Kerri

Found some very meaningful and thought-provoking stories that never fail to remind me to always Count My Blessings.

TINY FROG
Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs.... Who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a 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 crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.

You heard statements such as: "Oh, WAY too difficult!!" "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 a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher.... The crowd continued to yell, "It is 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 the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top! THEN all of 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!!!!

The wisdom of this story is:
Never listen to other people's 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!

Always think of the power words have. Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions! Therefore: ALWAYS be....POSITIVE! And above all: Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams! Always think: God and I can do this!

Most people walk in and out of your life but FRIENDS leave footprints in your heart.

RUNNING IN THE RAIN

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in K-Mart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence.

It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just nside the door of the K-Mart.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child come pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in "Mum, let's run through the rain," she said. "What?" Mum asked.

"Let's run through the rain!" She repeated.

"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mum replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mum, let's run through the rain,"
"We'll get soaked if we do," Mum said. "No, we won't, Mum. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mum's arm.

Mum said, "This morning? ... When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?" "Don't you remember?" Little girl replied. "When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mum paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's' life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mum said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as theydarted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories .. So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make
memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

A friend sent this to me to remind me of life. Hope you enjoy it.

I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.

Good Things To Learn

On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life."

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others,your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

Kerri

TOUCHING STORY

Please read & think.

Daughter-In-Law: "When I cooked food which is blend, you will grumble that they are tasteless. Now that I have cooked saltier, you complained that you can't swallow this at all! What exactly do you want?"

When the son came back, the mother immediately ate the food without a word. She stared at him. The son took a taste on his mother's food and spitted out immediately.

He ranted at his wife," Didn't I told you that my mother cannot take too salty food?!" The wife shouted,"OK! She's your mum! You cook for her in future!" After saying that, she stormed into their room angrily.

Feeling helpless, the son told the mother,"Mum, don't eat this anymore. I will cook you a bowl of noodles." The mother said,"Son, you have something to tell me? Don't keep everything to yourself."

Son: "Mum, I am going to get promoted soon and my upcoming working schedule will be very, very tight...and as for my wife...ummm...she said she will be going out to work...."

The mother understood what he meant and said in a begging manner,"Son, Please don't send me to the Old Folks' Home.." The son remained silent and tried to think of a good reason to persuade her mother.

Then he said," There is nothing wrong with the Old Folks' Home. Once my Wife had went out to work, no one will serve you as well as the Home which provides you meals and care. It would definitely much better than being at home."

The son went for a bath after that and went into the Study Room. He looked Out from the windows and thought back and hesitated a while....

His mother has been remaining as a widow since she was young with him, and brought him up painstakingly, solely. She tried all means to earn as much as she could, in order to support him in studying overseas. Yet she expected nothing nor used her past painful experience to threaten his son to be filial.

While now, his wife is threatening him with the stake of their marriage. "Should I send my Mum to the Home?" He asked himself. "The only person who will accompany you till the end of your life would be your wife.." said a friend before.

"Your mother is in old age now, and if she's lucky, she might be able to live for a few more years longer. Why not be filial to her for this period of time? reminded by some relatives.

He was stuck in a dilemma. He did not want to think anymore, in order not to affect his decision. The son found a Home with high standards, built on a beautiful and tranquil mountain top. He told himself that he would feel much better when the more he spent.

When the son helped his mother into the lobby of the Home, the 42" TV was turned on. The programme shown on screen was a comedy. But no one was laughing.

A few old folks, dressed similarly in clothing, were sitting there, in a daze. There was one who was sitting improperly on a sofa, there was one who was bending down to pick up a piece of biscuit from the floor, there was one who was talking to himself...

The son knew that his mother likes sunlight, so he chose a room with ample sun rays shining into the room. By viewing out from the room, was a big piece of greenery scene. Few nurses were wheeling some old folks out for some fresh air. It was so pathetic of silence in the background. The sun would still need to set down. Soon it was dusk. The son told the mother,"Mum, I am leaving."

The mother waved to him to say goodbye, opening her toothless mouth.. He turned back to look at his mother. She was full of grey hair and wrinkled skin with deep set eyes... He found that she was really old.

He remembered when he was six, due to some circumstances, his mother Cannot bring him along with her thus temporarily placed him at a relative's home for few days. He recalled hugging his mother's thigh and begged her not to leave him alone. In the end, his mother never leave him alone and decide to stay with him. He stopped thinking and left.

