Thanks

Thanks
=======

He who does not thank for little

…will not thank for much.

~Estonian Proverb~

High Cost of Living

High Cost of Living
====================

In spite of the high cost of living, it’s still popular.
~Kathy Norris~

Can’t Buy Love

Can’t Buy Love
===============

You can’t buy love, but you can pay heavily for it.
~Henny Youngman~

Speed

Speed
======

Whoosh!

I sailed by person after person on the track.

Whoosh – Whoosh – Whoosh!

I am a runner.  Well, technically a jogger.  I often run at the
track near my home.  Most on the track walk, therefore my speed,
however meager in running terms, is far faster than walking.

So it’s whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, as I pass the walkers over and
over around the track.

My speed and endurance seem amazing to the walkers.  Some will
come and walk for an hour.  I am running when they come and
still running when they leave.  I have whooshed by them twenty
or more times.

I got several lessons in life today on the track.

As I circled the track with my long steady strides passing the
walkers like lamp poles, I got to feeling superior.  I know you
shouldn’t, you don’t have to tell me, but after the constant
whooshing past far younger people, it goes to your head.

Then he came.

He was short, perhaps five feet three.  He didn’t look like much
of a runner.  I saw him get out of the car and stretch as I
whooshed by a couple holding hands.

He started running a few feet ahead of me.

He was fast.  I sped up to keep up.  At last, I had someone to
pace myself against.  After half a lap I was on his heels but
my breath was coming harder and heavier.  After the first lap I
was gasping but still on his heels.  After a lap and a half my
foot started hurting.

I was hurting; I was gasping for breath.
I had a MountainWings Moment.

I slowed up and got back to my pace.  The pain in my foot went
away.  I could breathe again without sounding like I had a lung
disease.  He sped away.

In a fairly short time, Whoosh!  He went past me.
Whoosh  Whoosh  Whoosh!

In life, there will always be those slower and faster.
Some have natural ability; some have trained harder.  For some,
speed is simply their destiny.

The point is, we each have our own speed, and we often end up
hurting ourselves and pushing ourselves to the point where the
breath is knocked out of us…

because we are trying to keep up.

I learned several lessons that day.

Don’t get puffed up because you are faster than some.
Don’t feel inferior because some are faster than you.
Don’t judge the capabilities of others by how they look.

How much of your breath (spirit) is knocked out because you are
running someone else’s race?

Are you trying to outrun someone’s car, house, clothes, looks,
job title, etc.?

How much pain are you in trying to keep up with someone who may
be running for an entirely different reason, heading to an
entirely different place, with entirely different muscles?

Slow down or maybe speed up,
but run your race to the best of your ability.

Whether you realize it or not, you are the real pace setter.

Don’t run fast when you should be running slowly.
Don’t run at all when you should be walking,
and don’t walk when you should be running.

~A MountainWings Original~

It’s You

It’s You
=========

I have absolutely the best marriage of anyone whom I know.

How do I know that?  I don’t, it’s just what I feel.

I am happy with my wife, my house, my car, my body, my kids, my
job, my church, and my country.

Sure, all of them have snags, all of them have faults, but
overall I wouldn’t trade them; I am happy.

“Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you
have.”  That’s a quote that I remember from a little boy.
It’s true, very true.

Society doesn’t gear us to want what we have.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t buy the new and improved version.
We are made to feel as though we need something different to be
happy, something better.

Are there better wives out there than mine?  Maybe.
Even if there were and I had her, would there then be a better
one than that one?  Probably.

There is always something better, fancier, faster, more
powerful, and more expensive.  Always.  If not now, it’s coming.

Computer programs keep us waiting for an upgrade.
An upgrade supposedly fixes all of the current bugs.
Often, the upgrade introduces new bugs.

We are in a constant state of trying to get something better and
different.  We are often trying to be someone different, even
when the current us is pretty decent.
If you are not happy being you, then who else can you be?

I neither want to nor have the ability to trade places with
anyone.  I am happy with myself.  With all life’s faults, with
all of my faults and my continuing struggle to improve,
I am happy.

There are a lot of others who have more stuff.  But there aren’t
many who are happier with the stuff they do have.
That’s the key.  Are you happy with the stuff that you do have?

Are you happy with yourself?

You are you and that ain’t going to change.

An old proverb says:

“Be what you is, not what you ain’t,
’cause when you is what you ain’t,
then you ain’t what you is.”

~A MountainWings Original~

Logic?

Logic?
======

A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry
him on his back across a river.  ”Are you crazy?” exclaimed the
turtle.  ”You’ll sting me while I’m swimming and I’ll drown.”

“My dear turtle,” laughed the scorpion, “if I were to sting you,
you would drown and I would go down with you.
Now where is the logic in that?”

“You’re right!” cried the turtle.  ”Hop on!”  The scorpion
climbed aboard and halfway across the river gave the turtle a
mighty sting.  As they both sank to the bottom, the turtle
resignedly said:

“Do you mind if I ask you something?  You said there’d be no
logic in your stinging me.  Then why did you do it?”

“It has nothing to do with logic,” the drowning scorpion sadly
replied.

“It’s just my character.”

from The Mountain:
Be careful of whom you associate with.

ALL

ALL
====

He stood over my desk, a broken man but still holding together.

Mr. Willie Adams is a truck driver for our company.
He has worked for the company for 17 years.
He has been married for 39 years.

Last month, his wife died.

The death of a spouse is psychologically rated as the toughest
thing a person will ever deal with in life.
It was Mr. Adams toughest thing.

There was a statement that he made that really struck me.

“I have no guilt,” he said.

“I did all for her that I could do in our 39 years.  There was
nothing more that I could have done.  If she asked for the moon,
I tried to reach up and grab it for her.”

Those were his words.  Those were his feelings.

He is not an academically educated man.
He is not rich by the world’s standards.
But Mr. Adams had something that few possess,
an undying, unselfish love.

He said, “We married for love and made a vow ’till death do us
part’ and we kept it.”

It’s the toughest thing that psychologists say we will ever
endure.  Sooner or later, in all married couples, one must leave
the other behind.

Now is the time to begin traveling the path so that if you are
the one staying on the earth a little longer you can say,

“I did all that I could do, I did my best.”

~A MountainWings Original~

TO EACH HIS OWN

TO EACH HIS OWN

I cannot change the way I am,
I never really try,
God made me different and unique,
I never ask him why.

If I appear peculiar,
There’s nothing I can do,
You must accept me as I am,
As I’ve accepted you.

God made a casting of each life,
Then threw the mold away,
Each child is different from the rest,
Unlike as night from day.

So often we will criticize,
The things that others do,
But, do you know, they do not think,
The same as me and you.

So God in all his wisdom,
Who knows us all by name,
He didn’t want us to be bored,
That’s why we’re not the same

– Author Unknown

NINETEEN SOMETHINGS

NINETEEN SOMETHINGS TO SAY TO CHILDREN

1. I love you! There is nothing that will make me stop loving you. Nothing
you could do or say or think will ever change that.

2. You are amazing! I look at you with wonder! Not just at what you can do,
but who you are. There is no one like you. No one!

3. It’s all right to cry. People cry for all kinds of reasons: when they
are hurt, sad, glad, or worried; when they are angry, afraid, or lonely.
Big people cry too. I do.

4. You’ve made a mistake. That was wrong. People make mistakes. I do. Is
it something we can fix? What can we do? It’s all over. You can start
fresh. I know you are sorry. I forgive you.

5. You did the right thing. That was scary or hard. Even though it wasn’t
easy, you did it. I am proud of you; you should be too.

6. I’m sorry. Forgive me. I made a mistake.

7. You can change your mind. It’s good to decide, but it is also fine to
change.

8. What a great idea! You were really thinking! How did you come up with
that? Tell me more. Your mind is clever!

9. That was kind. You did something helpful and thoughtful for that person.
That must make you feel good inside. Thank you!

10. I have a surprise for you. It’s not your birthday. It’s for no reason
at all. Just a surprise, a little one, but a surprise.

11. I can wait. We have time. You don’t have to hurry this time.

12. What would you like to do? It’s your turn to pick. You have great
ideas. It’s important to follow your special interests.

13. Tell me about it. I’d like to hear more. And then what happened? I’ll
listen.

14. I’m right here. I won’t leave without saying good-bye. I am watching
you. I am listening to you.

15. Please and Thank You. These are important words. If I forget to use
them, will you remind me?

16. I missed you. I think about you when we are not together!

17. Just try. A little bit. One taste, one step. You might like it. Let’s
see. I’ll help you if you need it. I think you can do it.

18. I’ll help you. I heard you call me, here I am. How can I help you? If we
both work together, we can get this done. I know you can do it by yourself,
but I’m glad to help since you asked.

19. What do you wish for? Even if it’s not yet time for birthday candles
and we don’t have a wishbone, it’s still fun to hear about what you wish
for, hope for, and dream about

– Author Unknown

The Snooze Button

The Snooze Button
==================

What if life had a snooze button?

It does.

It is labeled procrastination.

A snooze button simply allows you to stay where you are a little
while longer instead of getting up and going.

That’s exactly what procrastination is.

There is a funny thing about sleeping after you hit the snooze
button on an alarm clock; it seems like that sleep is more
precious.  Not only is it more precious, it seems like time
speeds up approximately three fold.  Fifteen minutes becomes
five minutes, ten minutes seem like three minutes.

Why do we hit the snooze button?

Because we can.

Imagine if you hit the lotto and you have to be there by 8 A.M.
to pickup your check or it is forfeited; the alarm goes off and
you look at the clock and it is 7 A.M.  No matter how sleepy you
are, do you think you would even consider hitting the snooze
button?

Some people are just not good in math in school, but it seems
like those same people become math geniuses when it comes to
calculating the absolute latest time they can get up, get ready
and make it to work or school, even with a foggy waking brain.

In life the snooze button is not usually in minutes.

We may know we need to go back to school and hit snooze for two
years later.

We may know we need to start exercising;
we hit snooze for next year.

We may know we want to travel and see some place in the world;
we hit snooze for five years later.

We may know we have an idea for a business; we hit snooze for
ten years later.

The other thing about the snooze button is that you can hit it
more than once to get a longer delay of getting moving.

Have you ever hit the snooze button while still sleep and didn’t
remember hitting it?

Have you ever meant to do something in your life and didn’t
realize it had been so long since you were supposed to get
started on it?

The two hardest things about doing something is getting started
and getting finished.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeep.

This is your wakeup call.

Get your finger off of that button.

~A MountainWings Original~