Sharing our View...

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.

His bed was next to the room’s only window

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation..

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.

Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats.. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.

Although the other man could not hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.
He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, ‘Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.’

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.

If you want to feel rich, just begin to count all the things you have that money can’t buy.
"Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present .’



The origin of this letter is unknown, but its positive energy expands when you share this.
What else can you share to brighten someone's day?

My First Post... Something I wrote over 3 Years ago.

Eagle or Chicken.  Which one are you???

Thomas Edison once said, "IF we did all the things we are capable of doing we would literally astound ourselves." Ask yourself, have you ever in your lifetime astounded yourself? Well you can, if you think you can. This parable about an Eagle and a Chicken illustrates the benefits of thinking positively and the power of believing in yourself.

One day a young boy was climbing in the trees near his fathers farm when he came across a nest full of Eagle eggs. He took an egg and brought it back to the farm placing it under a hen sitting on her eggs. The egg hatched and grew alongside the chicks and never knew it was anything else than a chicken. For a while it was content and lived a normal chickens life. But as it began to grow there was a strange longing within for something greater. Every once in awhile it would think "There has to be more to life than this." But it never did anything about it until one day when a gigantic eagle flew over the chicken yard. The eaglet felt a strange new strength in its wings and an excited beat of his heart as it watched the majestic eagle fly overhead. He began to think that the chicken yard was too small for him, he wanted to climb the sky and to fly among the clouds.
That little eaglet had never flown, but the power and instinct were within him. He spread his wings and was lifted to the top of a low hill. Feeling exhilarated, he flew to a higher hilltop and then to the summit of a mountain peak. This little eaglet had finally discovered its great self.

You may be wondering why I chose this parable to illustrate the power of believing in yourself.
Well, for a few simple yet important reasons:
1./  NOBODY CAN BE YOU AS EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY AS YOU CAN.
2./  You can rise above the circumstances you were born and raised in - or are currently experiencing.
3./  No one can change your life/thinking BUT YOU!!!!

You may be asking wondering how is self esteem built and developed when negative thoughts/events often dictate how little we live our lives. “A soul afraid of dying, never learns to live”. Take a minute right now to imagine how full your life could / would be if we would only believe that we were worth more than what we currently give ourselves credit for.  Its not an easy thing to do.  Trust me I know.

For those of you that know me, know that I am a practicing believer in the power of positive thinking.  In fact, in this distorted and ever changing world we live in the only thing that I am 100% sure of is ME. I know I can do anything I put my mind to.  I  don’t listen to the people who say that I can’t.  It is one of the best things I've been able to teach my children.
Imagine what your childhood would have been like had Walt Disney listened to the opinions of others who rejected him, claiming that he had no talent. Ask yourself what it is that you have given up because you lacked the resolve to silence the doubts in your mind or the opinions of others. 

I have many friends who probably unbeknown to them put the Laws of Attraction to work in their lives everyday. “Laws of Attraction?” you might ask. Basically in a nutshell the law of attraction is the capability to obtain your dreams, wants and needs through the power of positive thinking. I don’t mean the friends who buy lottery tickets expecting to hit the jackpot. I am referring to those who expect a miracle, and make a miracle happen. They have an idea, and will work hard and believe in themselves and their idea until that idea becomes their reality. Expect a miracle, make a miracle happen. 

You see determination breeds success. My parents were unshaken in their resolve to raise their children in a loving, caring and nurturing environment despite both of their mentally and physically abusive upbringings. My sister and her husband never gave up hope despite the odds and the many heartbreaking disappointments along their 10 year quest to conceive a child. They expected a miracle, and finally earlier this year they were able to name their miracle Aiden.

I have many friends who despite their circumstances chose to rise above what was expected of them and are now great and mighty eagles. Whether it be that they are raising children on their own, conquering a medical condition that once seemed hopeless, turning what they are most talented at into a profitable career that they love, getting out of a bad relationship and discovering themselves again, going back to school as an adult , never taking no for an answer and building business from the ground up, these and many others too numerous to mention, all had the desire to rise above hills and valleys and are now soaring among the clouds.

People who think in a positive upbeat manner inevitably do the best in life. And since our thoughts tend to reproduce themselves in kind. The dismal thinker is more than likely apt to produce dismal results, whereas the person who thinks hopefully can be expected to attract constructive results.
So the next time you catch yourself thinking in a doubtful or negative manner, STOP!!!
Don't gripe and complain, remember that you have the potential to be great in everything that you do -all you have to do is think, believe and work hard at being the best you can be and everything will fall into place… Flap your wings and see where they will take you.