To Let Go

To let go does not mean to stop caring, it means I can’t do it for someone else. 

To let go is not to cut myself off, it’s the realization that I can’t control another. 

To let go is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences. 

To let go is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands. 

To let go is not to try to change or blame another, it’s to make the most of myself. 

To let go is not to care for, but to care about. 

To let go is not to fix, but to be supportive. 

To let go is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being. 

To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own destinies. 

To let go is not to be protective, it’s to permit another to face reality. 

To let go is not to criticize, or regulate anyone, but to try to become what I dream I can do. 

To let go is to fear less, and to love more.

You are unique!

Think what a remarkable, unduplicatable, and miraculous thing it is to be you! Of all the people who have come and gone on the earth, since the beginning of time, not ONE of them is like YOU! 

No one who has ever lived or is to come has had your combination of abilities, talents, appearance, friends, acquaintances, burdens, sorrows and opportunities. 

No one’s hair grows exactly the way yours does. No one’s finger prints are like yours. No one has the same combination of secret inside jokes and family expressions that you know. 

The few people who laugh at all the same things you do, don’t sneeze the way you do. No one prays about exactly the same concerns as you do. No one is loved by the same combination of people that love you – NO ONE! 

No one before, no one to come. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE! 

Enjoy that uniqueness. You do not have to pretend in order to seem more like someone else. 

You weren’t meant to be like someone else. You do not have to lie to conceal the parts of you that are not like what you see in anyone else. You were meant to be different. Nowhere ever in all of history will the same things be going on in anyone’s mind, soul and spirit as are going on in yours right now. 

If you did not exist, there would be a hole in creation, a gap in history, something missing from the plan for humankind. 

Treasure your uniqueness. It is a gift given only to you. Enjoy it and share it! 

No one can reach out to others in the same way that you can. No one can speak your words. No one can convey your meanings. No one can comfort with your kind of comfort. No one can bring your kind of understanding to another person. 

No one can be cheerful and lighthearted and joyous in your way. No one can smile your smile. No one else can bring the whole unique impact of you to another human being. 

Share your uniqueness. Let it be free to flow out among your family and friends and people you meet in the rush and clutter of living wherever you are. That gift of yourself was given you to enjoy and share. Give yourself away! 

See it! Receive it! Let it tickle you! Let it inform you and nudge you and inspire you! YOU ARE UNIQUE!

I’ve learned

I’ve learned-
that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

I’ve learned-
that no matter how much I care, some people just don’t care back.

I’ve learned-
that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I’ve learned-
that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I’ve learned-
that you should never ruin an apology with an excuse.

I’ve learned-
that you shouldn’t compare yourself to the best others can do.

I’ve learned-
that you shouldn’t compare yourself to the best others can do.

I’ve learned-
that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I’ve learned-
that you can keep going long after you can’t.

I’ve learned-
that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I’ve learned-
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I’ve learned-
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I’ve learned-
that your family won’t always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren’t related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren’t biological.

I’ve learned-
that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you are to learn to forgive yourself.

I’ve learned-
that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I’ve learned-
that people will forget what you said, and people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

50 Interesting questions

When you have a little spare time to think, review these interesting and thought provoking questions! 

 Then if you still have a little more spare time, share with us your thoughts, answers, and questions!

If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake? 

What is the difference between being alive and truly living? 

Why do religions that support love cause so many wars? 

Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend? 

Does love equal sex? 

If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? 

Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently? 

Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things? 

If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today? 

If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be? 

What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? 

What’s holding you back? 

Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton? 

Has your greatest fear ever come true? 

Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing? 

When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing? 

Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you? 

If you had all the money in the world but still had to have some kind of job, what would you choose to do? 

When you’re 90 years old, what will matter most to you? 

What do you regret most so far in life?

If you were at heaven’s gates, and God asked you “Why should I let you in?”, what would you say? 

What small thing could you do to make someone’s day better? 

What impact do you want to leave on the world? 

When was the last time you tried something new? 

What life lesson did you learn the hard way? 

What do you wish you spent more time doing five years ago? 

What is the difference between living and existing? If not now, then when? 

Have you done anything lately worth remembering? 

If you had to teach something, what would you teach? 

What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life? 

Is stealing to feed a starving child wrong? 

What lifts your spirits when life gets you down? 

Have you ever regretted something you did not say or do? 

Why do we think of others the most when they’re gone? Is it more important to love or be loved? 

If a doctor gave you five years to live, what would you try to accomplish? 

Can there be happiness without sadness? 

What’s the one thing you’d like others to remember about you at the end of your life?

Is there such a thing as perfect? 

What does it mean to be human? 

Are you happy with yourself? 

Can you think of a time when impossible became possible? How do you spend the majority of your free time? 

How have you helped someone else recently? 

What did you learn recently that changed the way you live? 

What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you? 

What will you never do? In your lifetime, what have you done that hurt someone else? 

When was the last time you were nice to someone and did NOT expect anything in return for it?

A Glass of Milk – Paid In Full

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit. Year’s later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She began to read the following words:

What goes around comes around

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was those chills which only fear can put in you. He said, “I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.”

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, “And think of me.”
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: “You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.”
Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard….
She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.”

There is an old saying “What goes around comes around.”

The value of knowledge

A giant ship engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars. “What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!” So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.” The man sent a bill that read: