Insights on the day I'm sober 25 years

I woke up with this on my mind, wrote it down, hope it resonates with you:

Insights on the day I'm sober 25 years:

1 - People, events, situations are in your life for a reason.  You get to decide what to do from there, so make good decisions.  You do that by aligning yourself with God and His will for you, then following your heart.  I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Kelly Heppner and Dede Cummings who entered my life at just the right time with just the right message to help me change my thoughts from that time on.

2 - The darkest periods of our lives set us up for our greatest successes.  It's always darkest before dawn.  Alcoholics have to bottom out before starting the rebuilding process, but everyone has their cross to bear.  Learn to focus on the things that are going right, on what you CAN do.  Don't give up when you're "three feet from gold", as Napoleon Hill says in "Think and Grow Rich".  Our greatest failures give us the seeds to grow equal and/or greater successes.

3 - You can change your life in an instant.  Nov 1, 1988 I had had enough.  I decided I would never let drugs or alcohol control me again and I started outpatient treatment.  From that day, that second, that decision forward, my entire life changed...  The instant I committed to moving in a different direction.

4 - I'm very grateful.  Going through tough times in life can defeat you or make you stronger, it's your choice.  Just waking up sober is a victory for me in more ways than anyone who hasn't gone through what I did can ever understand.  My worst day sober is always better than my best day using.

I'm always available to anyone struggling with addiction issues.  I'll help any way I can.  I try to focus my life around that principle - meet as many people as possible, help them any way you can.  Find that part of you that knows you CAN do things, that smiles in the morning, that loves life... and live from that area of your soul.

For those of you interested, I'm writing a book called "Feed Your Angel" - the related web sites are here:
http://www.facebook.com/feedyourangel
http://www.facebook.com/davidgeschke
http://www.feedyourangel.com

"Let Love Rule" - Lenny Kravitz :)

I LOVE YOU ALL THE WAY TO OUTER SPACE

I never had kids of my own. I always said I'd have kids when you could put them away until they were teenagers because I didn't want to deal with poopy diapers, sticky fingers and cheese sandwiches stuck in the VCR.

Lo and behold... when I met my wife she had three kids who were 12, 14 and 15 years old! Careful what you wish for! Fifteen years later I now consider them my kids. And none of the poopy diaper, sticky finger, cheese sandwich stuff, either!

And then it happened... I hadn't even thought about this... GRANDkids! What? A whole new generation of sticky, poopy, sandwich lovin' VCR hatin' people coming up through the stepkids. Damn.

Now, not only have I never raised my own kids, but I was also an only child as well. I have NO experience with little kids at this point in my life. The first time someone tried giving me my grandson I wanted to hold him upside down by his ankle as far away from me as possible (he might poop, ya know)... I mean, NO experience and very uncomfortable around kids.

It's now almost four years later and, I have to say, funny how time changes things. What I've found out about kids is that I'm one of them. I have no problem relating on their level. Somehow it comes very naturally to me. I still have nothing to do with diapers, don't like sticky fingers, and a cheese sandwich is hard to get in a DVD player, but... as far as hangin' with the under four generation - I'm IN!

What I've found is there are just those times with kids when things happen that can touch your heart like nothing else can.

I love the period right before they fall asleep, either watching TV on the couch or reading books with them. Sometimes we just lay on the bed together and look at the glow stars on the ceiling as they drift off to sleep.

Last weekend we were watching the glow stars, my granddaughter Arden was already asleep and my grandson Ben was getting there. He likes falling asleep in my arms. He turned to me and whispered very quietly... in that voice that three year olds have when they whisper, "Grampa, I love you all the way to outer space"...

Wow... I hope you have all had, or can experience that some time in your lives. Because at that moment there was (and is) nothing I wouldn't do for that kid.

So I held him tighter...

And he hugged me back...

And I whispered, "Me, too, buddy... Me, too..."

HOW I MET BOYD DOWLER

Thursday, July 15th, 2010... I'm in my office in an appointment. After the client leaves, my assistant Cheryl says, "You'll never believe what happened while you were in there. Boyd Dowler came in and asked for directions to John's Bar"...

There was a pause as I processed this information.

Finally I responded, "You mean to tell me that THE Boyd Dowler, Packers legend, Super Bowls 1 and 2, one of the greatest players in Packer history, was in my office and you didn't think I might POSSIBLY want to meet him? Anyone in Wisconsin would understand interrupting a meeting for an opportunity like that! It's something I could tell my grandkids about!"... Then I asked her to pack up her things because obviously she could no longer work for me :-P

I hadn't heard about this, but many Packer greats were in Beaver Dam signing the new book THE LOMBARDI LEGEND and raising money for Carroll Dale's son who apparently has some health issues to deal with.

So the day goes on, I have lunch at my desk per usual. I was having some serious problems with my Blackberry so after an hour or so on the phone with US Cellular customer relations they finally agree to swap it out for me.

Cheryl comes back from lunch (which is somewhat strange because she no longer works for me) and I tell her I have to go get my phone swapped out. Now, once I'm in the office I very RARELY ever leave. So... she says to me, "You can't leave, you have to wait a bit"...

Well, putting 2+2 together I said, "You went to the signing and Boyd Dowler is coming in, isn't he?"... and she cracked.

She had gone to the signing, bought the book, had all the players there sign it (including Carroll Dale, Bob Long, Dave Robinson, Marv Fleming and Boyd Dowler), and told the story of her subsequent firing from earlier that day. She also picked up an 8x10 of Boyd Dowler catching a TD in the Ice Bowl personally autographed by Boyd to me.

AND... after hearing her story Boyd Dowler and Bob Long agreed to come to my office and meet me on their way out of town. They came in and hung out for 5-10 minutes talking Lombardi football and... wow, it was awesome! Something i can tell my Grandkids about! :)

Cheryl has since been rehired and has more job security now than I could ever possibly let her know :)

How many of today's players would take 5-10 minutes out of their day to do something like that? Character was a big part of those Lombardi teams in the 60s. Boyd Dowler and Bob Long still exemplify that to this day.

That is the story of how I met Boyd Dowler (and Bob Long).

I didn't even THINK to get a photo with them :(

I'm writing a book... finally...

After years of thought and never quite coming up with the exact idea that would actually drive me to see it through... I've begun work on a book. In the past year or so three idea came to me and the impulse to start writing was so strong I can no longer deny it. So I picked the idea I thought would resonate with the most people, put together an outline and started writing!

Book #1 will be called FEED YOUR ANGEL. It's based on a concept that came to me while speaking to treatment groups and people in recovery. That concept is this: We've all seen in movies or cartoons the image of a demon on one shoulder and an angel on the other. The dichotomy between good and evil... usually portrayed as a 50/50 battle, pretty even. That isn't really how it works for most people, though. One side or the other usually takes a majority rule over time.

For example, in my own life I started using drugs and alcohol when I was 14... FOURTEEN!!! By the time I was 28 I was a full blown alcoholic and addict. I had days where I shut my phone off, pulled all the shades, laid in bed and hoped to die. The drugs fed my demon. The demon had control... and my will to live had become THAT weak.

An amazing series of events occurred in 1988 that led me into treatment, AA and sobriety. I've been clean since Nov 1, 1988... over 21 years now. The actual act of quitting was the easy part. At that point I had been using drugs & alcohol over half my life and the demon had grown to immense proportion. I had a 300 pound demon on steroids on one shoulder and an angel on life support on the other. My self-talk was still very negative, full of why I couldn't do things. I needed to start feeding my angel!

So I began reading and meditating 2 hours a day and going to weekly AA meetings. I've read hundreds of positive thinking and self help books, listened to quite a few tape & CD series as well - I had a lot of catching up to do! What I've found is that your thoughts will create your reality. Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.

When I first cleaned up decisions were still hard to make. It wasn't so easy to follow my heart because after years with my demon in control the voice of my angel was still very weak.

Life for me is all about passion, energy, commitment to excellence and doing what you can to make the world a better place. Your thoughts WILL create your reality. The book intends to show you many ways to help be a positive force for yourself, your family and your community. If you'd like to track my progress links to the website, Facebook and Twitter pages follow. I started the sites and wrote this blog to cement my commitment to myself to see this through.

