Six Great Lessons

The Important Things Life TeachesYou...


~ 1 ~ Most Important Question

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop
quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the
questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the
woman who cleans the school?"
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman
several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would
I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question
blank.
Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count
toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your
careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve
your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'Hello."
I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

~ 2 ~ Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 PM, an older African American woman was standing on
the side of an Alabama highway, trying to endure a lashing rainstorm.
Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet,
she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to
help her - generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a
taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry! She wrote down his address,
thanked him and drove away. Seven days
went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant
console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was
attached. It read:
"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The
rain drenched not only my clothes but also my spirits. Then you came
along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's
bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and
unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole

~ 3 ~ Always remember those who serve

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year old boy
entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass
of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?"
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out
of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. "How much is a dish
of plain ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a
table and the waitress was a bit impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely.
The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice
cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on
the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the
cashier and departed.
When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then
swallowed hard at what she saw.
There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five
pennies - her tip.

~ 4 ~ The Obstacle in Our Path

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid
himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of
the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked
around it.
Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the road, but none did
anything about getting the big stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching
the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he
finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he
noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse
contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the
gold was for the person who removed the
boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never
understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's
condition.

~ 5 ~ Giving Blood

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got
to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and
serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived
the same disease and had developed the antibodies, needed to combat the
illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and
asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I
saw him hesitate for only amoment before taking a deep breath and
saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liz."
As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and
smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then
his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and
asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"
Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was
going to have to give his sister all of his blood.

~ 6 ~ I've Two Choices

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good
mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him
how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed
him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed
Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee
was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the
positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious,
so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be
a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry,
you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can
choose to be in a bad mood." I choose to be in a good mood. Each time
something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn
from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone
comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining
or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side
of life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes it is," Jerry
said, "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every
situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose
how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad
mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant
industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often
thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to
it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are
never supposed to do in a restaurant business, he left the back door open
one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While
trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off
the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was
found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours
of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital
with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six
months after the accident. When I asked him how he
was, he said, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my
scars?"
I declined to see his wounds but did ask him what had gone through
his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my
mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as
I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices - I could choose to
live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live. "Weren't you scared? Did
you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling
me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency
room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got
really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man. " I knew I needed
to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me,"
said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied.
he doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a
deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told
them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not
dead."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because
of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the
choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Work like you don't need the money.

Love like you've never been hurt.

Dance like nobody's watching.

Smile just because you can =o)