Want !!!

"There are two things to aim at in life:

First, to get what you want.

And after that, to enjoy it.

Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second."

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Logan Pearsall Smith

"I 'want' to be happy," is an often repeated phrase.

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People who say it, get exactly what they're asking for. They live in the 'want' of happiness.

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Wanting a million dollars won't put money in your bank account. Wanting a Porsche won't turn your Neon into a lean mean driving machine. Wanting to be a bird won't give you wings or get you off the ground. The more you 'want' those things, the more 'want' you get. It comes in extraordinary amounts and becomes a physical ache, when you want something 'really bad'.

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Instead of curling yourself into a tight little ball and remaining clutched in the 'want' of happiness, open yourself up to the opportunity of receiving it.

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Fill the holes in your life with the joy of being alive. Work at happiness from the inside out. Remove the weight of 'want' off your heavily burdened shoulders and make yourself available to bliss.

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When you achieve inner happiness, it shows. It seeps from your eyes and rolls off your words. Your peace of heart, supported by a solid foundation, is unflappable. You see external happiness for what it really is, a precarious source of self fulfillment. Your 'want' is gone, and without it, you stand in the wake of grand possibilities.

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Your eyes see the positive in what you have, instead of the negative in what you lack. Happiness starts coming at you from a multitude of directions.

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Live in the 'want' of being happy, or 'be' happy.

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The choice is completely up to you.

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(Sharon's Treasure)

Conscience !!!

"The paradoxical and tragic situation of man is that his conscience is weakest when he needs it most."

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Erich Fromm

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My family and I had been sleeping peacefully when we were awakened by the clanging of a burglar alarm. We dashed to the windows to try to spot the thief who had succeeded in climbing over the eight-foot-high wall that surrounded my son's house in Lusaka, Zambia - a city noted for its thieves.

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The top of the concrete-block wall was garnished with broken bottles imbedded in cement. Above the sharp glass were four electric wires ready to shock anyone who dared to climb over the wall. There were also floodlights, a night watchman and dogs, double locks on each door, burglar bars to alert and warn. Yet a thief got over the wall without triggering the alarm or exciting the dogs.

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When the guard came around the corner of the house, he saw the thief scramble over the wall, taking with him the guard's clothes, which had been hanging on the clothesline. That's when the guard pushed the alarm button, which awoke not only us but also the neighbors.

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The next day we tried to figure out how the thief got over the wall. We tested the wires, and they were alive, but the trigger system wasn't working. The thief had apparently used boards and a stick to separate the wires so he could get through. So our son, Mike, arranged for someone to repair the wires and the alarm system.

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The incident reminded me that while in our small American community we need some protection for our homes and vehicles, thieving is not as prevalent in our country as it is much of Africa. I can feel reasonably safe in my house.

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But then I reflected on the security of my heart and mind. There is an invisble thief waiting outside our heart and mind, ready to take over and making us steal, kill and destroy. Unless we are alert, the evil thoughts and its hooligans will succeed every day in gaining entrance into our minds and hearts.

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So how can we beef up the security system in our minds and hearts?

God has given us the biggest 'burglar alarm' called the 'Conscience'.

He's placed a wall around us 'His Law'.

Most of the time deep within our minds and hearts, we know what is wrong and what is right. But when we choose to follow what is wrong, thinking no one else knows, we betray our conscience and let the hooligans to break in and take over willingly.

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God's law are available in scriptures of every religion. These are our security system, and prayer is a direct link between us and God's security department that helps to protect our conscience. It takes only a second to make a call to God and His eveready angels will rush to protect us.

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When we take advantage of these security devices, we are secure from all 'Evil' efforts to break into our hearts and steal them for himself.

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John Stafford

Coveting !!!

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house, your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

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Exodus 20:17

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"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."

Sounds familiar?

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My mother recently told me that when she was a teenager, she coveted a particular shirt that all the popular girls were wearing. She wanted one so badly that it was all she could think about. When she finally got her hands on the one, she proudly wore it to school - only to have the classmate who sat behind her get sick.

What she thought she absolutely had to have, ended up in the garbage.

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What exactly is coveting?

Simply put, it is seeing something that belongs to someone else and feeling discontented and resentful that its not yours.

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God knew that we would have a hard time being content with what we have. So for the last commandments, He chose:

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"You shall not covet your neighbor's house, your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or his maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

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This commandment stands out from the others in a unique way. While the other commandments are more behavior oriented (don't commit adultery, steal, lie, etc.), this commandment focuses on our motives - on why we do what we do. It's a commandment directed toward how we think - not how we act. And how we think shows us the condition of our hearts.

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When you covet you hurt yourself.

Becoming envious of another's life can make your seem dreary by comparison. You begin to live your life in what I call the 'if only's'. If only we had a spacious house like theirs. If only my spouse was always that nice to me. If only our deserving child had won that award instead. Before you know it, your whole focus is on that you don't have, and you're unhappy with the life you do have.

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Coveting can also hurt others.

Allowed to spin out of control, it can lead to getting what you covet through immoral or illegal ways. Coveting another's spouse can lead to adultery and the breakup of a family. Coveting a stereo in an empty car can lead to stealing. Coveting a friend's possessions can lead to the end of a friendship. But when we learn to be content with what we have, we stop covetous thoughts before they turn into harmful actions.

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There was a time when I struggled with being content with our house. The problem was, it is small. Eight hundred-square-feet small. When it looked like we'd be living here for a while, I knew I had a choice to make. I could covet the newer, spacious house some of our friends lived in, or I could choose contentment and make this house a home.

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What changed my view of our house was my husband's mission trip to Indonesia after the 2004 'Tsunami'. He brought back dozens of pictures of people who had lost their homes. Some pictures showed families standing outside on tile floors - the only thing left of their houses that hadn't been swept away. Others had placed flags on bare ground where they knew their homes had been, reclaiming only their land. Looking at the pictures, I felt guilty. Our cozy, cheerful little home looked pretty good by comparison.

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So God helped me make the better choice - contentment. I didn't want to someday look back on our time here and find that I'd wasted years that could have built wonderful family memories.

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In the last commandments, God is asking us to control our minds - that secret place where only we ourselves know our thoughts. You can covet something that belongs to your neighor, and no one has to know. Yet coveting is not merely a mind problem - it's a heart problem. Your heart has an emptiness that needs to be filled, so you try to fill it with things that you think will make you happy.

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The remedy is to fill your heart with the right things - a friendship with God and His good people and striving to do all the good you can. Matthew says in the Bible:

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"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven - for where your treasure is, there your heart will also be."

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With God in your life, you'll find it easier to be content with what you have. I find that the more I trust God, the more content I am. Most of the things we covet are things we don't really need. They're things we want. Sometimes we confuse wants with needs. But God knows the difference, and we need to trust Him to take care of us. He doesn't promise to take care of our wants. But He does give a reassuring promise to take care of our needs.

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A content life benefits everyone.

First, it benefits you. It allows you to be giving, not gasping. Covetous people don't know the joy of giving. Content people do.

Second, contentment benefits others. For once you are content you will not covet other's things and in return will start appreciating and be happy for what others have. There is another rule in the Bible:

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"Love your neighbor as yourself"

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Love does no harm to its neighbor. Neighbor here does not mean the person living next door but instead it's all that touch your life, be it daily, weekly, monthly or annually.

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God gave the above commantment, but the choice is ours. We can choose to covet or be content. Let's choose contentment and not waste a single moment coveting.

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Nancy Canwell

Listening !!!

"A pair of good ears will drink dry a hundred tongues."

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Benjamin Franklin

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How many times have you ever heard someone say, "Nobody ever listens to me!"? And how many people go through life frustrated because there truly is nobody who will take the time to really listen to what they have to say? Everybody wants to talk, but so few want to listen!

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There is a story which tells about the 32nd President of United States - Franklin Roosevelt, who often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said.

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One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who came down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." The guests responded with phrases like, "Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir."

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It was not until the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Not quite knowing what to say, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure she had it coming."

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Are we like the people above?
May I encourage you today to put down the newspaper, turn off the television set, stay away a while from your computers and take the time and effort to listen to those around you.

It will show that you care, and who knows, you might even learn something in the process!

Coincidence !!!

“Coincidence is God's way of staying anonymous”

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It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The creeks and streams were long gone back into the earth. It was a dry season that would bankrupt several farmers before it was through.

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Every day, my husband and his brothers would go about the arduous process of trying to get water to the fields. Lately this process had involved taking a truck to the local water rendering plant and filling it up with water. But severe rationing had cut everyone off. If we didn't see some rain soon...we would lose everything. It was on this day that I learned the true lesson of sharing and witnessed the only miracle I have seen with my own eyes.

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I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year-old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He wasn't walking with the usual carefree abandon of a youth but with a serious purpose. I could only see his back. He was obviously walking with a great effort ... trying to be as still as possible.

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Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house. I went back to making sandwiches; thinking that whatever task he had been doing was completed. Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful stride toward the woods. This activity went on for an hour: walk carefully to the woods, run back to the house.

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Finally I couldn't take it any longer and I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey (being very careful not to be seen...as he was obviously doing important work and didn't need his Mommy checking up on him).

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He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked, being very careful not to spill the water he held in them ... maybe two or three tablespoons were held in his tiny hands. I sneaked close as he went into the woods. Branches and thorns slapped his little face, but he did not try to avoid them. He had a much higher purpose.

