Four Seasons Of A Tree

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn
not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest,
in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance
away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the

third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they

had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe

what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
The second son said no-it was covered with green buds and full
of promise.
The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that
smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful
thing he had ever seen.
The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and
drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because
they had each seen but ONLY one season in the tree’s life. He told
them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season,
and that the essence of who they are – and the pleasure, joy, and
love that come from that life – can only be measured at the end,
when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’ s winter, you will miss the promise

of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of

your fall.

Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don’t judge life by one difficult season.

Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are

sure to come some time or later.

It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how things are
in themselves. The least of things with a meaning is worth more in
life than the greatest of things without it.  ~ Carl Jung ~

Flowers often grow more beautifully on dung-hills than in gardens
that look beautifully kept. ~ Saint Francis de Sales ~

 

12 Things To Remember

12 things to remember: 

The value of time.
The success of perseverance
The pleasure of working.
The dignity of simplicity.
The worth of character
The power of kindness.
The influence of example.
The obligation of duty.
The wisdom of economy.
The virtue of patience.
The improvement of talent.
The joy of origination.




Each of these is worth considering with regards to how we live our lives.

How can we grow in all of these attributes?
 

By associating with the wise and by respecting the Word of God. 
 

Proverbs 16:16 puts it this way:


"How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding
is to be chosen rather than silver." 
 

Only through attaining godly wisdom can we improve how we live our
lives now and ultimately find eternal happiness in God’s Kingdom.


*source : gnmagazine*

 

PRIORITIES

Ω♣♥ PRIORITIES ♥♣Ω

William Gladstone (1809-1898) was England's Prime Minister four
times, and one of the most important political figures of his era.
He was also famous for being an active Christian. Every day as
Gladstone went up the steps of the Parliament building, he bought
a newspaper from the same newsboy and said an encouraging word
about how Jesus loved him.

One day, as Gladstone and his secretary were going into Parliament,
another newsboy stopped them. "Hey, Mr. Gladstone, you know the
bloke you usually get'cher paper from?

Well, yesterday he was run over by a carriage and he's going to die.

He wants you to come get him in."

"What do you mean, 'get him in'?" Gladstone asked.

"You know--get him in to Heaven."

Gladstone's secretary protested. "No, no, no, you don't have time
to go see a newsboy! You know how important your speech today is.
It could change the course of history!"

Gladstone thought a moment, then said, "One immortal soul is worth
more than my speech in Parliament." So he went to the little garret
where the newsboy lay dying. Gladstone prayed with him to receive
Jesus. He "got him in"--and then the boy died.

By the time Gladstone made it back to Parliament, a heated discussion
was already under way. He gave his speech, and his side went on to
win the vote.

Afterwards his secretary asked, "Sir, how could you have gone off
like that and almost miss making such an important speech?"

"The speech was a very important and good thing," Gladstone replied,
"but getting that boy saved and into Heaven was a better, more
important thing!"

by David Brandt Berg

♦♦ * * * ♦♦

To comprehend a man's life, it is necessary to know not merely
what he does, but also what he purposely leaves undone. There
is a limit to the work that can be got out of a human body or
a human brain, and he is a wise man who wastes no energy on
pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he still wiser who,
from among the things that he can do well, chooses and
resolutely follows the best.

There is but one question of the hour: How to bring the truth
of God's Word into vital contact with the minds and hearts of
all classes of people. 

♣ William E. Gladstone ♣

 

The Trade

“Papa, look!” Someone had just given a six-year-old
a string of plastic pearls, and she was bubbling over
with excitement as she ran to show them to her father.

faux pearls

“These are beautiful,” her father said. For a long,
thoughtful moment he turned them over in his hand
and watched them shine in the light from
the lamp next to his easy chair.
Then he asked, “Will you do something for me?
Will you give me these beads in exchange for
something I will give you tomorrow?”
"Have I ever asked you to do anything that wasn’t
for your good?"

“What’s that?” asked the little girl.

“You’ll see tomorrow,” her father replied.

The little girl’s eyes betrayed her inward struggle.

