OF CRANKY POSTMEN AND MAILBOXES

I’m big on DIY. Why buy ‘em, when you can do ‘em yourself?

You see, I’ve had this makeshift mailbox latched prettily on my gate for the past 10 years or so. The mailbox is essentially a biscuit tin with the top removed, placed vertically against the front gate. Because the mailbox is quite big, the newspaper boy would just stuff our newspaper inside the mailbox, instead of throwing it over the gate into the compound. I was quite pleased with myself. It’s a dual-purpose mailbox – who wouldn’t be?

About a week ago, I got an earful from the neighbourhood postman. According to him, he’d make the daily rounds at 9 a.m. every day. And everyday, without fail, the guy would have to make a return trip to my house at 11 a.m. Over the years, I’ve developed this habit of retrieving the newspaper at 10 a.m. So you can imagine the postman’s frustration. When he stops by my house at 9 a.m., my mailbox would be too full for anything else to go inside.

Here I am, a week later, fully repentant. I’m determined to get a proper mailbox!

Seattle Luxe carries a nice selection of mailboxes. They’ve got curbside mailboxes, column mailboxes, wall-mounted mailboxes… you name it!

Their mailboxes not only look dignified (well, a whole lot more dignified than my makeshift biscuit tin, that’s for sure), but do a pretty mean job at preventing mail theft. These would be their anti-theft locking line of mailboxes.

I like to imagine owning one of these, and seeing the “what the?!” look on the neighbourhood mail-klepto‘s face when he tries to crib my mail:

EVERYTHING COUNTS IN LIFE

Electric power drill - “Two-minute attitude drill: To everyone: You can trust me. I'm committed to excellence. I care about you as a person. EVERY DAY: Do good. Do your best. Treat others as you would be treated. FOR TODAY: Nothing negative will escape my lips.”

African-American poet Countee Cullen spent the summer of his eighth year in Baltimore, Maryland. Shortly after he arrived he noticed a little white boy staring at him. Countee smiled, but the little boy did not smile back. Instead, he stuck out his tongue and called him a "nigger."

Cullen later wrote a poem that included his recollection of the summer when he was eight. In it, he says this:

"I saw the whole of Baltimore from May until September.
Of everything that happened there that's all I can remember."

As years wore on, the little white child most likely forgot the episode. He was never aware of the pain he inflicted on a little eight-year-old boy. But the truth is...everything counts. Everything. Everything we do and everything we say. Everything helps or hurts; everything adds to or takes away from someone else.

Educator and writer Leo Buscaglia put it like this: "The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no tickertape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our encouragement, who will need our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt."

It's overwhelming to consider what might happen when we truly believe that...everything counts.

From Lifesupport.

KNOWLEDGE FOR FREE

I don’t mind writing, but I hate the groundwork involved. Having to do research on a particular topic is one of my least favourite things to do. To me, the word ‘research’ conjures up an image of having to sit for hours on end in the library poring through the textbooks. Ugh. It must have been years since I’ve stepped foot in my local library. This is all thanks to the internet.

The world wide web is replete with resources. But the question is how do you go about looking for the articles you want, while filtering out those which are irrelevant? That’s not the only problem. There is also the question of having to pay for the information. This is one of my major grouses. From what you can gather from the excerpt, it would appear to be the exact article that you are looking for. You happily click the read button. You are not taken to the page where the article resides; what you see instead, is a subscribers only page, telling you to ‘sign up now for a minimum fee, if you’re not already a subscriber’. Argh.

Web Articles is a directory which provides articles and tutorials which cover subjects of general interest for free. Their page is made for easy navigation. While some may find the categories of the articles a bit sparse, bear in mind that the site is relatively new, and that it is rapidly expanding. Having said that, there are already loads of articles residing in Web Articles, from Microsoft Office tutorials, to MAC related articles and Customer service Information.

And good news for the budding writer in you. Web Articles is a free article submission service, which means that you can submit your articles for free. You’re probably thinking, “What’s in it for me?” Just think of the huge traffic you’ll be generating to your website when visitors of Web Articles read your articles and click on the link to your website!

Thought I saw an interesting article on marketing strategies. Think I’ll go read that now.

WHEN YOU HAVE PROBLEMS IN LIFE

Pigeon hole mail boxes - “He that respects himself is safe from others. He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.”

A humorous story tells about a speeding motorist who was caught by radar from a police helicopter in the sky. An officer pulled him over and began to issue a traffic ticket. "How did you know I was speeding?" the frustrated driver asked.

The police officer pointed somberly toward the sky. "You mean," asked the motorist, "that even He is against me?"

It's like the man who said, "It feels like the whole world is against me...but I know that's not true. Some of the smaller countries are neutral."

When we have a problem, it can often feel as if everything in our life is going wrong. We may tend to think that everybody is upset, that nobody cares or that everything is falling apart.

To think more clearly and to solve your problems more effectively, try letting go of these destructive beliefs:

* Let go of the idea that your problem is perma­nent. Few troubles last forever. And those that can­not be solved can usually be managed.

* Let go of the idea that your problem is pervasive. Few problems affect every area of your life.

* Let go of the idea that your problem is personal. There is nothing wrong with you because you have a problem. All capable, lovable and suc­cessful people have plenty of problems.

Remember, worms cannot fall down. But human beings can -- and will. Let go of these de­structive beliefs and you may be amazed at how much better you feel already!

From Lifesupport.

LIFE IN FOCUS

Bright walking path - “I can't control my destiny, I trust my soul, my only goal is just to be. There's only now, there's only here. Give in to love or live in fear. No other path, no other way. No day but today.”

In reading a mortality chart, I discovered something truly amazing. A great number of people die each year from a disease I had never heard of! Of course, there was the predictable number who died of heart attacks, cancer, stroke, accidents and the like, but at the bottom of the chart was one that surprised me. It was called "miscellaneous." Appar­ently, a large number of people die of "miscellane­ous" every year!

I think I understand why. I suffer from "mis­cel­­laneous" when I go in too many directions at once. When I am scattered, the disease begins to take over. Soon my self-esteem is affected and I feel as if I'm doing nothing important. Flitting here and there, I have no overriding pur­pose and I feel as if my life is spinning out of con­trol. It must be a terrible way to die!

However, I believe there is a cure for the disease. It's called "focus." A focused person is one who knows what is important and follows the path. She may have many interests, but one calling. A fo­cused person hears one voice more clearly than the others...and follows. Some call it pursuing a mis­sion. Some call it knowing your purpose. Others call it being centered. Whatever it is called, a fo­cused life can be meaningful and happy.

Not every path should be followed, and not every goal should become a life's calling. But a truly worthy focus can raise a life from mediocrity and save it from a slow death by miscellaneous.

Are you in focus?

From Lifesupport.