When he returned home, his wife and his mother-in-law were busy discarding things from his mother's room, happily. One of the discarded item was his tall trophy which he won as First Prize when he was young. He wrote an essay on "MY MOTHER".

The second item discarded was a dictionary. That was the first gift from his mother, who scrimped and saved for a month in order to buy for him. He shouted, "enough! Stop discarding anymore!"

His mother-in-law cried," There were so much rubbish. If don't discard, there would not be any place for my stuff.." His wife continued,"Yeah! Need to dump away that old, stinky bed of your mum too. We will buy a new bed for my mum later," He saw some pictures from the stack..they were taken at a zoo and Amusement park when his mother brought him there. "These are precious Belongings of my Mum! You can't discard them!" "What sort of attitude is this? I demand you to apologise to my Mum NOW!" ranted the wife.

The husband said," When I got married with you, that showed that I will love your Mum too. But why can't you do the same too?" He went back to the Home and saw his mother weeping in between her frail legs. She was missing the moments when her son would apply ointment for her every night...

The son kneeled before her and said,"Mum, here I come. I brought the Ointment too." The mother said," I will apply it myself, Son! You still need to work tomorrow. Go home, Son!" The son said,"Mum, please forgive me! Let's go home!"

Hope this is inspirational and touching to you. Without our parents, we won't be here. No parents will resort to harm their own children. They only want the benefits for them.

For Daughters & Sons: Please remember to return gratitude to your dads and mums. For Daughter-In-Laws & Sons-In-Laws: Please love your in laws as you did to your parents, coz without them, you will not find your partners... they are parents too..

*CONTENTMENT*

*Have you ever, at any one time, had the feeling that life is bad, real bad, and you wish you were in another situation?

You find life make things difficult for you, work sucks, life sucks, everything seems to go wrong...Read the following story... it may change your views about life:

After a conversation with one of my friends, he told me despite taking 2 jobs, he brings back barely above 1K per month, he is happy as he is. I wonder how he can be as happy as he is considering he has to skimp his life with the low pay to support a pair of old parents, in-laws, a wife, 2 daughters and the many bills of a household.

He explained that it was through one incident that he saw in India .........that happened a few years ago when he was really feeling low and touring Indiaafter a major setback. He said that right in front of his very eyes he saw an Indian mother chop off her child's right hand with a chopper. The helplessness in the mother's eyes, the scream of pain from the innocent 4-year-old child haunted him until today.

You may ask why did the mother do so; had the child been naughty, had the child's hand been infected?? No, it was done for two simple words- -
- TO BEG!

The desperate mother deliberately caused the child to be handicapped so that the child could go out to the streets to beg. Taken aback by the scene, he dropped a piece of bread he was eating half-way. And almost instantly, a flock of 5 or 6 children swamped towards this small piece of bread which was covered with sand, robbing bits from one another.

The natural reaction of hunger. Stricken by the happenings, he instructed his guide to drive him to the nearest bakery. He arrived at two bakeries and bought every single loaf of bread he found in the bakeries. The owner was dumbfounded but willingly sold everything. He spent less than $100 to obtain about 400 loaves of bread (this is less than $0.25 per loaf) and spent another $100 to get daily necessities.

Off he went in the truck full of bread into the streets. As he distributed the bread and necessities to the children (mostly handicapped) and a few adults, he received cheers and bows from these unfortunate. For the first time in his life he wondered how people can give up their dignity for a loaf of bread which cost less than $0.25.

He began to tell himself how fortunate he is. How fortunate he is to be able to have a complete body, have a job, have a family, have the chance to complain what food is nice and what isn't nice, have the chance to be clothed, have the many things that these people in front of him are deprived of...

Now I begin to think and feel it, too! Was my life really that bad? Perhaps... no, I should not feel bad at all... What about you?

Maybe the next time you think you are, think about the child who lost one hand to beg on the streets.

"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, it is the realization of how much you already have."

When the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.

It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

Kerri

Cup or Coffee
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for each of you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Wat all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups.

Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. Some times, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

So, don't let the cups drive you... enjoy the coffee instead.

What is LOVE and Marriage??
A student asks a teacher, "What is love?" The teacher said, "in order to answer your question, go to the padi field and choose the biggest padi and come back.

But the rule is: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to
pick."

