moment of decision...

In any moment of decision,
the BEST THING you can do
is the RIGHT THING;
the next best thing
is the WRONG THING;
and the worst thing you can do
is NOTHING.

Theodore Roosevelt

A Smile

A smile costs nothing, but gives much.

It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who gave.

It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.

None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it, and none is so poor but that he can be made rich by it.

A smile creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in business, and is the countersign of friendship.

It brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and it is nature's best antidote for trouble.

Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away.

Some people are too tired to give you a smile.

Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile as much as he who has no more to give.

21 Suggestions for Success

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will dtermine 90% of your happiness or misery.
2. Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your talent.
3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
6. Be generous.
7. Have a grateful heart.
8. Persistence, persistece, persistence.
9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
12. Commit yourself to quality.
13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
14. Be loyal
15. Be honest
16. Be a self-starter
17. Be decisive even if it means you'll sometimes be wrong.
18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.
20. Take good care of those you love.
21. Don't do anything that wouldn't make your mom proud.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I Am an Eagle

I am an eagle; I live for the challenge

Created by visions that reach to the sky.

From high in the heavens I beckon,

"Come and join me."

There's so little difference between you and I,

For all those who see me and all who believe in me

Share in the freedom I feel when I fly.

Come onward and upward and foward together.

Fly over the mountains and up to the stars.

Reach for the heavens and hope for the future.

Be all that you can be and more than you are.

Inspiration

"If there is righteousness in the heart

there will be beauty in the character.

If there is beauty in the character

there will be harmony in the home.

If there is harmony in the home

there will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation

there will be peace in the world.

~Old Chinese Proverb

I AM ONLY ONE

I am only one, but I am one.
I cannot do everything, but I can do something.
What I can do, I ought to do; and what I ought to do
By the grace of God, I will do.

Edward Everett Hale

Lips and Slips

If your lips can keep from slips,

Five things observe with care:

To whom you speak;

Of whom you speak;

And how, and when, and where.

Edward Norris

we call success

Success is speaking words of praise,
In cheering other people's ways,
In doing just the best you can
With every task and every plan.
It's silence when your speech would hurt,
Politeness when your neighbor's curt.
It's deafness when scandal flows,
And sympothy with other's woes.
It's loyalty when duty calls,
It's courage when disaster falls.
It's found in laughter and in song.
It's in the silent time of prayer,
In happiness and in despair.
In all of life and nothing less,
We find the thing we call success.

Two Kinds of People

There are two kinds of people on earth today,

Just two kinds, no more I say.

Not the bad and the good,

For it's well understood,

That the good are half bad,

And the bad are half good.

Not the rich and the poor,

For to know a man's wealth

You must first know the state

of his conscience and health.

Not the haughty and meek,

For in life's little span,

Who puts on airs is not counted a man.

Not the happy and sad,

For the swift flying years

Bring each man his laughter,

And each man his tears.

No the two kinds of people on earth I mean,

Are the people who lift

And the people who lean.

Wherever you go you'll find the world's masses

Are always divided into just these two classes.

And oddly enough, you'll find too, I ween,

There's only one lifter,

To twenty who lean.

General Rules of Life

If you open it, close it
If you turn it on, turn it off
If you unlock it, lock it up
If you break it, admit it
If you can't fix it, call in someone who can
If it belongs to someone else and you want to barrow it, get permission
If you value it, take care of it
If you make a mess, clean it up
If you move it, put it back
If you barrow it, return it
If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone
If it is none of your business, don't ask questions
If it aint broke, don't fix it
If it will brighten someone's day, say it, if it won't don't
If you aren't hurt, don't cry

Joan of Arc

Every man gives his life for what he believes
Every woman gives her life for what she believes
Sometimes people believe in little or nothing
and yet they give their lives to that little or nothing
One life is all we have to live
and we live it as we believe in living it and then it is gone
But to surrender what you are and live without belief
is more terrible than dying
Even more terrible than dying young

A Giant of a Man

George Washington was a giant of a man,
Over six feet tall he stood,
He was a patient, gentle man,
All of him was good.
He kept his men together
Though they suffered cold and mud.
This tall man walked among them
And warmed their hearts with love.
In pitch darkness and grinding ice
They crossed the Delaware;
And in the snow at Valley Forge
This tall man knelt in prayer.