A Christmas Dress For Ellen

That December her heart was so full of sorrow and concern for her six small children that she felt it would surely break. On Christmas Eve, all her children, except the oldest, Ellen, 10, were dancing around, excited to hang their stockings for Santa to come. Mary helped each one of her children hang a little darned and mended stocking, but she couldn't persuade Ellen to participate. Of all the children, Ellen alone knew there was nothing with which to fill the stockings.

Then the young mother sat by the fire, thinking of her plight. Spring had come very late and winter had come very early for the last two years, causing the crops to freeze and fail.

In October Mary had received a letter from her sisters living in Idaho who, despite their own setbacks, had asked what they could send her family for Christmas.

In November, in desperation, Mary had written.

Mary had requested only necessities. She told them how desperately the family needed food, especially wheat, yeast, flour and some cornmeal. She also asked for some old, used quilts and for some worn-out pants to cut up and use to patch her sons' clothes, and mentioned the family's desperate need for socks, shoes, gloves, hats and coats.

Then finally, Mary asked if someone might have a dress she had outgrown to send to Ellen, who only had one dress that was patched and faded. Mary felt she could fix up such a dress and thus bring some joy to Ellen, who had too much to worry about for a 10-year-old.

The week before Christmas Mary's husband, Leland, made a daily three-hour round trip into the town of Cardston to check at the train station and the post office for a package from Idaho. Nothing came.

Then at 3:30 on Christmas morning, while her husband and children slept, Mary heard a knock at the door. It was the mailman, a member of the Church from Cardston, telling Mary 10 large crates from the States had arrived for the Jeppson family. He knew they had been waiting for the packages and that there would be no Christmas without them. With horse and sleigh, he set out from his home Christmas Eve and traveled eight hours in a severe snowstorm to deliver the crates to the Jeppsons' isolated farm house.

Mary had thanked him all she could, but she always said that there just were not words enough to express her thanks. After all, how do you thank a miracle, and a Christmas miracle at that?''

Inside the boxes was a note from Mary's sisters. They told her that quilting bees had been held all over the Malad Valley, and from these, six thick, warm beautiful quilts had been made for them. They also told of the many women who had sewn shirts for the boys and dresses for the girls, and of others who had knitted warm gloves and hats.

The donation of socks and shoes had come from people for miles around. The Relief Society had held a bazaar to raise the money to buy the coats, and all of Mary Jeppson's sisters, nieces, cousins, aunts and uncles in Idaho had gotten together to bake the breads and make the candy to send.

There was even a crate half full of beef that had been cured and packed so that it could be shipped along with two or three slabs of bacon and two hams.

The letter closed with these words: “We hope you have a Merry Christmas, and thank you so much for making our Christmas the best one we've ever had!”

Mary's children awoke that morning to bacon, hot muffins and jars of jams and jellies and canned fruit. Every stocking that was hanging was stuffed full of homemade taffy, fudge, divinity and dried fruit of every kind.

The most wonderful miracle, though, occurred when Ellen, the very last to get up . . . looked to where her stocking was supposed to have been hung the night before and saw hanging there a beautiful red Christmas dress, trimmed with white and green satin ribbons. She later said it was the most wonderful Christmas morning ever.

“That morning,'' concluded President Monson, “with the Christmas dress for Ellen, a childhood had been brought back, a childhood of hopes and dreams and Santas and the miracle of Christmas.''

“If there is one common denominator, perhaps it is this: Christmas is love. Christmas is the time when the bonds of family love transcend distance and inconvenience,'' said President Monson. “It is a time when love of neighbor rises above petty day-to-day irritations, and doors swing open to give and receive expressions of appreciation and affection.”

(This is the true story of a young mother, Mary Jeppson, who lived in the remote prairie town of Hillspring, Alberta, and how she celebrated Christmas in 1927 as told by President Thomas S. Monson during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional in the Tabernacle Dec. 7, and reported in the Deseret News, 13 Dec 1997)

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Don't know for sure because I can't say when it happened but I hurt my upper left leg. Just a bruise but it wouldn't be descent to take a picture of it. We did take some pictures of our first snow storm last night. If I can figure out how the pictures will be included.

I fell again. It happened the other day when I was leaving the bathroom. I was holding a grab bar with one hand but fell around and down and hit my head on the door. I thought it sounded so loud that every-one in the neighborhood could hear it. But nobody came running. My wife, Anne, was outside saying good-bye to one of our daughters. I guess the loud noise was only in my head. Next morning all I experienced was a few more aches and pains. :)

I am thankful that I can express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father!

I am thankful for agency! For noble parentage and a great heritage!

I am looking forward to the October 2010 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) which will be held on Saturday and Sunday!

Jim Fisher had a great time at his pre-birthday party. He even got a brand new tracheostomy tube. The children have learned to count better than their Father though. He stopped at 30 but they kept on counting.

Jim Fisher is grateful for the restoration of the priesthood and the organization of what we now know as The Church of Jesus Church of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)!

Jim Fisher is grateful for his family for their love and support! And for his wife who is completely selfless!

Jim Fisher is thankful for the Sacrament of the Lords supper (Communion) and that he is able to enjoy it every Sunday!

Jim Fisher is thankful for the restoration and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons) was organized!

Jim Fisher is thankful for tne plan of salvation and the scriptures that help us learn of it.

Jim Fisher is thankful that because of the example of his Savior he can one day be like him. He has a long row to how yet though!

James R. Fisher is thankful for his heritage and parents who taught him about Jesus Christ!

James R. Fisher is thankful that his Savior's atonement and love has made it possible for him to repent of his sins.

James R. Fisher is thankful for his Savior's love and hopes that you can enjoy it too.

James R. Fisher is thankful that he is a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A Crabbey Old Woman

When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee, Scotland, it was felt that she had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through her meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

One nurse took her copy to Ireland. The old lady's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on her simple, but eloquent, poem. ... And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this "anonymous" poem winging across the Internet. Goes to show that we all leave "SOME footprints in time".....

What do you see, nurses, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you're looking at me?
A crabby old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles her food and makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice, "I do wish you'd try!"

Who seems not to notice the things that you do,
And forever is missing a stocking or shoe.....
Who, resisting or not, lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill....
Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse; you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of ten ... with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters, who love one another.

A young girl of sixteen, with wings on her feet,
Dreaming that soon now a lover she'll meet.
A bride soon at twenty -- my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows that I promised to keep.
At twenty-five now, I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide and a secure happy home.
A woman of thirty, my young now grown fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should last.
At forty, my young sons have grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me to see I don't mourn.
At fifty once more, babies play round my knee,
Again we know children, my loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead;
I look at the future, I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own,
And I think of the years and the love that I've known.
I'm now an old woman ... and nature is cruel;
'Tis jest to make old age look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles, grace and vigor depart,
There is now a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells.

I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living life over again.
I think of the years .... all too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.

So open your eyes, nurses, open and see,
Not a crabby old woman; look closer ... see ME!!

A niece visited Utah from Kansas and we didn't have the decency to make her at home. Shame on us!

Look Closer -- See Me

What do you see, people, what do you see? What are you thinking, when you look at me?
A crabby old woman, not very wise. Uncertain of habit, with far-away eyes,

Who dribbles her food and makes no reply. When you say in a loud voice "I do wish you'd try!"

Who seems not to notice the things that you do. And forever is losing a stocking or shoe.
Who, unresisting or not; lets you do as you will. With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill.

Is that what you're thinking, is that what you see? Then open your eyes, you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am as I sit here so still! As I rise at your bidding, as I eat at your will.

I'm a small child of 10 with a father and mother, brothers and sisters, who loved one another.
A young girl of 16 with wings on her feet, dreaming that soon now a lover she'll meet.

