MORNING COFFEE

[Guest guest]

It's been said that a smile is the lighting system of the face,the cooling system of the head and the heating system of theheart. But a smile is also a powerful weapon against toxic attitudesof all kinds.

Gurnsey, of Portland, Oregon, wrote to me about a man whosesmile quite literally changed her life: "I was having a horribleday -- hating my job, tired of the weather, tired of trying tokeep up on bills, and just completely stressed out. I stopped atthe post office in the morning and, as I was entering, an olderbusiness man commented to me that it was going to be a good dayand life shouldn't be as bad as I make it look. I glared at himand simply said, 'I wish it was Friday.'

"I felt better about my day when I left the post office...thatman's smile and comment, although irritating at first, made methink.

"The second time I ran into the man I went out of my way to say'Happy Friday' to him and to smile. I saw him a few more timesand always he was cheery and 'made my day.'

"I looked for him around Christmastime to give him a card andexplain how his kind words and smile that very first day made meregroup my thinking and realize I didn't have it so bad. But Ihave not seen him at the post office since then. I look everymorning...I go at different times to see if I can catch him.Maybe he retired, maybe he is ill. I think to myself, 'I wish Ihad thanked him for being a kind person.' I can honestly say thisman changed my life. I will work to spread that same feeling tothose I see in need of a smile."

Speaker Josh Hinds makes this suggestion: "Play the smiling gamein your daily life. See how many people you can get to smile backat you. Keep score and tally the results at the end of each day."

That sounds like a game we can all play. The rules aresimple. There are lots of winners. And who knows...you may even"make" someone's day -- even if that someone is you!

Life’s RichesIf you walk among the flowers and never watch them bloom,nor stop along the way to inhale their sweet perfume;If you look upon your child and never watch him play,nor see the many changes, with each new waking day;If you walk across the land never looking towards the sky,nor gaze upon a sunset, or the birds that pass you by;If you walk alone, needing no one, passing all others by,feeling you should always be strong, and never even cry;If you dwell among many never opening your door,You've denied yourself of riches, For then you will be poor. “For every moment you live and regretyou lost a moment of life” © Janet Ritchie

What if you could get paid for doing something that you consider enjoyable? What if you could improve your health, your finances, your relationships, your knowledge and your standard of living by doing things enjoyable to you? The fact is, you can do all this and more. And it requires nothing other than an adjustment in your thinking. For you are the person who decides what is enjoyable to you and what is not. What you find enjoyable is precisely what you choose to find enjoyable. To make a particular task or activity enjoyable, you do not have to change that activity in any way. You can simply and easily change the way you think about it. When you enjoy what you're doing, you'll be very effective at it and able to create much value. So choose to enjoy those things that will most powerfully propel you forward. When you decide that something is enjoyable, you'll do it often and you'll do it well. Take what you have to do, turn it into what you want to do, and you can surely achieve great things. Ralph Marston

Dear Readers, " Morning Coffee " is a labor of love and meant to be shared with others to spread encouragement and inspiration. If you share, please be kind and give credit where credit is due and copy and paste or forward with Page Header and contact information included." Morning Coffee"Created, and maintained by:Dizzyrizzy@... Copyright © 1996 -2008" Morning Coffee" all rights reserved.

Subscribe: YourMorningCoffee-subscribe List owner: YourMorningCoffee-owner