Charity Corner...

Charity Corner...

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is;
"What are you doing for others?"
--Martin Luther King, Jr.


GREAT Story......


Bring him home ~ for a visit, that is...


The Creightons were very proud of their son, Frank. When he went to college, naturally they missed him; but he wrote and they looked forward to his letters and saw him on weekends. Then Frank was drafted into the army.

After he had been in the army about five months, he received his call to go to Vietnam.

Of course, the parents' anxiety for his first letter was greater than ever before. And ever week they heard from him and were thankful for his well-being. Then one week went by without a letter ~ two weeks ~ and finally three. At the end of the third week a telegram came, saying, "We regret to inform you that your son has been missing for three weeks and is presumed to have been killed in action while fighting for his country."


The parents were shocked and grieved. They tried to accept the situation and go on living, but it was tragically lonesome without Frank.


About three weeks later, however, the phone rang. When Mrs. Creighton answered it, a voice on the other end said, "Mother, it's Frank. they found me, and I'm going to be all right. I'm in the United States and I'm coming home soon."


Mrs. Creighton was overjoyed, with tears running down her cheeks she sobbed, "Oh, that's wonderful! That's just wonderful, Frank." There was silence for a moment, and then Frank said, "Mother I want to ask you something that is important to me. While I've been here, I've met a lot of wonderful people and I've really become close friends with some. There is one fellow I would like to bring home with me to meet you and Dad. And I would like to know if it would be all right if he could stay and live with us, because he has no place to go."

.
His mother assured him it would be all right.

Then Frank said, "You see, he wasn't' as lucky as some; he was injured in battle. He was hit by a blast and his face is all disfigured. He lost his leg, and his right hand is missing. So you see, he feels uneasy about how others will accept him."


Frank's mother stopped to think a minute. She began to wonder how things would work out, and what people in town would think of someone like that. She said, "Sure frank, you bring him home ~ for a visit, that is. We would love to meet him and have him stay for a while; but about him staying with us permanently, well, we'll have to think about that."

There was silence for a minute, and then Frank said, "Okay, Mother," and hung up.

A week went by without any word from Frank, and then a telegram arrived ~ "We regret to inform you that your son has taken his life. We would like you to come and identify the body."


Their wonderful son was gone. The horror stricken parents could only ask themselves, "Why had he done this?" When they walked into the room to identify the body of their son, they found a young man with a disfigured face, one leg missing, and his right hand gone.

Inspirational Thought

Inspirational Thought for the week:

"I expect to pass through this world but once.
Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness
I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now.
Let me not defer or neglect it,
for I shall not pass this way again."
-- Stephen Grellet





Bill Gates said it best;
"It's not about making money, it's about Making A Difference!"

Friend,
Wherever you are,
Whoever you are...
Decide right now to ALWAYS be 'MAKING a DIFFERENCE'!

How?

Well, why not start by doing random acts of Kindness every day!

Why?

"The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless,
unremembered acts of kindness and of love."
-- William Wordsworth

Explore. Dream. Discover

"Pray towards heaven but row towards the shore."
-- Unknown

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off your bow-lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain


"Your attitude is either the lock on,
or the key to the door of success."
--Denis Waitley

GREAT Attitude...

"UNDER OUR SKIN!"

There once was an oyster, whose story I tell;
Who found that some sand, had gotten into his shell.
It was only a grain, but it gave him great pain;
For oysters have feelings, although they are plain.

Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate,
That had brought him to such a deplorable state?
"No," he said to himself, "Since I cannot remove it,
I'll lie in my shell, and think how to improve it."

The years rolled around,as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate Destiny...stew.
Now the small grain of sand that had bothered him so,
Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow.

This tale has a moral, for isn't it grand,
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand?
Think... What could WE do, If we'd only begin,
With some of the things that get under OUR skin.
--Author Unknown

Ideas . . . How thirsty are you?

"New ideas pass through three periods:
(1) It can't be done.
(2) It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing.
(3) I knew it was a good idea all along!"

Arthur C. Clarke



GREAT QUOTES...


I like thinking big... if you're going to be
thinking anyway, you might as well think big.
--Donald Trump (1946 - )American real estate developer





GREAT Question...


HOW THIRSTY ARE YOU?

A man had an operation, and the doctor, by mistake, left a sponge in him. A friend asked him if he had any pain because of it.
"No," said the man, "but I sure do get thirsty."

It's true that the people who get thirsty - not for water or beverages - but thirsty to pursue a dream or achieve a goal, are the ones who will eventually succeed. Napoleon Hill wrote, "Desire is the starting point of all achievement. Not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything."

Educator Benjamin Bloom reported the results of a five-year study that was undertaken to discover what made some people extraordinarily successful. The study consisted of detailed research into the lives of 120 of the nation's top artists, athletes, and scholars.

Bloom was surprised to find that natural abilities played only a small part in the development of those individuals. As children, they were often mediocre musicians, athletes or students, but Bloom found that they possessed a powerful drive to succeed. They practiced the piano hours every day, rose well before school every morning to swim, or spent hours alone working on science projects.

Parental support was also a key factor. The parents of the successful young people helped out, exposing their children to great ideas and influential persons. Many sacrificed to ensure that their offspring received good training. But in the end, it was their children's thirst to do well that made the difference.

How thirsty are you?
Your success in any field you choose may hinge on your answer to that simple uestion.

choose the bolder option

"When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take - choose the bolder."

*W.J. Slim

CHANGE IS INEVITABLE - GROWTH IS OPTIONAL

Here is a most interesting study. An economist condensed 50,000 years of recorded history into just 50 years. In this distilled version of history, it was only 10 years ago that you and I emerged from the cave. The first 40 years meant practically nothing in the way of progress. It was just 2 years ago that Christ walked along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Just 10 months ago Gutenberg invented the printing press to make possible vast communication. Ten days ago Edison discovered electricity. It was on that same day that Sheldon fathered salesmanship. Last week, the Wright Brothers made that first successful airplane ride. Five days ago someone pushed a button and you heard your first radio broadcast from KDKA in Pittsburgh.

Late yesterday another button was pushed and you viewed television for the first time. It was a matter of minutes ago that the first jet broke the sound barrier. Only a few seconds later, Armstrong landed on the moon . . .

Well, you get the idea . . . there is nothing so constant as change. But, it's the acceleration of change in this age of technology that gives you an idea of the kind of world in which we live and sell in today. And the world in which you'll sell tomorrow.

What are your attitudes toward change? Review these points adapted from, Taking the Fear Out of Changing, by psychologist Dennis O'Grady:

1.) The hardest thing to change is a hardening of attitudes; nothing kills change faster than attitudes that resist it.

2.) Failures stem from two sets of words: "I can't" and "Yes, but . . . ."

3.) Those adept at change don't reject good advice just to prove they aren't being controlled by those who give it.

4.) Complaining is good, if it isn't a substitute for action - but it often is.

5.) High self-esteem results from making small positive changes in spite of fear. Confidence comes from conquering fear of change.

6.) Unexpected pain can result from either huge set-backs or successes.

7.) Change artists analyze how fear of success can stop them from changing. They also know success does not magically bestow happiness.

8.) Fear of commitment to goals can make one stop short of setting appropriate goals. Commitment forces an answer to a tough question: "What do
I really want?"

9.) Choices and options are all open. One can make new choices anytime.

10.) Giving positive strokes to one's self is as important as giving them to others. But self-criticism is easier than self-stroking.

11.) Balancing pleasing one's self with pleasing others is often difficult.

Learn to accept an adjustment in attitude. You are probably facing a change today that, viewed properly, will bring about growth and even more success. Examine your attitude toward it and adjust accordingly.