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Even More Quotes


 
 
  • Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. Author Unknown
  • The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits. Albert Einstein
  • To be a leader, you have to make people want to follow you, and nobody wants to follow someone who doesn't know where he is going. Joe Namath
  • Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. Muhammad Ali
  • Those on top of the mountain didn't fall there - Marcus Washling
  • "To be identified with your mind is to be trapped in time: the compulsion to live almost exclusively through memory and anticipation. This creates an endless preoccupation with past and future and an unwillingness to honor and acknowledge the present moment and allow it to be. The compulsion arises because the past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation, of fulfillment in whatever form. Both are illusions."
    --Eckhart Tolle
  • Four Lessons on Life:
    1. Never take down a fence until you know why it was put up.
    2. If you get too far ahead of the army, your soldiers may mistake you for the enemy.
    3. Don't complain about the bottom rungs of the ladder; they helped to get you higher.
    4. If you want to enjoy the rainbow, be prepared to endure the storm.
    --Warren Wiersbe (On Being a Servant of God)
  • Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends, and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.
    Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises from 1959-1994
  • Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.  Ayn Rand, Russian-born American Author
  • Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. from "Think Different" Advertisement, Apple Computers
  • "When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change." - Thich Nhat Hanh,Vietnamese Zen Master and Spiritual Leader
    From his book: Peace Is Every Step
  • A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. - Albert Einstein, quoted in H Eves Mathematical Circles Adieu (Boston 1977).
  • Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
    -Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret. - Anthony Robbins
  • Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now. - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
  • "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." Aristotle
  • "You must take action now that will move you towards your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life." Les Brown
  • "Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it." Jack Canfield
  • "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
  • "Never confuse motion with action." Ernest Hemingway
  • "He has half the deed done who has made a beginning." Horace
  • "Either move or be moved." Colin Powell
  • "Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there." Will Rogers
  • "The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch." Jim Rohm
  • "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain
  • "As you climb the ladder of success, be sure it's leaning against the right building." H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
  • "The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." William James
  • "There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them." Denis Waitley
  • "It is never too late to become what you might have been." George Eliot
  • "Life is complex. Each one of us must make his own path through life. There are no self-help manuals, no formulas, no easy answers. The right road for one is the wrong road for another ... The journey of life is not paved in blacktop; it is not brightly lit, and it has no road signs. It is a rocky path through the wilderness." M. Scott Peck
  • "What every man needs, regardless of his job or the kind of work he is doing, is a vision of what his place is and may be. He needs an objective and a purpose. He needs a feeling and a belief that he has some worthwhile thing to do. What this is no one can tell him. It must be his own creation." Joseph M. Dodge
  • "We always have enough to be happy if we are enjoying what we do have - and not worrying about what we don't have." Ken Keyes, Jr.
  • Try not to become a man of success, but rather, try to become a man of value. Albert Einstein
  • "Whoever you are, there is some younger person who thinks you are perfect. There is some work that will never be done if you don't do it. There is someone who would miss you if you were gone. There is a place that you alone can fill." Jacob M. Braude
  • Recipe for success: Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing. William A Ward
  • Yesterday i dared to struggle. Today i dare to win. Bernadette Devlin
  • The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you are in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you. Anthony Robbins
  • There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them. Dennis Waitley
  • When you miss a shot, never think of what you did wrong. Take the next shot thinking of what you must do right. Tony Alfonso
  • It's not that i am so smart; it's just that i stay with problems longer. Albert Einstein
  • Live out your imagination, not your history. Stephen Covey
  •  
 

Soccer Skills
 
   (Adapted from material compiled by Performance Conditioning for Soccer newsletter in U.S. Soccer Sports Medicine.)

  • Soccer requires every conceivable physical skill. Here’s a breakdown of a typical game for a teenage player:

    • The distance covered during a game is between 5 and 6.5 miles (2.5 miles for a goalkeeper)-constantly walking, jogging, running, sprinting-in all directions.

    • Rest pauses are only about 3 seconds every 2 minutes.

    • Less that 2% of the total distance, or only about 200 yards, is with possession of the ball. So, the majority of the time is comprised of movement off the ball.

