Happy Thoughts: July

Inspirational Gems

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Time to Sing When eyes see beauty<br />
And ears hear laughter<br />
When the senses awaken to the day’s fresh fragrances<br />
When mouths speak only kind and guiding words<br />
When arms embrace<br />
When hands help<br />
When fingers no longer point<br />
When legs march only for peace<br />
When feet dance in joy<br />
When minds unite to create good<br />
And there is respect for all<br />
Then the heart and soul will sing with love.</div>

Inspirational Gems

Time to Sing When eyes see beauty And ears hear laughter When the senses awaken to the day’s fresh fragrances When mouths speak only k...

HOW GOD WORKS

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A daughter was telling her mother how everything was going wrong. “I am failing Algebra. My boyfriend just broke up with me, and my best friend is moving away,” she wailed. </div>
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Her mom listened patiently, and then asked, “I made a cake for dinner. Would you like a snack?” The girl grinned and said, “Sure, Mom. I love your cake.” The mom smiled and asked, “How about some cooking oil?” The daughter looked surprised at the offer and responded with a loud “Yuk!” The mom tried again, “How about a couple of raw eggs?” With a look of confusion, the daughter said, “Gross, Mom!” With a smile, the mother offered, “Would you like some flour or maybe a cup of baking soda?” The daughter responded, “Mom, all of those things are gross!”</div>
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As the mother handed a piece of cake to her daughter, she explained, “Honey, all of those things seem bad when you think about eating them alone, but when they are put together in the right way, they make a delicious cake.” God often works the same way. We sometimes wonder why He allows us to go through such difficult times, but when God puts those hard times together as only He can, they work out for our good. We just have to trust Him to do so.</div>
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HOW GOD WORKS

A daughter was telling her mother how everything was going wrong. “I am failing Algebra. My boyfriend just broke up with me, and my best...

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

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<b>1.</b>Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.</div>
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<b>2.</b>Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.</div>
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<b>3.</b>Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. ‘An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.’</div>
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<b>4.</b>Enjoy the simple things. </div>
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<b>5.</b>Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.</div>
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<b>6.</b>The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves (and GOD). Be alive while you are alive.</div>
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<b>7.</b>Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge. </div>
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<b>8.</b>Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.</div>
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<b>9.</b>Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but not to where the guilt is.</div>
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<b>10.</b>Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                                 — Author Unknown </b></div>
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HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them. ...

THE MASTER’S WISDOM

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To a distressed person who came to him for help the Master said, “Do you really want a cure?”</div>
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“If I did not, would I bother to come to you?”</div>
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“Oh yes, most people do.”</div>
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“What for?”</div>
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“Not for a cure. That’s painful. For relief.”</div>
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To his disciples the Master said, “People who want a cure, provided they can have it without pain, are like those who favour progress, provided they can have it without change.”</div>
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When one of the disciples announced his intention of teaching others Truth, the Master proposed a test: “Give a discourse that I myself shall be present at to judge if you are ready.”</div>
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The discourse was an inspiring one. At the end of it, a beggar came up to the speaker, who stood up and gave the man his cloak — to the edification of the assembly.</div>
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Later the Master said, “Your words were full of unction, son, but you are not yet ready.”</div>
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“Why not?” said the dispirited disciple.</div>
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“For two reasons: You did not give the man a chance to voice his need. And you are not above impressing others with your virtue.”</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                              — Anthony de Mello</b></div>
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THE MASTER’S WISDOM

To a distressed person who came to him for help the Master said, “Do you really want a cure?” “If I did not, would I bother to come to...

PEACE

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<b>Buddhism:</b> Perfect peace can dwell only where all vanity has disappeared <i>(The Buddha)</i>.</div>
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<b>Christianity: </b>Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognized as children of God <i>(Matthew 5:9)</i>.</div>
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<b>Hinduism: </b>As rivers flow into the ocean but cannot make the vast ocean overflow, so flows the stream of the sense-world into the sea of peace that is the sage <i>(Bhagavad Gita II, 70)</i>.</div>
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<b>Islam: </b>Whatever good betides you is from God and whatever evil betides you is from your own self <i>(Qur’an 4, 79)</i>.</div>
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<b>Jainism: </b>The force of arms cannot do what peace does. If you can gain your desired end with sugar, why use poison? <i>(Somadeva, Nitivakyamita 344)</i>.</div>
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<b>Sikhism:</b> O, ignorant man, torture not your body as if in a furnace, feed not the fire with your bones, there is nothing wrong; Look within yourself for the Lord, and you will attain peace <i>(Adi Granth I, Shlokas)</i>.</div>
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<b>Zoroastrianism:</b></div>
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In this world may obedience triumph over disobedience,</div>
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May peace triumph over discord,</div>
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May generosity triumph over niggardliness,</div>
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May love triumph over contempt <i>(Yasna 60:5Z)</i>.</div>
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PEACE

Buddhism: Perfect peace can dwell only where all vanity has disappeared (The Buddha) . Christianity: Blessed are the peacemakers: t...

