A Perspective on Disappointment While I was pondering about life, I discovered that: Sometimes, to succeed in life you need enemies! Yes! You need people who will mock you so that you can run to God. You need people who will try to intimidate you so that you can be courageous. You need people who will say “NO” so that you can learn how to be independent…how to do it yourself. You need people who will disappoint you so that you can put all your trust in God alone. You need people who will work towards you losing that job so that you can start your own business. You need people who will sell your ‘Joseph’ so that ‘he’ can get to Egypt. You need a cruel landlord so that you won’t be too comfortable in someone else’s house, then you can build your own house on time. But sometimes, when we are disappointed, we feel very bad and we tend to remain on that spot. Not knowing that the endpoint of disappointment is the beginning of your accomplishments. Understand this, every disappointment you once had came with a blessing. However, it is not everyone that partakes in this blessing. You cannot see a newly opened door while you are still putting all your attention, time and energy into trying
Truth of Life One day, during an evening class for adults, the psychology Teacher entered the class and told the students, “Let’s all play a game.” The Teacher asked one of the students to volunteer. A lady, Aliza, came forward. The Teacher asked her to write 30 names of the most important people in her life on the board. Aliza wrote the names of her family members, relatives, friends, colleagues and her neighbors. The Teacher told her to erase three names that she considered most unimportant. Aliza erased the names of her colleagues. The Teacher again told her to delete five more names. Aliza erased her neighbors’ names. This went on until there were just four names left on the board. These were the names of her mother, father, husband and only son. The entire class became silent, realizing that this wasn’t a game anymore for Aliza alone. Now, the Teacher told her to delete two more names. It was a very difficult choice for Aliza as she unwillingly deleted her parents’ names. “Please delete one more,” the Teacher said. Aliza became very nervous and with trembling hands and tears in her eyes, she deleted her son’s name. Aliza cried painfully. The Teacher told Aliza to take her seat. After a while, he asked, “Why your husband? The parents are
“It’s out of my hands!” I thought to myself. There’s nothing more I can do.” It seems so final, so absolute. I heard those words once spoken when I was fired from a job I loved. The look on my face begged for an explanation. “Why?” I asked. “Can’t you do something about it?” “It’s out of my hands,” he said. I heard those words spoken when my mother was dying from cancer. I was just 21 years old, still young enough to believe that doctors heal and mothers can make boo-boos better with a kiss. “It’s out of my hands,” he said. With that, we knew it was over. Hands that I shook when I accepted a job suddenly couldn’t hold me there. Hands that I depended on to bandage a wound, gently inject an antibiotic, sign an excuse to miss school, and couldn’t make my mother well. Hands that nurtured, wiped away tears, caressed my face, guided me across the street and welcomed me home, would no longer be there. Today I spoke to a friend about a project I worked on, a dream I’ve held in my heart for years now and how much it would mean in my life at this time if it worked out. He said, “You’ve done all that you could, Bob.” He
Time and Friends… Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out ALL OF IT, of course! Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the “tomorrow.” You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today. To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly magazine. To realize the
Love in A Paper Bag It was Molly’s job to hand her father his brown paper lunch bag each morning before he headed off to work. One morning, in addition to his usual lunch bag, Molly handed him a second paper bag. This one was worn and held together with duct tape, staples, and paper clips. “Why two bags?” her father asked. “The other is something else,” Molly answered. “What’s in it?” “Just some stuff. Take it with you.” Not wanting to hold court over the matter, he stuffed both sacks into his briefcase, kissed Molly and rushed off. At midday, while hurriedly scarfing down his real lunch, he tore open Molly’s bag and shook out the contents: two hair ribbons, three small stones, a plastic dinosaur, a pencil stub, a tiny seashell, two animal crackers, a marble, a used lipstick, a small doll, two chocolate kisses, and 13 pennies. The busy father smiled, finished eating, and swept the desk clean into the wastebasket- leftover lunch, Molly’s junk and all. That evening, Molly ran up behind him as he read the paper. “Where’s my bag?” “What bag?” “You know, the one I gave you this morning.” “I left it at the office. Why?” “I forgot to put this note in it,” she said. “And, besides, those are my things in
