "I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds: 'What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?'"

The Pontiac president was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well-educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn't start. The engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, the man got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.

Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: he jotted down all sorts of data, time of day, type of gas used, time to drive back and forth, etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store.

Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to find the flavor and get checked out. Now the question for the engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time. Once time became the problem -- not the vanilla ice cream -- the engineer quickly came up with the answer: vapor lock. It was happening every night, but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

Often, we must look deeper than the obvious to find the real problem.

If You Can...

Then, my friend, you are almost as good as your dog.

One Reader's Perspective On Valentine's Day...

The cup of coffee with a kiss in the morning is romantic. Walking with me, not 500 feet ahead of me, is romantic. Even watching TV while holding hands is romantic.

What do we need one day for, when we have 365."

~ By Anna DeSantis (mailto:Ateera@aol.com),
J and M House of Gifts (http://www.jandmhg.com)

This month my words of wisdom are simply enjoy the holidays and keep in mind the REAL reason for the season. Enjoy the time off and spend time with family and loved ones.

The following is taken from a Nepalese Tantra. Hope you find it worth reading and sharing! Good input if you're looking for a New Year's resolution!

Instructions for Life:

• Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
• Memorize your favorite poem.
• Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or loaf all you want.
• When you say, "I love you," mean it.
• When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
• Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
• Believe in love at first sight.
• Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
• Love deeply and passionately. You may get hurt, but it's the only way to live life completely.
• In disagreements, fight fairly. No name-calling.
• Don't judge people by their relatives, or by the life they were born into.
• Teach yourself to speak slowly but think quickly.
• When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
• Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
• Call a relative.
• Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
• When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
• Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.
• Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
• When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
• Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
• Marry a person you love to talk to. As you get older, his/her conversational skills will be even more important.
• Spend some time alone.
• Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
• Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Words of 'Witdom'

• No one is listening until you make a mistake.
• Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
• Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
• It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
• If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
• If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.
• You can't strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
• Who gossips to you will gossip of you.
• When someone says, "Do you want my opinion?" - it's always a negative one.
• The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent.
• The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.
• Scientists say 1 out of every 4 people is crazy. Check 3 friends, if they are OK, you're it.
• Pain and suffering is inevitable but misery is optional.

Wisdom

Too often we get so wrapped up in our work that we forget about the important things in life. Off the Cuff is dedicated to help remind us of our priorities and to laugh, have fun, and enjoy the world and the people around us at work and at home.

Wisdom:

One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz" and he pulled out a one gallon, wide mouth mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The time management expert replied, "Really?"

He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered.

"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" "No!" the class shouted. Once again he said "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things in it!"

"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the big rocks in your lifetime? Your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others?

Remember to put these big rocks in first, or you'll never get them in at all."

Great Value in Disaster

Thomas Edison's laboratory was virtually destroyed by fire in December, 1914. Although the damage exceeded $2 million, the buildings were only insured for $238,000 because they were made of concrete and thought to be fireproof. Much of Edison's life's work went up in spectacular flames that December night.

At the height of the fire, Edison's 24-year old son, Charles, frantically searched for his father among the smoke and debris. He finally found him, calmly watching the scene,his face glowing in the reflection, his white hair blowing in the wind.

"My heart ached for him," said Charles. "He was 67 - no longer a young man - and everything was going up in flames. When he saw me, he shouted, "Charles, where's your mother?" When I told him I didn't know, he said, "Find her. Bring her here. She will never see anything like this as long as she lives."

The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins and said, "There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew."

Three weeks after the fire, Edison managed to deliver his first phonograph.

By The Sower's Seeds from A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen