Monthly Archives: August 2011

A teacher once told each of her students to bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes to school. For every person they refuse to forgive in their life’s experience, they chose a potato, wrote on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of their bags were…

Name the five wealthiest people in the world. Name the last five Heisman Trophy winners. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for the best actor and actress. Name the last decade’s worth…

More often than we like, most of us face choices that can have serious and lasting impact on our lives. Do we go along with the crowd? Do we tell someone off, quit a job, or end a relationship? Unfortunately, these decisions are not preceded by a drum roll warning us that the stakes are…

A little boy wanted to see an eagle fly. He put some sandwiches in his backpack, got his binoculars, and set out on the plains, saying, “I’m going out there to see the eagles fly.” The sky was vast and seemed to stretch out forever like an endless blue blanket, but no birds were anywhere…

I heard about an elderly patient in an American hospital who was recovering from a medical procedure. He decided to take a look at his recovery-room record attached to the bed frame. He leafed through the pages, then stopped at one particular notation and furled his brow in consternation. “I know I was in a…

Abraham Lincoln knew the value that difficulties can bring to a life. One of his cabinet appointees, Edwin Stanton, frequently found flaws with the president and criticized him — sometimes in public. But Lincoln seemed to show excessive patience with him. The president was asked why he kept such a man in a high level…

On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick was on her way to becoming the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. She had already conquered the English Channel. The world was watching. Chadwick fought the dense fog, bone-chilling cold and many times, the sharks. She was striving to reach the shore but every time she looked…

By Bill Greer, “Chicken Soup For The Veterans Soul” Use Empowering Words When You Talk to Yourself (whether you are speaking out loud or silently) How do you talk to yourself? Do you use the words “can’t”, “won’t”, “don’t need to”, “why try”? Many people do. Do you find that what you say to yourself…