prose

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.
Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack if you help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

Dr. Kent M. Keith
American Author and Inspirational Speaker

See more progress on: Compile a list of prose that touch my heart

Grateful

Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured the fault is in yourself.
Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Indian Chief

1. I’m grateful for fellow 43’er bebe0315, she made prayer for me one of her goals here on 43things. I’m flattered and honored. Think what might happen if she got a team of people praying for me. I believe in the power of prayer.

2. A beautiful spring day
3. I’m moving slow today but still grateful
4. Apple juice and toasted English muffins
5. I’m alive and well

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

Mental Floss

If I were to say, ’’God, why me?’’ about the bad things, then I should have said, ’’God, why me?’’ about the good things that happened in my life.
Arthur Ashe

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INSTALLATION LOVE v4.0

Service Rep: Hello, you have reached the Heart Systems Software
Company help desk. How may I help you?
Customer: I just received your latest program, LOVEv4.0…you know…. the freeware. I don’t understand it. Can tell me how to install it?
Service Rep: Sure thing ma’am. Do you have the installation disk and instructions with you?
Customer: Yes I do, but first can you tell me what the program does?
Service Rep: Sure thing ma’am. LOVE is a unique program, there is no other like it in the world. LOVE attaches to your operating system and runs silently in the background, you will never see LOVE on your monitor or your toolbar, but you will notice its affect on every application you may have. It makes the good programs run smoother and greatly restricts and/or deletes the bad ones.
Customer: Wow! That sounds great. How does LOVE make my machine run smoother?
Service Rep: Well, good sound files, like COMPLIMENT.WAV, ENCOURAGEMENT.WAV, and KINDWORD.WAV will play frequently. Also,
FORGIVENESS.EXE will be invoked every time there is an external violation, including the ever-popular syntax errors. Also, all those aggravating errors that say “unable to connect” will be avoided. LOVE allows for a smooth connection with external devices, regardless of what country it is manufactured in, the brand name, or the age of the model.
Customer: That’s exactly what I need, my machine has been isolated for too long. But what about the bad programs?
Service Rep: Good question. LOVE searches your memory for programs like HATE.COM, BITTERNESS.EXE, SELFISH.COM, and SPITE.EXE. These programs
can’t be entirely deleted off your hard drive, but LOVE overpowers those programs. LOVE stops their commands from being executed and runs its own instructions. You will no longer hear INSULT.WAV and you wont be able to write with the fonts “BADWORDS12” or “HARSHNESS10”.
Customer: That’s a fantastic program you have. Are the upgrades free too?
Service Rep: They sure are ma’am.
Customer: How do I get the upgrades?
Service Rep: That’s easy. Once you have LOVE installed and running, it automatically copies a module, or a piece of itself, to every external Hard drive Email And Remote Terminal (H.E.A.R.T.) that it comes in contact with. In turn, those external devices run whatever version of LOVE they have and return a module to your H.E.A.R.T. You will be upgraded with each and every module that you receive. But you have to remember, to receive the upgrades you have to be running LOVE and you have to come into contact with other computers while it is running.
Customer: I can do that. I’m not very technical, but I think I am ready to install now. What do I do first?
Service Rep: The first step is to open your H.E.A.R.T. Have you located your H.E.A.R.T. ma’am?
Customer: Yes I have, but there are several programs running right now. Is it okay to install while they are running?
Service Rep: What programs are running ma’am?
Customer: Let me see….I have PASTHURT.EXE, LOWESTEEM.EXE,
GRUDGE.EXE, and RESENTMENT.COM running right now.
Service Rep: No problem. LOVE will automatically erase PASTHURT.EXE from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory, but it will no longer disrupt other programs. LOVE will eventually overwrite LOWESTEEM.EXE with a module of its own called HIGHESTEEM.EXE. However, you have to completely turn off GRUDGE.EXE and RESENTMENT.COM. Those programs prevent LOVE from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ma’am?
Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?
Service Rep: My pleasure. Go to your Start menu and invoke FORGIVENESS.EXE. Do this as many times as necessary until GRUDGE.EXE and RESENTMENT.COM have been completely erased.
Customer: Okay, I’m done. LOVE has started installing itself automatically. Is that normal?
Service Rep: Yes it is. You should receive a message that says it will reinstall for the life of your H.E.A.R.T. Do you see that message?
Customer: Yes I do. Is it completely installed?
Service Rep: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other H.E.A.R.T.’s in order to get the upgrades.
Customer: Oops…I have an error message already. What should I do?
Service Rep: What does the message say?
Customer: It says “ERROR 412 – PROGRAM NOT RUN ON INTERNAL COMPONENTS”. What does that mean?
Service Rep: Don’t worry ma’am, that’s a common problem. It means that the LOVE program is set up to run on external H.E.A.R.T.s but has not yet been run on your H.E.A.R.T. It is one of those complicated programming things, but In non-technical terms it means you have to “LOVE” your own machine before it can “LOVE” others.
Customer: So what should I do?
Service Rep: Can you find the directory called “SELF-ACCEPTANCE”?
Customer: Yes, I have it.
Service Rep: Excellent, you are getting good at this.
Customer: Thank you.
Service Rep: You’re welcome. Click on the following files and then copy them to the “MYHEART” directory: FORGIVESELF.DOC, SELFESTEEM.TXT, REALIZEWORTH.TXT, and GOODNESS.DOC. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching any faulty programming. Also, you need to delete SELFCRITIC.EXE from all directories, and then empty your recycle bin afterwards to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My H.E.A.R.T. is filling up with really neat files. SMILE.MPG is playing on my monitor right now and it shows that WARMTH.COM, PEACE.EXE, and CONTENTMENT.COM are copying themselves all over my H.E.A.R.T.!
Service Rep: Then LOVE is installed and running. You should be able to handle it from here. One more thing before I go…
Customer: Yes?
Service Rep: LOVE is freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everybody you meet. They will in turn share it with other people and they will return some really neat modules back to you.
Customer: I will. Thank you for your help. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not
easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

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Easter Sunday 3/23/08

One day, a man went to visit a church. He got there early, parked his
car and got out. Another car pulled up near him. The driver got out and said, “I always park there! You took my place!”

The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, “That’s my seat! You took my place!”
The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said
nothing.

After Sunday School, the visitor went into the sanctuary and sat down.
Another member walked up to him and said, “That’s where I always sit!
You took my place!”

The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still He said nothing.

Later as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood up, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, “What happened to you?”

The visitor replied, as his hat became a crown of thorns, and a tear fell from his eye, “I took your place.”

See more progress on: Celebrate at least one holiday everyday of the year!

Prose

Everybody Knows:
You can’t be all things to all people.
You can’t do all things at once.
You can’t do all things equally well.
You can’t do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else’s.

So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of being you.

Then:
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you’ll be a most vital mortal.

Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it’s more than a right, it’s your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you’ll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.

author unknown, from the Bridge, by Values Realization Press

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Easter Sunday

I went to IHOP for breakfast after sunrise services and I picked up the check for a table of 5 clergymen and women.

See more progress on: Show kindness to a stranger

THE SECOND TEN COMMANDMENTS

1. Thou shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

2. Thou shall not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.

3. Thou shall not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.

4. Thou shall face each problem as it comes. You can only handle one at a time anyway.

5. Thou shall not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.

6. Thou shall not borrow other people’s problems. They can better care for them than you can.

7. Thou shall not try to relive yesterday for good or ill, it is forever gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now!

8. Thou shall be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It is hard to learn something new when you are talking, and some people do know more than you do.

9. Thou shall not become “bogged down” by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action.

10. Thou shall count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to big ones.

Author Unknown

See more progress on: Compile a list of prose that touch my heart