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| BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE EAR-LIDS |
| 03.30.04 (4:33 pm) [edit] |
From an e-mail list you might want to consider signing up ...
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BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE EAR-LIDS
by Steve Goodier
Patricia Goldman, as vice chairperson of the National Transportation Safety Board, used to tell a story about how poorly airline passengers listen. She says that one flight attendant, who was frustrated by passenger inattentiveness during her what-to-do-in-an-emergenc y talk, changed the wording. This is what she actually said: "When the mask drops down in front of you, place it over your naval and continue to breathe normally."
Not a single passenger noticed.
We have eyelids, but we do not have ear-lids. To compensate, we learn to listen selectively -- to turn our listening on and off. But if you have ever been listened to, really listened to, you know how powerful that experience is. You can likewise listen more effectively to others by applying these four important listening principles:
Listen with your eyes. Make eye contact with the speaker.
Learn to concentrate on the moment at hand and clear
your mind of distractions.
Listen with your ears. It is impossible to listen when you
are speaking.
Listen with your mind. Let go of preconceived ideas about
what you think the speaker is saying. Keep your mind open,
even if you suspect you will dislike what you are about to
hear.
Listen with your heart. Be concerned for and genuinely
interested in the person to whom you are listening.
That will speak louder than anything you actually say.
Listening with your eyes, your ears, your mind and your heart is not only effective, it will create an almost magical bond between you and others that can be achieved in no other way. Dr. Karl Menninger stated, "Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand."
We all need a friend who really listens. And we can all be one.
by Steve Goodier
Steve@lifesupportsystem.com
Steve Goodier is a professional speaker and the author of numerous books about personal development, motivation, inspiration, and making needed life changes. He is also the founder and publisher of Your Life Support System, a daily e-mail newsletter. Visit his site at: http://www.LifeSupportSystem....
_________________________ ________________
Thought For The Day:
"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm." --Publilius Syrus
Verse for the Day:
"If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small." --Proverbs 24:10
Teen's Thought For The Day:
"Consider the postage stamp. Its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing until it gets there."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"You know you've spent too much time carpooling your kids when fast-food, drive-through servers recognize your voice." --Linda Fiterman
Coach's Thought For The Day
"A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame and money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well." --G. K. Chesterton
Deep Thought For The Day:
"I am reading a very interesting book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down."
_________________________ _________________
Author MICHAEL T. POWERS
www.Heart4Teens.com
Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Teen's Soul on Love and Friendship and 18 other inspirational books.
========
Have a blessed day
unc Paul
_________________________ ________________
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| Winners Versus Losers |
| 03.28.04 (6:03 pm) [edit] |
The many facets of perspective really fascinate me. So often, the quality fo our lives really [u][b]DEPEND[/b][/u]S on perspective.
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The Winner is always a part of the answer;
The Loser is always a part of the problem.
The Winner always has a program;
The Loser always has an excuse.
The Winner says, "Let me do it for you;"
The Loser says, "That's not my job."
The Winner sees an answer for every problem;
The Loser sees a problem in every answer.
The Winner says, "It may be difficult but it's possible;"
The Loser says, "It may be possible but it's too difficult."
- Author Unknown
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Have a blessed day and be a winner!
unc Paul
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| CHILDREARING Q&A |
| 03.22.04 (5:55 pm) [edit] |
CHILDREARING Q&A
Q. Should I have a baby after 35?
A. No, 35 children is enough.
Q. I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A. With any luck, right after he finishes college.
Q. How will I know if my vomiting is morning sickness or the flu?
A. If it's the flu, you'll get better.
Q. What is the most common pregnancy craving?
A.. For men to be the ones who get pregnant.
Q. What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A. Childbirth.
Q. My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.
A. So what's your question?
Q. How long is the average woman in labor?
A. Whatever she says divided by two.
Q. My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A. Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.
Q. When is the best time to get an epidural?
A. Right after you find out you're pregnant.
Q. Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?
A. Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.
Q. Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A. Yes, pregnancy.
Q. Does pregnancy cause headaches?
A. Pregnancy causes anything you want to blame it for.
Q. Do I have to have a baby shower?
A. Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.
Q. Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A. When the kids are in college.
