SITTING ON YOUR TALENT IN LIFE

Prosperity cat automatic thermos - “There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast”

If you are like me, there are some things you may feel you do pretty
well, and others that you would not admit to having done even at
gunpoint! Please don't expect anything I build with my hands to remain
standing past sundown, or anything I attempt to repair to ever stay
fixed after I leave the room. And if my cars relied solely on me to
keep them going, I would walk most everywhere I go.

On the other hand, I do play guitar adequately and I can make a
memorable enchilada dish. I also enjoy working with people and I seem
to have made it a lifelong project to learn how to become a better
listener.

I never thought of myself as one who has any great talent, but like
each of us, I have certain skills and abilities. Let me tell you a
story, however, I once heard speaker Les Brown relate. It's a story
about a man who had real talent.

This particular man played piano in a bar. He was a good piano player.
People came out just to hear him and his combo play. But one night, a
patron wanted them to sing a particular song. The trio didn't sing
much and declined.

But the customer was persistent. He told the bartender, "I'm tired of
listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing!"

The bartender shouted across the room, "Hey buddy! If you want to get
paid, sing the song. The patrons are asking you to sing!"

So he did. He sang a song. A jazz piano player who had never sung the
song in public did so for the very first time. And nobody had ever
heard Sweet Lorraine sung the way it was sung that night by Nat King
Cole.

He had talent he was sitting on. He may have lived the rest of his
life playing in a jazz trio in no-name bars, but because he had to
sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in
America.

You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel as if your
"talent" is particularly great, but it may be better than you think!
And with persistence, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may as
well have no ability at all if you sit on whatever talent you possess.

Some people ask, "What ability do I have that is useful?" But the
better question is: "How will I use the ability that I have?"

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

A GOD TOO SMALL IN LIFE

Wooden traditional statue decoration - “Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue”

I enjoy a story about baseball great Joe Garagiola. He once stepped to
the plate when his turn came to bat. Before assuming his stance,
however, fervent Roman Catholic Joe took his bat and made the sign of
the cross in the dirt in front of home plate. Catcher Yogi Berra, also
a devout Catholic, walked over and erased Garagiola's cross. Turning
to the astonished batter, Berra smiled and said, "Let's let God watch
this inning."

If I were God (and thank goodness I'm not), I think I would have
wanted to simply watch the inning.

I likewise appreciate the story about an old Quaker who stood during
the church meeting and told his fellow Friends about a young man who
was not a Quaker and who lived an undisciplined life. This young man
invited a pious Quaker friend to go sailing one day. A sudden storm
came up and the wild young man was drowned. Having made his point, the
old Quaker sat down.

Silence returned to the meeting until the old man once again arose.
This time he said, "Friends, for the honor of the truth, I think I
ought to add that the Quaker also drowned."

And if I were God (and again, thank goodness I'm not), I think I would
have felt sadness for both losses. Neither was a greater tragedy than
the other.

I know that religious piety can be a wondrous and beautiful thing. But
it disturbs me the prominent role religions have historically played
in wars and brutality over the ages. If I imagine a god so small as to
favor those who think like me, worship like me and act like me, then I
know very little of life and less of faith. I can't help but think
this world would be in better shape if the gods most of us believed in
were a little bigger.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

FINDING THE GOOD NEWS IN LIFE

Red carrots for sale - “Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid.”

A few years ago I read of a Ukraine businessman who bought a pager for
each member of his staff as a New Year's gift. As he was returning
from the pager shop, all 50 beepers on the back seat of his automobile
simultaneously burst out screeching. He was so alarmed that he drove
his car into a lamp post, just 100 meters from his office.

After he assessed the damage to the car, the businessman turned his
attention to the message on the 50 pagers. It read: "Congratulations
on a successful purchase!" (Reuters, Jan. 14, 1999)

That got his attention. Unfortunately, it's the bad news – newspaper
headlines and world events – that generally clamor the loudest to get
noticed.

And there is enough bad news all around. I came across an article that
reported a study of a large group of people who were instructed to
evaluate all the information they received for a year and a half. They
were asked to record whether what they were seeing and hearing all day
long was positive or negative. These researchers determined that
ninety percent of the input the group received was negative – bad
news.

