"The year is made up of 365 days, each having 24 hours, 12 of which are night time hours, which add up to a total of 182 days. This leaves you with 183 days to work minus 52 Sundays, which leaves you with 131 days to work minus 52 Saturdays, which leaves you with 79 days to work. But, there are 4 hours each day, set aside for eating, which adds up to 60 days, which leaves you 19 days for working. But you are entitled to 15 days of your vacation, which means you have 4 days left for work minus 3 days, which you usually take off due to illness or other emergencies, which leaves you 1 day to work, which happens to be the Labour Day which is a Holiday."

So, Why are you so tired ?

"There's something you should know," the son continued, "He was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking.Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are. Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different from us!!!

I am those dark green trees, waving arms of love at you.

I am those soft meadows, inviting the lover in you.

I am the crystal clear river, pouring out my being to you.

I am the fresh mountain air, whispering the song of love to you.

I am the glorious full moon, with thousand arms embracing you.

I am the love unquenchable, in thousands forms I am with you.

"Daddy, may I ask you a question?" "Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the man. Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?" "That's none of your business. What makes you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily. "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy. "If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour." "Oh," the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?" The father was furious. "If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you're being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don't have time for such childish games." The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy's questioning. "How dare he ask such questions only to get some money."

After a little while, the man had calmed down, and started to think that he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" he asked. "No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy. "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man. "It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here's that $10.00 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy" he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man. "Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the father growled. "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied. "Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?"

"Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it." -- Irving Berlin

"A man's mind, stretched by a new idea, can never go back to its original dimension." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them." -- Michael Jordan

"I really lack the words to compliment myself today." -- Alberto Tomba

"Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates." -- Magic Johnson

"I started off in life with few advantages. I never finished high school, I lived in my car and I worked at laboring jobs for years. When I was 23, I was still working as an itinerant farm worker, 12 hours per day, sleeping in the barn and eating with the farmer's family. I eventually learned the four key ideas that turned my life around.

The first, and most important, was that I was completely responsible for myself, and for everything that happened to me. This insight eliminated all my excuses, my tendency to blame others for my problems and my seeking for solutions outside of myself.

The second key idea I learned was that I couldn't hit a target I couldn't see. If I didn't know where I was going& any road would get me there. At the age of 24, I began setting clear, written goals for each area of my life. I accomplished more in the following year than I had in the previous 24!

The third idea that changed my life was my discovery that I could learn virtually everything I needed to learn to achieve any goal I could set for myself. I found that almost everyone starts at the bottom and becomes successful by doing what other successful people do - until they get the same rewards.

The fourth idea that moved me from rags to riches, from poverty to affluence, was the importance of persistence and determination in all things. People succeed because they accept complete responsibility, set clear goals, learn continually and never give up.

It's no miracle. The great secret of success is that there are no secrets of success. There are only timeless principles that work for everyone, everywhere. And they will work for you when you incorporate these ideas into every area of your life."

Success is failure turned inside out. The silver tint of the clouds of doubt and you never can tell how close you are. It may be near when it seems afar. So stick to the flights when you are hardest hit, it's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit. So don't quit.

"Johnny, would you like to give your blood for Mary?" the doctor asked.

The boy hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled, and said, "Sure, Doc. I'll give my blood for my sister."

Soon the two children were wheeled into the operating room. Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and the picture of health. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As his blood siphoned into Mary's veins, one could almost see new life come into her tired body. The ordeal was almost over when Johnny's brave little voice broke the silence, "Say Doc, when do I die?" It was only then that the doctor realized what the moment of hesitation, the trembling of the lip, had meant earlier.

Little Johnny actually thought that in giving his blood to his sister he was giving up his life! And in that brief moment, the final decision that he had made was the greatest love of all... the unconditional sacrificing Love...

The following day, thinking he is crazy for even entertaining the notion of seeing this young girl again, he looks out beyond the fence, hoping. On the other side of the barbed wire, the young girl yearns to see again this tragic figure who moved her so. She comes prepared with apple in hand. Despite another day of wintry blizzards and chilling air, two hearts are warmed once again as the apple passes over the barbed wire. The scene is repeated for several days. The two young spirits on opposite sides of the fence look forward to seeing each other, if only for a moment and if only to exchange a few words. The interaction is always accompanied by an exchange of inexplicably heartening feelings.

At the last of these momentary meetings, the young boy greets his sweet friend with a frown and says, "Tomorrow, don't bring me an apple, I will not be here. They are sending me to another camp." The young boy walks away, too heartbroken to look back. From that day forward, the calming image of the sweet girl would appear to him in moments of anguish. Her eyes, her words, her thoughtfulness, her red apple, all were a recurring vision that would break his nighttime sweats. His family died in the war. The life he had known had all but vanished, but this one memory remained alive and gave him hope.

In 1957 in the United States, two adults, both immigrants, are set up on a blind date. "And where were you during the war?" Inquires the woman. " I was in a concentration camp in Germany," the man replies. " I remember I used to throw apples over the fence to a boy who was in a concentration camp," she recalls. With a feeling of shock, the man speaks. "And did that boy say to you one day, 'Don't bring an apple anymore because I am being sent to another camp'?"

"Why, yes," she responds, "but how could you possibly know that?"

"He looks into her eyes and says, " I was that young boy." There is a brief silence, and then he continues, " I was separated from you then, and I don't ever want to be without you again. Will you marry me?"

They embrace one another as she says, "Yes."

On Valentine's Day 1996, on national telecast of the Oprah Winfrey show, this same man affirmed his enduring love to his wife of forty years. " You fed me in the concentration camp, " he said, " you fed me throughtout all these years; now, I remain hungry if only for your love."

OM TAT SAT