He phoned the police, who asked ‘Is someone in your house?’

He said ‘No.’

Then they said, ‘All patrols were busy.  You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available.’

George said, ‘Okay.’  He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.

‘Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don’t have to worry about them now because I just shot them.’ and he hung up.

Within five minutes, six police cars, a SWAT team, a helicopter, two fire trucks, a paramedic, and an ambulance showed up at the Phillips’ residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the Policemen said to George, ‘I thought you said that you’d shot them!’

George said, ‘I thought you said there was nobody available!’
(True Story)

One of the audience raised his hand and said,

“It’s not because I say good fortune, good fortune, good fortune that will make me feel better. Nor will saying bad luck, bad luck, bad luck, make me feel worse. They’re only words and, by themselves, have no power.”

The speaker replied. “Shut up, you fool, you don¹t understand a thing about this.”

The member of the audience was stunned, his face became red and he was about to reply,

“You, son of a…” The speaker raised his hand.

“Please excuse me. I didn’t mean to upset you. Please accept my most sincere apologies.”

The member of the audience calmed down. Some people in the hall murmured; others shuffled their feet.

The speaker resumed. “There’s the reply to the question you asked me. A few words made you very angry. The other words calmed you down.”

“Now do you understand the power of words?”

By Christian H. Godefroy ]]> http://www.makethemostoflife.net/2011/03/11/the-power-of-words-2/feed/ 1 http://www.makethemostoflife.net/2011/02/20/positive-affirmations-can-change-your-destiny/ http://www.makethemostoflife.net/2011/02/20/positive-affirmations-can-change-your-destiny/#comments Sun, 20 Feb 2011 07:41:00 +0000 admin http://www.makethemostoflife.net/?p=1651 A wise man said, “Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life. If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act as you have always acted. If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten. If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind.”

Affirmations are an effective way to help change your mind set. An affirmation is a statement in present tense which is positive in nature. It may not be something you truly believe in about yourself but wish to see as the real you. Write it down and read and re-read them a number of times in a day. Affirmations have a strange way of helping us change our life. They work on our sub-conscious brain and give it the power to turn our thoughts into our reality. If you write them as wishes or hopes, they will remain as wishes or hopes but if you reinforce them as facts they become your facts.

Your list of affirmations would be personal to you and would have what is your core need to be. However there are a few universal affirmations which if you add to your list, you would benefit greatly. Here are an auspicious number of examples of the evergreen.

1. I am a confident and self assured person.
2. I am in control of my life and emotions.
3. I am happy, calm and relaxed.
4. I have the potential to succeed and I maximise it at all times.
5. I am grateful that I get things the way I want.
6. I am an important person in my life and in the lives of all I know.
7. I love myself and am proud of myself with all my strengths and limitations.
8. I have the power to make my own destiny.
9. I have the ability to empathize and be compassionate towards others.
10. I forgive myself and others easily.
11. I am happy and grateful that my life and my world are always beautiful and bright with lots of goodness to look forward to.

What you tell yourself is what you will make your reality to be. So train your thoughts… you are the master of your destiny. Cheers to your success!