A bride soon at 20 ― my heart gives a leap, Remembering the vows that I promised to keep.
At 25 now I have young of my own Who need me to build a secure happy home.
A woman of 30, my young now grow fast, Bound to each other with ties that should last.

At 40, my young sons have grown and are gone, But my man's beside me to see I do not mourn.
At 50 once more babies play around my knee, Again we know children, my loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead, I look at the future, I shudder with dread.

For my young are all rearing young of their own. And I think of the years and the love that I've known.

I'm an old woman now and nature is cruel, 'Tis her jest to make old age look like a fool.
The body is crumbled, grace and vigor depart. There is now a stone where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass, a young girl still dwells, And now and again my battered heart swells.

I remember the joy, I remember the pain, And I'm loving and living life over again.
I think of the years all too few ― gone too fast, And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people, open and see. Not a crabby old woman, LOOK CLOSER, SEE ME.

- Anonymous

Mike and Erin got hitched yesterday! It was an outstanding ceremony! We also attended a dinner in their honor on Friday night. At times like this it pays to be a Grandpa!

i

You can achieve any goal -- you can overcome any difficulty and solve any problem on the path to the goal -- as long as the goal is clear. You have the creative resources within you to be, have or do anything that you could possibly want. The only limitations are the ones you place on yourself and your mind.

Brian Tracy
Nightingale-Conant's Insight
pp. 19

. . . a letter is a painstaking thing that requires putting thoughts into words.

Louis L'Amour
The Warrior's Path
pp 199



This is my sentiments when I approach writing anything. It is also why my life story was not written until my sister, Joy, took it upon herself to have me expound to her about my life. Unfortunately what I told her was not always clear in it's meaning and so to date it is a work in progress.

I signed up to receive daily gems by e-mail from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This service I would recommend to anyone! To sign up click here.

You are born with enormous reserves of creativity that can enable you to improve every part of your life. Constantly seek for faster, better and easier ways to achieve your tasks and goals.

Brian Tracy
Nightingale-Conant's Insight
pp. 19

Can we not follow the Prince of Peace, that pioneer who literally showed the way for others to follow? His divine plan can save us from the Babylons of sin, complacency, and error. His example points the way. When faced with temptation, he shunned it. When offered the world, he declined it. When asked for his life, he gave it.

President Thomas S. Monson
Ensign
July 1988, pp. 5

I hope we shall not attempt to perfect an already perfect plan, but seek with all our might, mind, and strength to perfect ourselves in the comprehensive program given to us. Because some of us have failed, certainly it would be unfair to place the blame upon the program. Let us control our attitudes, our activities, our total lives, that we may be heir to the rich and numerous blessings promised to us.

President Spencer W. Kimball
Ensign
October 1975, pp. 5

We do not learn spiritual things in exactly the same way we learn other things that we know, even though such things as reading, listening, and pondering may be used. I have learned that it requires a special attitude both to teach and to learn spiritual things.

Elder Boyd K. Packer
The Ensign
January 1983, pp. 51

There are two days in the week about which we should not worry. Two days which should be kept free of fear and apprehension. One of these is yesterday with its mistakes and cares, its aches and pains. Yesterday is passed forever, beyond our reach. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot erase a single act we performed nor a single word we said. Yesterday is passed forever beyond our control. The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow with its possible burdons, its large promise, and its poor performance. Tomorrow is beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.

That leaves only today. Anyone can fight life's battles just for one day. It is only when we face the burdens of those other two days that we falter. It is not today's experience that drives men mad. It is the remorse and bitterness for something which happened yesterday, and the dread of what tomorrow may bring. So live just one day at a time if you wish to be happy.

Becky Brown Gibb
A Faithful Generation
pp. 85

Recent research in the field of medicine has shown that a specific perception of significance, uniqueness, and being needed on a job or by a family has a significant effect in reducing the risk to cancer, strokes, heart attack, hypertension, and other diseases. This perception also increases the probability of recovering. So even at the most basic level of our resistance to illness and disease and our motivation to live comes the direct need to believe that we play a contributing role in the lives of people who matter to us.

H. Stephen Glenn with Jane Nelsen
Raising Children For Success
pp. 89

The greatest single cause of what's ailing America, in my opinion, is the "irresponsible obsession with immediate sensual gratification."

Denis Waitley
Seeds of Greatness
pp. 83

I became somewhat excited at my son's high school football games. One night, when he made a particularly good tackle, I punched the person next to me and loudly proclaimed, "that's my son who made that tackle." "I know," she replied quietly, "He's my son too."

Lyle Clark (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Laughter, The Best Medicine
PP. 75

We ourselves. . . have some victories to win. We can help righteousness to win over sin, faith over doubt, and knowledge over ignorance.

Sterling W. Sill
The Best of Sterling W. Sill
pp. 79

A man describes his wife on a camping trip: "When she screams, I never know whether to grab my rifle or a fly swatter.

Bette McElroy
Reader's Digest
August 1971, pp. 161

If you want to be successful, as a wise man once told me, "Get good; get better; be the best." One of the most important self-management responsibilities that you take on is that of becoming very good at what you do.

Brian Tracy
Nightingale-Conant's Insight
No.114, pp. 18

Psychologists have found that personal development and growth aren't just transitions that teens go through. They are a lifelong process. Passing through our 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond, we move through different phases, whether we are aware of them or not.

Martin Groder, MD
Bottom Line Personal
Dec. 15, 1996, pp. 9

How do you make the secret of getting things done a part of your life? By habit. And you develop habit through repetition. "Sow an action and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny." said the great psychologist and philosopher William James. He was saying that you are what your habits make you. And you can choose your habits.

Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
pp. 108

When people believe that life is meaningful and that they have a mission to accomplish, they are strongly motivated to commit all their inner mind/body resources to help them fight illness.

Herbert Benson, MD
Bottom Line Tomorrow
April 1997, pp. 3

One of the greatest gifts anyone can make to his fellowmen is a sincere good example, for more than almost any other thing we need to see before us is a real live model of righteousness.

Sterling W. Sill
The Best of Sterling W. Sill
pp. 77

My father-in-law, a nationally known psychologist, has successfully reared a family of five. My husband and I in turn have six small children. One holiday we were visiting our in-laws, along with an army of cousins, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, small nieces and nephews, and the home was a beehive of activity. Suddenly Rebekah, our five-year-old, came running excitedly to the table where the adults were chatting over coffee and announced that George, our three-year-old, had locked himself in the upstairs bathroom.

There was an immediate look of concern on the faces of all the adult parents. "Don't be alarmed, "my father-in-law said reassuringly. "There are two more bathrooms downstairs."

Arlene C. Crane
Reader's Digest
August 1971, pp. 140

Humor is an incredible, although often overlooked, tool at times when we feel like crying. "If you can find humor in anything," says comedian Bill Cosby, "you can survive it."

Allen Klein
The Healing Power of Humor
pp. 3

The pain in your life comes from many places. Sometimes its source is mundane--an egg drops to the floor and it breaks. Other times its source is profound--we receive a Dear John or a Dear Jane letter and our heart breaks. Whatever our hurt, there is a big difference between pain and suffering. Our pain may not cease, but humor can minimize our suffering by giving us power in what appears to be a powerless situation.

Allen Klein
The Healing Power of Humor
Prologue, pp. xxi

The quality of a person's life will be determined by the depth of his commitment to excellence, no matter what the chosen field.

Vince Lombardi
Nightingale-Conant's Insight
No. 114, pp. 18

Proactive people make love a verb. Love is something you do: the sacrifices you make, the giving of self, like a mother bringing a newborn into the world. If you want to study love, study those who sacrifice for others, even for people who offend or do not love in return.