COFFEE [FASCINATING FACTS]

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<li>Coffee is said to have been discovered by a ninth-century Ethiopian farmer, who realized his goats were going crazy over coffee beans.</li>
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<li>Originally coffee was eaten. African tribes mixed coffee berries with fat which formed edible energy balls.</li>
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<li>All coffee in the world grows in the ‘coffee belt’ which is the area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.</li>
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<li>There are 25 species of coffee. Arabica and Robusto are the two main beans used commercially. Columbia and Brazil are the two biggest suppliers of beans worldwide.</li>
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<li>The Dutch drink more coffee than any other nation, an average of 2.414 cups each, every day. </li>
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<li> Coffee is the number two traded commodity in the world (oil is the no.1).</li>
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<li>Coffee is the most popular drink worldwide with over 400 billion cups consumed each year.</li>
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<li>The word Cappuccino comes from the resemblance of the drink to the clothing of the Capuchin monks.</li>
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<li>The world’s most expensive coffee is Kopi Luak, made from beans excreted by civet cats.</li>
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<li>George Washington, a Belgian man living in Guatemala, in 1906 invented instant coffee.</li>
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COFFEE [FASCINATING FACTS]

Coffee is said to have been discovered by a ninth-century Ethiopian farmer, who realized his goats were going crazy over coffee beans. ...

PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE

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People ask me, ‘What is the purpose of life?’ And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.</div>
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I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act — the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practise on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.</div>
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Life is a series of problems: either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character.</div>
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No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.</div>
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God didn’t put you on earth just to fulfil a to-do list. He’s more interested in what you are than what you do. That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                                        — Rick Warren</b></div>
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PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE

People ask me, ‘What is the purpose of life?’ And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last f...

THE LEGACY YOU LEAVE

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All you will leave behind for the world to remember is your legacy. So ask yourself...</div>
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Will you have earned the respect of your peers and the admiration of your critics?</div>
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Will you have acted humbly at the peak of success and gracefully in the face of defeat?</div>
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Will you have kept your childlike wonder and revelled in the beauty of the world and the small miracles that each day brought?</div>
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Will you be remembered for how often you laughed and brought smiles to the hearts of others?</div>
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Will small children and the elderly have been overjoyed to be around you?</div>
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Will others have trusted you with their inner-most secrets?</div>
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Will you have forgiven and offered heartfelt apology?</div>
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Will you have looked for the very best, and done your utmost to build worth, in others?</div>
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Will you have fed a hungry child or clothed a naked man or given hope to a stranger in dire need?</div>
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Will you have left this world a better place by the life you have lived?</div>
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Ask yourself... what legacy will you leave?</div>
<b>                                                                                                                                    — Rick Beneteau </b><br />
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A good character is the best tombstone.  Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered.  Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                           — Charles H. Spurgeon</b></div>
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THE LEGACY YOU LEAVE

All you will leave behind for the world to remember is your legacy. So ask yourself... Will you have earned the respect of your peers ...

WHAT IS DUTY?

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The term “duty”, like every other universal abstract term, is impossible clearly to define. The ordinary idea of duty everywhere is that every good man follows the dictates of his conscience. However, only one idea of duty which has been universally accepted by all mankind, of all ages and sects and countries, and that has been summed up in a Sanskrit aphorism thus: “Do not injure any being; not injuring any being is virtue, injuring any being is sin.”</div>
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The one point we ought to remember is that we should always try to see the duty of others through their own eyes, and never judge the customs of other peoples by our own standard. I am not the standard of the universe. I have to accommodate myself to the world, and not the world to me. So we see that environments change the nature of our duties, and doing the duty which is ours at any particular time is the best thing we can do in this world.</div>
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Duty is seldom sweet. It is only when love greases its wheels that it runs smoothly; it is a continuous friction otherwise. How else could parents do their duties to their children, husbands to their wives, and vice versa? Duty is sweet only through love, and love shines in freedom alone.</div>
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It is the worker who is attached to results that grumbles about the nature of the duty which has fallen to his lot; to the unattached worker all duties are equally good, and form efficient instruments with which selfishness and sensuality may be killed, and the freedom of the soul secured. Let us work on, doing as we go whatever happens to be our duty, and being ever ready to put our shoulders to the wheel. Then surely shall we see the Light!</div>
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<b>                                                                                          - Excerpts from the speech by Vivekananda</b></div>
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WHAT IS DUTY?

