A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning, while they are eating breakfast, the young wife sees her neighbor hang the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean," she said to her husband. "The neighbor doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor hung her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the young woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on her neighbor's line and said to her husband, "Look! She has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?"
The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows!"
Can you see how it might be a good idea to check first, to see if your windows are clean? What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the windows through which we look.
Before we give any criticism, it might be a good idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves if we are ready to see the good rather than just look for something wrong in the people we encounter.
I CAN'T vs. I CAN
I can't stops you from being creative
I can opens your creative mind
I can't causes you to quit
I can causes you to be persistent
I can't never will
I can always will
I can't is blind
I can helps you Reach your Goals
THE BLIND BOY
A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.
That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"
The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."
What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?
Moral of the Story:
Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.
Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets.
When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.
Great men say, "Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness! In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience."
The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling!
And even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason behind it!
PRIDE OF PERFORMANCE
Pride of Performance does not represent ego. It represents pleasure with humility. "The quality of the work and the quality of the worker are inseparable." Half-hearted effort does not produce half results; it produces no results.
Three people were laying bricks. A passerby asked them what they were doing. The first one replied, "Don't you see I am making a living?" The second one said, "Don't you see I am lying bricks?" The third one said, "I am building a beautiful monument." Here were three people doing the same thing who had totally different perspective on what they were doing. They had three very different attitudes about their work. And would their attitude affect their performance? The answer is clearly yes.
Excellence comes when the performer takes pride in doing his best. Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it, regardless of what the job is, whether washing cars, sweeping the floor or painting a house.
Do it right the first time, every time. The best insurance for tomorrow is a job well done today.
Michelangelo had been working on a statue for many days. He was taking a long time to retouch every small detail. A bystander thought these improvements were insignificant and asked Michelangelo why he bothered with them. Michelangelo replied, "Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle."
Most people forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well it was done.
ENJOY LIFE
Human life is very precious. Each day is a new beginning. God has bestowed on all of us many gifts and it is up to us, how we take things in our life.
This world itself is very beautiful. We are born into this world and have people around to love and care for us. Just imagine how it would have been if we were born as animals or any other creature. It is only human beings who can think and express emotions in the form of words. The other creations have emotions, though they cannot express them. So we should be indeed grateful to God for giving us this beautiful Life.
Nowadays we hardly bother to show our gratefulness, not only to God but also to our parents and elders, which is even more painful. We forget the fact that even we are bound to undergo the same stages they have experienced in Life. Youthfulness and energy, which we boast about, is transient.
Life is too short to keep grudges and hatred. Let us try to avoid people who tend to make us unhappy, rather than arguing with them. As it is said, we waste a lot of energy while arguing. The most important fact is that it's always easier to make a person understand when his/her mind is calm.
We also waste a lot of our time in waste talks especially gossiping, back biting, etc., which isn't really good. Even I tended to do the same until I realized I shouldn't do that. It's a human tendency, however it is very important to reduce it. Instead, let this life be used for some good purposes.
GENUINE AND CARING LEADERSHIP
It was a warm, humid and very still Saturday morning in early January, typical of the weather you expect in Sydney in the middle of a hot Australian summer. I was out of bed early as the first task of the day was to take my car to my local tyre service centre for a routine wheel alignment, rotation and balance, which normally takes about an hour to complete.
It is one of those tasks that do not allow you enough time to go and attend to other duties; you simply have to wait for the work to be done, unless there is something major that needs repair or replacement. Having parked and booked in my car ready for the service, I headed towards the customer service waiting area armed with my morning paper, ready to take some time out to catch up on the news of the day and week.
As I crossed the courtyard to the waiting area one of the owners of the business arrived carrying what appeared to be some household grocery shopping that he had done before work. We both stopped for a moment to say hello and exchange belated season's greetings. I commented with a smile on my face that it was good to see him doing the grocery shopping, he laughed and replied . . .
'Keith, this is not for home - it's breakfast for the guys', then he disappeared into the office.
During the 15 years I have been dealing with this business I have got to know the owners quite well and have always appreciated the great service they offer in what is a competitive and discount driven market. I guess you could say that I am one of those people who remain loyal to a business when the service is great and the relationship is strong. Besides, who really wants to quibble over a few dollars when your personal safety is at stake?
