The 5 Most Important Things

~tha 5 MosT iMportanT thinGz~

1 ~ THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON
During tha second month of college our professor gave us a pop quiz. i was a conscientious student and had breezed through tha questions, until i read tha last one: "wat is tha first name of tha woman who cleans tha school?"
surely this was some kind of joke. i had seen tha cleaning woman several times. she was talll, dark-haird and in her 50's buh how would i know her name? i handed in my paper, leaving tha last question blank.
juss before class ended, one student asked if tha last question would count toward our quiz grade.
"absolutely," said tha prof. "in your careers, you will meet many ppo. all are significant. they deserve your attention and care even if all you do is smile nd say 'hello.'" i've never forgoteen that lesson. i also learned her name was dorothy.

2 ~ Second Important Lesson : pickup in tha rain
one night, at 11.3o pm, an older african american woman was standing on tha side of an alabama highway trying to endure tha lashing rainstorm. her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. soaking wet, she decided to flag down tha next car. a young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 196o's. tha man took her to safety, helped her get assistance nd put her into a taxi. she seemed to be in a big hurry, buh wrote down his address and thanked him.
seven days went by nd a knock came on tha 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 mee on tha highway the other night. tha rain drenched not only my clothes, buh also my spirits. then you came along. bcz of you, i was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside juss before he passed away. God bless you for helping mee and unselfishly serving other. sincerely, mrs. nat king cole."

3 ~ Third Important Lesson : Alwaiiz Remember Those Who Serve
in tha days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 1o year old boii 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?" he asked. "50 cents," replied tha waitress. tha litto boii pulled his hand outta his pocket nd studied tha coins in it.
"well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.
by now more ppo were waiting for a table and tha waitress was growing impatient.
"35 cents," she brusquely replied.
the litto boii again counted his coins.
"i'll have tha plain ice cream," he said.
tha waitress brought the ice cream, put tha bill on tha table and walked away. the boii finished the ice cream, paid tha cashier and left. when tha waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped tha table. there, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were 2 nickels nd 5 pennies. you see, he couldn't have the sundae, bcz he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 ~ Fourth Important Lesson : The Obstaclez In Our Path
in ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. then he hid himself nd watched to see if anyone would remove tha 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, buh none did anything about getting the stone outta tha way.
then a peasant came along carrying a load of veggies. upon approaching tha boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to tha side of tha road. after much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. after tha peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in tha road where tha boulder had been. the purse contained many gold coins and a note from tha king indicating that tha gold was for tha person who removed tha boulder from the roadway. the peasant learned wat many of us never understand. every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 ~ Fifth Important Lesson : Giving When It Counts
many years ago, when i worked as a volunteer at a hospital, i got to know a litto girl named liz, who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. her only change of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5 year old brother, who had miraculously survived tha same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.
tha doctor explained the situation to her litto bro, and asked the litto boii 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 her."
as the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sis 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 tha doctor nd asked with a trembling voice, "will i start to die right away?"
being young, the litto boii had misunderstood tha doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sis all of his blood in order to save her.
you see, after all, understanding and attitude, is everything