The term “duty”, like every other universal abstract term, is impossible clearly to define. The ordinary idea of duty everywhere is that...

KEEP YOUR FORK

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A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live. She asked her Pastor to come to her home to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, and what scriptures she wanted read, and which outfit she wanted to be buried in.</div>
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Then she said, “One more thing... I want to be buried with a fork in my hand.” The pastor was surprised.</div>
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The woman explained, “In all my years of attending Church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably say to everyone, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favourite time of the dinner, because I knew something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie — something wonderful. So, I want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and wonder, ‘What’s with the fork?’ Then, I want you to tell them, ‘Keep your fork, because the best is yet to come.’”</div>
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The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he bid the woman goodbye. At the funeral, when people asked him why she was holding a fork, the pastor told them of the conversation he had with the woman before she died. He said he could not stop thinking about the fork, and knew they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.</div>
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“Keep your fork. The best is yet to come.”</div>
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<b>                                                                                                 — Attributed to Roger William Thomas</b></div>
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KEEP YOUR FORK

A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live. She asked her Pastor to come to her home to discuss her fi...

POINTS TO PONDER

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There are those who work all day, those who dream all day, and those who spend an hour dreaming before setting to work to fulfil those dreams. Go into the third category because there’s virtually no competition.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                                      — Steven J Ross</b></div>
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Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for fewer problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                                            — Earl Shoaf</b></div>
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Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                                        — Paulo Coelho</b></div>
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The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                                             — Confucius</b></div>
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Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vintage point.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                              — Harold B Melchart</b></div>
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POINTS TO PONDER

There are those who work all day, those who dream all day, and those who spend an hour dreaming before setting to work to fulfil those d...

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

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Each of us must accept total responsibility for the earth’s survival. Ultimately, the future rests upon our commitment as individuals —</div>
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As parents, providing a healthy and secure future for their children;</div>
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As students, unwilling to accept a future of sickness and war;</div>
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As citizens, believing that it is the people who should hold the balance of power in a democracy;</div>
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As taxpayers, exhausted by an insane arms race and opposed to the waste of the earth’s resources;</div>
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As workers, farmers, professionals, artists, corporate employees, public servants, environmentalists, industrialists, rich and poor, black and white, red and yellow, men and women.</div>
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In the face of nuclear technology, concern for human survival surpasses all social, political and economic divisions. As members of the same species, we must work in harmony towards our common goal.</div>
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                                                                                                                                  <b>-Dr Helen Caldicott</b></div>
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<b>***************</b></div>
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<b>There are three kinds of people:</b></div>
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<b>1. </b>The WILLS who accomplish everything. </div>
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<b>2.</b> The WON’TS who oppose everything. </div>
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<b>3. </b>The CAN’TS who fail in everything. </div>
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INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

Each of us must accept total responsibility for the earth’s survival. Ultimately, the future rests upon our commitment as individuals ...

ANECDOTES OF THE GREAT

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An efficiency expert at Fort Motors was once making his report to Henry Ford. “As you will see, Sir, the report is highly favourable, except for that man down the hall. Every time I pass by, he’s sitting with his feet on his desk. He’s wasting your money. </div>
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Henry Ford merely smiled and said, “That same man once had an idea that earned us a fortune. At the time, I believe his feet were exactly where they are now.”</div>
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A Swiss journalist, who had worked hard all his life and earned a lot of fame and money decided to retire. His last interview was to be with the new Italian Prime Minster, Alcide de Gaspei. After the interview was over, and both of them settled down for some tea and informal talk, the journalist causally remarked, “This is my last interview. I am 65 and about to retire.”</div>
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The Prime Minister remarked, “Oh! What a pity, I am 65 too, but on the threshold of a new career.”</div>
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Indira Gandhi was fond of reading books. She read about Joan of Arc and was profoundly inspired by the tale of her martyrdom. Once when a teacher asked her what she would like to be, hoping she would say ‘a teacher or a lady doctor or a lawyer like Portia’, she replied, “I would like to be someone like Joan of Arc.”</div>
</div>

ANECDOTES OF THE GREAT

An efficiency expert at Fort Motors was once making his report to Henry Ford. “As you will see, Sir, the report is highly favourable, ex...

