Life Choices

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America.  He is always in a good mood and always has something

positive to say.  When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" 

Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow 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 always 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!  No one can be a positive person all of the time.  How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood. I always 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 always choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept   their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life." 

"But it's not always 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.  It's your choice how you live your life."

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: he left the back door of his restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three armed men. 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 quickly and rushed to the hospital. 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 replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to 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, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die. I chose to live.  "Weren't you scared" 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 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.  Please 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 you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.  The only thing that is truly yours-that no one can control or take from you-is your attitude, so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.  Now you have two choices to make:

1. You can ignore this message or

2. You can forward it to someone you care about.

QUALITY OF LIFE

The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.  Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.  The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, only a little while.  

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said,  "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you.  You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.   Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery.  You would control the product, processing and distribution.  You would need the leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will all this take?"

To which the American replied, "15 - 20 years."

"But what then?"

The American laughed and said that's the best part.  "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich; you would make millions."

"Millions…. then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire.  Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."  

Juggling The Balls

In a university commencement address several years ago, Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises, spoke of the relation of work to one's other commitments:

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some 5 balls in the air.   You name them - Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit - and you are keeping all of these in the air.  You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball.  If you drop it, it will bounce back.  But the other 4 balls - Family, Health, Friends and Spirit are made of glass.  If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered.  They will never be the same.  You must understand that and strive for balance in your life."

How ?

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.  It is because we are different that each of us is special.  Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.  Only you know what is best for you.  Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.  Cling to them as they would your life, for without them, life is meaningless. 

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.  By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.  Don't give up when you still have something to give.

Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.  Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.  It is this fragile thread that binds us to each together.  Don't be afraid to encounter risks.  It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.  Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find time.  The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.  Don't run  through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going. 

Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.  Don't be afraid to learn.  Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.  Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift.

That's why we call it "The Present".

The following quiz just came from Arthur Andersen.

Please see if you are smart enough.The following small quiz consists of 4 questions, it tells whether you are qualified to be a professional.  According to a statistics of Andersen Worldwide.  Around 90% of the 

professionals failed the exam.  Scroll down for the answer.

The questions are not that difficult.  You just need to be a bit .......

1.   How do you put a giraffe (Chang Jing Lu) in to a refrigerate?

       The correct answer is: open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. 

(Simple enough?)

This question tests whether you are doing simple things in a complicate way.

2.   How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

      Wrong Answer: open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator.

      Correct Answer: open the refrigerator, take out of the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.

This tests your prudence.

3.   The Lion King is hosting an animal conference, all the animals attend except one.  Which animal

does not attend?

      Correct Answer:     The Elephant!  The Elephant is in the refrigerator!

This tests whether you have a comprehensive thinking.

OK, if you did not answer correctly the last three questions, this one may be your last chance to testify your

qualification to be a professional.

4.   There is a river, which is filled with crocodiles. How do you manage to pass it?

       Correct Answer!:  Simply swim through it.  All the Crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting!

During the opening session of the Kansas  Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

         Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and

guidance.

         We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done.

         We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

         We confess that.

         We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism;

         We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism;

         We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle;

         We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;

         We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;

         We have killed our unborn and called it choice;

         We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;

         We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem;

         We have abused power and called it politics;

         We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition;

         We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;

         We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

         Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today;

         Cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

         Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will.

         We ask this in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.

         Amen.

The response was immediate.  A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev.Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.

The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on "The Rest of the Story" on the radio and received a larger

response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called one nation under God.  

It is quite right for us to identify the big rocks to stabilise the ship but remember too many big rocks can sink the ship too.  Back when I was an undergraduate I was listening to one of my Professors speak on the subject of time management.

One day he spoke to a group of us in a business class and, to drive home a point, used an Illustration I'm sure that we will never forget.  He stood in front of our group of Eager beaver over-achievers and said,  "Okay, time for a quiz".  Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and placed it on a table in front of him.

He produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, He asked, "Is this jar full?"

Everyone in the class said, "Yes."

Then He said, "Really?"

He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of Gravel.  He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.  He smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full"?

By this time we were onto him.  "Probably not," one student answered.

"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He dumped the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.

Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"

"No!" we all shouted.  Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.  He looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"

"No," the professor replied, "that's not the point. What this illustration teaches us is that: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."

"What are the 'big rocks' in your life?" he asked.

* Time with your loved ones?

* Teaching or mentoring others?

* Your faith?

* A healthy lifestyle?

* Your education?

* Your finances?

* A cause?

* The goals and objectives of your job?

* A project that you want to accomplish?

Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all.  So, tonight or in the morning when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: "What are the 'big rocks' in my life?”

Then, put those in your jar first.

I wonder if any of you ever have the feeling that life is bad, real bad, and you wish you were in another situation. I admit I did pretty often. I find life make things difficult for me, work sucks, life sucks, everything seem to go wrong...it was not until yesterday that I totally changed my views about life.

After a conversation with one of my friends, he told me despite taking 2 jobs, he brings back barely above 2K 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 India after 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, has the child been naughty, has 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 can go out to the streets to beg. I cannot accept how this could happen, but it really did, just in another part of the world which I don't see.

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 $100to 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 ask 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, 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."

In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools.  At a Chush fundraising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.  After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do.  My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's perfection?"

The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish and stilled by the piercing query.

" I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child." 

He then told the following story about his son Shaya:

One afternoon Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball.  Shaya asked, "Do you think they will let me play?" Shay's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father understood that if his son were chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging.  Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said "We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."   Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly.  Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighthinning, Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would  the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?  Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't even know-how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact. 

The first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the bat and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, "Shaya, run to first. Run to  first."  Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball.  He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head. 

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second."   Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shaya reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third."  Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shaya run home."  Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys llifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a "grand slam" and won the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."  

On The Wings of a Prayer

Just close your eyes and open your heart,
And feel your worries and cares depart.

Just yield yourself to the Father above,
And let him hold you secure in his love.

For life on earth grows more involved,
With endless problems that can't be solved,

But God only ask us to do our best,
Then he will take over and finish the rest...

So when you are tired, discouraged and blue,
There is always one door that is open to you,

And that is the door to The House of Prayer,
And you'll find God waiting to meet you there.

And The House of Prayer is no further away,
than the quiet spot where you kneel and pray.

For the heart is a temple when God is there
As we place ourselves in his loving care.

And he hears every prayer and answers each one
When we Pray in His name - Thy will be done.

The burdens that seemed too heavy to bear
Are lifted away on the wings of a prayer.  

Apple Tree

===========

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbedto the tree top, ate the apples,took a nap under the shadow... He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by...the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree everyday.

One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. "Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy. 

"I am no longer a kid, I don't play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them."  

"Sorry, but I don't have money... but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money." The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me" the tree said. "I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?"  

"Sorry, but I don't have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house." So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. "Come and play with me!" the tree said. 

"I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?"

"Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy." So the boy cut the tree truck to make a boat.  He went sailing and never showed up for a long time. Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. "Sorry, my boy. But I don't have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you," the tree said. 

"I don't have teeth to bite" the boy replied. 

"No more trunk for you to climb on." "I am too old for that now" the boy said.

"I really can't give you anything ... the only thing left is my dying roots" the tree said with tears.

"I don't need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years." The boy replied. 

"Good! Old tree roots is the best place to lean on and rest. Come, Come sit down with me and rest."  

The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears .......

This is a story of everyone. The tree is our parent. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad...

When we grown up, we left them...only came to them when we need something or when we are in trouble.

No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could to make you happy. You may think the boy is cruel to the tree but that's how all of us are treating our parents.

Think about it ……..

A Touching Friendship Story

Horror gripped the heart of the World War I soldier as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle. Caught in a trench with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier asked his lieutenant if he might go out into the "No Man's Land" between the trenches to bring his fallen comrade back.

"You can go," said the Lieutenant, "but I don't think it will be worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your own life away." The Lieutenant's words didn't matter, and the soldier went anyway.

Miraculously he managed to reach his friend, hoist him onto his shoulder, and bring him back to their company's trench. As the two of them tumbled in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, then looked kindly at his friend.

"I told you it wouldn't be worth it," he said. "Your friend is dead, and you are mortally wounded."

"It was worth it, though, sir," the soldier said.

"How do you mean,'worth it'?" responded the Lieutenant, "Your friend is dead!"

"Yes sir," the private answered. "But it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive, and I had the satisfaction of hearing him say, 'Jim, I knew you'd come.'"

Many a times in life, whether a thing is worth doing or not really depends on how you look at it. Take up all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret not doing it later in life.

May each and everyone of you be blessed with the company of true friends.