The student went to the field, go thru first row, he saw one big padi, but he wonders....may be there is a bigger one later. Then he saw another bigger one... but may be there is a even bigger one waiting for him.

Later, when he finished more than half of the padi f ield, he start to realize that the padi is not as big as the previous one he saw, he know he has missed the biggest one, and he regretted !!!! So, he ended up went back to the teacher with empty hand.

The teacher told him, "...this is love... you keep looking for a better one, but when later you realize, you have already miss the person...."

"What is marriage then?" the student asked.

The teacher said, "in order to answer your question, go to the corn field and choose the bigges t corn and come back.

But the rule is: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick.

"The student went to the corn field, this time he is careful not to repeat the previous mistake, when he reach the middle of the field, he has picked one medium corn that he feel satisfy, and come back to the teacher.

The teacher told him, "this time you bring back a corn.... you look for one that is just nice, and you have faith and believe this is the best one you get.... this is marriage."

pearr

woah, nice.. really worth my ponders. this will remind me when i deal with my life =).

thanks for sharin xD~!

woooshooshh!
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Kerri

no probs! these makes me feel happier with wat i already have rather than wat i dun have.

funnysnow

Thanks for sharing such a wonderful things.. =)

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huishan

the life stories are nice .
thanx for postin up the post .
the one on the son and mother and
the last one on love and marriage
are real meaningful . do post more

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violette

thanks for sharing~ indeed worth learning from the stories~

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patrina

nicenice.. very meaningful XD more thanks! =x

Kerri

no probs! look out for more stories.. :mellow3:

Kerri

7 Wonders of the World
A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids

2. Taj Mahal

3. Grand Canyon

4. Panama Canal

5. Empire State Building

6. St. Peter's Basilica

7. China's Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one quiet student hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help. " The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:

1. to touch

2. to taste

3. to see

4. to hear

She hesitated a little, and then added

5. to feel

6. to laugh

7. and to love

The room was so full of silence you could have heard a pin drop. Those things we overlook as simple and "ordinary" are truly wondrous.

Golden Rule

A long time ago in China, a girl named Li-li got married and went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-li found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all. Their personalities were very different, and Li-li was angered by many of her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-li constantly.

Days passed days and weeks passed weeks. Li-li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-li had to bow to her mother-in -law and obey her every wish.

All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing the poor husband great distress. Finally, Li-li could not stand her mother-law's bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it. Li-li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all.

Mr. Huang thought for a while, and finally said, "Li-li, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you." Li-li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do."

Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs. He told Li-li "You can't use a quick acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious.
Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up in her body. Every other day prepare some pork or chicken and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspects you when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen."

Li-li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law.

Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother. After six months had passed,
the whole household had changed.

Li-li had practised controlling her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument in six months with her mother-in-law, who now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with. The mother-in-law's attitude towards Li-li changed, and she began to love Li-li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and daughter, and Li-li's husband was very happy to see what was happening.

One day, Li-li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again. She said, "Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law! She is changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her".

Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head, "Li-li, there is nothing to worry about, I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude towards her,but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her".

MORAL: have you ever realised that how you treat others is exactly how they will treat you? In China it is said: the person who loves others will also be loved.

Unconditional Love
A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.

"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me.

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know," the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.

Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

CHANGE YOURSELF, NOT THE WORLD.

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time
that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather. Definitely, this would need thousands of cows' skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.

Then one of his wise servant dared himself to tell the king, "Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money ? Why don't you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet ?"

The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a "shoe" for himself.

There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story : to make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.

Kerri

The salty coffee
He met her on a party, she was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he was so normal, nobody paid attention to him. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him. She was surprised, but as he was polite, she promised. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, She felt uncomfortable, she thought, " please, let me back home". Suddenly he asked the waiter: would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee. Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red, but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously: why you have this hobby? He replied: when I was a little boy, I was living near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, salty and bite, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there. While saying that, tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That's his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell out his homesick, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has responsibility of home. Then she also started to speak, spoke about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.

That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story. They continued to date. She found actually he was a man who meets all her demands: he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, careful...he was such a good person but she almost missed him! Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story: the princess married to the prince, then they were living the happy life...And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that's the way he liked it.

After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said:" My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life lie. This was the only lie I said to you----the salty coffee. Remember the first time wedated? I was so nervous at that time, actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything. Now I'm dying, I afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth: I don't like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste. but I have the salty coffee for my whole life since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the second time, I still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again." Her tears made the letter totally wet.