“It’s up to you,” the father said. “You don’t have to
make the trade just because I am asking you to, but have
I ever asked you to do anything that wasn’t for
your good? Can you trust that I know best?”

It wasn’t easy, but the little girl handed the beads to her
father. He slipped them into his pocket, and gave her a big
hug that said, “I’m proud of you.”

The next day, the father gave the little girl a gift that was
far more beautiful and valuable—a delicate gold chain with a
genuine pearl pendant. The little girl forgot all about the
string of plastic pearls.

beautiful pearl pendant with gold chain

“I did this to teach you to trust the Father in Heaven,”
her father explained.
“Many times in your life He will ask you to give up something
you want, or to avoid something that to you looks good,
and often you won’t understand why.
But if you trust your heavenly Father as you have trusted me,
you will find that He always knows best.
When He asks you to give up some things, it’s because
He wants to give you much better things.”

In one of the parables that Jesus told, He likened the
Kingdom of Heaven to a pearl so rare, so beautiful,
and so costly that one man sold everything he
owned in order to buy that one pearl (Matthew 13:45-46).

We can have a little bit of Heaven here and now, but the
gifts and treasures of the spirit come at a price.
To experience and enjoy the things of eternal value,
we have to make room for them; we have to be willing
to give up some of our “trinkets,”
the trivialities and fleeting pleasures of this life.

Jehovah God satisfies the hungry hearts with good things,
but the rich—those who are too busy or satisfied with
other things—He sends away empty (Psalm 107:9; Luke 1:53). 

Will you “sell” the things of this world in order
to gain the true riches?

 

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart's longing.


It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow;
if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled
and closed from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the
tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, 
to be realistic; to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. 
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; 
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own
soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty,
every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much
money you have.
I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, 
weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to
feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you
truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. 
contentment in just being alone


by Oriah MountainDreamer
copyright © 1999 by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
 

 

The Double Minded Leader Claiming Islam Shaped America for the Better

WASHINGTON — April 7 2009

NO-BAMA_double minded*double speak

Some of the most double minded sayings of this new century are: “I support the

troops, but not the war”; “I am against abortion, but for the woman’s right to

choose an abortion”; “I believe that Christians, Jews and Muslims all worship

the same god”; and “the United States is not at war with Islam. In fact, our

partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology

that people of all faiths reject.” The man who now occupies the Oval Office has

uttered all of these and the last one is a direct quote before the Parliament of

Turkey. Facts are: The leaders of radical Islam have called for the complete

destruction of America and Israel; they have declared war on America and

Israel.

The man who now occupies the Oval Office went on to say, “We seek broad

engagement based upon mutual interests and mutual respect. We will listen

carefully, bridge misunderstanding, and seek common ground. We will be

respectful, even when we do not agree. And we will convey our deep

appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over so many

centuries to shape the world for the better – including my own country.

The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans.”

We must ask:

Can there be mutual interest and common ground with those

who seek to destroy you?

How can the so-called Islamic faith be appreciated when it

foments death wherever it takes root?

But worse, how can an American president ever claim that the

so-called Islamic faith shaped the United States for the better?

***This is sheer disillusionment***

Were the Founding Fathers born from or converted of Islam?

Did Islam stop capturing Africans and selling them into slavery?

Did Islam advance health and medicine in America?

Was Islam the driving spirit behind entrepreneurship and free enterprise?

Did Islam suffer the rights of  women to vote?

Did Islam stand for a free and independent Israel?

Did Islam spread in our prisons and contribute to crime against

Americans?

Did Islam perpetrate terrorist attacks killing innocent Americans?

Where did Islam shape America for the better?????

It is one thing to try to improve relations that have been damaged over

the years. It is yet another to make statements that not even those who

are hearing them believe to be true. But the same concepts with this man

hold consistent. This is the man who believes America can spend its way

out of debt. He believes that free enterprise can be saved by nationalization

of industry. And he believes that Islam—who kills the innocent, enslaves

women and children, and sells drugs to fund the spreading of its religion

–shaped America for the better.

James 1:8 says, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

And Jesus said in Matthew 24:4, “Take heed that no man deceive you.”

