Beautiful Love Poem

You've Touched My Heart

You've given me a reason
For smiling once again,
You've filled my life with peaceful dreams
and you've become my closest friend.

You've shared your heartfelt secrets
And your trust you've given me,
You showed me how to feel again
To laugh, and love, and see.

If life should end tomorrow
And from this world I should part,
I shall be forever young
For you have touched my heart

- Unknown

Just One Look, That's All It Took

My cousin was getting married, and I was asked to be a participant in the wedding a groomsman to be exact. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. My cousin lived in California and I lived in Washington, but since my cousin and I were very close, my family and I knew we had to be there for the wedding.

It was a gorgeous fall day in California, a perfect day for a wedding. The church was beautifully decorated and colors danced all over the room as the sun shone through the stained glass windows. I looked as fashionable as ever in my black tux and emerald green vest. The bride was stunning. I never saw two people more happy just to be in each other's presence than I did that day standing at the altar. You could see in their eyes that this was true love. They had each found their other half.

I couldn't help but think about my relationship at home. As much as I wanted to deny it, it was falling apart. She was my first serious girlfriend. I loved her a lot, but when you start to forget the reasons why you got together in the first place and when the negatives start outnumbering the positives, it's time to say goodbye. I wasn't excited to go back home, to say the least, but my family had other obligations so we had to leave the following day.

Our plane left Los Angeles at 4:00 P.M. the next day. We had a two hour layover in Seattle. My parents have a tradition of visiting the gift shops before flights. I decided I would stay at the boarding gate and do some homework. I started to pull out my math book when I looked up and saw HER. I couldn't believe my eyes.

She had on black sandals, black Capri pants and a yellow tank top. She was sitting in the seat across from me, reading a book on the Holocaust. Her shiny black hair hung down over her face and when she brushed it back, I got a true glimpse of her beauty. I was completely entranced before she even knew I existed. I had to say something; I couldn't let this go. How often does an opportunity like this come along? So I decided to introduce myself. I stood up and started to walk toward her. As I got closer, I realized that I wasn't ready to talk to her yet. I had no idea of what to say or how to say it, so I walked right by her and straight into the bathroom. Yes, I know, smooth. After I conquered my nervousness, I walked up to the mirror and practiced. Yes, I practiced¯and all you guys out there know exactly what I'm talking about. I looked in the mirror and went through every single possible way of introducing myself to her. Hello... Hey... How's it goin'?... Haven't I seen you somewhere before? I left the bathroom and, as I walked by her again, I paused then sat back down.

Finally, a breakthrough. It just so happened that when I looked up at her again, she was looking back. Our eyes connected. A warm feeling covered my body. Not a sweaty warmth, but an inner warmth that was beyond comparison. It was more than just a look; we made a connection, and I didn't even know her name.

Something had to be done. I mustered up enough courage to casually look over at
her luggage, which was under her chair, to see if I could read her name and where she was from.

Then, the worst possible thing that could happen in a situation like this happened. Her plane was leaving, and I had to do something. She started gathering up all her things and I started to panic. This could be something special, and I was in jeopardy of letting it slip through my fingers. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped. She pulled out a piece of paper from her planner and started to write something. She stood up, walked over to me, handed me the piece of paper and left without a word. Written on it was, "Just in case you ever get bored," followed by her address.

You know that feeling of complete and utter shock that you can't even speak? Triple it, and that was me. I had no idea of what to do next. She had walked to her gate, and I was left wide-mouthed and speechless. No way was I going to let it end there, so I stood up and ran to the gate from where she was leaving. When I got there, she had just handed in her boarding pass and was walking down the ramp. I prayed and prayed for her to turn around, just once, to see me, but all I saw was the back of her head going down the ramp to the plane. She was gone.

Back home, my relationship with my girlfriend eventually fizzled out. I got a handle on my life again and exactly one month after the encounter at the airport, I wrote her a letter hoping she would remember me. I got a letter back from her almost immediately saying not only did she remember me, but that she had hoped every day for a letter from me in her mailbox.

We are now celebrating our six month anniversary. The connection I made that afternoon at the airport was more than just a guy being attracted to a girl. It was a connection of souls, much as my cousin's was. We've had so many fun memories together, and we have plans for many more. Love found me that amazing day in September. It found my tired, doubtful self waiting at Gate C2D.

Source : From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Relationships
Dan Mulhausen

A True Hero

The life of a major league baseball player involves more than playing baseball. Especially for those that are popular.

Jim Abbott was one of the most popular players from the moment he first donned a major-league uniform for the California Angels in 1989. Abbott, just twenty-one at the time, was one of the rare few who skips the minor leagues completely and begins his professional career in the big leagues.

But that’s not what made Abbott so special to so many.

