If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before--Unknown

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.--Marilyn vos Savant

“Life begins at 40 - but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times.”--Helen Rowland

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 that chill 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, 'Every thing's going to be all
right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.'

A life long friend of the family sent me this today in an email I thought it was worth passing on here.

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...

You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how
things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it
and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It
seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and
placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she
placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed
ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the
carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed
them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did
and noted that they were soft.

The mother then asked the daughter
to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed
the hard boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter
smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What
does it mean , Mother?'

Her mother explained that! each of these objects had faced the same
adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in
strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the
boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior,

but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee
beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had
changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your
door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with
pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the
heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial
hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff ? Does my
shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff
spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water,
the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it
releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things
are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate
yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot,
an egg or a coffee bean?

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The
brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go
forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

"You can't be truly rude until you understand good manners".-- Rita Mae Brown