Saloni Sawnani

1. Know exactly what you want. It is most important for you to be clear and specific as to what your expect from yourself and others. A lot of people don’t really know what they want in their personal, social or professional life. They have a general idea like they want to be rich, famous and successful but they really don’t know what they are willing to do for the same. You need to not only know your specific goals, dreams and aspirations but also understand that to achieve those you would need to be clear and specific with everyone who is going to help you in your path of success. Noone makes their dreams come true in isolation so you need to learn how to motivate others which is possible only when you know exactly what you want.
2. Differentiate between ego and self respect. Self respect is the core of a high self esteem which is the base of success. However, very often people act out of their ego rather than healthy self respect. What is the difference? Well if you catch yourself reacting to others with the thought ‘how could he/she talk to me like that or do that’ chances are you are about to operate from ego. While if you catch yourself thinking ‘that sure is unpleasant behaviour, how can I work around it’ you are operating from a high self respect. It is important to express your displeasure but at the same time understand that others are free to choose the way they respond to you. Never lose your self respect but at the same time always keep your ego in check.
3. Respond – Don’t React. Reaction is an automatic response to a stimuli. For example, if you touch a hot vessel you’ll jerk your hand off. That is the instant reaction. Response is the choice you make after experiencing the stimuli. In the same example, when you put your hand under cold water you are responding to the burn. In physical emergencies like burns reacting before responding is understandable but in emotional emergencies like disagreements, conflicts, unpleasant life events, etc reacting instantly is not very wise. Try responding. For example, if your friend yells at you, your instant reaction maybe to yell back and defend your stand. Try responding instead by making a statement like ‘I can see you are really upset with me about this. Let me see how I can work it out differently’. Chances are high that your friend will stop screaming and also work towards a solution.
4. ‘NO’ is an option. A large number of people find it difficult to say a simple word like ‘no’. Are you one of them? Usually people don’t like to refuse because they feel if they do they would displease the other person. Most people either consciously or sub-consciously spend their whole life unsuccessfully trying to please others by displeasing themselves. It is important to understand that unless and until you are happy and pleased with yourself you can never please anyone else. You spread what you have… so if you have happiness within you spread happiness and if you have anger within you spread the same. The inability to say ‘no’ builds anger and frustration within. Go out and please yourself. For a while it may seem like you are displeasing a lot of people by doing so, but in the long run the same people will be happier and more proud of you and the relationship.
5. Accept limitations. We all want to be superman/superwoman. But unfortunately, life is not equal to movies. It is not humanly possible to be everywhere and do everything well. So accept that there will be certain things that you cannot do and let that be handled by someone else rather than you struggling to change. Remember, strong-stronger-strongest and weak-weaker-weakest. Whatever you focus on in life goes to the superlative, so if you focus on whats strong in you it would become strongest and if you focus on weak, it would become weakest! Don’t waste your energies over your weaknesses, noone is perfect. Strengthen your strengths to compensate and ignore your limitations. You rather be a master of one than a jack of all!

The way you handle your relationships is the way you will handle your success because the steps to success are made of innumerable relationships. The key to healthy relationships is a high self esteem and an assertive attitude. Think big, be confident, be assertive with yourself and others, sky is your limit!

Saloni Sawnani

A new diet plan?

Exercise everyday?

Sleep less… enjoy more…work less and earn more…?

Whatever your resolutions may be I hope you do plan to include the following…

1. Give lots of hugs, kisses and warmth to your family and friends. The more love we share the warmer and happier will be 2011.

2.  Make some time for yourself everyday. Take that hour to catch up on your favourite music or meditate or exercise or whatever your heart likes.

3. Take one good vacation in the year where you leave your work and worries back home. When they say ‘take a break’, it means take a break from all past and  present excess baggage.

4. Learn to forgive. Forgive yourself and others for it is “human to err”. The moment you let go a new sense of refreshed positive energy will fill your year.

5. Think big and think good. The more positivity you feed your brain this year the more prosperous it will make you!

So cheers to the new year… Lets Make The Most Of It !!!

To get to the barn in the evening, I had to pass through the area in which the chickens were located. There was a rooster who loved to establish its self-esteem by flogging me as I walked through its territory.

Having a rooster flogging would be a horrifying experience even for an adult. But words cannot describe the impact it would have on a child. The rooster would not flog me except when I was carrying buckets filled with milk.

With empty buckets, it seemed to sense that I could get away from it. But with the full buckets, I was at its mercy since I could not afford to spill the milk.

The situation became so frightening that I would even go the long way around in order to avoid the rooster. It caused me much concern and even completely occupied my mind just before going to the barn each day.

The job of milking gives no days off. There had to be some solution to this situation; but I was not about to let my father know that I was so afraid of that rooster. He would have never understood that.

On one occasion, I was presented with some time alone with my uncle Harrison. He was a wise man just a little older than my father. And he never seemed to be afraid of anything. I decided to seek his wise
counsel on the matter. He seemed to enjoy talking with me about the rooster and trying to help me solve my terrible problem.

Uncle Harrison suggested that I carry an extra pair of buckets with me to the barn. When I was to start back to the house, I should carry the pair of empty buckets, one in each hand. As the rooster came near, I
was to be very calm and let it start flogging me. Uncle Harrison assured me that I should let the rooster think that it was going to frighten me as it so many times had done.

It was then that I should strike the rooster with the empty buckets. He assured me that I would not harm the rooster, but the sound of the buckets would make my point. I certainly could not hurt my father’s
rooster.

He cautioned me that I should keeping striking the rooster until it threw up its wings to cover its head. It was only then that I would have won the battle with the rooster. If I ever retreated, the rooster would know that I was still afraid, and I would be destined to repeat each day that awful experience.

I did not have any other choice than to try Uncle Harrison’s solution. He seemed to have so much faith in me. And telling my father that I was afraid of the rooster would have been a source of great embarrassment.

I carried the extra buckets as I went to the barn on that fateful day. As I milked the cows, my hands were shaking not being able to forget about what I had to do. Out of the barn I came uttering numerous prayers for my success.

The rooster approached as usual when it realized I had two milk buckets in hand not realizing that both were empty. I continued to utter my pleas for divine intervention. A crossroads in my life was quickly
approaching. A line was now being drawn in the sand, and I was doing the drawing. Could I really stand there and let the rooster attack me?

The rooster flogged with such ferocity as if it seemed to sense the importance of this encounter. I bit my lip hard as fear forced the tears down my cheeks. I quickly reviewed the instructions from Uncle
Harrison as I hit the rooster with one bucket and then with the other bucket. The rooster fell backwards as if it was having difficulty understanding the turn of events.

For a brief moment, the rooster retreated as if to test my conviction in the matter. But again, it charged toward me. I had had just enough success that the next attack would be easier to repel. My courage was
growing.

Again and again I struck it. In the heat of the moment, the handle to one the buckets came loose sending the bucket flying into the air. But that did not seem to matter as I continued with the remaining one.

The rooster retreated toward the hen house with me in swift pursuit. Under the hen house it went to the smallest corner trying to avoid my strikes. Cornered and defeated, the rooster finally threw up its wings to
cover its head.

I had defeated the rooster. And this or any other rooster was never again to cause me any concern.

In life, we must face the rooster. Life is filled with many fearful circumstances. We must make difficult decisions. We must stand up and face difficult situations. We will need help and advice from others
along the way.

But we must persist. Little did I know as a young lad what a profound effect that event would have upon my life. That one event gave me the courage to fight other more important battles in life.

Everett B. Padgett, Jr., — North Carolina
Copyright © June, 1994 (Revised 1996)

The thought of walking into Larchmont’s office left Andrew weak in the knees. Late in the afternoon he finally mustered up the courage to approach his superior. To his delight and surprise, the ever-frugal Harvey Larchmont agreed to give Andrew a raise!

Andrew arrived home that evening-despite breaking all city and state speed limits-to a beautiful table set with their best china, and candles lit. His wife, Tina had prepared an exquisite meal including his favorite dishes. Immediately he figured someone from the office tipped her off!

Next to his plate Andrew found a beautiful lettered note. It was from his wife. It read: “Congratulations, my love! I knew you’d get the raise! I prepared this dinner to show just how much I love you. I am so proud of your accomplishments!” He read it and stopped to reflect on how sensitive and caring Tina was.

After dinner, Andrew was on his way to the kitchen to get dessert and he observed that a second card had slipped out of Tina’s pocket on to the ceramic floor. He bent forward to retrieve it. He read: “Don’t worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! You are a wonderful provider and I prepared this dinner to show you just how much I love you even though you did not get the increase.”

Suddenly tears swelled in Andrew’s eyes. Total acceptance! Tina’s support for him was not conditional upon his success at work.

The fear of rejection is often softened when we know someone loves us regardless of our success or failure. In my experience as a pastor, the strongest encouragement I receive is from the love of our Heavenly Father. As long as I am faithful to do my best, God stands behind me no matter what happens. He will not condemn me for my mistakes or failures.

Quite the opposite! He heals my wounds and enables me to make another run for it in the very area where I experience defeat. Another display of the Lord’s acceptance is when He touches me through positive support from my wife.We can undergo almost any setback or rejection if we know someone else loves us.

Story adapted by Louis Lapides.

Teach a dog to close a door behind him? You got to be kidding. That has got to be a really, really hard thing to do, and I do not have any dog credentials following my name.

But then she took it a step further. “Come on Kolby”, she said, grabbing some treats and positioning him in front of the open door. “Touch.”

And “touch” he did, which moved the door to a closed position. She rewarded him with a treat, smiled, looked at me, and said “see!”

And I saw and became convinced. Over the last few days I have been consistent with Kolby. Each time he comes in I bring him back to the open door and ask him to close (I changed the target word, making the command more specific). There have been failures, but lately more and more successes. And I knew we turned the corner this morning when he asked to be let out just so I would open the door, so that he could close it and be treated.

WOW

There remains work to be done. I have to remove the hand signal and work so that he will close the door from a distance. But, I now realize, with consistency of focus the task will be completed, and, with the way things are progressing, completed quickly.

What a wonderful treat to have a dog that can close the door after himself. Even more wonder can be found in the lessons I learned so clearly from both Emma and Kolby.

A wish is just a wish until you decide to take action.

Once you decide to accomplish a goal, and decide that it “is” easy (remember Emma’s assurance), than it becomes easy to do what needs to be done. Just start doing it.

As long as one holds on to the belief that it is “too hard”, than it remains “too hard” and out of reach.

Working towards the accomplishment of a goal can be loads of fun, and full of lots and lots of treats.

So what have you been wishing for lately? And what has been stopping you from getting started?

© Rev Cyndi Krupp

“The gold coin” said Birbal without hesitation.

Akbar was taken aback. “You would prefer a gold coin to justice?” he asked, incredulously.
“Yes” said Birbal

The other courtiers were amazed by Birbal’s display of idiocy. For years,they had been trying to discredit Birbal in the Emperor’s eyes but without success and now the man had gone and done it himself! They could not believe their good fortune.

“I would have been dismayed if even the lowliest of my servants had said this, continued the Emperor. But coming from you it’s…shocking- and sad. I did not know you are so debased”.

Birbal’s Solution “One asks for what one does not have, Your Majesty!” said Birbal quietly. “You have seen to it that in our country justice is available to everybody. So as justice is already available to me and as I am always short of money, I said I would choose the gold coin.”

The Emperor was so pleased with Birbal’s reply that he gave him not one but, a thousand gold coins!

Moral: 1

When faced with a question by those in authority, do not always go for what  seems to be the politically correct response. In all honesty if you feel otherwise,  and have sound reasons to back up your response, have the courage of  conviction to go against the tide. Once the management hears your logic, they will appreciate your unconventional thinking and you will stand out in the crowd.

Moral 2:

Before condemning somebody for his action, first find out why he did it. He may have a sound reason, which you may not be aware of. In all fairness everyone should have a chance to defend himself and his actions.

In his book, “A View from the Zoo”, Gary Richmond describes how a newborn giraffe learns its first lesson.

The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling head over heels.

When it doesn’t get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is momentous. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts. Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.

Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd, where there is safety. Lions, hyenas, leopards, and wild hunting dogs all enjoy young giraffes, and they’d get it too, if the mother didn’t teach her calf to get up quickly and get with it.

The late Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing novelized biographies of such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.

Stone was once asked if he had found a thread that runs through the lives of all these exceptional people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a vision or dream of something that should be accomplished and they go to work.

“They are beaten over the head, knocked down, vilified, and for years they get nowhere. But every time they’re knocked down they stand up. You cannot destroy these people. And at the end of their lives they’ve accomplished some modest part of what they set out to do.”

- Craig B. LarsonIllustrations for Preaching & Teaching from Leadership Journal