"What Things Have You Witnessed That Appeared Bad And Then Perhaps Turned Out To Be NOT So Bad After All?'

Two Traveling Angels
By: Author Unknown

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the
home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused
to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room.
Instead, the angels were given a small space in the cold
basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the
older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When
the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied,
"Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a
very poor but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After
sharing what little food they had, the couple let the
angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good
night's rest.

When the sun came up the next morning, the angels found
the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose
milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The
younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel,
"How could you have let this happen? The first man had
everything, yet you helped him," she accused. "The second
family had little but were willing to share everything, and
you let the cow die."

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel
replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I
noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall.
Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to
share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't
find it."

"Then, last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the
angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow
instead. Things aren't always what they seem."

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't
turn out the way they should. You just need to trust that
every outcome is always to your advantage. You just might
not know it until some time later...

"What Do You Expect From Today?-Love? Happiness or What?"

Act As If
By: Author Unknown

There's magic in behaving the way we want to be, even
though we don't yet feel it. The behavior seems to lead the
way. The attitude, the mental state, follows.

Many days we may not get up with love in our hearts for
our family, our friends, our co-workers. We may, in fact,
want them to show their love for us first. But if we reach
out, give love unconditionally and focus on another's
needs, love will return tenfold and the act of loving them
will lift our own spirits.

We will know love; we will feel love for ourselves and for
many other people close to us. The attitude we cultivate,
whether one of love or selfishness, inferiority or
superiority, will determine how the events of our lives
affect us.

The principle is so simple. If we meet life with love,
with a smile, we'll find love and something to smile about.
My attitude will make this day what it becomes. Meeting it
head-on, with love, will assure me of a lovely day.

"Do Have Vision, Focus and Clarity?"

Keep Your Goals in Sight
By: Author Unknown

When she looked ahead, Florence Chadwick saw nothing but a
solid wall of fog. Her body was numb. She had been swimming
for nearly 16 hours.

Already she was the first woman to swim the English
Channel in both directions. Now at age 34, her goal was to
become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the
California coast.

On that Fourth of July morning in 1952, the sea was like
an ice bath, and the fog was so dense she could hardly see
her support boats. Sharks cruised toward her lone figure,
only to be driven away by rifle shots. Against the frigid
grip of the sea, she struggled on-hour after hour-while
millions watched on national television.

Alongside Florence in one of the boats, her mother and her
trainer offered encouragement. They told her it wasn't much
farther. But all she could see was fog. They urged her not
to quit. She never had . . . until then. With only a half-
mile to go, she asked to be pulled out.

Still thawing her chilled body several hours later, she
told a reporter, "Look, I'm not excusing myself, but if I
could have seen land I might have made it." It was not
fatigue or even the cold water that defeated her. It was
the fog. She was unable to see her goal.

Two months later, she tried again. This time, despite the
same dense fog, she swam with her faith intact and her goal
clearly pictured in her mind. She knew that somewhere
behind that fog was land, and this time she made it!
Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim the
Catalina Channel, eclipsing the men's record by two hours!

"Are You Living With A Bunch Of Chickens Or Are You Perhaps A Turkey?"

The Eagle
By: Author Unknown

Do you sometimes get the feeling that you could be more
than what you are right now? That somehow, you know you
were made for bigger and better things? Well, chances are,
you're probably right... and don't you let anyone convince
you otherwise.

A man once found an eagle's egg and put it in a nest of a
barnyard hen. The eagle hatched with the brood of chicks
and grew up with them. All his life, the eagle did what the
barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He
scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and
cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet
in the air. Years passed and the eagle grew very old.

One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the
cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty on powerful
wind currents with scarcely a beat of its strong golden
wings. The old eagle looked up in awe. "Who's that?" he
asked. "That's the eagle, the king of the birds," said his
neighbor. "He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth -
we're chickens." So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for
that's what he thought he was.

What a terrible waste... to have lived a life not doing
the things you were always capable of doing and not soaring
to the heights you were able to reach. And all because the
people around you were constantly putting you down and
feeding you with negative, uninspiring comments. So rise
above these comments! Life is what you make it. Don't be
afraid to spread your wings and fly. Aspire!