SEE THE POSITIVE IN ALL SITUATIONS

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When all seems to be doom and gloom, there are still positive possibilities; you just have to look for them. Too often, we only focus on the negatives. Learn to look at every difficult situation as a present; the gift within is the possibilities it holds. To open the gift you must find the “possibility.” When you are in a difficult or a stressful situation, reflect on the following four questions:</div>
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<b>1) Could it be worse?</b></div>
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In the majority of cases, there is always a worse situation we could be in. By reflecting on a worse situation, it helps put the current situation into perspective.</div>
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<b>2) Are there lessons I can learn to avoid a similar situation in the future?</b></div>
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Look at the situation. Could it have been avoided? Don’t go beating yourself up for not realizing this previously. Learn from the situation. Mistakes are our greatest teachers! No sense dwelling on the issue. Recognize and think of ways for the future to avoid a similar situation and then move on! Remember you can’t change the past, but you can change the future!</div>
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<b>3) What good can be realized?</b></div>
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This is the gift. Rather than focusing our energy and thoughts on the negative of the situation, look for the positive. Sometimes you have to look hard, sometimes you don’t even realize until later. But in every situation, there is positive, you just have to find it! By focusing on the positive you are helping to reduce your stress levels!</div>
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<b>4) What am I going to do about it?</b></div>
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In my opinion, this is the most critical! What are you going to do? Often just by taking action, by doing something about the situation can relieve the stress and help correct the situation.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                                — Catherine Pulsifer</b></div>
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Bill Gates’ Success Factors for Microsoft</div>
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1. Long-term Approach</div>
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2. Passion for Products and Technology</div>
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3. Teamwork</div>
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4. Results</div>
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5. Customer Feedback</div>
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6. Individual Excellence<br />
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<b>Note: 1 & 4; 2 & 5; 3 & 6 should work to balance each other.</b></div>
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SEE THE POSITIVE IN ALL SITUATIONS

When all seems to be doom and gloom, there are still positive possibilities; you just have to look for them. Too often, we only focus on...

WISDOM EVERGREEN

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<li>You always learn a lot more when you lose than when you win.</li>
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<li>One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom. </li>
</ul>
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<li>A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn.</li>
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<li>If you can’t resolve your problems in peace, you can’t solve war.</li>
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<li>Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough.</li>
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<li>Money can’t talk, yet it can make lies look true.</li>
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<li>A large chair does not make a king.</li>
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<li>Wealth diminishes with usage; learning increases with use. </li>
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<li>Beautiful words don’t put porridge in the pot.</li>
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<li>A fight between grasshoppers is a joy to the crow. </li>
</ul>
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<li>If you are looking for a fly in your food it means that you are full.</li>
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<li>Pretend you are dead and you will see who really loves you.</li>
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<li>However long the night, the dawn will break.</li>
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<li>A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning.</li>
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<li>When brothers fight to the death, a stranger inherits their father’s estate.</li>
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WISDOM EVERGREEN

You always learn a lot more when you lose than when you win. One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom. A single...

THE POWER OF PRAISE (By Carlos Valles)

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A married couple came to a counsellor for advice. No sooner were they seated, than they began speaking at the same time in a duel of criticisms. When they finally stopped for lack of breath, the counsellor suggested that now they tell each other all the good they see in one another. There was total silence.</div>
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Then each was given a ball-point pen and a sheet of paper and told to write down something praiseworthy about the other. Neither of them wrote. They both sat and stared at the paper. After what seemed like a long time, the husband started to write something. At once the wife also began to write — fast and furiously. Finally, the writing stopped. There was silence again. </div>
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The wife pushed her paper over to the watching counsellor. He pushed it back signalling that she was to give it directly to her husband. She reluctantly shoved the paper halfway across the table. He took it and in turn, slid his paper towards his wife. Each began to read. </div>
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The counsellor watched... Soon a tear slid down the cheek of his wife. She crumpled the paper in her fist and held it tight. That proved that she treasured the sudden revelation of good things her husband had expressed about her. The whole atmosphere of the room changed. There was no need for anything to be said. Praise had healed a thousand wounds. </div>
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The husband and wife left arm in arm. </div>
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THE POWER OF PRAISE (By Carlos Valles)

A married couple came to a counsellor for advice. No sooner were they seated, than they began speaking at the same time in a duel of cri...