Stephen R. Covey
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
pp. 80

New Life and New Hope

The coming of spring is a change we anticipate and welcome. After a cold winter, we rejoice in longer days and warmer temperatures. And as the snow begins to melt, we watch for splashes of color and for those first brave blossoms. But perhaps it’s more than good weather we’re looking forward to—it’s the abundance of new life and new hope offered in spring.

Somehow, the hope of spring can make it easier to believe in unseen realities. Yet even in spring we may grapple with discouragement, despair, or anguish of soul. Like Job of old, we may sincerely wonder, “If a man die, shall he live again?” At such times, when we need new hope, when we yearn for the nurture of charity, we might find seedlings of faith in our own souls.

Almost in an instant, the trials of life can strip away the superficial and help us discover who we really are and what we really believe. C. S. Lewis said: “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it? . . . Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief.” Sometimes only in the winters of our lives can we truly appreciate and believe in the miracles of spring. Like children who run through grassy fields in search of hidden eggs, adults too can search and find new life and new hope as we turn our hearts to God.

Music & the Spoken Word
Delivered On: March 23rd 2008
Delivered By: Lloyd D. ewell

I know that our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior, love me and love all of us - even when we are not very lovable, even when we do stupid or unwise things from lack of judgment or from deliberate lack of obedience. I know that we came to earth to learn, to gain experience - and yes, to learn from experience. I know that we have many resources to help us to succeed - because They want us to succeed. The great Plan gave us agency to choose our way. But we need help and I am grateful that we have help. I am grateful to know that the scriptures contain God's truth and teach us what we must know. They teach us that we need to pray, that our Father hears our prayers, and that if we continue to pray in faith, we'll get answers. I know that we must put our trust in Him, and continue in patience, realizing that our timetable is often not the same as His.

I know that we have prophets to lead us and give us counsel and instruction and guidance. I am grateful for what we can read and what we can hear from ward, stake and general conferences and from our Church magazines and other publications. I KNOW the Gospel is true and I know that the true Gospel is here in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know that Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw and heard what he heard. I know that he was the instrument to restore the Gospel and the Church that Christ organized when he was on the earth. I know if we are in church when we should be, if we read the scriptures and pray for understanding, and pray in gratitude for our blessings, and try to live the way we know to be right - all of that will help us in our journey here and help us to return to our Father's home when that time comes.

I know that agency allows us to make choices that bring heartache, sorrow and misery sometimes - to ourselves, and to those who love us - and to others sometimes. I also know that happiness comes from making right choices - and that we are not really happy unless we are trying to make right choices. Part of our experience here on earth is to find that joy.

I feel that it was part of the plan that I come to earth before you and feel blessed to be the mother and grandmother in this family - blessed beyond what I could ever have deserved. But I am so grateful to be part of the same family - of some of the best people in the world. We are all brothers and sisters, after all - and I am grateful to know that too. I love you all more than I can express.

Anne W. Fisher
Family Letter
March 28, 2010

Time and again we see how men and women have become successful after they learned to apply mental perception. The ability to see is much more than the physical process of taking light rays through the retina of the eye. It is the skill of interpretating what you see and applying that interpretation to your life and the lives of others.

Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
pp. 105

How often do we support or even applaud those who have succeeded? Even if it came at our own expense. Do we offer true congratulations or do we enviously shrink from the moment wishing we had done so well.

Lloyd Newell
The Spoken Word
March 21, 2010

Sometimes we have thoughts of optimism, courage, and devotion, thoughts capable of changing our lives. A certain kind of idea in the mind sends a tingle through the emotions and quickens the whole personality. Thoughts are carriers of ambition and power. They can rejuvenate us and put us on our feet with a new lease on life.

Sterling W. Sill
The Best of Sterling W. Sill
pp. 59

Learn a relaxation technique that works for you. Your creative imagination can be "preplayed" and "replayed" best when you are relaxed, because the left-brain dominance is less intense and the right-brain is receptive to your visual and certain audio suggestions.