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As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site. Several large deer loomed in front of him. Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. A huge buck with elaborate antlers was dangerously close. But the buck did not threaten him...he didn't even move as Billy knelt down. And I saw a tiny fawn laying on the ground, obviously suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion, lift its head with great effort to lap up the water cupped in my beautiful boy's hand.

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When the water was gone, Billy jumped up to run back to the house and I hid behind a tree. I followed him back to the house to a spigot to which we had shut off the water. Billy opened it all the way up and a small trickle began to creep out. He knelt there, letting the drip, drip slowly fill up his makeshift "cup," as the sun beat down on his little back. And it came clear to me: The trouble he had gotten into for playing with the hose the week before. The lecture he had received about the importance of not wasting water. The reason he didn't ask me to help him. It took almost twenty minutes for the drops to fill his hands.

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When he stood up and began the trek back, I was there in front of him. His little eyes just filled with tears. "I'm not wasting," was all he said. As he began his walk, I joined him...with a small pot of water from the kitchen. I let him tend to the fawn. I stayed away. It was his job. I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart I have ever known working so hard to save another life.

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As the tears that rolled down my face began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops...and more drops...and more. I looked up at the sky It was as if God, himself, was weeping with pride. Some will probably say that this was all just a huge coincidence. That miracles don't really exist. That it was bound to rain sometime. And I can't argue with that... I'm not going to try. All I can say is that the rain that came that day saved our farm...just like the actions of one little boy saved another.

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I don't know if anyone will read this...but I had to publish it out to honour the memory of my beautiful Billy, who was taken from me much too soon... But not before showing me the true face of God, in a little, sunburned body.

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Do you believe in miracles, or do you just let them pass by, and put them in the coincidence category?

Leadership !!!

“A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so that they can get on with their jobs"

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Robert Townsend

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There were about 70 scientists working on a very hectic project. All of them were really frustrated due to the pressure of work and the demands of their boss but everyone was loyal to him and did not think of quitting the job.

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One day, one scientist came to his boss and told him – Sir, I have promised my children that I will take them to the exhibition going on in our township. So I want to leave the office at 5.30 pm.

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His boss replied "OK, You're permitted to leave the office early today."

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The Scientist started working. He continued his work after lunch. As usual he got involved to such an extent that he looked at his watch when he felt he was close to completion. The time was 8.30 pm. Suddenly he remembered the promise he had given to his children.

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He closed everything and left for home. Deep within himself, he was feeling guilty for having disappointed his children. He reached home. The children were not there. His wife was sitting in the hall, alone and reading magazines. The situation was explosive, any talk would boomerang on him.

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His wife asked him “Would you like to have coffee or should I serve dinner?”

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The man replied “If you would like to have coffee, I too will have some but what about the children ?”

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Wife replied “You don’t know? Your manager came here at 5.15 pm and has taken the children to the exhibition.”

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What had really happened was... the boss, who granted him permission in the morning, was observing him working seriously at 5.00 pm. He thought to himself, this person will not leave the work, but if he has promised his children they should enjoy the visit to exhibition. So he took the lead in taking them to the exhibition!

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The boss does not have to do it everytime. But once it is done, loyalty is established. That is why all the scientists at Thumba continued to work under their boss even though the stress was tremendous.

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By the way, can you hazard a guess as to who the boss was..?

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Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Twelfth President of India

Confrontation !!!

"Nine-tenths of wisdom consists in being wise in time."

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Theodore Roosevelt

A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment. Then a new school year began. The very next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful, after-school enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.

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The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way down the street. Stopping them, he said, "You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. In fact, I used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I'll give you each a dollar if you'll promise to come around every day and do your thing." The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trashcans.

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After a few days, the old-timer greeted the kids again, but this time he had a sad smile on his face. "This recession's really putting a big dent in my income," he told them. "From now on, I'll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the cans."

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The noisemakers were obviously displeased, but they accepted his offer and continued their afternoon ruckus. A few days later, the wily retiree approached them again as they drummed their way down the street.

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"Look," he said, "I haven't received my Social Security check yet, so I'm not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. Will that be okay?"

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"A lousy quarter?" the drum leader exclaimed. "If you think we're going to waste our time, beating these cans around for a quarter, you're nuts! No way, mister. We quit!"

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And the old man enjoyed peace and serenity for the rest of his days.

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What do you think, could a direct confrontation with the kids have resulted in a favourable solution?

Nonsense !!!

"It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought."

John Kenneth Galbraith

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How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life.

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Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.

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I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.

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I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And for emphasis, he threw in a one finger salute, as if his words were not enough.

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But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call,

“The Law of the Garbage Truck™.”

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He said, "Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.

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So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier."

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So I started thinking, how often do I let 'Garbage Trucks' run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”

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I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

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Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.

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So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.

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The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.

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The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.

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What about you?

What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here’s my bet:

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You’ll be happier.

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David J. Pollay