There are many reasons this could fail... I've never written a book before, I'm busy with other things and might never find the time to do it, I have no idea how to get a book published once written, etc, etc...

And then there's this little, nagging thought I have... in the back of my mind... It says to me: "David, write this book. This is a concept people can grasp and hold on to. It will affect those who read it immensely. And it will fulfill one of your lifelong dreams"...

Wish me luck! I'm focusing on the latter paragraph :)

WEBSITE: http://ping.fm/O1RH1
FACEBOOK: http://ping.fm/QLORk
TWITTER: http://ping.fm/xIIP9

Slow Dance Poem

written by David L. Weatherford:

Have you ever watched kids
on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain
slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast

Time is short
The music won’t last

Do you run through each day
On the fly

When you ask “How are you?”
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores
running through your head?

You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast

Time is short
The music won’t last

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,
not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

‘Cause you never had time
To call and say “Hi”?

You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast

Time is short
The music won’t last

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift….Thrown away…

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower

Hear the music
Before the song is over.

CAKE SHOW REPORT Carroll University, Waukesha, WI 4/23/10

SHOW REPORT:

So I bought two tickets to this show the day I found out about it thinking I'd have no problem getting someone to go with me... Everyone I asked said no. A posting that I had an extra ticket on Facebook resulted in ZERO inquiries. So I went by myself...

I had to work until 5:30 or so, head home to Waupun before leaving maybe around 6:15 for an 8:00 show in Waukesha. Traffic was pretty light through Milwaukee, I got to Waukesha in decent time, BUT - I'd forgotten how hard it is to navigate Waukesha if you don't know the area (probably is even if you DO know the area). So, I found myself in the middle of town somehow, had NO idea where I was, it was getting close to 8:00, I was pissed off and thinking I might just go home and forego the $40 spent on TWO tickets, one which was already useless >:(

Just as I was deciding it might not be worth the hassle to find the concert I came upon a gas station. I went in and took a shot that they'd be able to direct me to Carroll University. It was only like 4 blocks away! Yay! I parked on the street, found the will call window for my tickets and was in line in time to see the 8:00 start of the concert :)

I asked a few groups of people if they all had tickets thinking I'd just give away the extra one I had rather than have it go to waste... everyone already had their tickets. So I just got in line w/my two tickets. As God is my witness, the people in front of me realized the line they were in wasn't the ticket PURCHASE line and asked me if I knew where to buy tickets because they didn't have any. I said, "well, here's ONE!" and sent them to the will call window to find the ticket booth (figured they'd know where it was)... So that worked out OK :)

8:00 opening act is VIA AUDIO: http://ping.fm/veorc
Now, I've been to a lot of concerts. I like seeing the opening acts (wanna get my money's worth I guess). But this band... I have to say they were possibly the most annoying band I ever sat through. Something about their vibe I just found extremely irritating. I absolutely hated them. I wanted to get right in front in preparation for CAKE, but... they were so bad to me that I stayed WAY in the back for about half their set. Then I maneuvered my way front & center, maybe 20-30 feet from the stage... no tall people in front of me. Perfect spot. They played a 45 minute set. I know because I looked at my watch every 23 seconds thinking "when will it END!"... It finally ended, the changeover between bands was more fun for me than the opening act :)

The concert was held in the Von Male Fieldhouse, basically a gymnasium at Carroll University. Large venue, MORE than big enough to hold the crowd for CAKE. I'd say maybe 1000-2000 people were there. Cake doesn't have a record deal anymore, they're releasing their next CD on their own. they are absolutely one of my favorite bands and I had never seen them live until last night.

Changeover lasted about 20-30 minutes. CAKE started around 9:15 or so...
http://ping.fm/XlPEI

The first song was played through the PA... kind of an 80s keyboard tune no vocals, maybe an "eye of the tiger" type vibe. No band onstage at all for the entire song (maybe 5 minutes long)... this was AFTER the PA announced the concert was starting... Halfway through the song a roadie put a tree onstage. Their backdrop was mountains & trees... that was the first song, basically a light show, a roadie and a tree. The band came onstage at the end of the song...

I gotta say I'm so used to going to punk shows with a pit and people just SURGING forward when the band starts that this had to be the most polite concert crowd I have ever seen. Tall people were letting short people stand in front of them. No surging. Plenty of space between people. If anyone even bumped you they'd say "excuse me"... The only refreshments available was water, CAKE did NOT bring any swag for purchase... but I digress...

CAKE hits the stage. They don't use a set list, just call off songs as they go. And they were really, really good. One thing I guess I've always known and liked about them is the bass & guitar lines are so well thought out, John McCrea is a genius songwriter, but the actual parts to his songs are so well done I've always liked that about them. I didn't realize how good the guitar player really is, though. They played a 90 minute set and did a lot of crowd participation type things. McCrea was really good at making the sing along and or clap along segments just a bit different than the normal concert experience. And halfway through the concert they gave away the tree to a crowd member who owned property, agreed to take care of it, send a photo next to the tree once planted and photos every couple years as the tree and person aged. The winner also had to agree that if they sell their house a clause goes into the contract that this tree does NOT get cut down. You can see all the tree winners by searching the CAKE site :)

After the 90 minute set the crowd went nuts for a LONG time... maybe 5 minutes?... they came back out and did SHORT SKIRT and THE DISTANCE as encores. Really good band, I wasn't crazy about the drummer (bit of a light hitter), but other than that... I got to see one of my favorite bands from a perfect vantage point and they were awesome... Thursday night I get to see Craig Ferguson at the Pabst Theater... ah, life is good :)

Daily Update from TUT

I get daily e-mails from http://www.tut.com - thought I'd post today's because I like it:

Aha! David, do you know what your thoughts did last week?!

Oh, yes you do.

They became the things and events of this week. The things you thought would be difficult became difficult; easy became easy; boring became boring; and fun became fun. Where you thought there might be surprises, you were surprised. And where you thought there might be land mines, there were land mines.

Bravo! You can add this week to the list of your most creative accomplishments.

Now, can you guess what your thoughts this week are going to do?

David, please, choose every single one of them as if nothing else mattered.

Today's life lesson: PUT GOD FIRST

I recently hired a business development coach to help me keep my business growing. Interestingly enough, one of the first excercises he had me do involves writing down what's important to me in 9 different categories - spiritual, health, work, etc... then rating each individual thing I wrote 1-10 in order of importance. Well, this little excercise can be very eye-opening.

One of the reasons I hired someone to work with is that even though I'm very busy, my results haven't been what I expect of myself and I've been feeling a little stressed because I'm not doing as well as I perceive I "should" be. Things feel a little "out of whack". So I hired someone from the outside to look at what I'm doing and find ways to get me back "IN whack" :)

This first excercise was very emotional and I realized right away what a great deal of the problem is. I've been focused on results, numbers, money, being #1 and all the stress that goes with that mindset. Letting my EGO control my life (Wayne Dyer says EGO = Edge God Out) and I've been edging God & spirituality from my daily life.

God needs to be #1 for me. Maintaining my sobriety needs to run a close 2nd. I have nothing without a solid relationship with God and my sobriety. I know what happens to my life when I allow my inner demons to control my thoughts. And it's not so easy to catch yourself when EGO centered thoughts and actions begin to take control again.

Looking back on my life the periods I remember most fondly, when my life flowed easiest and I had the least amount of stress was when I was in the best shape both spiritually and physically. I went through a period of rapid personal growth after getting treatment for alcohol abuse now over 21 years ago. I read and meditated 2hrs/day before work for many years. Several years later I started working with a fitness instructor and at age 42 was probably in the best physical shape of my life. Eventually I fell out of both habits, though. Keeping life in balance can definitely be a struggle.

I don't believe has to be a struggle, though. For me that means a strong faith based foundation from which the rest of my life can be built upon.

Here's my music-based analogy for this: I've long said the drummer is the heart & soul of every band, bad drummer = bad band. Add a decent bassist and the band has a great foundation to build on. A poor rhythm section means a layperson might not specifically know why the band isn't that good, but it just doesn't sound right. Your relationship with God is the rhythm section for your life. If it's not so good tighten it up to see improvement in all areas :)

GIVING

I saw the movie THE BLINDSIDE last night and it got me thinking about how much we can impact the lives of others if we're just open to the opportunities around us. We can not only change our own lives by changing our attitudes, thoughts & beliefs, but our actions stemming from those very same traits can impact the lives of those around us forever. We can change ourselves and/or impact someone else the second we commit to doing so.

Without giving away too much of the movie - it's based on the life of Michael Oher, who now plays professional football for the Baltimore Ravens. At one point in his life, Michael is homeless and the Tuohy family sees him on a cold night walking outside in shorts and a t-shirt. Their kids know him from school. At that point they make a decision that changes ALL their lives from that point on, simply by asking him to spend the night with them. How many of us would have turned our cars around to make that offer? If we HAD made the offer, how many people would go on to actually accept an outsider into our home as family? Not many would be my guess. Even of the people who would shelter him for a night or two after that other arrangements would be made.

We are ALL capable of being, doing and contributing more to the benefit of ourselves, our families and our world. But as humans we get caught up in getting more for ourselves, keeping what we own, our jobs, our responsibilities and all the stress that comes with just paying bills, running a household and living day to day that what we tend to ignore is probably the one thing that would give us the most comfort. We can give of ourselves, we can contribute to society, we can make life better for someone in our family with a phone call or a visit. We can begin to see opportunities and realize God places them in our lives every day if we're just open to receiving and letting love flow from our hearts in the act of giving.

When you see yourself as abundant you'll realize how much you have to give. However small, give of yourself every day until it becomes a habit :)

The Cookie Thief

I first heard this through Wayne Dyer:

A woman was waiting at an airport one night
With several long hours before her flight
She hunted for a book in the airport shop
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop
She was engrossed in her book but happened to see
That the man beside her as bold as could be
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene
She munched cookies and watched the clock
As this gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by
Thinking "If I wasn't so nice I'd blacken his eye"
With each cookie she took he took one too
And when only one was left she wondered what he'd do
With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh
He took the last cookie and broke it in half
He offered her half as he ate the other
She snatched it from him and thought "Oh brother
This guy has some nerve and he's also rude
Why he didn't even show any gratitude"
She had never known when she had been so galled
And sighed with relief when her flight was called
She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate
Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate
She boarded the plane and sank in her seat
Then sought her book which was almost complete
As she reached in her baggage she gasped with surprise
There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes
"If mine are here" she moaned with despair
"Then the others were his and he tried to share"
"Too late to apologize she realized with grief"
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief

:)

Jim Rohns Mysteries of Life

Motivation is a mystery.Why does one salesperson see his first prospect at seven in the morning and another salesperson is just getting out of bed at eleven?I don't know.It's part of the mysteries of life.

Give a lecture to a thousand people.One walks out and says,I'm going to change my life." Another one walks out with a yawn and says,"I've heard all this before."Why is that? Why wouldn't both be affected the same way?Another mystery.

The millionaire says to a thousand people,"Iread this book and it started me on the road to wealth."Guess how many go out and get the book?Very few.Isn't that incredible?Why would everyone get the book?A mystery of life.

My suggestion would be to walk away from the 90% who don't and join the 10% who do.

- JIM ROHN

Keeping Life Simple

Keeping life simple means having faith that your spiritual connection flourishes in a life dedicated to joy, love and peace. If your daily activities are so overwhelming that you don't make these things your priority, you're disregarding the value of living a simple life - Dr Wayne Dyer

A Christmas Story...

So, my wife is buying gifts and picks up a Crayola Color Globe for someone in our family thinking it's $9.95, but upon getting home sees that she was charged $40 and decides that's too much, we're going to go return it. It was bought at Michaels in Milwaukee, but they have a store in Madison as well so we decide to go there to get our money back and do some more shopping at East Town Mall as well.

Get to East Town, crowd not nearly as bad as we expected. We have no idea where the Michaels is, figure at some point we'll just ask someone and go find it from there. As we're walking through the mall we find a display in the mall where they have a couple "giving trees" where people in need have filled out cards with requests for gifts and you can take a card, buy the gift and drop it in a box to be given to them. We wanted to get something for a kid, so we found one that wanted a Spongebob Operation game, but the toy store in the mall didn't have it. They said they had Spongebob games, just not that one. Then we found one that just said "Spongebob game". Back to the toy store. What they were calling Spongebob games weren't really games, though. Off the Gordmans! No Spongebob games. By now we've been screwing around with this for about 30 minutes.

So, we find two more kids requests for games, back to the toy store... strike three... strike FOUR... By this time we're pretty freakin frustrated and have expended a lot of time in what is looking more and more like a losing effort :(

Look at card after card after card... and I find a 10 year old kid who (as God is my witness) specifically wants a Crayola Color Globe, the exact thing we have in our car to return! Now, we were tired and frustrated and the car was nowhere near the tree and it was getting close to mall closing time... But at that point I knew what had to be done. Too much cosmic karma to be denied! Back to the car, get the gift, I hope it makes that kid's day!

Merry Christmas everyone! Spread joy and cheer throughout the world :)

Anne Frank Quote

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.

A Dog's purpose

This was posted in the Spring 2009 Watertown Humane Society newsletter, thought it was worth reposting here:

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.
I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.'
Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle
them gently.

Being always grateful for each new day and for the blessing you have.

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

That's what dogs teach us...

Profound short paragraph

Sent to me in an e-mail:

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

--Adrian Rogers, 1931

Why Ted Jones Didn’t Take Edward Jones Public

Ted Jones--the son of Edward D. Jones Sr., founder of the financial-services firm that bears his name--wrote the following response when questioned why he was not interested in taking Edward Jones public and becoming a multi-millionaire.

His rationale is a symbol of the company’s culture that still exists today.

- I am the richest man in America.

- I have a wife who loves me in spite of my faults.

- I have four dogs. Two love only me. One loves everybody. One loves no one, but still is very loyal and follows me everywhere I go on the farm.

- I have a horse I love to ride around the farm, and best of all she comes to me when I call her.

- I have too much to eat and a dry place to sleep.

- I enjoy my business.

- I love my farm and my home.

- I have a few close friends, and money has never been my God.

-- Edward "Ted" Jones 1925-1990

Animal School

http://ping.fm/BAt66

From the Soul Biographies website:

‘animal school’

The animals sat in a circle. A frog and a dog. A cat and a mouse.
And assorted friends of different sizes.

The small girl spoke excitedly as her well loved collection of toys faced one another.

‘They’re at school. Night school’ she laughed.

‘They’re learning how to read & to write, and to pour tea for each other. And to grow peas. And to make useful things.

And the dog is trying to love the cat, and the mouse is trying to love the snake. Even though he hasn’t got any legs, and can be a bit grumpy in the morning.

And then they’re all going to learn how to dance and to sing. Together. And to make each other laugh, and be happy.’

And as the possibility of such a school lived in her imagination, its probability lived in the world.

Giving and receiving

The quality of life is really determined by how much we give of ourselves in service to others and in gratitude for all that we have.

As a recovering person I have often heard the term 'attitude of gratitude' and the longer I live the more I realize how important it is that gratitude becomes a way of life for me. During times of turmoil I will stop myself from letting my ego complain because things don't seem to be going my way, slow down, and ask God to show me what the lesson is to be learned here.

Adversity has been my greatest teacher. By realizing that I *KNOW* my greatest strengths have come from overcoming challenges and I shift my thoughts from "Why is this happening to me?" to an inner knowing that whatever is going on has much to teach me. Instead of worrying and creating anxiety in my life over the situation I begin to look at how overcoming obstacles has shaped my life in the past and how much abundance and love I already have.

Stuart Wilde says if you give someone a present and they don't acknowledge it you're unlikely to give them anything else. But the person who is sincerely grateful in receipt makes you want to give more. It is hard to receive without an 'attitude of gratitude'.

I say thanks to the Universe every morning and every evening for everything that I have in my life. I am truly grateful for every minute of every day:)

On being poor...

This was sent to me in an e-mail:

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the
express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

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

"It was great, Dad."

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

"Oh yeah," said the son.

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

The son answered:

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

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!