Denis Waitley
Seeds of Greatness
pp. 72

A series of studies published in prestigious medical journals over the past decade found that practitioners of meditation report significant decreases in pain, anxiety, depression, blood pressure and other physical symptoms--allowing doctors to decrease medication and doctors' visits.

Amy Saltzer, MD
Bottom Line Tomorrow
March 1997, pp. 3

"One of the few ways to deal with a highstress situations that you can't escape," says Dr. Samuel Shem, author of The House of God, "is to make fun of it." Humor helps us cope because it instantly removes us from our pain.

Allen Klein
The Healing Power of Humor
Prologue, pp. XX

Little Jane, just out of bed one morning, was crying as though her heart would break. Her mother came hurrying to ask, "Jane, what in the world is the matter?" Sobbing, she answered, "I was just thinking, I'll have to put on my clothes every day as long as I live."

Mary C. McNew
Reader's Digest
August 1971, pp. 113

Perhaps the most important part of self-management is financial management. This means that you are 100 percent responsible for achieving your financial independence. And this is possible only by your saving and investing part of your income every single paycheck.

Brian Tracy
Nightingale-Conant's Insight
pp. 18

As a general-insurance broker, I received a phone call from a woman who asked if I wrote policies for a certain insurance company. I replied that I did. "Well," she said, "my little girl was hit over the head by the little boy up the street and we had to rush her to the doctor to get the gash in her scalp sewed up. The boy's parents were insured with your company, and the claim was settled so promptly and generously that I want to take out a policy like it before my little girl hits him back."

Elmer G. Stark
Reader's Digest
August 1971, pp. 79-80

We have the power to enjoy, even create, beauty in our everyday circumstances. Joy comes in so many different ways, and a generous measure of it lies within the grasp of every person. . .Happiness then becomes our conscious choice. Life becomes what we choose it to be.

Lloyd Newell
The Spoken Word
March 16, 1997

To support others is not only our responsibility, it is also our greatest opportunity, for we are all in the same boat. In one sense we all rise and fall, sink or swim together. We share in every man's success, we live a part of every man's life, and we die a part of every man's death. A common need, a common interest, and a common destiny bind us together.

Sterling W. Sill
The Best of Sterling W. Sill
pp. 53

It was our son Andy's fifth birthday, and my husband and I were getting ready to take him out for a movie. I told Andy to pack a snak for himself in my purse to have during the show. I assumed he'd put in a granola bar or cookie. Later in the theater, Andy leaned over to me and whispered, "Mom, may I have my ice-cream sandwich now?"

Lawana Blackwell
Reader's Digest
August 1990, pp. 164

We need to learn how to look at our world with fresh eyes--seeing the opportunities that lie all about us, but simultaneously looking into the future for the chances that are there.

Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
pp. 100

Self-management means getting things done through yourself. It means standing back and looking upon yourself as a bundle of resources out of which you want to get the highest possible return. You need to organize, manage and motivate yourself as if you were your own employee.

Brian Tracy
Nightingale-Conant's Insight
No. 114, pp. 17

I was pregnant with my fourth baby at the same time my neighbor's dog was about to have her pups. Thinking that now would be an ideal time to explain how babies came into the world, I brought my three boys to see the birth of the puppies. Months later, when I had my baby, my husband brought our sons to the hospital to see their new brother.

While we were all standing at the nursery window looking in, our threeyear old asked, "Are these all ours?"

Claire Shattuck
Reader's Digest
October 1985, pp. 48

A hug is a perfect gift--one size fits all, and nobody minds if you exchange it.

Ivern Ball
Reader's Digest
November 1985, pp. 27

The best measure of a man's honesty isn't his income-tax return. It's the zero adjustment on his bathroom scale.

Arthur C. Clarke in Omni
Reader's Digest
November 1985, pp. 27

My parents, both busy professional people, have trouble finding time for home maintenance. On weekends they each make a list of things to be done. Father's list is never completely crossed off, but Mother's always is. Puzzled, I asked her how she managed that.