Someday, someone asked her: what's the taste of salty coffee? It's sweet. She replied.

Parents to Children
An old man was sitting in the courtyard of his house along with his son who
had received high education. Suddenly a crow perched on a wall of the
house. The father asked the son: What is this? The son replied: It is a
crow. After a little while the father again asked the son: What is this?
The son said: It is a crow. After a few minutes the father asked his son
the third time: What is this? The son said: Father, I have just now told
you that this is a crow. After a little while the old father again asked
his son the fourth time: what is this? At this time some expression of
irritation was felt in the son's tone when he said to his father with a
rebuff. Father! It is a crow, a crow. A little after the father again
asked his son: What is this? This time the son replied to his father
with a vein of temper. Father: You are always repeating the same question,
although I have told you so many times that it is a crow. Are you not able to understand this? A little later the father went to his room and came back
with an old diary. Opening a page he asked his son to read that. When
the son read it the following words were written in the diary:
Today my little son was sitting with me in the courtyard, when a crow came
there. My son asked me twenty-five times what it was and I told him twenty-five times that it was a crow and I did not at all feel irritated. I rather felt affection for the innocent child.

The father then told the son the difference saying: between a father and a
sons attitude, while a little child he asked me this question twenty-five
times and I felt no irritation in replying to the question twenty-five
times and when today I asked him the same question only five times, he felt irritated and annoyed.

WHY ARE YOU MY FRIEND
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. In a specific point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one, who got slapped, was hurt, but without anything to say, he wrote in the sand: "TODAY, MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE". They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who got slapped and hurt started drowning, and the other friend saved him. When he recovered from the fright, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE" The friend who saved and slapped his best friend, asked him, "Why, after I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone?" The other friend, smilingly replied:

"When a friend hurts us, we should write it down in the sand, where the winds of forgiveness erase it away. And when something great happens, we should engrave it in the stone of the memory of the heart, where no wind can erase it"

Learn to write in the sand, when you have differences and hurt feelings with your friend. Learn to write in stone when your friend had done some thing really good to you.

Kerri

The Miracle of a Brother's Song
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way,she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling.

They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day,night after night, Michael sang to his sister in Mommy's tummy.

He was building a bond of love with his Little sister before he even met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen. In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor. Would a C-section be required?

Finally, after a long struggle, Michael's little sister was born.But she was in very serious condition. With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St.Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to tell the parents there is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst. Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their house for their new baby but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral.

Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. I want to sing to her, he kept saying. Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over. Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen decided to take Michael whether they liked it or not.

If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her alive. She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry basket. The head nurse recognized him as a child and hellowed, "Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed."

The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line.

"He is not leaving until he sings to his sister" she stated. Then Karen towed Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me " happy when skies are gray." Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond.

The pulse rate began to calm down and become steady. "Keep on singing Michael," encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, How much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."

As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr. "Keep on singing, sweetheart."

"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms". Michael's little sister began to relax as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her.

"Keep on singing, Michael." Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don't take my sunshine away..." The next, day...the very next day...the little girl was well enough to go home. Woman's Day Magazine called it The Miracle of a Brother's Song. The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God's love.

NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE. LOVE IS SO INCREDIBLY POWERFUL.

"Predictions"
I wonder whether u would have read about so many 'wonderful' predictions before ... enjoy. i guess there is a lesson in all this.

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 15 tons." - Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM,1943

"I have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." - The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

"But what ... is it good for?" - Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM , 1968 , commenting on the microchip.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." - Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." - Western Union internal memo, 1876.

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" -David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible." - A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" - Harry M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.

"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper." - Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."

"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make." - Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting her company, Mrs. Fields' Cookies.

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." - Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." - Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this." - Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads.

"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you; you haven't got through college yet.'" - Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.

"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." - 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.

"You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can't be done. It's just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training." - Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the "unsolvable" problem by inventing Nautilus.

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy." - Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." - Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." - Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." - Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction". - Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon". - Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981

Our Perspectives
Another one of those things that make you stop and think.

One day a very wealthy family took their son on a trip to the country with
the firm purpose of showing him how very poor people can be. They spent a day
and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their
trip the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"Very good Dad!"

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Yeah!"

"And what did you learn?"

The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, they have a creek
that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden, they have the stars.
Our patio reaches to the front yard, they have a whole horizon."

When the little boy was finished, his father was speechless. His son added,
"Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are!"

Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things?

Kerri