Abbott was born without a right hand. In fact, Abbott’s right arm extended from his shoulder to just past the elbow joint.

Abbott, though, didn’t make the big leagues because people felt sorry for him. Abbott could pitch.

The Angels took a chance on him by drafting him out of the University of Michigan and he proved in spring training that year that he was ready for the big leagues.

Using a skill he developed as a kid, Abbott could pitch with his left hand, then quickly transfer a right-hander’s glove from the stub of his right arm onto his left hand, in case he had to field the ball.

If a ball was hit back to him, Abbott would catch it, stick the glove under his right armpit, then pull the ball out with his left hand so he could throw it again. And he did all of this in a second or two.

Abbott became a media magnet. Wherever he went, reporters wanted to hear his story. Abbott was overwhelmed, but never lost his pleasant disposition.

Abbott had a smile for everyone, writers and fans alike.

Many times the media relations department of a major-league team gets requests for fans to meet their favorite baseball players. Abbott was no different.

What was different about one particular fan was what made him similar to Abbott.

The Angels had set up a meeting between Abbott and a young boy from the Midwest. The boy, about nine or ten years old, had lost an arm in a farming accident.

Before one game during a long and arduous baseball season, the boy was brought onto the field to meet Abbott. The boy was obviously nervous, his body language telling the story. Head down, shoulders slumped forward, he had no idea what he was in for.

Abbott and the boy met on the field during batting practice before a game. But they weren’t getting much privacy. The media are allowed to remain on the field up to forty-five minutes before game time, and there were plenty of curious onlookers.

So Abbott had an idea. He took the boy down the left- field line and away from anyone who wanted to get close. The two stood in the outfield, talking, watching batting practice and laughing for about an hour.

When the two returned to the dugout after batting practice, the boy’s eyes sparkled. His head was up and his chest was thrust forward. Abbott was asked what he said to the boy, but he wouldn’t reveal what was said.

That was about ten years ago, and the boy is now an adult. I often wonder whatever became of him, but after his meeting with Abbott, I have no doubt he is leading a happy and productive life. Abbott, after all, was living proof for the boy that he could do anything he wanted. Even pitch in the big leagues.

- Joe Haakenson

Losing My Fear of Having Enough

I commented how it's so easy for me to spend $1.50 on soda every day (or more!), but when I walk by homeless people, somehow I fear that if I start to give them money, I won't have enough.

Well today, somehow that fear was lifted. This was not planned, but I had put $3 in my pocket this morning for sodas (it's Friday after all :-) and never got to the place where I buy them. Then, as I was walking to the train, I saw a homeless man ahead and remembered that I had money I could give. So, I took out one of the dollar bills and gave it to him.

I continued walking and came across another one of the regulars who hangs around at the same time and gave him one of the dollars as well.

I have to say it felt good, but I realized that it was not just because I helped someone else. It was also because I let go of my hold on money: the fear that I wouldn't have enough. In giving them the money it made me realize how much the fear of not having enough kept me from helping others who definitely needed it more than me.

It's a difficult situation, because I do walk by these guys almost every day. I'm not sure what will happen the next time I come across them, but I still have one dollar left. And I know there's lots more where that came from, for me and for them :-)

- Author Unknown

Perspective

A couple weeks ago, I shared this little puzzle with you:

What does this say:
Godisnowhere

Did you read
"God is no where"?

Or did you read
"God is now here"?

Well, that little puzzle prompted a lot of interesting feedback. Here are a few of the creative responses we received.

---- I processed today's opening line as "god is no where". But I personally define that as "God is NO where" (in other words, God is in "no specific place", which -- to me -- means, God is EVERYwhere). So the potential for differences in perspective among people can go beyond definition into interpretation. Which calls for even more tolerance!

---- I thought it was interesting, I knew that the line godisnowhere would be about perspective, and I read it as, "God, I snow here". This statement can be taken as, 'I play an essential part in whether there are beautiful snowflakes that pass through my life, and similarly, whether I see them.'

---- Interestingly, my friend's 9 year old deaf son read this as GOD I SNOW HERE!

- Author Unknown

Self-Image

Many people suffer from low self-esteem. Some are aware of this and some are not. Low self-esteem is generally related to a poor self-image. Our self-image is not always what we might wish. We might like to have a self-image of Superman or Wonderwoman, for example, but we might feel that we not only lack super powers but pretty much any power at all.

The funny thing is that we can control our self-image. Every one of us does super things and every one of us should feel like we are absolutely wonderful, remarkable people. If we don't, it is usually because someone else is controlling our self image.

Shake them off! Your self-image is yours alone. Decide how you wish to see yourself, and let that be your self-image. Then start living that image, because that is who you are and who you want to be.

