CHAPTER 4, PAGE 24

It's your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude. Happiness is not something you find, it's something you create.

What's It Like In Your Town

Once there was an old and very wise man. Every day he would sit outside a gas station in his rocking chair and wait to greet motorists as they passed through his small town.

On this day, his granddaughter knelt down at the foot of his chair and slowly passed the time with him. As they sat and watched the people come and go, a tall man who surely had to be a tourist -- since they knew everyone in the town -- began looking around as if he were checking out the area for a place to live.

The stranger walked up and asked, "So what kind of town is this that we're in?" The older gentleman slowly turned to the man and replied, "Well, what kind of town are you from?" The tourist said, "In the town I'm from everyone is very critical of each other. The neighbours all gossip about everyone, and it's a real negative place to live. I'm sure glad to be leaving. It is not a very cheerful place."

The man in the chair looked at the stranger and said, "You know, that's just how this town is."

An hour or so later a family that was also passing through stopped for gas. The car slowly turned in and rolled to a stop in front of where the older gentleman and his granddaughter were sitting. The mother jumped out with two small children and asked where the restrooms were.

The man in the chair pointed to a small, bent-up sign that was barely hanging by one nail on the side of the door. The father stepped out of the car and also asked the man, "Is this town a pretty good place to live?" The man in the chair replied, "What about the town you are from? How is it?"

The father looked at him and said, "Well, in the town I'm from everyone is very close and always willing to lend their neighbor a helping hand. There's always a hello and thank you everywhere you go. I really hate to leave. I feel almost like we are leaving family."

The older gentlemen turned to the father and gave him a warm smile. "You know, that's a lot like this small town." Then the family returned to the car, said their thank yous, waved goodbye and drove away.

After the family was in the distance, the granddaughter looked up at her grandfather and asked, "Grandpa, how come when the first man came into our town you told him it was a terrible place to live and when the family came in to town you told them it was a wonderful place to live?"

The grandfather lovingly looked down at this granddaughter's wondering blue eyes and said,"No matter where you move, you take your own attitude with you and that's what makes it terrible or wonderful."

GOOD MORNING !

Another new day to celebrate !

Too often we attach the will of others to our attitude in life. We say it’s their fault that I’m unhappy. In reality when we are content with ourselves, happiness follows. I have accepted my life as it is and I am happy with it.

I’m happy to be healthy and mostly of firm mind and I am thankful for a job to go to that provides me with what I need. Remember, your attitude is your foundation.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Your attitude is a little thing, but it makes a big difference. Look backwards with gratitude, upwards with confidence and forwards with hope. Smile and the world smiles with you, cry and you cry alone.

May your day be blessed with a few SMILES and lots of SUNSHINE to warm your heart!

MA

P.S. Someone asked where do I get all these poems quotes and stories from??? Mostly I surf the net , sometimes it’s passed on from a friend, and other times I’ve read it in a book or a magazine. They are all things I’d like to remember so I put them here in my journal and share them with all of you.

 

 

 

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