Encouragement for the day ...

This comes from a newsletter originating with a company with whom we are about to enter into some intensive training ...

Do you ever feel as if a large part of your life has been wasted? If so, I'm going to try to change your mind.

Every now and then I meet someone who tells me about having wasted a large part of his or her life. When this happens, I like to respond with the story of the man who came running to a priest exclaiming, "Father, Father, a terrible sin has been committed! Three altar boys were up all night playing cards and gambling in the choir loft. You must chastise them immediately!"

"Wonderful!" said the priest, to the man's great surprise. "I'm glad to hear it." The other man was stunned. "How can you say that, Father? Is it not a sin to do this?"

The priest responded by saying, "It is not their gambling I am pleased with. But I am delighted that they could stay up all night to play, for they have learned how to do without sleep for something they enjoy. Just think what they'll be able to do when they learn to love God! They'll be able to stay up all night to serve Him!"

You see, as this story points out, there are no wasted experiences on our path to a meaningful life. Everything that has ever happened to you can be used for a glorious purpose, if you choose to do so. Everything that life has taught you - no matter how difficult or painful it was at the time it happened - can make you a better person today and tomorrow, if you let it.

The choice is yours to make.

So don't worry about a wasted past. It's your future you really want to be concerned with!

Lou Tice
The Pacific Institute
www.thepacificinstitute.com

(Photo copyright Amber Kaseman Photography)

Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts!

We are 95 years old today! I heard today that whenever Juliette "Daisy" Low (the founder) was speaking in front of a group, she always had her knife, pan, rope, and whistle (thanks to a wonderful character interacting with the girls at the party). And I learned that the whistles were to be used if someone was in trouble. Makes sense. I have a feeling my knowledge of knots wouldn't do me very well in the wilderness, though, so I'd probably be using my whistle a lot!

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My first webpage ...

It's a draft, but it's my first "real" webpage. Of course, I've helped design other sites with a programmer taking care of the actual construction and supplied plenty of elements and even supplied content and worked within something someone else created ... but this is my first! I have to admit that for the sake of time (a VERY last minute project) I started with a template but a lot of things changed after getting the inspiration. And it's still in the "review" stage, but it's still kind of exciting and gives me a little burst of energy to tackle the long list multiplying in my notebook!