This is snippit from an article by J. Dick Martinez. He is Grand Master of the Florida Masons.
"..people are like garbage trucks. They drive around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile and wave, wish them well and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten percent what you make it, and ninety percent how you take it."
This might be a good time for a New Years resolution. If you don't have one, or have failed at others, this might be one you could try. It will not take much effort. It will take lots of will power and self control. But here's a new twist. This year, write down your resolution, and send it to anyone who rides with you in the car. Now you have to actually try to follow it, or you will hear about it.
If you think about it, what do you actually benefit, when you blow your horn or gesture at another driver. It might feel good, but it is short lived, and most of them will gesture right back and you never know what might come next. and even if they ignor you, you will never change them by getting upset.
Smile, wave and wish them well. You will feel much better, I promise. Plus you may have actually been successful in your New Years resolution. Happy 2011.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Small World
It never ceases to amaze me how small our world seems sometimes. It is that 'six degrees of separation" thing. The Human Connection. The Theory is that we are all so closely related, that any two individuals could be connected through at most five acquaintances, or the six degrees. Some believe it to be an Urban Myth.
I like the theory myself, I am amazed at who I meet sometimes, who know people, who know people, I know. My dad died in the military over fifty years ago. He was kiiled in a fire, on the USS Bennington, in the Atlantic along with a hundred other men. My family went to the 50th reunion of that tradegy a few years ago in Newport Rhode Island. Before I went, I sent a note to the organizer and asked if he knew anyone who actually knew my father. He said he would send a note to the crew members. I was only four years old when my dad died, so I did not have a lot of memories, of him.
I met a lot of people at the reunion, but none who actually knew my father. When I returned to Naples, I got a letter from a man who actually lived in Naples. He knew my father, in fact he worked for my father on the ship. I went all the way to Rhode Island, and the one person I was looking for was right here in Naples. We met, and he was a delightful man with lots of stories and anedotes about my father. I enjoyed the meeting. One email to Bennington Crew members, thousands and thousands of people, and from that email, three people have now contacted me, who knew my father. Wow!
One more story, and you will believe we really live in a small world. Recently I went to a highschool reunion. I met someone I went through twelve years of school with. I had not seen her in over forty years. The reunion was on Friday night. On Saturday morning, I was running some errands which took me a few hours. On my way back home, I randomly stopped at a flea market. I parked my car walked into the market, turned right and stopped at the first booth. someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was my highschool friend. I had not seen her in forty years, and the day after the reunion, I ran into her again. It is a small world. I bet some of you have better stories than these. Let me know.
I like the theory myself, I am amazed at who I meet sometimes, who know people, who know people, I know. My dad died in the military over fifty years ago. He was kiiled in a fire, on the USS Bennington, in the Atlantic along with a hundred other men. My family went to the 50th reunion of that tradegy a few years ago in Newport Rhode Island. Before I went, I sent a note to the organizer and asked if he knew anyone who actually knew my father. He said he would send a note to the crew members. I was only four years old when my dad died, so I did not have a lot of memories, of him.
I met a lot of people at the reunion, but none who actually knew my father. When I returned to Naples, I got a letter from a man who actually lived in Naples. He knew my father, in fact he worked for my father on the ship. I went all the way to Rhode Island, and the one person I was looking for was right here in Naples. We met, and he was a delightful man with lots of stories and anedotes about my father. I enjoyed the meeting. One email to Bennington Crew members, thousands and thousands of people, and from that email, three people have now contacted me, who knew my father. Wow!
One more story, and you will believe we really live in a small world. Recently I went to a highschool reunion. I met someone I went through twelve years of school with. I had not seen her in over forty years. The reunion was on Friday night. On Saturday morning, I was running some errands which took me a few hours. On my way back home, I randomly stopped at a flea market. I parked my car walked into the market, turned right and stopped at the first booth. someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was my highschool friend. I had not seen her in forty years, and the day after the reunion, I ran into her again. It is a small world. I bet some of you have better stories than these. Let me know.
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