========================= ======
Mikey's Thot for the Day:
If raising children was going to be easy, it never would have started with something called labor!
========================= ======
PASS IT ON! Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them you got it from
www.MikeysFunnies.com!
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Have a blessed day! I'll be off today to the hills to teach at a youth camp. be back in 4 days.
Unc Paul
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| THINGS YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW WITHOUT THE MOVIE INDUSTRY |
| 03.19.04 (6:16 pm) [edit] |
taken from the net some time ago - discoverd it while looking for something else. Thought is was still funny. Anyone want to add on to this list?
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THINGS YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW WITHOUT THE MOVIE INDUSTRY
During all police investigations. it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once.
Most dogs are immortal.
All beds have special L-shaped cover sheets that reach up to the armpit level on a woman but only to waist level on the man lying beside her.
All grocery shopping bags contain at least one stick of French bread.
It's easy for anyone to land a plane providing there is someone in the control tower to talk you down.
Once applied, lipstick will never rub off--even while scuba diving.
The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. No one will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other
part of the building you want without difficulty.
You're very likely to survive any battle in any war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.
Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to speak the language. A German accent will do.
The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window in Paris.
A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.
If a large pane of glass is visible, someone will be thrown through it before long.
Kitchens don't have light switches.
If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate any strange noises in their most revealing underwear.
Word processors never display a cursor on screen but will always say: Enter Password Now.
Any person waking from a nightmare will bolt upright and pant.
It is not necessary to say hello or goodbye when beginning or ending phone conversations.
Even when driving down a perfectly straight road, it is necessary to turn the steering wheel vigorously from left to right every few moments.
All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.
A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.
If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.
Police departments give their officers personality tests to make sure they are deliberately assigned a partner who is their total opposite.
When they are alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other.
You can always find a chainsaw when you need one.
An electric fence, powerful enough to kill a dinosaur will cause no lasting damage to an eight-year-old child.
Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at that precise moment.
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Have a blessed day
Unc Paul
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| touching lives in the midst of the mundane activities |
| 03.18.04 (4:20 pm) [edit] |
Another great story - not sure who the author is ...
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Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. It was a cowboy's life, a life for someone who wanted no boss. What I didn't realize was that it was also a ministry.
Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a moving confessional. Passengers climbed in, sat behind me in total anonymity, and told me about their lives. I encountered people whose lives amazed me, ennobled me, made me laugh and weep.
But none touched me more than a woman I picked up late one August night. I was responding to a call from a small brick fourplex in a quiet part of town. I assumed I was being sent to pick up some partiers, or someone who had just had a fight with a lover, or a worker heading to an early shift at some factory in the industrial part of town.
When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation.
Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door.
"This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance," I reasoned to myself.
So I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute," answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years.
All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.
"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she asked. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated."
"Oh, you're such a good boy," she said.
When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"
"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.
"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice."
I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening.
"I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long."
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom
where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
"How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.
"Nothing," I said.
"You have to make a living," she answered.
"There are other passengers," I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.
"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."
I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.
What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then
driven away?
On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.
[b]We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware--beautifully wrapped in what others may
consider a small one.[/b]
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Have a blessed day and bless someone in the midst of your [i]mundane [/i]activities.
Unc Paul
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| New records show shocking truths about teenage sex |
| 03.16.04 (8:28 pm) [edit] |
[b][u] New records show shocking truths about teenage sex[/u][/b]
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/3/17/asia/ 7552180&sec=asia" title="http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/3/17/asia/ 7552180&sec=asia" target="_blank"http://www.thestar.com.my/new...
Wednesday March 17, 2004
AFTER 12 years on the job, teen counsellor Carol Balhetchet did not think anything teenagers do nowadays could shock her any more.
Not until the Singapore Children’s Society counsellor scrutinised the records of the latest batch of 104 under-16 teenagers whose parents had given up as being beyond their control, and realised their sexual exploits were beyond what she had ever seen.
While only one or two teens in previous groups would have had sexual experience, 33 out of the current 104 have already had sex, and 10 had had multiple sex partners.
These teenagers are starting to have intercourse at a younger age. The shocker was a nine-year-old boy who had slept with an older girl.
Said Balhetchet, who is director of the society’s Youth Development Centre: “By 14 or 15, they probably know more about sex than we adults.”
She reckons that the average starting age is now 12 compared to 15 or 16 before. They were so uninhibited that they would also send salacious SMSes and have phone sex.
“In general, the attitude of teenagers towards sex is becoming more laissez-faire. To them, it’s no big deal. A lot of their friends have had sex,” said Balhetchet.
Other counsellors have noticed more now have boyfriends or girlfriends at a younger age, and are more open about engaging in sexual behaviour like kissing and petting.
A Sunday Times survey of 363 youths aged 15 to 24 last year found that four in 10 thought premarital sex was acceptable.
Christian group Focus on Family has noted an increasing prevalence of teenagers who start dating exclusively in primary school, and a more open attitude towards sex generally.
When asked for the reasons behind the trend, predictable ones came up: information explosion, peer pressure and dysfunctional family backgrounds. – The Straits Times/ Asia News Network
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Times are getting sadder in Asia ...
nevertheless, may you still have a blessed day!
UncPaul
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| a "marbles" persepctive on life |
| 03.13.04 (12:06 am) [edit] |
I didn't write this and I am not sure who did. But I enjoyed it and want to share it.
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The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those
lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whoever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles".
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."
He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."
And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."
"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part."
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container
right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday, then I have been given a little extra time. And the one
thing we can all use is a little more time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 73 Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids.
Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."
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have a blessed day
Unc Paul :)
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| The Optimist |
| 03.11.04 (8:43 pm) [edit] |
A group of elderly, retired men gathers each
morning at a cafe in Tel Aviv. They drink coffee
and sit for hours discussing the world situation.
Given the state of the world, their talks usually
are depressing.
One day, one of the men startles the others by
announcing, "You know what? I am an optimist."
The others are shocked, but then one of them
smells something fishy. "Wait a minute!" he says.
"If you are an optimist, why do you look so worried?"
"You think it is easy to be an optimist?"
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It certainly is getting harder to be an optimist nowadays especially if one's perspective is limited to the belief that the human nature is essentially good.
Have a blessed day!
Unc Paul
... an optimist
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| Perspective on Friendship |
| 03.10.04 (4:08 pm) [edit] |
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. At a specific point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one, who got slapped, was hurt, but without anything to say, he wrote in the sand: "TODAY, MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE".
They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who got slapped and hurt started drowning, and the other friend saved him. When he recovered from the fright, he wrote on a stone:
"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE".
The friend who saved and slapped his best friend,asked him, "Why, after I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone?"
The other friend, smiling, replied: "When a friend hurts us, we should write it down in the sand, where the winds of forgiveness get in charge of erasing it away, and when something great happens, we should engrave it in the stone of the memory of the heart, where no wind can erase it"
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I thought this was a really great story. More of us should live by this.
Have a blessed day
Unc Paul :lol:
Got this from http://www.HeartTouchers.com
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| Fate? |
| 03.08.04 (5:29 pm) [edit] |
"Oh, master...tell me of fate."
"Ah, my son...it is what has brought great nations together. It has made the world a smaller place in which to live. It has inspired men of worth to work endless hours. It will some day enable men to span the universe and light years of travel will soon become mere seconds in time."
"And that, my master, is fate?"
"Oh, FATE! I thought you said FREIGHT.
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I find that too often, people misunderstand each other we hear things wrongly ..
I would prefer to tell you about faith for faith is so much more exciting a conecpt and experience than fate. ... one day soon :-) so busy...
Have a blessed day
Unc Paul
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| perspectives |
| 03.04.04 (5:21 pm) [edit] |
[u][b]"Arab Newspaper"[/b][/u]
A story is told of a Jewish man who was riding
on the subway reading an Arab newspaper.
A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the
same subway car, noticed this strange phenomenon.
Very upset, he approached the newspaper reader:
"Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you
reading an Arab newspaper?"
Moshe replied: "I used to read the Jewish newspaper,
but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel
being attacked, Jews disappearing through
assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty.
So I switched to the Arab newspaper. Now what do
I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media,
Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world.
The news is so much better... "
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Perspective is a funny thing. [b]IT DEPENDS[/b] on who writes!
Have ablessed day
Unc Paul
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