The important things life teaches you.............
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SIX GREAT LESSONS:
1 ~ Most Important Question
During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz.
I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I
read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times.
She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed
in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student
asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely,"
said the professor. "In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant.
They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello'."
I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.
2 ~ Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 PM, an older African American woman was standing on the
side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had
broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag
down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her - generally unheard
of in those conflict filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get
assistance and put her into a taxi cab. She seemed to be in a big hurry! She
wrote down his address, thanked him and drove away. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man's door. To his surprise,a giant console color TV was delivered
to his home. A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting
me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes but
my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my
dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping
me and unselfishly serving others." Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole
3 ~ Always remember those who serve
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year old boy entered
a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front
of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" "Fifty cents," replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins
in it. "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were
now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents,"
she said brusquely. The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain
ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the
table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and
departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then
swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies - her tip.
4 ~ The Obstacle in Our Path
In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself
and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's
wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many
loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything
about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying
a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his
burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables,
he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained
many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many
others never understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's
condition.
5 ~ Giving Blood
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to
know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease.
Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year
old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed
the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation
to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his
blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep
breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liz." As the transfusion
progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing
the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.
He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to
die right away?" Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought
he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood.
6 ~ I'VE TWO CHOICES
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and
always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was
doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique
manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant
to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude.
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there
telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing
this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him,
"I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you
do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you
have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose
to be in a bad mood." I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad
happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it I choose
to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining can choose to accept
their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the
positive side of life." "Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes
it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk,
every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose
how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry
to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I
made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard
that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business,
he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun point by three
armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness,
slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry
was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18
hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital
with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months
after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he said, "If I were any better,
I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds but did ask
him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing
that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry
replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices I
could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live. "Weren't you
scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedics
were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled
me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors
and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man. "
I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was
a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was
allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working
as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, Bullets!' Over
their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am
alive, not dead." Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because
of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice
to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
You have 2 choices now:
1. Save or delete this mail from your mailbox, or
2. Forward it to others.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.