"Simple," she answered with a satisfied grin. "I do the chore first, and then I put it on the list and cross it off!"

Brenda M. Witt
Reader's Digest
November 1985, pp. 84

Learn how to be comfortable in the present. . .to be awake and aware in the here and now, without worrying about what you should be doing or what comes next.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD
Bottom Line Tommorrow
Feb. 1997, pp. 3

No one can uplift someone else without himself being made better. It is a natural law that the teacher always learns more than the student. Just "Tow your brother's boat across, and lo, your own has reached the shore."

Sterling W. Sill
The Best of Sterling W. Sill
pp. 52-53

With immersion in the present comes a sense of the rhythm and flow inherent in each moment. What's needed now is a concious effort to time shift--to slow down or speed up your own rhythm to be in harmony with it.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD
Bottom Line Tommorrow
Feb. 1997, pp. 4

Learn how to be comfortable in the present. . .to be awake and aware in the here and now, without worrying about what you should be doing or what comes next.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD
Bottom Line Tommorrow
Feb. 1997, pp. 3

Happy Valentines Day!

The key to substituting calm satisfaction for stress is the ability to recognize the rhythm of each moment and synchronize yourself with that rhythm.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD
Bottom Line Tommorrow
Feb. 1997, pp. 3

Your success, or failure, in meeting the problems presented by the challenges of change will be determined by your mental attitude.

Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
pp. 92

Businesses, community groups, organizations of every kind--including families--can be proactive. They can combine the creativity and resourcefulness of proactive individuals to create a proactive culture within the organization. The organization does not have to be at the mercy of the environment; it can take the iniative to accomplish the shared values and purposes of the individuals involved.

Stephen R. Covey
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
pp. 77

At the point where you see that you're in charge of your working destiny, you begin to realize that self-management is the vehicle that you need to take you from wherever you are to wherever you want to go. You're not a passive passenger. You're not an idle dreamer. You're not subject to the whims and fancies of fate and circumstance. You're in charge.

Brian Tracy
Nightingale-Conant's Insight
No. 114, pp. 15

One of the great tragedies of our educational system is that almost everyone is brought up to think of himself as an employee rather than an employer, as a company-owning entrepreneur. This attitude or myth that most people have been brought up to accept unquestioningly is a major cause of unhappiness and underachievement in life.

Brian Tracy
Nightingale-Conant's Insight
No. 114, pp. 14

It's the little things our children see us do that many times leave the greatest impression, and from our example they learn wonderful patterns for life.

Lloyd Newell
The Spoken Word
March 2, 1997

If one candle can light a thousand others, one act of kindness can indeed make a world of difference to someone else.

Lloyd Newell
The Spoken Word
March 2, 1997

The human brain is also the greatest problem-solver. It is the most wonderful creator. Out of the brain of Thomas A. Edison came a string of inventive creations. Mr. Edison gave us his own formula for success as "99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration."

Sterling W. Sill
The Best of Stirling W. Sill
pp. 46

Pediatricians are men of little patients.

Shelby Friedman
Laughter, the Best Medicine
pp. 49

A grandson, Matt Nelson, asked: "Why do we drive on parkways and park in driveways."

Since most of the negative kinds of feelings, beliefs, and attitudes we have about ourselves are stored, through habitual repetition, in our right-brains we need to start relaxing and using self-talk that is constructive and complimentary, instead of destructive and derogatory.

Denis Waitley
Seeds of Greatness
pp. 69

"If you have a problem--that's good!" It's good if you learn to see how to turn adversity into seeds of equivalent or greater benefit.

Napoleon Hill and W. Clemont Stone
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
pp. 92

After years of sccrimping and saving, a husband told his wife, "Honey, we've finally saved enough money to buy what we started saving for in 1979."
"You mean a brand new Cadillac?" she asked eagerly.
"No," said the husband, "a 1979 Cadillac."

Art and Chris Samson, NEA Inc.
Readers Digest Large Type Edition
Jan. 1997, pp. 134