A LESSON FOR LIVING 

The legendary country singer, Johnny Cash was addicted to drugs in the 1960s and went to jail several times. Cash says he overcame his addiction by renewing his faith. He tells how a shoeshine man taught him a lesson for living back in 1956 but, unfortunately, it took several more years for him to really understand the lesson.

"I was expecting a fast, snappy job like the young folks do," Cash said, "and he was going about his job real slow. I said to him, ‘You don't seem to be doing too much snapping.'

"That shoeshine man looked up at me sort of sideways and said, ‘That's the problem with the world these days— there's too much snapping and not enough shining.'"

OVERFLOWING GRATITUDE 

"Here's a thought based on Oprah's book club: Sit down at the end of each day and write out 5 things for which you are grateful.

We go through life each day so unaware, and take for granted so many things. There are those persons, unseen and unknown, to whom we need to be grateful. We take for granted turning on a light switch. We assume electricity will light the lamp, but how about the people that keep the system running? Same for the water, and the shops. We walk in and everyday it's filled with food. How did it get on the shelves; how did it get to the stores; how did it get out of the fields; how did it first get planted?

Everyday we need to overflow with gratitude. Looking at life from such a perspective will begin to change our daily attitude towards all life, and, possibly, even towards our self and others."

GET RID OF THAT GUILTY FEELING

Many of us find it easy to forgive others but find it impossible to forgive ourselves. Roman philosopher Carto admits this when he says “I can pardon everybody’s mistakes except my own.” Yet learning to forgive you is one of the basic steps of cultivation the spirit of forgiveness for all. If you cannot forgive yourself, how will you forgive others?

Forgive oneself is essential for self- acceptance. This doesn't mean that we give up our moral or ethical standards and justify all our actions. It only means that we learn to accept ourselves as we are, including our May shortcomings.

For some reason people persist in being harsh with them; they become inflexible and judgmental. Some people carry a lifelong sense of guilt because they could not become a doctor, or an engineer --- something that their parents wanted them to do. Many mothers refuse to forgive themselves when their children do not turnout right. Wives blame themselves when a marriage breaks down… it is strange, but our acceptance of ourselves seems to depend on other’s acceptance of us!

Many of us carry on our hearts, heavy loads of guilt which rob us of our peace of mind. No man is perfect. Every one of us has done some wrongs in the past, near or remote. We must repent and, if possible make amends. We must pray for wisdom and strength not to repeat the wrong and then forget about it.

The moment that an individual accepts and forgives himself, is the moment of renewal, a new beginning.

Dada J.P Vaswani

JOHN F KENNEDY’S HIGH VISION—‘WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON’

In a speech to a Houston College in September 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered his memorable ‘We choose to go to the Moon’ address, stating that humankind will be on the moon before the end of the decade.

The speech had strong tones of national one-upmanship and the need to put stakes in space before other countries do but it also demonstrates the power of a grand vision.

He said: “But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?”

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too….”

“Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, ‘Because it is there.’”

“Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”

HAPPINESS....... AN ILLUSION ?
"People confuse the source of their happiness. They become temporarily happy when they get a new car, or a new house, or a new marriage. And they think that they are suddenly happy because of this new thing in their life. In reality, they are happy because for a brief moment, they are without desire. But then soon another desire comes along. And the search continues."

CONFLICT

A man called his neighbor to help him move a couch that had become stuck in the doorway. They pushed and pulled until they were exhausted, but the couch wouldn't budge.

"Forget it," the man finally said, "we will never get this in."

The neighbor looked at him quizzically and said, "In?"

ONE YEAR TO LIVE

Anthony Burgess was 40 when he learned that he had only one year to live. He had a brain tumor that would kill him within a year. He knew he had a battle on his hands. He was completely broke at the time, and he didn't have anything to leave behind for his wife, Lynne, soon to be a widow.

Burgess had never been a professional novelist in the past, but he always knew the potential was inside him to be a writer. So, for the sole purpose of leaving royalties behind for his wife, he put a piece of paper into a typewriter and began writing. He had no certainty that he would even be published, but he couldn't think of anything else to do.

"It was January of 1960," he said, "and according to the prognosis, I had a winter and spring and summer to live through, and would die with the fail of the leaf."

In that time Burgess wrote energetically, finishing five and a half novels before the year was through (very nearly the entire lifetime output of E.M. Forster, and almost twice that of J. D. Salinger.) 

One year to live but Burgess did not die. His cancer had gone into remission and then disappeared altogether. In his long and full life as a novelist (he is best known for A Clock-work Orange), he wrote more than 70 books, but without the death sentence from cancer, he may not have written at all.
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Many of us are like Anthony Burgess, hiding greatness inside, waiting for some external emergency to bring it out. Ask yourself what you'd do if you had Anthony Burgess's original predicament. “If I had just a year to live, how would I live differently? What exactly would I do?"

ALWAYS ASK, NEVER ASSUME !!!

His request approved, the CNN News photographer quickly used a cell phone to call the local airport to charter a flight.

He was told a twin-engine plane would be waiting for him at the airport.

Arriving at the airfield, he spotted a plane warming up outside a hanger. He jumped in with his bag, slammed the door shut, and shouted, 'Let's go'. The pilot taxied out, swung the plane into the wind and took off.

Once in the air, the photographer instructed the pilot, 'Fly over the valley and make low passes so I can take pictures of the fires on the hillsides.'

'Why?' asked the pilot.

'Because I'm a photographer for CNN' , he responded, 'and I need to get some close up shots.'

The pilot was strangely silent for a moment. Finally he stammered, 'So, what you're telling me, is ... You're NOT my flight instructor?'

IT ALL SEEMS SO OBVIOUS

Rabbi Ben Zoma was asked: 

"Who is wise?"

"He who always finds something to learn from others," said the Rabbi.

"Who is strong?"

"The man who is capable of dominating himself," responded the Rabbi.

"Who is wealthy?"

"He who knows the treasure he has: his days and hours of life, which can change everything which goes on around him."

"Who deserves respect?"

"He who respects himself and his neighbor."

"These things are all so obvious," commented one of those present. The Rabbi concluded by saying:

"That is why they are so difficult to observe."

MEMORY

In a very respectable hotel an old fellow in charge of the cloak room had been in the job for years and never bothered to give a ticket when coats were handed over to him.

A reporter got interested in him and asked the manager how the old man was able to keep track of so many courts without dockets.

“Oh, don’t worry about old Ted. He’s been doing that job for years, Never had a complaint,” said the manager.

The reporter decided to put him to the test on the next busy Saturday night. When leaving he asked for his coat and when he received one, he said, “How do you know if this is my coat?”

“I don’t,” replied Ted.

“Then why did you give it to me?” asked the reporter with a hint of triumph.

“Because that’s the coat you gave to me, sir,” said Ted.

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