WITH A LIGHT HEART

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Tommy dropped out of school and his buddy asked: “Why?”<br />
“I got discouraged, that’s all. I flunked every subject except Maths.”<br />
“Every subject except Maths? How do you explain that?”<br />
“I didn’t take Maths!”<br />
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Resolving to surprise her husband, an executive’s wife stopped by his office.<br />
When she opened the door, she found him with his secretary sitting in his lap.<br />
Without hesitating, he dictated, “…and in conclusion, gentlemen, budget cuts or no budget cuts, I cannot continue to operate this office with just one chair.”<br />
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Boyfriend: “Do you want a kiss?”<br />
Girlfriend: “No!”<br />
Boyfriend: “Do you remember what I just said?”<br />
Girlfriend: “Do you want a kiss?”<br />
Boyfriend: “Yes, if you insist…”<br />
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***************</div>
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A foolish man tells a woman to stop talking, but a wise man tells her that she looks extremely beautiful when her lips are closed. </div>

WITH A LIGHT HEART

Tommy dropped out of school and his buddy asked: “Why?” “I got discouraged, that’s all. I flunked every subject except Maths.” “Every s...

AGE-DEFYING DRIVING DESIRE

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Benjamin Roll of Newport Beach, California, graduated from Law Collage at the age of 67. Before practising law, he had to pass the Bar examination.</div>
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Roll attempted it first time but failed. He attempted a second time but failed again. Then he attempted again and again and failed miserably. By this time his age was 73.</div>
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Roll passed at 14th attempt. He enrolled in law school and studied for six years after graduation to pass the Bar examination. At the age of 74, he started to practise law in the state of California!</div>
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His example proves the age-defying powers of 3A’s and 3P’s on us:</div>
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1) Our Attitude and Aptitude determine our Altitude in life.</div>
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2) Patience, Persistence and Perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                    — Prof. V. S. Patil, Belgaum</b></div>
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Most of us miss out on life’s big prizes. The Pulitzer. The Nobel. Oscars. Tonys. Emmys. But we’re all eligible for life’s small pleasures. A pat on the back. A kiss behind the ear. A four-pound bass. A full moon. An empty parking space. A crackling fire. A great meal. A glorious sunset. Hot soup. Cold beer.</div>
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<b>                                                                                                                                          — Anonymous</b></div>
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AGE-DEFYING DRIVING DESIRE

Benjamin Roll of Newport Beach, California, graduated from Law Collage at the age of 67. Before practising law, he had to pass the Bar e...

THE CONSUMMATE PIANIST (By Sajith Cyriac)

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Ignace Jan Paderewski was the most celebrated and charismatic pianist after Franz Liszt. He could speak through his piano to listeners, and it was his rhythmic subtleties as a performer that earmarked him as a unique artist in the Golden Age of Pianism. </div>
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At an early age, while studying at the Warsaw Conservatory, several of his teachers attempted to dissuade him from taking up a career as a pianist, since they found that his hands were not formed right. They urged him, instead, to try composition.</div>
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Paderewski, however, was convinced that his vocation was to be a pianist. He had enough self-confidence and determination which made him practise, practise and practise the piano for long hours.</div>
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Even the remark of the great musician Theodor Leschetizky, under whom he later studied, that “You might have been a great pianist if you had started earlier; it is too late now!” did not deter him. At the age of 18, Paderewski was forced to relearn piano technique as if he were a child. By his mid 20s he was finally brought to the stage.</div>
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Paderewski’s performance drew the largest crowds in history at a time when the solo recital was still in its infancy. “If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it,” said the master pianist.</div>
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THE CONSUMMATE PIANIST (By Sajith Cyriac)

Ignace Jan Paderewski was the most celebrated and charismatic pianist after Franz Liszt. He could speak through his piano to listeners, ...

TREASURES TO BE THANKFUL FOR

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A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. They didn’t look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.</div>
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He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone! </div>
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Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him.</div>
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He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!</div>
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It’s like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn’t look like much from the outside. It isn’t always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. </div>
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There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take our time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.</div>
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TREASURES TO BE THANKFUL FOR

A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. They didn’t lo...