About five minutes later the owner joined me in the waiting room for a chat and we talked about business in general, then we got onto the subject of breakfast for the guys. He mentioned that every Saturday he buys eggs, bacon, cheese, tomato and a loaf of bread - then cranks up the barbeque at the back of the office and cooks the Aussie breakfast icon - the bacon and egg sandwich, for all of his team who are working on the Saturday morning shift.
He went on to explain that some time ago a few of the team had suggested that first thing on Saturday and before their day got busy, they should go to the local café and buy some take away bacon and egg sandwiches and coffee for breakfast, but he had discovered that this was both time consuming and quiet expensive, when you have up to ten people to cater for. So now he buys all the ingredients on his way into work, turns on the barbeque and puts his cooking skills to the test.
He then excused himself and was off to cook breakfast for all the team.
Now I suppose it would be fair to say that cooking breakfast for all his team is not such a big deal, after all he was saving both money and time, however, setting aside the commercial aspects and productivity for his business, I viewed this as a guesture that was certain to build staff morale and make his business a happier place to work in.
As customers we have an expectation that we will always receive good service from any business we deal with, however, what determines the quality of the customer service we receive is the attitude of the people who work in the business. As employees our attitude towards what we do at work is influenced by many things not least of all is how our employer or boss treats us. What he was doing is rarely seen in business today, he was being of service to his team and setting an example by cooking breakfast them.
This simple and caring act is no doubt great for morale, work place relationships and friendship. During my short chat with him I could see that he also enjoyed his weekly chef duties and did not view it as anything more than doing something to make the work day all that more enjoyable for his team.
Some may say that this boss could do far more productive things to add value to his business, however, the value can easily be seen in the way in which his team go about their work. In every way it is a perfect example of genuine and caring leadership, something all bosses should consider as a number one priority in creating a work environment where people are happy, look forward to coming to work and enjoy what they do. The pay off is not just in the job well done, but in the many satisfied customers who remain loyal to the business.
Much to my delight my car was ready well inside the allotted hour with no major issues to be fixed. As I drove away, I could see a number of the team enjoying their Aussie icon breakfast along with the early morning cup of coffee. I was certain with a hearty breakfast cooked by a caring boss that they would be well prepared for the challenges of the day and most importantly the continued delivery of great customer service.
Inspired by Ken and Mark Rickard, the owners of Abel Tyre Service - Brookvale, Sydney
Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends and integrity. And you're keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
The other four balls -- family, health, friends, integrity -- are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.
Dreams... I believe in my dreams, talk about my dreams, think about my dreams, plan for my dreams, create opportunities for my dreams, and I see myself already in my dreams.
The only way to achieve a dream is to talk about it, believe it, see yourself in it and create opportunities for it.
There is a great will-power that follows whatever you imagine. This will-power gets you going despite all odds and the dreams that are supposed to take you ten to twenty years to achieve are achieved in a shorter period.Paper plans are not enough for dreams! Just see yourself acting out what you have imagined and by the time you get into it, you may think you are still in the process of imagination.
What you believe is what you achieve. What you imagine is what you become. What you think is what you experience.
PACE VS. POTENTIAL
Have you ever noticed a strange thing when you get off the highway onto an off ramp or side road? On the highway you're doing about 100 miles an hour, and the speed limit on the side road says 60 miles an hour. You hit the brakes, and think you may have slowed down to 60mph. Yet, you're still doing 80mph. Horrors! You were sure you'd slowed down enough and yet you haven't.
You're experiencing pace vs. potential.
If you were driving at 60mph before you hit the off ramp, you'd do 60mph quite easily. It's because you were oh-so-fast, that you ended doing an 80. But how the heck are you going to ever do an 80 in your life, if you don't hit 100?
Because when you're on 100, even your hit-the-brake speed is a good 80.
People hate to be pushed
They want to go at their own pace. They believe they know what's good for them. Yet your life is like a car. You don't know your potential till you really hit the accelerator. You don't know how far you can go unless you hit feel the tires steaming up.