That may not come as a surprise to everyone. Over a half-century ago,
Franklin Roosevelt told about an old man who was losing his hearing
and went to the doctor for help. He was advised to quit drinking
alcohol. When his family asked him what he was going to do, he
replied, "Well, I've given it a lot of thought and I've decided I like
what I've been drinkin' so much better than what I've been hearin',
I'm
just gonna keep on gettin' deaf."

But there is still GOOD news aplenty. We can still hear encouraging
words from friends. Any day we can witness numerous acts of generosity
and kindness. And we can still spot signs all around us of love and
hope. Sometimes we may have to look a little more closely, but the
good news is there.

Are you finding it? It's worth the effort.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

BUILDING YOUR "TRUST" FUNDS IN LIFE

Hanging organic flower pots for sale - “Everything is the product of one universal creative effort. There is nothing dead in Nature. Everything is organic and living, and therefore the whole world appears to be a living organism.”

The young parents paid the babysitter and dropped her off at home. As
she turned to leave, she said, "By the way, I promised Amy that if
she went to bed, you'd buy her a pony in the morning." Ouch.... (I
understand that she is unemployed these days….)

It doesn't take long for parents to learn that, if they want their
children to trust them, they will have to keep some promises. So a
good parent will model the importance of keeping trust in the hopes
of teaching their children to be trustworthy.

When people trust us, it is like having money in the bank. In an
actual bank account, we will first make deposits if we expect to
later make withdrawals. When we keep our word, it's like making a
deposit into a trust fund. The more deposits we make, the larger our
balance becomes.

And the opposite is also true. Whenever we break our word and lose
trust, it is like withdrawing money from an account. Except that what
we withdraw is goodwill.

Now imagine that you have a separate trust fund with every person you
know. If you have been making regular deposits into your account with
that individual, when the time comes that you disappoint, you will
still have a large enough balance of goodwill to cover the debt. That
friend, son or mother will realize that your account is still good.
You are a person of good intent. You are reliable and trustworthy.

Scottish writer George MacDonald said, "To be trusted is a greater
compliment than to be loved." Whether or not that is true, I would
rather have a healthy emotional trust fund than a large bank account.
Trust is more valuable than money – and it builds strong
relationships.

Are your trust funds growing?

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

GETTING YOURSELF GROUNDED IN LIFE

Restocking the frozen fries section - “I went into a McDonald's yesterday and said, "I'd like some fries." The girl at the counter said, "Would you like some fries with that?"”

Dante, the Florentine poet of the Middle Ages, knocked at the door of
a Franciscan monastery at Lunigiana. He was asked, "What do you want?"

Dante replied, "Peace." I think that maybe he was speaking for a lot
of us -- especially these days. But how do you find peace?

If you're not ready for a stay in the monastery, I think one way to
find peace is to look within. Get yourself grounded. Let me explain.

One winter morning I drove down the steep mountain roadway leading
from my home. I was traveling slowly, actually just inching forward
down the icy road. But the car had no traction. It was all I could do
to keep it pointed downhill as I slipped and slid on the ice. Then I
lost control and gravity took over. The car began a slow motion spin
as it slid on its own down to the bottom of the hill. When it finally
came to a stop, I was thankfully still on the roadway, but now facing
the wrong direction.

My problem was traction. What had separated me from the ground's
surface was just a thin sheet of ice. If I could have only made
contact with the ground, I'd have remained in control. I needed to be
grounded.

I think life is like that. People who are not grounded lose control of
the direction they are heading. It is easy to slip and slide, hoping
to grasp onto something real. Or just hoping for a safe landing.

Nancy SantoPietro wrote a book called FENG SHUI: HARMONY BY
DESIGN. In it she says, "In your lifetime the most sacred space you
will ever need to create is the space within yourself -- the place
deep within your soul where you go to find peace and serenity…." She's
talking about being grounded.

Finding the peace we need is really a spiritual issue. Get yourself
grounded and you can navigate even the stormiest roads in peace.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes