Stress Management Techniques
Here is your Sunday STORY on: THE LOVE OF WISDOM: Frequently things happen in our life that we have little control over, yet must learn to adapt to change. There is little that is anything more certain than change. It will happen every day. In our love of wisdom it would seem appropriate to grasp certain eventualities, come to terms with them and be prepared for their effect. Sometimes we are dealt with a bad hand and expected to come out on top. We need to practice being positive and turning an initial negative situation into something more optimistic. Today's story has a little of this thread of positive ness amongst its plot, but the miracle we witness from the effort is not financial but the emotion of needing to help; when those more fortunate see a NEED, and see an individual trying to overcome a battle, generosity will often spill from their soul. SIX HUNGRY BABIES In September 1960 I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two. Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either. If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it. I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress. I loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store, and restaurant in our small town. No luck. The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whoever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job. Still no luck. The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel. An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift; 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour, and I could start that night. I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pyjamas on and the kids would already be asleep. This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal. That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers, we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel. When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money -- fully half of what I averaged every night. As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meagre wage. The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home. One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires. There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires. Had angels taken up residence in Indiana? I wondered. I made a deal with the owner of the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires. I was now working six nights instead of five, and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming, and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants, and soon they would be too far gone to repair. On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up. When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning I hurried to the car. I was hoping the kids wouldn't wake up before I managed to get home and get the presents from the basement and place them under the tree. (We had cut down a small cedar tree by the side of the road down by the dump.) It was still dark and I couldn't see much, but there appeared to be some dark shadows in the car -- or was that just a trick of the night? Something certainly looked different, but it was hard to tell what. When I reached the car I peered warily into one of the side windows. Then my jaw dropped in amazement. My old battered Chevy was filled full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, scrambled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes: There was candy, nuts, bananas, and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was a whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items, and there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll. As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning. Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December . . . . and they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop. (Unknown Author) QUOTE: "A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.' (Patricia Neal)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Motivational Speaker Karyn Buxman: FUNNY stress management techniques
Stress Management 10: Emotional Freedom Techniques
Stress Management Tips & Techniques - Help with Stress Video
Next page: Managing Stress
Stress Management Techniques News
McIlroy happy to be Wozniacki´s ball boy - EXEGOLF
10 Feb 2012 at 1:03pm  Telegraph.co.uk | EXEGOLF Some eight months into their relationship and Rory McIlroy declared to be Caroline Wozniacki's ball boy. The World No. 2 ranked McIlroy put himself into contention for a second Omega Dubai Desert Classic success with a day two 65 to be tied for the ... McIlroy and Bjorn lead the way as world's best dazzle in DubaiDaily Mail all 774 news articles » |
Read more...
Documentary shows how to be truly happy - 9NEWS.com
10 Feb 2012 at 1:03pm  Goshen Chronicle | 9NEWS.com In the new documentary HAPPY, Director Roko Belic sets out to answer and bring truth to this life-long goal. The New York Times released an article showing that the US ranked 23 in happiness among other countries. This inspired Belic to take a ... SOUTH ON 101: Get happyLompoc Record all 9 news articles » |
Read more...
Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott happy with married life, big tour - Kansas Ci...
10 Feb 2012 at 12:48pm  Kansas City Star | Kansas City Star By RICARDO BACA When country trio Lady Antebellum broke wide open, fans fell in love with the instantly likable booty-call ballad ?Need You Now.? The song had the band's Hillary Scott pleading: ?It's a quarter after 1, I'ma little drunk, and I need you ... and more » |
Read more...
Happy to pay half the subsidies - The Wenatchee World Online
10 Feb 2012 at 12:41pm The Wenatchee World Online In the subsidy-reaping effort they will be happy to produce power that nobody needs or wants, power that can't be easily sold or even given away. Offer them free electricity to replace their windmills' output and they will turn away. Who needs it? |
Read more...
Wagging tails replace sad eyes: New sponsor for Westminster show to run ... -...
10 Feb 2012 at 11:54am Washington Post Happy dogs will rule the air waves this year, thanks to a new sponsor for America's most prestigious dog competition and a decision to air ads that shift the focus away from sad-eyed animals in need of adoption. ?The feedback we got from our primary ... and more » |
Read more...
Marine 'happy to be home' - Maui News
10 Feb 2012 at 11:14am Maui News "I'm appreciative . . . just happy to be home," said Dow, shortly after getting off the plane. Dow said doctors told him it would be six to 10 weeks before he would be walking, but the Marine seemed to be doing fine with his crutches. and more » |
Read more...
Happy Darwin Day and Evolution Weekend - Mother Nature Network (blog)
10 Feb 2012 at 10:56am  Mother Nature Network (blog) | Mother Nature Network (blog) Charles Darwin's birthday has become not just an international holiday, but an entire evolution-themed weekend. Here are five ideas for how to celebrate. EVOLUTIONARY REVOLUTIONARY: British naturalist Charles Darwin strikes a pensive pose in this 1883 ... and more » |
Read more...
Pass happy - ESPN
10 Feb 2012 at 9:12am  ESPN | ESPN By Ric Bucher David Bowman Ricky Rubio has the vision of a hawk and the visage of a muppet. This story appears in the Feb. 20, 2012 "Rivalry Issue" of ESPN The Magazine. Subscribe today! NOTHING ABOUT Ricky Rubio is scary, which is why nothing about ... and more » |
Read more...
Lancaster will be happy if Stuarts can make history - The Independent
9 Feb 2012 at 5:06pm  BBC Sport | The Independent If Aston Villa don't beat Manchester City on Sunday it will be their longest run of home games in Pr... ESPN America's Michael Kim asks how Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin measure up against gridiron greats ... Fabio Capello's time as the manager of ... Boss Brendan Rodgers committed to Swansea CityBBC Sport England is the top job - RedknappIrish Times Quotes of the Week: 'The Queen is above it all'Yahoo! Eurosport UK (blog) Telegraph.co.uk (blog) -Ottawa Citizen all 5,377 news articles » |
Read more...
Happy Hour: Should NASCAR distance itself from wrestling? - Yahoo! Sports (blog)
9 Feb 2012 at 8:01am  Yahoo! Sports (blog) | Yahoo! Sports (blog) APWelcome to the latest Happy Hour mailbag! You know how these work: You write us with your best rant/ joke/one-liner at happyhournascar@yahoogroups.com (note new address) or on Twitter at @jaybusbee, we respond to your messages, everyone goes away ... and more » |
Read more...