Look around you. The little ol' lady in the next lane is still getting to her destination, but she'll get there whenever. At her own pace. Pace is great. But potential, ah...now that's when you really know the stuff you're made of.
Which is why Tiger Woods has a coach
Which is why Tiger is the best golfer in the world. Because his coach knows the pace of Tiger. But the coach pushes Tiger to his potential.
The difference between pace and potential isn't always a big gap. Try it. It will make a world of a difference in both your business as well as your personal life.
Summary:
1. Pace is good. But pace is you. And goodness gracious, you don't really know yourself as well as you think you do.
2. Potential is when you hit the accelerator. When you find what is really possible to achieve. Once you know what you can achieve you're breaking the speed limit.
3. Tiger is naturally talented. Yeah right. So are a squillion other golfers. The difference between Tiger and the others is Tiger doesn't keep to the pace of the others. He keeps stretching his own potential. You should too.
Today, many will awaken with a fresh sense of inspiration.
Why not you?
Today, many will open their eyes to the beauty that surrounds them.Why not you?
Today, many will choose to leave the ghost of yesterday behind and seize the immeasurable power of today.
Why not you?
Today, many will break through the barriers of the past by looking at the blessings of the present.
Why not you?
Today, for many the burden of self-doubt and insecurity will be lifted by the security and confidence of empowerment.
Why not you?
Today, many will rise above their believed limitations and make contact with their powerful innate strength.
Why not you?
Today, many will choose to live in such a manner that they will be a positive role model for their children.
Why not you?
Today, many will choose to free themselves from the personal imprisonment of their bad habits.
Why not you?
Today, many will choose to live free of conditions and rules governing their own happiness.
Why not you?
Today, many will find abundance in simplicity.
Why not you?
Today, many will be confronted by difficult moral choices and they will choose to do what is right instead of what is beneficial.
Why not you?
Today, many will decide to no longer sit back with a victim mentality, but to take charge of their lives and make positive changes.
Why not you?
Today, many will take the action necessary to make a difference.
Why not you?
Today, many will make the commitment to be a better mother, father, son, daughter, student, teacher, worker, boss, brother, sister, & so much more.
Why not you?
Today is a new day! Many will seize this day. Many will live it to the fullest.
Why not you?
Let's face the facts. Most times we see impossibility in the light of impossibility. But let's get this important fact clearly -in every impossibility, there is a possibility. Even the word 'IMPOSSIBLE' says 'I M POSSIBLE'.
Impossible cases are not forever. While it is impossible for one, it is possible for another. Everything is possible; it's just that the impossible things take a little longer to figure out and those who do great exploits with impossibility escape into mediocrity.
Someone said this: "Success belongs to those individuals who can look at the complex challenges offered by the World as inspiration."
Your challenges are golden opportunities for success.
How can there be miracles if there are no obstacles? How will you chase the storm if there was none? You need challenges to reveal your potency. Success comes out of nothing; success emanates from the problems you face. Those who refuse to give in come out smiling.
Robert X. Perez says, "The seeds of success spring from failure's ashes."
Failure is not defeat; it is the pointer to do better than what you did. You have to know that you are in a constant study of life. What you face is for your training.
Hyriah Candao shares this feeling also when he said, "Remember in life we gamble; the earth is a playroom full of obstacles and thrills, so let things flow and you'll find good reasons...learn from it."
Samuel Aidoo also says, "Each failure is simply another chapter to the story of our lives. To fail is to understand what not to do. Remember it and don't give up until your goal is achieved."
Jasbeen S. advises,"Yeah, life is difficult,...things will come at you left and right..." The message I'm sending with this quote is, "do not give up, have a positive outlook on your circumstance and make the best of it...you may learn something new or come out with something great."
What do you do when you face circumstances? Let me give you the advice Jasbeen gave:
"When life throws shoes at you.... at least pick through the best ones and try them on for size!"
Discover yourself in life by taking the pains to fit in it, no matter the situation. Take the punches, develop mental toughness.
Someone said this about mental toughness: "Mental toughness is to see the long term pains rather than be put off by short pains. Once you have this toughness, you have the winning edge".
Also, take chances and get this very clear -the only things in life you ever really regret, are the chances you didn't take..... You will only regret the chances when you are faced with the consequences of not taking the chances and seizing the moment and opportunities that come with it. Take chances every day!
Everything you've done in life- the good, the bad- have all brought you to this moment. Someone out there obviously wants you to do something significant, right now.
--- Written in 2008 by Bassey Ndon
A HAPPY LIFE
Mind your own business; don't interfere in other people's personal matters unless they request you... it keeps you free from extra tension.
Don't be too curious; never try to investigate or inquire about a person's schedule, as these inquiries usually make you and the ones questioned uncomfortable.
Help yourself; always do your work yourself, try not to use help unless you actually need it. It keeps you busy and secondly it saves you the hassle of another's carelessness.
Help other people; you get a lot of pleasure by helping the needy. Always be ready to lend a helpful hand. Thanks and warm wishes will make your journey, life, happy and safe.
Recognize small achievements; don't aim too high as small goals are equally important. Always remember little droplets makeup the ocean. Your small achievements and virtues will also prove your worth.
Give thanks and say sorry; never hesitate to say thank you and sorry. It shows your kind and caring nature. It also compels other to respect you and advise you.
Remember God; always remember God, the Almighty. Pray for success and satisfaction in this life and after death.
--- Author Unknown ---
POSITIVE THOUGHT - A STRONG TOOL OF SUCCESS
Once upon a time there was bunch of tiny frogs that arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.
The race began. Honestly, no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of tower. You heard statements such as, "They will NEVER make it to the top. Or: Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"
The tiny frogs began collapsing, one by one, except for those, who in fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher.
The crowd continued to yell, "Its too difficult!!! No one will make it!"
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up, but one continued higher and higher and higher. This one wouldn't give up!
At the end, everyone else had given up climbing the tower, except for one tiny frog. After a big effort, he was the only one who reached the top! THEN all the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?
A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal. It turned out.... that the winner was deaf!!!!
Never listen to other people tendencies to be negative or pessimistic.... because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you- the ones you have in your heart!
A LITTLE LIFE LESSON
About eight months ago I worked in a potato factory about half an hour south of Perth city in Western Australia. The company name was Beta Spuds, then located near Fremantle. My job was to bag potatoes in 20kg and 10kg bags, stitch them up and put them on pallets.
There were six baggers, including me, and Monday to Friday was a 6am start and usually a standard seven to nine hour day job. Every day at 8:35am we had a short break for twenty minutes. Everyone use to buy food from the jiffy van that use to stop past the factory.
About three weeks into the job our regular jiffy van lady was replaced by a young girl about 20 years old, same age as me then. I immediately took a liking to her because she was so nice and always happy. I just had to get her phone number and ask her out even though I didn't know her name.
Anyway I am very nervous when it comes to talking to girls so I petitioned my three friends to talk to her and get her name and number for me; they agreed. I got little sleep that night due to the excitement I felt.
The next day I came in at 6am, as usual, and started getting nervous. Those two and a half hours seemed to take forever as I waited, then it came.
I was too scared to even get any food so I waited inside for five minutes and then came my three friends back into the shed. They walked up and handed me a small piece of paper with a name and number on it. Her name was Vicky, and I loved that name.
I wrote her number in my phone with my hands still shaking from nerves. I waited one day then started messaging her and asked her to the movies the next day. My three friends were watching as I texted.
They had a small snicker as they watched what I was writing, but thankfully she agreed to go out on the weekend to see a movie and go ten pin bowling. She just seemed so enthusiastic about it and asked me to talk to her tomorrow. I agreed and my fear turned to shear excitement.
The next day came and again I was more nervous than ever as I waited for morning break, and then it came. I watched her van arrive slowly from the distance and then pull up. I waited at the back of the line to be served, for a bit of privacy.
Soon enough it was my turn to be served so I got my usual sausage roll and asked her how she was. She smiled at me and said, "Good, thank you, how are you" and with a smile I replied "Very good, thank you muchly", and gave her the money for the roll.
I was stiff with fear at this point and just stood there. She looked at me again and said, "Is that everyone?" I said, "Yes, I think so", and she quickly walked away into the van and sped off. I felt crushed, so I sat down at the bench and remained quiet.
Five minutes later I got a message that read, "Where were you? How come you never talked to me?"
I replied, "I did but you ran off".
I waited for three hours and didn't get a single message. I was devastated. I wrote a very long apology and said I wouldn't bother her anymore.
About halfway through the message, my manager walked past and asked what I was doing? So I explained I was apologizing to the jiffy girl for upsetting her, so he let me finish my apology message.
After about five minutes I finished and pressed send. As coincidence has it, my manager got a message the very second I pressed send. He pulled out his phone and showed me the apology I just wrote.
The whole shed didn't stop laughing for weeks because as it turns out my friends pretended to get the jiffy girls number and instead gave me my manager Jason's phone number.
I felt so relieved that I didn't cause disappointment but at the same time a little humiliated. But what the heck, I still laugh about that today.
The lesson they taught me was that if you really want something, you should get it yourself. And now I know whenever I want to ask someone out, never trust your friends to do it for you because everyone has to overcome their fears, sometimes, to get what they want and that is the way it should be.
HOW IMPORTANT IS GOAL SETTING?
You say you have set your goals?
Congratulations!
Are they set for the right reason?
We set goals for short term objectives. Most of these objectives concern materialistic wants: money, and physical things.
Here is a suggestion to take a different point of view when working on goals.
Start with deciding what your life should be. Take some time to define your life five years from now. Here are some questions you might ask yourself.
What are my surroundings?
What kind of places am I in?
What am I feeling?
What are my emotions?
What types of people are around me?
What kind of feelings do I get from them?
What am I doing? Physically?
Where am I going? My future?
Where have I been?
Notice there are no questions dealing with money, or named places, or named people. The answers to these questions will provide you with attitudes, feelings, values, perceptions and other non-tangible ideas that make life worth living no matter where you are, who you are with, or what you are doing!
If we have created a lifestyle that we like, then the physical part of our lives will fit right in and accompany the lifestyle because it has to!
My suggestion is to look at the lifestyle you want to create, and set your plan to achieve the lifestyle instead of the physical side of life most of us set our goals to achieve.
To go even deeper, define your values very clearly and make sure that your vision of your life in five years fits with your values.
Is it worth it?
You have heard the phrase 'plan your work and work your plan'? If you do not create your life by setting goals and a plan to reach them, someone is doing it for you. If you think about it, that is really scary! What kind of vision would some else have for you?
Think of it this way. Look back five years ago in your life. Are you today where you imagined you would be five years ago? Or are you where someone else imagined you would be?
Don't you think your life would dramatically improve if you made the plan instead of 'them'? Don't you think you might have a little more interest in your life than someone else?
Do you use the words "can't", "won't", "don't need to", "why try"?
Many people do.
Do you find that what you say to yourself turns out to be true?
Why is this?
You see your brain is like a computer that you feed each day. It doesn't know always know what's real or not unless you tell it.
Example: If someone you love has hurt you, you may tell yourself that all people who love you will probably hurt you too.
Your brain just files this information for reference, it's data, little zeroes and ones and no column that asks "true or not true?" Now your brain thinks, based on what you told it, that everyone you'll ever love will hurt you.
How do you think you will respond the next time you get hurt?
Right!!
Now, what if we instead told our brain:
"Okay this person ripped my heart out - but that's only one person. I'm lovable and have many loving people in my life who are not out to hurt me. I know that the right people are coming into my life all the time. If someone hurts me, I will forgive them and bless them on their way."
Words can be empowering.
I can
I love to
I want to
I will
I must
I am
We can reach a new level of living, if we feed ourselves empowering words and practice saying them until they become a habit.
I know first hand that it takes time.
And I also know that it's worth it.
Try it for a week.
Catch yourself saying, "I can't", when you don't really mean it and instead try, "I can", and see how you think and feel about yourself.
Remember, the words you use to empower yourself will have a lasting effect, only if you practice them and they become a habit (an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary).
They say it takes at least 28 days to develop a habit. After a week, you will see that it becomes easier. It's a mindset and you can control your thoughts. Be proactive and not reactive - give yourself some good words.
Dream big and empower yourself! Believe you can and you will.
Inspiration 