By Bill Wilson, KIN Senior Analyst
[www.watch.org]

 

The Rose

The Rose

♥Daniel Miller♥

And upon a day, while walking among the flowers of

his teacher’s garden, did the child speak unto the Mystic:

“Some men claim that this life
is the darkness of a curse,
and a punishment to be endured
for all our wicked ways.
Oh Mystic, what say you of life?”

And the Mystic answered:

“I say that life is neither a curse nor a punishment,
But a rose filled with the beauty of desire.

The stem of the rose is your life upon this earth,
The thorns, painful lessons you bring unto
yourself, that you might learn.
The leaves are those joys that enter
your life with the tenderness of an unseen Love.

Curse not the sorrow of your thorns,
for the deeper they cut unto the heart of
your being, the greener the leaves of joy shall be.

The tiny bud is your soul, waiting to
bloom with the truth of God among its petals.
Slowly will your flower unfold,
that you might not become lost
within the fragrance of its secret.

♥

♥

And when the rose is at the height of its beauty,
Shall you not see the pureness of God
smiling from the very center of your Being ?”

sweet fragrance of a rose at the height of its beauty

 

The Hunger of Expectation

Today you are hungry…
…along comes a man that gives you food to eat,
but tomorrow your hunger arises yet again,
demanding to be fed.
Along comes another man who feeds your Eternal-Self,
thus freeing you from the hunger of illusion.
Which of these two men brings forth the greater gift
to all mankind?

As we give forth our gifts to our brother and sister souls,
we must do so without any expectation;
rather that we take a lesson in giving from the trees,
bearing fruit for all to eat…
from the time they are born until the day that they die,
their only desire is to give forth the sweetness of Life
to all who pass their way.

forever giving fruit tree

When we attach any sort of expectation to even our kindest
thought, it ceases to be a gift and becomes instead, a debt
to pay…no longer a blessing but rather a burden to bear.
Is this not the reason so many human relationships fail?

If our own expectations are attached to our emotions
then the gift of love becomes only the tie that bind…
‘I love you.’ then exists as a contract to honor or to break
‘Because I love you, I expect you to act accordingly.
I expect this for that.’

When our loved ones fail to live up to our own expectations,
the relationship tends to suffer.
Expectation is the food which gives rise to yet a more demanding hunger.
Unconditional Love is the sweetness of Life that feeds your Eternal-Self.

♣ Daniel J. Miller ♣  

 

GOD’S INVISIBLE BREATH

GOD’S INVISIBLE BREATH

The man whispered,

“God, speak to me.”
And a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.

God’s Mighty yet Gentle Calling

So the man yelled,

“God, speak to me!”
And the thunder rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said,

“God, let me see you.”
And a star shone brightly.
But the man did not notice.

God’s Light in the Dark .. A Sign He’s always there

And the man shouted,

“God, show me a miracle!”
And a life was born.
But the man did not know.

So, the man cried out in despair.
“Touch me God, and let me know that you

are here!”
Whereupon God reached down and touched

the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and

walked on.

God’s Gentle Touch; Unheeded by man

MORAL: Don’t miss out on a blessing

because it isn’t packaged the way you

expect.

*An Old Hindu Poem*

 

Dirty Oven

”If we (freely) admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just

(true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins (dismiss our lawlessness)

and (continuously) cleanse us from all unrighteousness (everything not in conformity to

His will in purpose, thought, and action)”

(1 John 1:9) - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous so as to forgive us our

sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – NWT

Cleaning the oven is not my favorite thing to do. In fact, it slides down to bottom of my

“to do” list several times before I actually make it a priority. I know I am not the only

person who feels this way. The owner of the house we moved into obviously disliked

cleaning ovens even more than I do. It was very dirty and hadn’t been cleaned for a

long time. I put it through the self-clean cycle then used SOS pads to clean the build

up around the edges. But the build up on the front bottom part of the oven and door

were so caked on that I had to take a screwdriver to scratch it off.

let not our hearts be like a dirty oven with crusts of ungodly habits

Finally it was clean.

As I was scrubbing the oven, I compared the dirty oven with our hearts. People can’t

see inside our ovens, or our hearts, but God can and it can be pretty dirty. I remember

so vividly the time when I asked Jesus into my life at the age of 12. I asked Him to

forgive my sins. He cleansed me and I felt so clean. At the age of 30, I learned about

spiritual breathing (confessing our sins and appropriating the Holy Spirit). I learned

I could be “clean” all the time – moment by moment.

However, sometimes we become so busy that we don’t spend time daily with the

Lord and His Word. We become sloppy and accumulate ungodly habits that are like

the caked on grease at the bottom of my oven. You have to work at getting rid of those.

Worry, ungratefulness, critical attitudes, etc. We need to confess them immediately

and begin thanking the Lord for all His blessings, start thinking “good, pure thought”

and focus our thoughts on God and His sufficiency.

If we spend quiet time with the Lord and His Word, He will point them out to us.

Many, many times a day, we have to do this to change our ungodly habits.

Purify our hearts Daily

Don’t let your oven (heart) get dirty – keep it clean.

What are your “caked on” habits?

Admit your sins and He will cleanse you.

by Katherine Kehler

 

The Missing Rib

A girl in love asked her boyfriend:
“Tell me, who do you love most in this world?”

“You, of course!”

“In your heart, what am I to you?”

The boy thought for a moment and looked intently in her eyes and said,

“You are my rib. In the Bible, it was said that God saw that Adam was

lonely. During his sleep, God took one of Adam’s rib and created Eve.

Every man has been searching for his missing rib. Only when you find

the woman of your life will you no longer feel the lingering ache in

your heart.”

wedded bliss

After their wedding, the couple had a sweet and happy life for a while.

However, the youthful couple began to drift apart due to the busy schedule

of life and the never-ending worries of daily problems. Their life became

mundane. All the challenges posed by the harsh realities of life began to

gnaw away at their dreams and love for each other.

The couple began to have more quarrels, and each quarrel became more

heated.

One day, after a quarrel, the girl ran out of the house. At the opposite side

of the road, she shouted, “You don’t love me!” The boy hated her childishness,

and out of impulse retorted, “Maybe it was a mistake for us to be together!

You were never my missing rib!”

Suddenly, she turned quiet and stood there for a long while. He regretted

what he said, but words spoken are like thrown away water — you can

never take them back. With tears, she went home to pack her things and

was determined on breaking up. Before she left the house, the girl said,
“If I’m really not your missing rib, then please let me go.” She continued,

“It is less painful this way. Let us go on our separate ways and search

for our own partners.”

painful and heart-rending break up

Five years went by. He never remarried but he had tried to find out about

her life indirectly. She had left the country and came back. She had married

a foreigner and divorced. He felt anguished that she never waited for him.

In the dark and lonely night, he lit his cigarette and felt the lingering ache

in his heart. He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he was missing her.

One day they finally met — at the airport — a place where there were

many reunions and good-byes. He was going away on a business trip.

She was standing there alone, with just the security door separating

them. She smiled at him gently.

(b): “How are you?”

(g): “I’m fine. How about you. Have you
found your missing rib?”

(b): “No.”

(g): “I’ll be flying to New York on the next flight.”

(b): “I’ll be back in 2 weeks time.”

(g): “Give me a call when you get back. You know my number.

Nothing has changed.”

With a smile, she turned around and waved good-bye.

One week later, he heard of her death. She had perished in New York

– in the event that shocked the world.

Midnight. Once again, he lit his cigarette. And like before, he felt the

lingering ache in his heart. He finally knew that she was the missing

rib that he had so carelessly broken.

*Author Unknown*

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Take away LOVE and our earth is a tomb. – Robert Browning

Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of

separation. – Kahlil Gibran

Breaking up is just like having the worst nightmare after having the

best dream. – Anonymous

Sometimes people say things out of moments of fury. Most often than

not, the outcome could be disastrous and detrimental. We vent our

frustrations 99% at our loved ones. And even though we know that

we ought to “think twice and act wisely,” it’s often easier said than done.

Things happen each day, many of which are beyond our control. Let us
treasure every moment and everyone in our lives. Tomorrow may never

come. Give and accept what you have today.

“Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains.” – Emilie Cady

 

The Messiah In Disguise

the monastery in the high mountains

High in the mountains was a monastery that had once been known throughout the world.
Its monks were pious, its students were enthusiastic. The chants from the monastery’s
chapel deeply touched the hearts of people who came there to pray and meditate.

But, something had changed. Fewer and fewer young men came to study there;
fewer and fewer people came for spiritual nourishment. The monks who remained
became disheartened and sad.
Deeply worried, the abbot of the monastery went off in search of an answer.
Why had his monastery fallen on such hard times?

The abbot came to a guru, and he asked the master, “Is it because of some sin
of ours that the monastery is no longer full of vitality?”
“Yes,” replied the master, “it is the sin of ignorance.”
“The sin of ignorance?” questioned the abbot. “Of what are we ignorant?”
The guru looked at the abbot for a long, long time, and then he said, “One of
you is the messiah in disguise. But, you are all ignorant of this.” Then, the
guru closed his eyes, and he was silent.

“The messiah?” thought the abbot. “The messiah is one of us? Who could it be?
Could it be Brother Cook? Could it be Brother Treasurer? Could it be Brother
Bell-Ringer? Could it be Brother Vegetable Grower?

“Which one? Which one? Every one of us has faults, failings, human defects.
Isn’t the messiah supposed to be perfect? But, then, perhaps these faults and
failings are part of his disguise. Which one? Which one?”

When the abbot returned to the monastery, he gathered all the monks together
and told them what the guru had said.
“One of us? The messiah? Impossible!”

But, the master had spoken, and the master was never wrong.
“One of us? The messiah? Incredible! But, it must be so. Which one? Which one?
That brother over there? That one? That one?”

Whichever one of the monks was the messiah, he was, surely, in disguise.
Not knowing who amongst them was the messiah, all the monks began treating each
other with new respect. “You never know,” they thought, “he might be the one,
so I had better deal with him kindly.”

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

It was not long before the monastery was filled with new found joy. Soon, new
students came to learn, and people came from far and wide to be inspired by the
chants of the kind, smiling monks.

For once again, the monastery was filled with the spirit of love. 

Moral : The world would be a beautiful and much better

place if all of humanity would treat each other kindly and

respectfully without hypocrisy and giving of each other with

the spirit of love without any judgment.

 

The Tongue

The Tongue,  a vital organ for survival or an organ of ‘damning fire’.?

Words that heal and wound comes from the same mouth.

“5 So, too, the tongue is a little member and yet makes great brags.
Look! How little a fire it takes to set so great a woodland on fire!
6 Well, the tongue is a fire. The tongue is constituted a world of
unrighteousness among our members, for it spots up all the body
and sets the wheel of natural life aflame and it is set aflame by
Ge·hen´na.
7 For every species of wild beast as well as bird and creeping thing
and sea creature is to be tamed and has been tamed by humankind.
8 But the tongue, not one of mankind can get it tamed. An unruly
injurious thing, it is full of death-dealing poison.
9 With it we bless Jehovah, even [the] Father, and yet with it we
curse men who have come into existence “in the likeness of God.”
10 Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing.”

*NWT — JAMES : 3 : 5-10*

Speak with kindness and thoughtfulness with consideration and discretion,

as words spoken cannot be taken back,  just as it is the same with time that

cannot be wound backwards.

Reflect on these two poems ……..

An Evening Prayer
*C. Maud Battersby*

If I have wounded any soul today,
If I have caused one foot to go astray,
If I have walked in my own willful way,
Good Lord, forgive.

If I have uttered idle words or vain,
If I have turned aside from want or pain,
Lest I offend some other through the strain,
Good Lord, forgive.

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee.
Forgive the secret sins I do not see.
That which I know not, Father, teach Thou me—
Help me to live.

speak no words that wounds any soul

No Unkind Words
*George Matthas Adams*

If I knew that a word of mine,
A word not kind and true,
Might leave its trace on a loved one’s face,
I don’t think I’d speak it, would you?

If I knew the sting of a word
Might linger and leave its mark
With a deep dark scar on a loved one’s heart,
I don’t think I’d speak that word, would you?

speak no unkind words that stings and scars

 

10 Life-Lessons from Noah’s Ark

10 Life-Lessons from Noah’s Ark

The Biblical story of the great flood (see Genesis 6:1-9:17)

has been around for a long time. It has counterparts in many

other cultures. Each generation has learned much from the

story — and so can those of us in the coaching community!

Needless to say, “Always build on the highest ground possible”,

because character always counts!

Here
are ten more:

1. Always plan ahead.

There wasn’t any rain in the forecast when Noah started building

the ark.

Noah's Ark

2.Don’t listen to your critics.

Listen instead to your heart, and then do whatever has to be done.

The neighbors might have taunted when Noah was blocking

their driveway — but he had the last laugh as soon as the rain

began falling!

3.Stay physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally fit.

You never know but that when you’re 600 years old, someone

might come along out of the blue and ask you to do something

REALLY big!

4.Don’t seek to go it alone.

Always travel, at least, in pairs, because two heads are

better than one.

two better than one

5.Speed is not always an advantage.

The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails; and

they all arrived safely on dry ground at the very same time.

fast and ferocious cheetah

slow and steady snail

6.Handle Conflict with certainty.

If you can’t fight or flee from adversity — at least make

certain you have an idea that can float in the battlefield

of ideas!

7.Don’t miss the boat!

Never forget this underlying truth: that ultimately when

all is said and done, we’re all in the same boat!

don't miss this boat

8. Be flexible in your thinking.

Remember that amateurs built the ark while professionals

built the Titanic and the Challenger Space Shuttle.

9. Remember that Fear is nothing more than

“False Evidence Appearing Real”.

The woodpeckers on the INSIDE are often a bigger threat to

your overall well being than the storms raging on the outside.

thunderstorm on the outside

10. Remain faithful and optimistic.

No matter how bleak things look, if God is traveling with you,

there’s always going to be a rainbow of peace on the other

side of the storm.

God's Rainbow of Promise

 

Leave! The City of Regret

The City of Regret

I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it. I’m talking about my annual “Guilt Trip.”

I got tickets to fly there on Wish I Had airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I got my baggage, which I could not check. I chose to carry it myself all the way. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been. No one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the Regret City International Airport. I say international because people from all over the world come to this dismal town.

International Airport_Regret City

As I checked into the Last Resort Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year’s most important event, the Annual Pity Party. I wasn’t going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the towns leading citizens would be there.

Last Resort Hotel

First, there would be the Done family, you know, Should Have, Would Have and Could Have. Then came the I Had family. You probably know ol’ Wish and his clan. Of course, the Opportunities would be present, Missed and Lost. The biggest family would be the Yesterday’s. There are far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share.

Then Shattered Dreams would surely make and appearance. And It’s Their Fault would regale us with stories (excuses) about how things had failed in his/her life, and each story would be loudly applauded by Don’t Blame Me and I Couldn’t Help It.

shattereddreams, it'stheirfault, don'tblameme, icouldn'thelpit

Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing that there would be no real benefit in doing so. And, as usual, I became very depressed. But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occurred to me that all of this trip and subsequent “pity party” could be cancelled by ME! I started to truly realize that I did not have to be there. I didn’t have to be depressed. One thing kept going through my mind, I CAN’T CHANGE YESTERDAY, BUT I DO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE TODAY A WONDERFUL DAY. I can be happy, joyous, fulfilled, encouraged, as well as encouraging. Knowing this, I left the City of Regret immediately and left no forwarding address. Am I sorry for mistakes I’ve made in the past? YES! But there is no physical way to undo them.

forget pity party; leave city of regret

So, if you’re planning a trip back to the City of Regret, please cancel all your reservations now. Instead, take a trip to a place called, Starting Again. I liked it so much that I have now taken up permanent residence there. My neighbors, the I Forgive Myselfs and the New Starts are so very helpful. By the way, you don’t have to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival. God bless you in finding this great town. If you can find it — it’s in your own heart — please look me up. I live on I Can Do It street.

by Larry Harp

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