    • There are about 1,000 activity changes in a game, which means a change in speed or direction every 6 seconds.

    • Games are typically played at 75% of a player’s physical limits.

 
  • Attacking in soccer is a lot like attacking in the game of chess. In chess if you have three pawns and your opponent has two you would like to trade pawn for pawn until your 3-2 advantage becomes 1-0.  In soccer, if you have a 3-2 advantage your attackers should make passes and runs which require the defenders to commit.  You want your 3-2 advantage to become a 2-1 advantage and finally a 1 versus the keeper.
    Ken Gamble - August 2003
     
  • "By the time they say my whole name, 'Catherine,' I've gotten the ball stolen from me. ... I prefer when my family and my boyfriend and my roommate call me Catherine. I'm not an animal." - U.S. Women's national team defender and North Carolina senior "Cat" Reddick. (Associated Press)
     
  • "You can never be fit enough for this game." Anson Dorrance in "The Vision of a Champion"
     
  • "One of the most unfortunate things I see when identifying youth players in the girl who is told over the years how great she is.  By the time she's a high school freshman, she starts to believe it.  By her senior year, she's fizzled out.  Then there's her counterpart": a girl waiting in the wings, who quietly and with determination decides she's going to make something of herself.  Invariably, this humble, hardworking girls is the one who becomes the real player." Anson Dorrance in "The Vision of a Champion"
     
  • "Usually a championship team is built on a strong defense.  That's something you can bring to every game.  A great attack is always going to be inconsistent - at least on the scoreboard - that's the nature of the game." Anson Dorrance in "The Vision of a Champion"

"In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours."
--Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
 

Quotes from Anson Dorrance's Book "The Vision of a Champion"

  • "You can never be fit enough for this game." Anson Dorrance in "The Vision of a Champion"
     
  • "One of the most unfortunate things I see when identifying youth players in the girl who is told over the years how great she is.  By the time she's a high school freshman, she starts to believe it.  By her senior year, she's fizzled out.  Then there's her counterpart": a girl waiting in the wings, who quietly and with determination decides she's going to make something of herself.  Invariably, this humble, hardworking girls is the one who becomes the real player." Anson Dorrance in "The Vision of a Champion"
     
  • "Usually a championship team is built on a strong defense.  That's something you can bring to every game.  A great attack is always going to be inconsistent - at least on the scoreboard - that's the nature of the game." Anson Dorrance in "The Vision of a Champion"
Strange Sports Quotes
 
  • "I told [GM] Roland Hemond to go out and get me a big name pitcher. He said, 'Dave Wehrmeister's got 11 letters. Is that a big enough name for you ?" - Eddie Eichorn, White Sox owner
  • "Raise the urinals." -Darrel Chaney on how management could keep the Braves on
    their toes
  • "He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings." - Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins, 1991
  • "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first." -New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers
  • "Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious." - Charles Shackleford of the NCSU basketball team
  • "Are you any relation to your brother Marv?" -Basketball player Leon Wood to announcer Steve Albert
  • "I can't really remember the names of the clubs that we went to." -Shaquille O'Neal on whether he had visited the Parthenon during his visit to Greece
  • "He (Julio Cesar Chavez) speaks English, Spanish, and he's bilingual, too." - Don King, boxing promoter.
Useful Military Warnings


"Aim towards the Enemy." - Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher

"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend." - U.S. Army

"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are
guaranteed to always hit the ground." - U.S.A.F. Ammo Troop

"If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal

"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you
least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of
your unit." - Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.

"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just
bombed." - U.S. Air Force Manual

"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo." - Infantry Journal

"Tracers work both ways." - U.S. Army Ordnance

Five-second fuses only last three seconds." - Infantry Journal

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid." - Col. David
Hackworth

"If your attack is going too well, you're probably walking into an
ambush." - Infantry Journal

"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection." - Joe Gay

"Any ship can be a minesweeper ... once." - Anon

"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do." - Unknown
Army Recruit

"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." - Your Buddies

"If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him." --
U.S.A. Ammo Troop

GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:

1)  No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2)  When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3)  If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4)  Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5)  You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6)  Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7)  Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8)  You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9)  Don 't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.
 
GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:

1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don't hurt.
3) Families are like fudge... mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

 

GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD
 

1) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.
4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.
5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.
7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.
 
THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:
1) You believe in Santa Claus.
2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.
3) You are Santa Claus.
4) You look like Santa Claus.
 
SUCCESS:

At age 4 success is . . . not peeing in your pants.
At age 12 success is . . having friends.
At age 16 success is . . having a drivers license.
At age 35 success is . . having money.
At age 50 success is . . having money.
At age 70 success is . . having a drivers license.
At age 75 success is . . having friends.
At age 80 success is . . not peeing in your pants..

Pass this on to someone who could use a laugh.

Always remember to forget the troubles that pass your way BUT never forget to remember the blessings that come each day.
Albert Einstein Quotes

Albert Einstein - The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.

Albert Einstein - Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

Albert Einstein Most teachers waste their time by asking questions which are intended to discover what a pupil does not know, whereas the true art of questioning has for its purpose to discover what the pupil knows or is capable of knowing.

Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever.

Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.

Albert Einstein One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year. Albert Einstein

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." --Einstein, Albert

"I never think of the future. It comes soon enough." --Albert Einstein

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." --Albert Einstein

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." --Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein, when asked to describe radio, replied: "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

"As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."--Albert Einstein

I Wish You Enough


Rex Barker here with "I wish you enough."

As I was traveling to the mystical city of Safed (in Northern Israel) this past weekend I overheard a conversation between an elderly man and a soldier. As his beloved grandson said goodbye I heard him say "Our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too."

As they waved goodbye he asked me "Did you ever say goodbye to someone knowing it might be forever?" "Yes", I replied (reminiscing about the memories I had of expressing love and appreciation for all my own grandfather had done for me.)

After they finished speaking, I humbly asked the "saba" (grandfather) what he meant when he said "I wish you enough".

With a smile he answered "That's a wish that has been handed down from generation to generation. My parents used to say it to everyone. When we said, "I wish you enough we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them".

He then shared the following as if he were reciting from memory:
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough "hellos" to get through that last "goodbye".

This is Rex Barker C.S. (Completely Speechless) saying dear friends that I wish you "enough". They say, " It takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but an entire life to forget them."
 

Rose at 87

Here's a little story that should warm your heart. Makes you want to go out and do something! I think I'm getting older by the minute!

Lovely Rose at 87

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.

I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she gave me a giant squeeze.

"Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked. She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids..."

"No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet.

I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know."

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, "We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."

She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose."

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.
 


These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.

We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

"Good friends are like stars......... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there."

A Winners Promise....
Posted to the AL.com soccer forum by Nvergiveup, 7/8/04 14:04 ET

My daughter is now 15 but when she was 8, I gave her a card (size of a business card) which, had on it "A Winners Promise." She still carries it, in her wallet, to this day. Just thought I would share with you all what is on the card, as you may like to share it with your own players, especially if young. I found this card at Books-A-Million, in with their bookmarks. Black card with all different types of sports balls, including soccer balls, all around the edge. Unfortunately, there was no author listed on the card. However, the card was printed by "Antioch" inspirational wallet cards. Design no. NED-53120. Antioch publishing company.

A Winners Promise......

I will have confidence in myself and put my trust in God.

I will have courage for the big things and patience for the small things.

I will Admit mistakes, learn forgiveness, and go on with the game.

I will not call myself a loser or a failure until I've failed to try.

I will set sound, worthy goals and work for them one day at a time and one play at a time.

I will do what I can and not worry about scoring, winning and making the big plays, because just doing my best and playing fair is what really makes me a winner, both in Me and on the playing field.

 

 
Your Parachute



Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience!

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked !" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor." Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.

I am sending you this as my way of thanking you for your part in packing my parachute. And I hope you will send it on to those who have helped pack yours!

Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word. Maybe this could explain it: When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do -- you forward jokes. And to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded joke.

So my friend, next time when you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile, just helping you pack your parachute.

 
 
 
 
   

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