�Who Says You Can�t Teach an Old Dog a New Trick or Two�

A few months back my buddy had a heart attack. It was pretty serious and it was touch and go for a while there. He has always been a hard worker, with a bit of a short fuse, but all in all a great friend.

What I’m getting at is that for years he was completely focused on his immediate goals and needs. Rarely had time to visit his kids; worked hard dawn til dusk and pushed himself intensely.

Well, I had the opportunity to spend time with him over the past week and while he’s still the same great friend – the heart attack has changed him and it’s a good thing.

He told me he’s no longer going to bust his butt for an extra buck in the bank, he’s going to appreciate life for what it has to offer. He’s going to be more available for his family and he’s going to enjoy each day to the best of his ability. AND he’s doing it!

BUT the coolest part was watching his self discipline and emotional control. The doctors told him not to push his heart over 90 BPM, so every time it reached that level no matter what he was doing he stopped. He accepted the doctor’s advice and he works with it – not against it. He also controls his emotions by accepting the frustration that his normal speed of 200 MPH is no longer attainable or at least right now and he lives with it and doesn’t fight it.

In any case, if you think that this type of behavior is easy to attain or is an obvious forgone conclusion that everyone just does it because they need to – just look in the cemetery. It’s tough to give up old ways regardless of what the implications might be.

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers. The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”!

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.

He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold – throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.

Author Unknown

Don’t you just wish?

That every day cast a ray of sunshine upon your life,

That every day the pot of gold at your rainbow came alive,

That every night empowered your dreams from a moon beam from a far,

Don’t you just wish?

That each day caressed your soul with the warmth of a gentle breeze,

That each day carried away the sadness you wear upon your sleeve,

That each night your wish arrived on the tail off a falling star,

Don’t you just wish?

That each day’s tears were whisked away on a rolling tide,

That each day a fluffy white cloud carried away your fears and pride,

That each night the love of your life would hold you in their arms,  

let go of the fiction and bask in the only thing that’s real – that will ever be real  – LOVE!

I rarely discuss religion in a public forum, but this needs to be addressed by everyone in the West – well at least in my opinion.

Right now 1/5 of Pakistan is under water and 97% of Pakistani people are Muslim. The country that is providing the most humanitarian aid is the USA and that is the best way to fight terrorism.

Really, if the West is seen as the good guys in this situation, they win the support of the masses over there, and that needs to be promoted.

Then it can be taken a step further. Just think if the US military allocated one minute of their annual defense budget towards education in an Islamic 3^rd world country like Indonesia – they could provide quality education for every child for one year.

Sure we will never be able to stop the current Islamic extremists, they’ve already been brain washed or should I say suffer from a lack of education. BUT if the Western World were to educate the children, and show them the West are the ones who are in fact improving their lives they would over time, certainly have enough education to question some of the misleading or inaccurate age old doctrines that now, appear to go unchallenged.  

And if you don’t think things will change with improved education, just look back at our Christian based history. In the 1950’s women here may not have worn hibayas, but they certainly weren’t treated as equals either. Check out the Guidelines for a 1950’s Housewife.

Oh ya one last thing. The Muslim people fighting for a mosque at Ground Zero in New York (if anything it does raise questions) are creating a great deal of negative press at a time that millions and millions of fellow Muslims in Pakistan don’t need it. Again it is the US (predominantly Christians) that comes to the aid of Muslims in crisis – just look back at the tsunami in Indonesia – the USA gave $902,000,000 where all Muslim countries together only gave $177,500,000.00 – not even one quarter.

This is a story I think needs to be told.

Once upon a time, there was a king that ruled a prosperous country.

One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he came back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very sore. It was the first time that he had gone for such a long trip, and the road that he went on was very rough and stony.

So he ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather.

Definitely, to do this job would require thousands of cows’ skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.

So one of his wise servants dared himself to suggest to the king, “Why do you want to spend all that unnecessary money? When you could just cut one little piece of leather and cover your feet?”

The king was surprised, but he later agreed to this suggestion, and made a “shoe” for himself.

The moral of the story: To make the world a better place – just change yourself. The world is just fine the way it is.

I am always pleasently surprised to see just how different others see life as compared to I.

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

“Oh yeah,” said the son.

“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered: “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

“We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

“We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

“We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

Today I was talking to one of my sons about integrity and after a lengthy discussion in became clear to us that integrity really has nothing to do with what is right or wrong, moral or immoral, religious or nonreligious. In fact it appeared quite clear that integrity is a personal, distinct part of us; a personal, internal sense of guidance; a personal, state of self trust and a personal barometer that alerts us to a deeper understanding in making choices that allow us to feel OK about the choices we do make and ultimately allows us to feel good about our self.

Now I just wonder when the day will come that we as parents find the courage to trust our children with the right to make their own choices based upon their own sense of self – without the need to push age old ideals, revered beliefs and our personal directives upon them.

Does Mommy or Daddy really know best?

This little gem was passed on to me by one of the “Your Second Fifty” writers. I have read this before in a slightly altered version – BUT – we can never have enough hope for humanity!

Enjoy! 

The Price of a Miracle

A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet.                                               

She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes.                                                                 

Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to the drug store, with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.                                                

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing… She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!                                                                   

“And what do you want?” the pharmacist asked. “Can you see, I’m talking to my brother from Chicago, whom I haven’t seen in ages,” he said without waiting for a reply to his question.                         

“Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,” Tess answered back. “He’s really, really sick …….. and I want to buy a miracle.”                                                                  

“I beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist.                                 

“His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?”                                                                    

“We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” the pharmacist said, softening a little.                            

“Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.”                                

The pharmacist’s brother was a well dressed man.  He stooped down and asked the little girl, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?”   

“I don’t know,” Tess replied with her eyes welling up.  “I just know he’s  really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation… But my Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money.”                                       

“How much do you have?” asked the man from Chicago                        

“One dollar and eleven cents,” Tess answered, barely audibly. “And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.”    

“Well, what a coincidence,” smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents is the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.”                            

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand, he grasped her mitten and said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents.  Let’s see if I have the miracle you need.”        

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neurosurgery. The operation was completed, free of charge and it wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well…                        

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.                                                    

“That surgery,” her Mom whispered, “was a real miracle.  I wonder how much it would have cost?”                                                                                                                                   

Tess smiled.  She knew exactly how much a miracle cost….one dollar and eleven cents….plus the faith of a little child.                                                                                             

Today is Mother’s Day in Thailand so I added a little story about just how powerful the love of a mother can be. May we all be so blessed.

After the divorce, her teenage daughter became increasingly rebellious.

It culminated late one night when the police called to tell her that she had to come to the police station to pick up her daughter, who was arrested for drunk driving.

They didn’t speak until the next afternoon.

Mom broke the tension by giving her daughter a small gift-wrapped box.

Her daughter nonchalantly opened it and found a small piece of a rock.

She rolled her eyes and said, “Cute Mom, what’s this for?”

“Here’s the card,” Mom said.

Her daughter took the card out of the envelope and read it. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks.

She got up and gave her mom a big hug as the card fell to the floor.

On the card were these words:

“This rock is more than 200 million years old. That’s how long it will take before I give up on you.”

 Author Unknown, Source Unknown

Take a small piece of paper – hold it up in front of you.

There will be a right side and a left side.

Tear it in half and throw away the left side so all you have left is the right side.

IMPOSSIBLE – why, because you now have a new left side.

In Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin yang is used to describe how polar or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. e.g. dark and light, female and male, low and high, cold and hot. That being said generally Taoist philosophy discounts good/bad distinctions as superficial labels, preferring to focus on the idea of balance. (Wikipedia)

However for this example I would like you to remain focused on the logic that contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent and refrain from the semantics that allow us to become distracted from the obvious truth.  

Ok now consider yourself – and what you have been taught about good and bad.

Now go get a chainsaw and cut away your bad half. (KIDDING)

But you get my point if you had a bad side and you got rid of it you will only have a new bad side. Hmmmm.

So does that mean you will always be bad – well if bad was a part of you then the answer would be yes. BUT that’s where the truth comes into play. YOU ARE NOT BAD NOR ARE YOU GOOD – you’re just what you are – a PERFECT creation of you.

That being said, it now comes down to choice and external interpretation. What is good and what is bad and what you base you choice upon.

We all can choose to be good or bad – BUT IT’S NOT US THAT IS GOOD OR BAD – it is the action we take based upon our choice that was determined to be good or bad, based upon what we’ve been taught to be good or bad from the men who wrote the religious texts or those who interpret the religious texts or from the modern day law makers who now make the modern day form of government and YES – who are in control and determine what is good or bad.

Here is an example of bad and good (EXTREME EXAMPLE)

I’m sitting in a restaurant and I take out a gun and shot three people behind the counter. I’m a bad person?

I’m a soldier in Afghanistan and I shoot three armed Taliban threatening to harm a group of women. I’m a good person?

After I shoot the three restaurant workers it becomes clear that they were homegrown terrorists and that they had plans to bomb a school in Vancouver. I’m a good person?

After I shoot the three armed Taliban soldiers it becomes clear they are young boys and they were only serving because if they didn’t their families would be killed by the extremist leaders. I’m a bad person?

The point being – I’M STILL THE SAME PERSON – what made my choice good or bad was your interpretation of my actions in each example – because the result was the same.

We’ve been fed a lot of information over the course of our lives based upon the interpretation of those in power as to what’s good or bad and it’s now time for these teachings to be seriously challenged. Why, because many of these teachings are no longer applicable in today’s world and the original intent has become redundant, unproductive and in many cases down right dangerous.   

The time is now for us to reclaim our own conscience, to trust ourselves and to base our choices not on what’s going to be the most rewarding externally (money, heaven, and/or the acceptance of others) but what is going to create the most peace internally. We were all created equal. We don’t need to follow to understand and to know. It is within us all. We don’t need to allow guilt and shame to determine our choices. We can base our choices upon our internal peace. We must overcome controlling and manipulating forms of control if we ever hope to find self-love and internal peace and we must remember that we were all created perfect – as perfect as we can possibly be.