Challenge,

Challenge is the core and mainspring of all human actions. If there is a ocean we cross it, if there is a disease we cure it. If there is a wrong and we right it. If there is a record we break it. And if there is a mountain we climb it. ~James Ullman ~ Writer and Mountaineer

Respect

Respect is how to treat everyone not just those u want to impress!!!!!!!!!!!!
~unknown

Work and Play

He who works all day is miserable, he who plays all day doesn't pay his bills. The Bowman hits the mark, as sailor reaches land, by having different skills and knowing when to work and when to relax.
~unknown

Lesson from Wall Street Why There is a Fianancial Crisis

I just got this article from a friend and wonder if this is right or wrong, however the story is interesting indeed.

If you have difficulty understanding the current world financial mess, the following should help...


Once upon a time in a village in India, a man announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10.

The villagers, seeing there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10, but, as the supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their efforts.

So the man announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to $25, and the supply of monkeys dropped so much that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch one!

The man now announced he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now act as buyer, on his behalf.

In the man's absence, his assistant told the villagers 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when he returns from the city, you can sell them back to him for $50.'

The villagers squeezed together their savings and bought all the monkeys.

Then they never saw the man or his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!

Welcome to WALL STREET, The City of London and all the Venerable Institutions permitted to monkey around with our money !!

Growth

No life ever grows great until it is focussed, dedicated and disciplined.
~I am questioning myself on which staged am I in?

How Poor Are We

One day a father, of a very wealthy family, took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

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

"It was great Dad!"

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered,

" I saw we have one dog and they have 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."

With this the boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added,

"Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

~Author unknown

Wonder why not Wonder

“Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.” ~ Saint Augustine

IF ~ You had another chance

Interesting story that I came across while surfing.

I like to visit the cemetery and look at different tombstones. I like to find out what is the last phrase that people like to put in their tombstones. It always gives me a lot of inspirations. On day, I walked into a cemetery aimlessly looking at different tombstones. There have a lot of fancy carved stones engraved with famous proverbs. Some have beautiful sculptures, some big and some small. Suddenly, I saw a tombstone; no fancy carving, no beautiful sculpture, not big, just an ordinary stone. On the stone, it said: 1964 to 1984Getter Edge In the middle of the stone, it had a big word carved......"IF" and under this word it said "I have another chance". I stood there, don't know for how long, looked at the big word "IF" and the little words "I have another chance". A lot of thoughts went though my mind. I asked myself, "If I have another chance, what will I do?!!" Friends, if you have another chance, what will you do? Will you treasure the chance that you have or will you wait until your tombstone says: "IF""I have another chance" ---

Copyright © 2000 Benny Lam

Action Vs Disappointment

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

Success

Success . . .
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
(Attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson)

The Rose, Young or Old, Growing Up or Growing Old

The story, Rose, is about a story of someone who go on to fulfilled her dream of graduating in spite of her old age. This is rare in our culture now. But if we can be inspired from her attitude, we may have the courage to learn regardless of where we are or how old we are.
The first day of college our professor introduced him and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she gave me a giant squeeze. "Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked.
She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids..."
"No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milk shake. We became instant friends.
Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she revelled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.
Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order, so let me just tell you what I know." As we laughed she cleared her throat and began.
"We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humour every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old.
If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."
She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose." She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
At the year's end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

~Copyright unknown