The Seed

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young executives in his company together.  He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you.”

The young executives were Shocked, but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED.  I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you.  I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed.  He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.  By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot.  He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing.  Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however… He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow..

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.  Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot.  But she asked him to be honest about what happened.  Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.  He took his empty pot to the board room.

When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes.  Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.  Jim just tried to hide in the back.  “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. ” Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot.  He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front.  Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure!  Maybe he will have me fired!”

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed – Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim.

He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!”

Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed. “How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed..  I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today.  But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.  When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it.  Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”

• * If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
• * If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
• * If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
• * If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
• * If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
• * If you plant hard work, you will reap success
• * If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation
• * If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later..

Source: email

PLASTIC CONTAINERS BUYING GUIDE

Plastics are classified by their “resin identification code”—a number from #1 to #7 that represents a different type of resin. That number is usually imprinted on the bottom of your container; flip it upside down, and you’ll see a recycling triangle with the number in the middle.

Here’s a quick breakdown of plastic resin types:

Continue reading here.

A Victim Bares His Soul…

“A Victim Bares His Soul” – By Fr. Rolando V. De la Rosa

“Real life caught up with me in an unexpected way. The insidious pleasures I derived from watching disaster movies gave way to true-to-life horrors brought about by the recent deluge. Like many others, I was totally unprepared when the waters suddenly rose and engulfed my home.

Suddenly my comfortable life was jolted by the possibility of death and losing everything I hold dear.“I was stranded for hours on the rooftop waiting for rescue that did not come.

When the flood reached the roof, I decided to jump into the muddy water and swam desperately for dear life. A group of fellow refugee helped me aboard a makeshift raft drifting aimlessly in the raging current.

For a while I felt safe, but the raft was later sucked into a vortex and we found ourselves swirling together with garbage and human waste.“How humiliating to be vulnerable is this way: Feeling betrayed by my hard-earned resources that proved useless in time of dire necessity.

Those that I have bought or acquired, and kept as my treasures could hardly keep me alive. I had several cell phones but when the flood came, all of these were without signal, my telephones were without dial tone, faucets spouted dirty water, electric bulbs did not light, credit cards and cash could not buy me a lifeline, my big house could not provide me shelter.

They say when death is imminent, the past whizzes by our consciousness like a movie in a fast forward mode. I saw myself twenty years earlier working almost 24/7 to become financially stable, build a comfortable house, buy cars and furniture, hoard stocks, bonds, and other monetary instruments for the future, and make myself respectable.

Now, twenty years later, all I have is this forlorn raft on which I huddle with others as we fight to survive. “When I was younger, I dreamt of a dignified existence and a more dignified exit. I never thought of dying helpless and hopeless.

I asked myself: ‘When they find my bloated body, will my relatives recognize me? Will they even weep or mourn for me?

I can tolerate being shot for a cause or killed for a noble purpose. But to die in a filthy mash of mud and human waste is simply intolerable. I wanted to shout: ‘This is not fair!’

This thought pierced my heart deeply because I know my suffering is undeserved. “As usual, when there is no one around to blame, I hurled my invectives at God.

Like Job afflicted with sores from head to foot, I voicelessly shouted at Him: ‘Why me? It would have been better if I were not born. I curse the day when I left my mother’s womb.”  But Job was luckier because God answered him. All I got was a deafening, painful silence.

After the deluge, and after spending a few days in an overcrowded rescue center, I came back to my house (or what remained of it). The expanse of destruction that I saw equalled the emotional ruin within me. My house is still there, but an eloquent testimony to the sense of futility that engulfed me.

A passage in the Letter of St. Paul pricked me: ‘Everything we possess is destined to futility…’ (Romans 8:20).

Maybe St. Paul was telling me that destruction and decay are in the nature of all things. Everything that is born eventually dies. Every flower that blooms soon fades. All our priced possessions will disappear. We are doomed to extinction.

My sense of desperation overwhelmed me.

As I sat on my once luxuriously upholstered sofa, I wept over my fate. I’m back to zero.  I will have to begin again.   Is this my destiny?

“I was still sulking when a neighbor, almost covered with mud, appeared on the door and asked: “Do you want me to help? Have you eaten? My wife prepared a meal. It is not much, but you can join us.”

In the past, I did not even bother to know his name. But there he was, a flood victim like me, his house and belongings as badly damaged as mine, but he offered me help. I wept all the more, pitying myself for being so stupid.

Face to face with authentic human kindness, I realized that I have worked too hard for things that matter too little. I treasured things more than human relationship. I prioritized getting rich more than the joys of friendship, sharing, and love.

The surge of hope elicited by my neighbor’s kind gesture brought to mind the second part of the same passage in St. Paul’s letter: “Everything we possess is destined to futility because God wants us to place our hope not on any created thing, but solely on Him. (Romans 8:20)”

It is difficult to make an act of faith in the midst of desolation. My mind says God allowed this flood to happen to remind us that placing our hopes on earthly things will inextricably bind ourselves to futility and ruin; while placing our hopes on God allows us to experience the glorious freedom that befits His children.“But I know this is easier said than done.

Faith in God does not always come as an exhilarating feeling of triumph, joy, and sense of well-being. Sometimes it comes as a bitter pill. I thank God for my neighbor who made it easier for me to swallow this bitter pill.”

The Amazing Cucumber

This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their “Spotlight on the Home” series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber.  Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower?  Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds?  Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long.  The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool?  Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite.  Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache?  Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free.  Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge?  Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don’t have enough time to polish your shoes?  Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge?  Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don’t have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa?  Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don’t have gum or mints?  Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a ‘green’ way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won’t leave streaks and won’t harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake?  Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Age

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I’ve aged, I’ve become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I’ve become my own friend. I don’t chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn’t need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70’s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love, I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old. I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, Or even when somebody’s beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore. I’ve even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME A PART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT’S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!

MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER! FRIENDS FOREVER!

Note:

This one I received as a forwarded message from a friend and I thought I ought to share for us to reflect on we are and who we had become as age comes..

Are You Malnourished for Love?

Before the wedding of Felipe and Maria began, the groom spoke to the priest.

Felipe said, “Father, I’d appreciate that during the wedding vows, you’d omit the difficult parts.”

“What difficult parts?” the priest asked.

“You know Father, just don’t say anymore the for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health thing. Just leave those lines out.”

Felipe then slipped a crisp P1000 into the priest’s pocket and walked away, smiling.

During the wedding vows, the priest looked at Felipe and said, “Felipe, do you take Maria as your lawful wedded wife for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, serving her breakfast in bed everyday, washing the dishes and doing the laundry everyday, cleaning the house everyday till death do you part?”

Felipe appeared like a train ran over him. With a very weak voice, he croaked, “I do.”

After the wedding, Felipe walked up to the priest and asked, “Father, I thought we had a deal?”

To Continue reading, click here.

_________

——-

Health and Coffee…

A cuppa Joe is good for more than a quick pick-me-up. 

Move over, green tea? Recent studies indicate that coffee drinkers are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, colon cancer, and diabetes compared to non-drinkers, and they’re also less apt to die from heart disease. To be sure, coffee isn’t for everyone: It can cause insomnia, anxiety, and irregular heartbeat in some people, and too much caffeine during pregnancy can increase miscarriage risk. Plus, specialty coffee drinks (like Starbucks Frappuccinos) can be high in calories. But if coffee’s your drink of choice, let’s look at the many ways that coffee can boost your health.

The Truth About Smoking…

THE MARLBORO MAN, with his Stetson hat and cowboy boots, gave a face to millions of cigarette smokers worldwide as he exuded virility and masculinity, traits stereotypically associated with smoking.

The advertisement remains, but its stars are long gone. Wayne McLaren, the Marlboro Man in the promotional photographs first published in 1976, died of lung cancer on July 22, 1992. The other Marlboro Man in the advertisement, David McLean, suffered severe emphysema and died of lung malignancy in 1995.

So, what is the truth about smoking?

To find out why, click here.

Seize the Day..

“Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think.” — Horace

Lessons from the Sand (3)

If you want to leave footprints in the sands of time, don’t drag your feet.

-Arnot L. Sheppard