Things Are Not Always As They Seem

Two angels disguised as humans stopped at a house and knocked at the door, hoping for some food and lodging. The residents of the house proved to be terribly rude and obnoxious. They were negative
and greedy, giving barely (and resentfully) a crust of bread, and a very small serving of putrid water.
Grudgingly, they allowed the strangers to spend the night, but made them sleep in the back room on
a cold, hard floor without blankets or pillows.
As the two angels prepared to turn in, they noticed a hole in the wall. One of the angels immediately
went to the wall and began to patch it. He worked until the wall was completely repaired – smooth,
without any evidence of the hole.
“I sure don’t understand why you went to the bother of fixing that wall for them” the second angel
said, “Those people were downright mean and nasty. They didn’t deserve to have their hole
patched!”
“Things are not always as they seem,” said the first angel.
The next morning, the two angels made their way down the road to another house. It was a small
cottage, belonging to a poor farmer and his wife. This poverty stricken couple hardly had enough to
survive, and barely scraped by. Yet, in contrast to the first hosts, they were kind, generous and
gracious.
“We don’t have much food in the house, but we gladly share it with you, friends,” said the good
hearted farmer. After a simple meal, the angels were given the farmer’s bed for the night. “My wife
and I will sleep on the floor. We don’t mind.”
The angels slept comfortably.
In the morning, the farmer and his wife were horrified to discover that something terrible had
happened in the night. Their only cow died -- just keeled over and went belly up. Now, they really
needed this cow. They depended on her for milk every day. It was a heartbreaking experience, and
they wept bitterly.
Leaving the home, the second angel said, “Now, I REALLY don’t understand this! At the first home,
the people were rotten and treated us badly, and you fixed the hole in their wall. Now, the second
couple was kind and good to us, and this is how they are repaid? It doesn’t make sense at all!”
Again, the first angel said, “Things are not always as they seem.”
“Well they sure seem wrong to me!” complained the first angel, “Can you give me an explanation?”
The first angel replied, “At the first home, a long time ago, someone hid a great treasure trove of gold
and diamonds in that wall. I patched the hole, so those selfish people would never have it.”
“Yes, but what about the cow?” the second angel inquired.
“Last night the angel of death came into the house. He had come for the farmer’s wife, but I talked
him into taking the cow instead.”
Things are not always as they seem.

Humble

Life is a long lesson in humility. . .

Things will go our way. . .other things will not! There will be times when things are said behind our back and secrets kept from us. These are the things that humble us and keep us trying to do our best! And that's what really matters :)

The Key to Success

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else."

I once was told by a wise man that there is a way to tell just how well we are doing in this life. It's not the riches you may have. It's not how many friends you have. The key to your success is how well you treat other people, how you give to those around you.

When I was told that, it really hit me hard. I've always wondered how I can tell how well I'm doing. It makes me want to treat people so much better if that's the best way to tell.

That's Not My Dog

This comes from my mom who shared this with me the other day. . .

One day a man was on a walk. As he was strolled, he saw another man walking toward him walking a dog. As they approached each other, the first man asked, "Does your dog bite?"

The man responded, "No my dog doesn't bite."

All of a sudden with a leap and a growl, the dog attacked the man and bit his face.

"I thought you said your dog didn't bite!!" the man said, now mad.

"Oh this isn't my dog. . ."

The moral of the story is. . . Make sure you get all the information before you make judgements or decisions. Often we try to do things without receiving all the correct information and it turns out badly or has to be redone. We don't want to end up getting "bit" in the end :)

Love the People

Today's lesson. . .

Go out into the world and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.

A smile says a lot! Just by smiling at a person you pass or a new person you meet, you can completely turn around their day! Your light radiates and sets place in the hearts of others. Love all those you meet and continue to change lives in those you my pass on your way!

The "Clicker"

I wish I could remember exactly who told this story, but I thought it had a good lesson behind it.

A mom once heard that we think over 100 negative thoughts in a day, so she decided to keep track to see if it was true. She bought a clicker, and every time she thought a negative thought, she clicked it. She was taking her son to school in the morning, and he said to her "Mom, wow you've already thought 18 negative thoughts this morning." So she covered up the clicker with tape so she couldn't look all day. After a week of using the clicker, she woke up one morning completely in the dumps. She couldn't understand why. Then she realized it was because she was completely focused on all the negative for a whole week. She was so concerned about keeping track of the negative that she totally neglected the positive. She decided from that day forward, she would use the clicker every time she had a positive thought. It made all the difference!

I know this is true especially for me lately. There are times during the day where I feel distraught and discouraged, and it takes me a while to realize. It's because I've been so consumed with the negative aspects of my life. I have to stop for a minute and rethink my day and focus on the positive. It's amazing how much better it makes me feel! I will always strive to focus on the positive!!

Needing to Know Why

So I downloaded an app on my phone that sends me an inspirational quote every day. This was the very first one it sent me:

Be open minded about everything in life, at risk of missing something vitally important. Not everything is obvious nor has immediate explanation.

Often in my life if I am overcome with something or having a difficult time in a situation, I become so overwhelmed with that that I know I miss a lot of things. I'm so worried about knowing why I'm facing it NOW that I miss little things that happen.

I think we all could be a little bit more open minded and realize that everything happens for a reason and someday we will all understand why! We just need to have patience :)