Stories Inspiring

Gretchen Alexander is sightless. But she refuses to allow her blindness to limit her life activities. She enjoys archery, golf, softball, sailing and water-skiing, as well as a number of other activities that those of us who are sighted have yet to learn.

She also speaks to groups about living life fully. When speaking to a group of high school students, she was once asked if there was anything she wouldn’t try.

“I’ve decided to never skydive,” she answered. “It would scare the heck out of my dog.”

Why do some people rise above their problems and live life fully, while others become defeated? Merle Shain explains it this way: “There are only two ways to approach life, as a victim or as a gallant fighter. And every day the decision is ours.” Or put another way, we can believe we’re helpless or we can believe we’re powerful and capable. And every day we reaffirm our belief.

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by US Air Force pilots and the replies from the maintenance crews.

Tallulah Bankhead quipped, “Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it.” But the truth is…we DO have trouble being ourselves, don’t we? Especially in a world that wants us to conform. “To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best day and night into making you like everybody else,” said poet E. E. Cummings, “is to fight the hardest battle there is and never stop fighting.”

One of the deepest cravings of young people, especially teens, is to be liked by their peers. Like all of us, they want to be accepted and they want to be valued. It’s during those critical teen-age years that they begin to play a game that is sometimes called “Follow the Follower.” The game is not the same as “Follow the Leader.” Following the follower is about conforming … talking, dressing, acting and even thinking like one another. The goal is to fit in.

In adulthood, we are supposed to discover who we really are and do our best to grow into that person. We find our value, not in acceptance by others, but because we believe in our worth. It doesn’t always happen. But it’s a wonderful day when we can say in honesty, “I know who I am and I’m glad I am me.”

A retired pastor of one of the larger churches in my community was recently asked, “What are some things you learned in your long and fruitful ministry?”

I will always cherish his words. They expressed my feelings completely. He said, “I have discovered that the vast majority of people are basically good. I have encountered very few evil individuals.”

He went on to say, “The Bible tells us ‘there is none righteous’ and ‘all have sinned. The Bible also tells us we do not get into heaven on our goodness. It is only through repentance and claiming the righteousness of Christ.”

A high-powered corporate executive came into a doctor’s office for a checkup. He showed signs of overwork and stress. The doc warned him to slow down, to take up a hobby – perhaps painting – to relax. He agreed and started right away.

The next day the high-achieving businessman phoned and announced enthusiastically, “Doc, this painting is wonderful. I’ve already done ten!”

We don’t need to be CEO’s or high achievers to suffer from too much negative stress. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. In fact, you may be wondering this very minute whether you have time to read this page.

Do you know what the most common craving is among pregnant women? (I’m sure this is factual.) The most common craving among pregnant women is not spicy food, pickles or ice cream. Not even close. It is for MEN to get pregnant.

Why? Because then they would know what it is like. Then they might be more patient. What most women need during times of cravings, discomfort, swollen ankles and morning sickness is…understanding. Much of our conflict is the result of MISunderstanding.

As a new bride, one woman moved into the small home on her husband’s ranch in the mountains. She put a shoe box on a shelf in her closet and asked her husband never to touch it.

A college professor was sitting in his office one afternoon when an attractive young lady dressed in a short skirt and a low-cut blouse knocked on his door.

“Yes?”, he replied, “How may I help you?”

The lady said, “I need to talk to you about my grade in your class.”

“Come in and have a seat,” said the instructor.

“Is there anything I can do to get an ‘A’ in your class?”

“What do you mean by anything?” he replied.

“Anything,” she said.

“Anything?” he asked again.

She said, in her best sultry voice, “I mean anything.”

The instructor got up from behind his desk, sat down beside her and whispered in her ear, “Would you study?”

A man was telling his friend that he and his wife had had a serious argument the night before.

“But it ended,” he said, “when she came crawling to me on her hands and knees.”

“What did she say?” asked the friend.

The husband replied, “She said, ‘Come out from under that bed, you coward!’ “

We husbands like the idea of our wives coming to us on their hands and knees. We are quick to memorize Ephesians 5:22, “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord.”

One wife waited patiently, then impatiently, for her husband to repair the lawn mower as he had promised. One day, not wanting to confront him in anger, she tried another tack. That was the day he came home and found her seated on the ground snipping grass with sewing scissors, one blade at a time. He watched in absolute amazement. Then he went into the house and returned with a toothbrush. “Honey,” he said, “when you finish cutting the grass would you mind sweeping the sidewalks?”

They both laughed. And, more importantly, he turned his attention to the mower.

We’ve all been there. We want to encourage a child to do her homework, or a spouse to complete a project, or a colleague to follow through. How can we encourage without criticizing, nagging, berating or pushing?

Editors have a difficult job as is evident from these mishaps:

~ IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are one of hundreds of parachuting enthusiasts who bought our Easy Sky Diving book, please make the following correction: on page 8, line 7, the words “state zip code” should have read “pull rip cord.”

~ It was incorrectly reported last Friday that today is T-shirt Appreciation Day. In fact, it is actually Teacher Appreciation Day.

~ There are two important corrections to the information in the update on our Deep Relaxation professional development program. First, the program will include meditation, not medication. Second, it is experiential, not experimental.

~ Our newspaper carried the notice last week that Mr. Oscar Hoffnagle is a defective on the police force. This was a typographical error. Mr. Hoffnagle is, of course, a detective on the police farce.