Positive habits are probably the most powerful tool we have as we look to become the best we can be.
The simple but profound trou

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead.

Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up.

He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out.

When he got out, the other frogs said, “Didn’t you hear us?”

The frog explained to them that he was hard of hearing and thought they were cheering him on the whole time.

This story teaches us these two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. It’s sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way.

Author Unknown

Winter is here!!!

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome”  Anne Bradstreet

Thank you for all the replies we received for our byline, we were so encouraged by your responses.  We decided to run with I encourage – I am encouraged.

Encourage and Shine

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John Shadforth,

I can’t take credit for this giving story but as it was sent to me in an email. The impact it had made me want to share it with you. This is a good story.

I am a mother of three, ages 14, 12, 3. I recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called, ‘Smile.’

The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.

We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch… an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible ‘dirty body’ smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was ‘smiling’.

His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God’s Light as he searched for acceptance.

He said, ‘Good day’ as he counted the few coins he had been clutching.

The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.

He said, ‘Coffee is all Miss’ because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it – the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.

That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.

I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand.

He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, ‘Thank you.’

I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, ‘I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.’

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, ‘That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.’

We held hands for a moment and at that time we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.

We are not church goers, but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God’s sweet love. I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in ‘my project’ and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, ‘Can I share this?’ I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed. In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald’s, my son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS – NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

A young man had just gotten his driver’s permit and inquired of his father, an evangelist, if they could discuss the use of the car. His father took him to the study and said to the boy, “I’ll make a deal with you, son. You bring your grades up from a C to a B average, study your Bible a little, and get your hair cut and we’ll talk about the car.”

Well, the boy thought about that for a moment and decided that he’d best settle for the offer, and they agreed.

After about six weeks the boy came back and again asked his father about the car. Again they went to the study where his father said, “Son, I’ve been real proud of you. You’ve brought your grades up, and I’ve observed that you’ve been studying your Bible and participating a lot more in the Bible study class on Sunday morning. But I’m real disappointed seeing as you haven’t got your hair cut.”

The young man paused a moment and then said, “You know, Dad, I’ve been thinking about that, and I’ve noticed in my studies of the Bible that Sampson had long hair, Moses had long hair, John the Baptist had long hair, and there’s even strong argument that Jesus Himself had long hair.”

To which his father replied, “Perhaps, and they WALKED everywhere they went!”

How to WOW your clients:  3 ways to encourage word of mouth marketing.

Seth Godin said it best: “Before Advertising, there was Word of Mouth. Products and services that could solve problems got talked about and eventually got purchased.”

Nowadays we are overwhelmed by advertisements in every place possible – TV, newspaper, billboards, internet, Facebook, email, even in the toilet. With exposure to so many products, brands and options, a lot of people have reverted to trusting good old word of mouth instead. And now, with the evolution of social media, Word of Mouth is now much much more powerful, with the ability to spread world-wide within minutes to massive groups of people.

It is an understatement that WOM is an important marketing tool.

It is ESSENTIAL.  So, how do you encourage people to talk about you and your business?  You WOW them.

So How do you WOW your clients? There is no magic answer, equation or formula, simply guidelines. Wowing your clients is not science. It is all about making them feel good.

Maya Angelou, a remarkable American poet says:

“I have learned that people will forget what you said; people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

When you try to WOW your clients, you need to do things that make them feel special. Following are three guidelines on ways you can WOW your clients.

Exceed their expectations.

A lot can be said about the rule – “Under-commit and over-deliver”. For example, if you are giving a client an expected timeframe on a job, give yourself enough time to deliver on your promise early. This will make your client feel important; like you’ve prioritised them over someone else.

Do something unexpected.

Have you ever come home from a late night at the office expecting to have to cook dinner for the family, only to find that your amazing hubby has already cooked dinner for you? How did that make you feel? Special, right? It’s the small, unexpected surprises that often have the most impact. How can you surprise your clients?

Show that you care.

Care – it’s a powerful feeling. How do you show it? Let’s say that you call a client to confirm an appointment later that day. When you ask them how their day is going, they tell you they’ve had a stressful day and they can’t wait for it to end. Most people would overlook this remark and focus on their own agenda. This is actually the perfect opportunity for you to stop on the way to your appointment and pick up a box of chocolates or bunch of flowers (or maybe a bottle of wine) to give them when you arrive. You don’t need to go to great expense. The fact that you have thought about them, and tried to make them feel better is going to make them feel special. SO Special, that they may just tell everyone how much you care about your clients.

By Nicky Douglas to read more visit the site HERE

“I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the Beauty they Possess Inside.”

Everything we say has the potential to either heal or harm. Our words can destruct or construct, be positive or negative.

Most times when we don’t stop to think about what we say, we just speak out the words that first come to mind.

Most of us will have experienced the effects of the negative power of the spoken word. It can color our personal lives and ripple far beyond us to effect everything and everybody.

Below are a list of positive words that you might like to test drive this week with your children. You will probably find you need to write them down and make an effort to use them. So I encourage you to give it a go. Your amazing!!!

1. Amazing
2. Astonishing
3. Brilliant
4. Excellent
5. Extraordinary
6. Fabulous
7. Fantastic
8. Incredible
9. Marvelous
10. Mind-blowing (they will like this one)
11. Out of this world (and this one)
12. Outstanding
13. Remarkable
14. Spectacular
15. Super
16. Superb
17. Terrific
18. Tremendous
19. Unbelievable
20. Wonderful

Great, heartwarming reminders. “Enjoy the journey – The choice is yours.”

If you see someone without a smile give them one of yours Have a fantastic day.

Every heart that has beat strongly and cheerfully has left a hopeful impulse behind it in the world, and bettered the tradition of mankind.~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren’t any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life’s challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person.

If you’re going through hell, keep going. ~ Winston Churchill

Everyone goes through a rough patch from time to time. When you think you’ve hit rock bottom and there’s no way out, don’t give up. If you keep on going with enthusiasm and a positive attitude you’ll come out on the other side and you might just find yourself in an even better place than to begin with.