WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Life’s picture glares at you daily and throws a bunch of mixed fruits at you, how do you respond? Your attitude determines your altitude. Your today defines the best of you.

Anxiety is not created by your situation, or by what you must do about your situation. Anxiety is the result of your attitude and your perspective on the situation.

To be free of anxiety, you don’t necessarily have to change the situation or avoid doing anything about it. What you can do is change your attitude, your perspective and your expectations.

In fact, your attitude ultimately is not dependent on your circumstances. Your attitude is whatever you choose it to be.

As surely as you have learned to react to certain things with anxiety, you can teach yourself to respond instead with peaceful confidence. That response is just as realistic, and much more positive, healthy and enriching.

Keep in mind that it is because of your choice that you become annoyed, frustrated, angry, fearful and filled with anxiety. Keep in mind that you always have another, more positive choice.

Make it your intention to choose peace, positive purpose, confidence and generous, effective action. Your inner state of being is always your choice, so always make it the very best, most empowering one.

YOUR STORM SHELTER

To prepare for life’s storms you must:

1) Practice self-control. Storms are much harder on the undisciplined and self-indulgent. The illusion that life should be easy, painless, an air-cushioned ride, makes you vulnerable to discouragement, disillusionment and defeat in hard times. The truth is, tough times don’t last but tough people do! And tough people practice self-denial and self-control. It’s their spiritual muscle for handling life’s hardships. The Bible says, ‘The fruit of the Spirit is…self- control…’ (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV). God’s Spirit will make you tough enough to control your greatest weakness-yourself-the thing that ultimately defeats you in the tough times. Paul lived by this principle. ‘I discipline my body and keep it under control…’ (1 Corinthians 9:27 ESV). Great athletes know that it’s their conditioning, not the conditions, that determine their victory.

2) Depend on God, not people. ‘It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man’ (Psalms 118:8 NKJV). Yes, others can help you at times, like a cast helps a broken leg. But once that leg is ready to bear its weight, you must discard the cast or your leg won’t regain full strength. People can go so far; only God will go all the way with you. Paul writes: ‘…No one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…
The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!’ (2 Timothy 4:16-18 NKJV).

– Word for Today

STAY INVOLVED, IT CONCERNS YOU TOO

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning:

“There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said “Mr Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The pig sympathized, but said “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The cow said “Wow, Mr. Mouse, I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember: when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s tapestry.

This is also true for the organization you work at, the country you live in, the family you hail from and the world at large.

Stay involved, it concerns you too.

HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

There was a man taking a morning walk at or the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun rays, they would die.

The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly. Right behind him there was another person who couldn’t understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, “What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?” This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, “It makes a difference to this one.”

The holiday season is upon us, and at this time there is tendency for employees and business owners to be distracted, busy and get caught up in various preparations for the season.

Here are 3 tips for you to stay motivated at work during this period.

1. Clarify your goals – Don’t work haphazardly without a clear vision, mission and set of objectives for your work. There will be a lot of demand on your attention, but if you clarify your work, it will help you stay motivated.

2. Have a game plan – Things won’t just work out by themselves. Have a plan to implement your goals.

3. Keep things in perspective – If you find yourself under pressure at this time, learn to keep things in perspective. Remind yourself of why you are in that profession, working on that project, running that business and realizing your potential.

CAN I BORROW =N=20 FROM YOU?

A woman came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find her 5-year old son waiting for her at the door.

SON: ‘Mummy, may I ask you a question?’

MUM: ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the woman.

SON: ‘Mummy, how much do you make an hour?’

MUM: ‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the woman said angrily.

SON: ‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’

MUM: ‘If you must know, I make =N=20 an hour.’

SON: ‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: “Mummy, may I please borrow =N=5?”

The mother was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.’

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door..

The woman sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the woman had calmed down, and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that =N=5 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The woman went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

‘Are you asleep, son?’ She asked.

‘No Mummy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy.

‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier’ said the woman. ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the =N=5 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you Mummy!’ he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The woman saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his mother.

‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the mother grumbled.

‘Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied.

‘Mummy, I have =N=20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow.
I would like to have dinner with you.’

The mother was crushed. She put her arms around her little son, and she begged for his forgiveness.

It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that =N=20 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

DO YOU JUMP QUEUES?

It was rush hour time at London Victoria Station in 2007. It was the height of the tube (rail) strike and workers were forced into long queues to access the bus network.
Gareth Edwards was standing with other commuters in a long, snaking line for a bus, when a smartly dressed businessman blatantly cuts in line behind him. (Behind him: this detail matters.)

The interloper proves immune to polite complain about his actions, but Gareth Edwards had a magnificent idea. He turns to the elderly woman standing behind the queue-jumper, and asks her if she’d like to go ahead of him. She accepts, so he asks the person behind her, and the next person, and the next until 60 or 70 people have moved ahead, Edwards and the seething queue-jumper shuffling further backwards all the time. The bus finally pulls up, and Edwards hears a shout from the front of the line. It’s the elderly woman, addressing him: “Young man! Do you want to go in front of me? Leaving the queue jumper at the very end of the line and coming last.

Do you jump the queue too? Or do you jump red lights?

Our actions say a lot about our mind set and values. Jumping the queue or jumping red lights simply shows little regard for human life and other people’s rights.

This week be conscious of others and be an ambassador for peaceful living.