- Author Unknown

How to Make Measurable Progress Toward Your Most-Neglected Goals

To Master Plan your new life, you must begin with long-term goals that correspond to your core values. From that good start, you must establish yearly and monthly objectives. Based on those objectives, you create weekly and daily task lists. Doing all that will help greatly. But if you want to really change your life, you have to learn how to prioritize.

I didn't always know how to prioritize. For much of my business career, I relied on goal setting and task lists and was happy with the results. But when I turned 50 and started writing for Early to Rise, I began to read how other business leaders achieved their goals. And that's when I discovered what a huge difference prioritizing can make.

The most important lesson I learned came from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. In that book, Covey presents a technique for prioritizing that impressed me greatly and soon became a central part of my planning process.
Divide your tasks, Covey says, into four categories:

* Not important and not urgent
* Not important but urgent
* Important but not urgent
* Important and urgent

In the "not important and not urgent" category, you would put such things as:

- Catching up on office gossip
- Shopping online for personal items
- Answering unimportant phone calls
- Responding to unimportant e-mails

In the "not important but urgent" category, you would include:

- Returning phone calls from pesky salespeople
- Making last-minute preparations for an office party
- Attending a required meeting that doesn't help your career
- Planning for a meeting that doesn't matter

In the "important and urgent" category, you might list:

- Making last-minute preparations for an important meeting with the boss
- Making last-minute sales calls to key clients
- Solving unexpected problems

And, finally, in the "important but not urgent" category, you might include:

- Learning how to write better
- Learning how to speak better
- Learning how to think better
- Working on your novel
- Getting down to a healthy weight

When you break up tasks into these four categories, it's easy to see that you should give no priority at all to "not important and not urgent" tasks. In fact, these tasks should not be done at all. They are a waste of time. Yet many people spend lots of time on them because they tend to be easy to do and sometimes enjoyable in a mindless sort of way. Or because they are afraid to get to work on important tasks because they are afraid of failure.

Even worse than spending time on tasks that are not important and not urgent is spending time on those that are not important but urgent. They should have been dealt with long before they reached the crisis stage.

If you discover that you are spending a lot of time on unimportant tasks, you've got a serious problem. Unless you change your ways, you're unlikely to achieve any of your important goals.

So which tasks should you give priority to?

In Seven Habits, Covey says that most people think they should give priority to important and urgent tasks. But this is a mistake. "It's like the pounding surf," he says. "A huge problem comes and knocks you down and you're wiped out. You struggle back up only to face another one that knocks you down and slams you to the ground." You are "literally beat up by problems all day every day."

All urgent tasks - both unimportant and important - are problematic: They are urgent because you've neglected something or because they are important to other people (like your boss). In either case, you need to find a way to keep most of them from winding up on your daily to-do list. This means making some changes in your work habits - usually a combination of being more efficient and delegating more chores to other people.

Urgent tasks will burn you out. And turn you into an unhappy workaholic. If you want transformation in your life, you have to give priority to the important but not urgent tasks - because those are the ones that will help you achieve your major, long-term goals.

It's not easy.

The important but not urgent tasks whisper, while the urgent tasks shout. But there is a way to get that critical but quiet stuff done in four simple steps:

Step 1. When planning your day, divide your tasks into Covey's four categories: not important and not urgent, not important but urgent, important but not urgent, and important and urgent.

Step 2. You will, of course, have to do the urgent tasks - at least until you get better at taking charge of your schedule. And you will have to find a way to get rid of the tasks that are not important and not urgent. But make sure you include one important but not urgent task that, when completed, will move you closer to one of your long-term goals.

Step 3. Highlight that important but not urgent task on your to-do list. Make it your number one priority for the day.

Step 4. Do that task first - before you do anything else.

Initially, you will find it difficult to do an important but not urgent task first. There are reasons for that.

* Since it is not urgent, you don't feel like it's important. But it is.
* Since it supports a goal you've been putting off, you are in the habit of neglecting it.
* You are in the habit of neglecting it because you don't think it's important and because you might be afraid of doing it.
* You might be afraid of doing it because you know, deep down inside, that it will change your life. And change, even good change, is scary.

But once you start using this little four-step technique, you'll notice something right away.

The first thing you'll notice is how good you feel. Accomplishing something you've been putting off is energizing. It will erase some doubts you have about yourself - doubts caused by years of "never getting to" your long-term goals.

That extra energy and confidence will grow, and will fuel you throughout the day. This will make it easier for you to accomplish other important but not urgent tasks.

As the days go by, you will realize that you are making measurable progress toward your neglected goals. In just a few weeks, you will be amazed at how much you've already done. And in 52 weeks - a short year from now - you will be a brand-new, much more productive person.

That year is going to pass by anyway. You are going to spend the time somehow. Why not do it by taking charge of your schedule? Why not spend that time on yourself - on what's really important to you?

- By Michael Masterson