Inspire Me (April 2008)

True stories, quotes and information on inspiration, leadership and kindness to provide hope and direction in your life.

If you have a few minutes, this is worth looking at...

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Column By Steve Goodier
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Concentrate on Today's Date

It's been said well, "If you have to look at the calendar, concentrate on today's date." It doesn't hurt to look back occasionally and learn lessons from the past. And we should also look ahead and prepare for the future. But mostly... it is a good idea to give today the best we've got.

Actor Sylvester Stallone once said of his acting success, "It's been a lovely ride - I just wish I'd been there to enjoy it." Have you ever felt that way? That life has been good - even great - but you weren't really there to enjoy it?

He went on to say, "It's been like a blur - like trying to sightsee through a quaint New England town at three hundred miles an hour. I'd like to retrace my steps in the snow and see what I missed. I mean, I've been to Europe ten times in the past ten years, but I can't remember anything. If I
didn't have some of the door keys that I took by accident, I wouldn't remember where I stayed. My whole life is door keys."

Have you ever felt like your life is... car keys? Office keys? Keyboard keys? A blur?

Older people used to tell us when we were young parents to "enjoy these years." "They go by faster than you realize," these friends would say. And most of the time I'd think, 'They can't go by soon enough!'

I've always loved my children, and I am forever grateful I am a parent. But some days I couldn't wait for them to grow up.

I remember long nights - long nights when babies were up because they couldn't sleep, or didn't feel well or just decided to use that extra time to exercise their lungs.

I remember long nights - long nights lying awake waiting for teenagers to come home... listening for the car engine so I knew they were all right. And if someone would tell me to enjoy those years, I'd shake my head and think, 'I'll enjoy it when they grow up. I'll enjoy getting my life back!'

But then the boys did grow up and they left home. And do you know what? Our friends were right. Those years went by faster than I expected. They seem like a blur now... and I wonder if I enjoyed them fully.

Thomas Mann said, "Hold every moment sacred... Give each its true and due fulfillment." For these moments, I'm learning, are all we really have.

Next time I look at the calendar, I'll concentrate on today's date.

THE NAIL IN THE FENCE

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to
control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.

He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be
the same.

When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man
and draw it out.

It won't matter how many times you say "I'm sorry," the wound is still there."

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Please forgive me if I have ever left a hole.

--Author unknown

You Just Never Know
Author Unknown

Bill worked in a factory on a production line, he was a big, awkward, homely guy. He dressed oddly with ill-fitting clothes. There were several fellow workers who thought it smart to make fun of him.

One day one fellow worker noticed a small tear in his shirt and gave it a small rip. Another worker in the factory added his bit, and before long there was quite a ribbon of cloth dangling. Bill went on about his work and as he passed too near a moving belt the shirt strip was sucked into the machinery. In a split second the sleeve and Bill was in trouble. Alarms were sounded, switches pulled, and trouble was avoided.

The foreman then summoned all the workers and related this story:

In my younger days I worked in a small factory. That's when I first met Mike. He was big and witty, was always making jokes, and playing little pranks. Mike was a leader. Then there was Peter who was a follower. He always went along with Mike. And then there was a man named Murray. He was a little older than the rest of us - quiet, harmless, apart. He always ate his lunch by himself.

He wore the same patched trousers for three years straight. He never entered into the games we played at noon, wrestling, horseshoes and such. He appeared to be indifferent, always sitting quietly alone under a tree instead. Murray was a natural target for practical jokes.

He might find a live frog in his lunch box, or a dead spider in his hat. But he always took it in good humor. Then one autumn, when things were quiet in the factory, Mike took off a few days to go hunting. Peter went along, of course. And they promised all of us that if they got anything they'd bring us each a piece.

So we were all quite excited when we heard that they'd returned and that Mike had got a really big buck. We heard more than that. Peter could never keep anything to himself, and it leaked out that they had real whopper to play on Murray. Mike had cut up the buck and had made a nice package for each of us. And, for the laugh, for the joke of it, he had saved the ears, the tail, the hoofs - it would be so funny when Murray unwrapped them.

Mike distributed his packages during the lunch break. We each got a nice piece, opened it, and thanked him. The biggest package of all he saved until last. It was for Murray. Peter was all but bursting; and Mike looked very smug. Like always, Murray sat by himself; he was on the far side of the big table. Mike pushed the package over to where he could reach it; and we all sat and waited.

Murray was never one to say much. You might never know that he was around for all the talking he did. In three years he'd never said more than hundred words. So we were all quite astounded with what happened next. He took the package firmly in his grip and rose slowly to his feet. He smiled broadly at Mike - and it was then we noticed that his eyes were glistening. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down for a moment and then he got control of himself.

'I knew you wouldn't forget me,' he said gratefully, 'I knew you'd come through! You're big and you're playful, but I knew all along that you had a good heart.'

He swallowed again, and then took in the rest of us. 'I know I haven't seemed too chummy with you men; but I never meant to be rude. You see, I've got nine kids at home - and a wife that's been an invalid - bedridden now for four years. She ain't ever going to get any better. And sometimes when she's real bad off, I have to sit up all night to take care of her. And most of my wages have had to go for doctors and medicine.

The kids do all they can to help out, but at times it's been hard to keep food in their mouths. Maybe you think it's funny that I go off by myself to eat my lunch. Well, I guess I've been a little ashamed, because I don't always have anything between my sandwich. Or like today - maybe there's only a raw turnip in my lunch box. But I want you to know that this meat really means a lot to me. Maybe more than to anybody here because tonight my kids' ... as he wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand ... 'tonight my kids will have a really good meal.'

He tugged at the string. We'd been watching Murray so intently we hadn't paid much notice to Mike and Peter. But we all noticed them now, because they both tried to grab the package. But they were too late. Murray had broken the wrapper and was already surveying his present. He examined each hoof, each ear, and then he held up the tail. It wiggled limply. It should have been so funny, but nobody laughed - nobody at all.

But the hardest part was when Murray looked up and said 'Thank you' while trying to smile. Silently one by one each man moved forward carrying his package and quietly placed it in front of Murray for they had suddenly realized how little their own gift had really meant to them, until now.

This was where the foreman left the story and the men. He didn't need to say any more; but it was gratifying to notice that as each man ate his lunch that day, they shared part with Bill and one fellow even took off his shirt and gave it to him.

THINK, BE KIND TO EVERYONE ALWAYS...BECAUSE YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!