PROBLEMS....?????

Problems are either stumbling blocks or stepping stones.
If you accept them as stumbling block....you'll grow bitter.

If you accept them as stepping stones....you'll grow from them.


AN OLD FARMER'S ADVICE!

1) Life is simpler, if you plow around the stump.

2) A bee is considered faster than a John Deere tractor.

3) Meanness don't just happen overnight.

4) Forgive your enemies....it messes up their heads.

5) You can not un-say a cruel word.

6) Always drink up stream from the herd.

7) Every path has a few puddles.

8) The easiest way to eat crow is when it is still warm, cause the colder it gets,
the harder it is to swallow.

9) Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never going to happen.

10) Letting the cat out of the bag is a lot easier then getting it back in again.

11) If you're thinking you're a person of some influence, try ordering some one
else's dog around!

THE TAXI RIDE!

20 years ago, I drove a taxi for a living.
When I arrived, at 2.30am, the building was dark, except for one single light in a ground floor window. Now, many drivers would have honked once, maybe twice....then just left, but I had seen too many poor people who depended on taxis as their only means of getting anywhere
and unless the situation smelled of danger, I usually went to the door.

"This passenger might need assistance," I argued with myself.

So I walked to the door and knocked.....

"Just a minute..." answered a frail elderly voice.

I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause......the door opened.

A small woman, in her eighties stood before me. She was wearing a floral dress, and a small
hat, with a veil....like someone out of a 40's movie.

She was carrying a small suitcase.

The flat looked like no one had lived there for years.

Everything was covered, no utensils, no photos, no anything except for in the corner where
stood a box filled with packed stuff.

"Could you carry my bag to the taxi?" She asked. I did....then came back for her.

We slowly walked back to the taxi and she kept thanking me for the trouble.
I said it was nothing and was glad to be able to do it.

She gave me an address....then asked, "Could you drive through the town?"

"It's not the shortest way..." I answered quickly.

"OH, I don't mind..." she said, "I'm not in a hurry, I'm on my way to the hospice...."

I looked in the rear vision mirror and noticed her eyes were glistening.

"I don't have any family left," she continued, "And the doctor says I don't have much time left"

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
"Which way would you like to go?" I asked her.

For the next two hours we drove through the city.

She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator, we drove through the neighbourhood where she and her husband had lived, when they were newlyweds.

She made me pull up in front of a warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a young girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow down in front of a particular building or corner....and would sit
staring into the darkness....saying nothing.....

At the first hint of sunlight she said, "I'm tired....let's go now!"

I took her to the address she had given me and when we arrived, two orderlies came out to the taxi as soon as we got there. I got her small suitcase.

She was already in a wheel chair.
"How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.

"Nothing..." I said....
"You have to make a living..." she answered.
Almost without thinking.....I bent down and gave her a hug.....

:You gave me a little moment of joy...thank you..." she said.

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift, I drove around, aimlessly, lost in thoughts.

For the rest of the day, I could hardly talk..."What if she'd gotten an angry driver?...or an impatient one?"

I felt that I had never done anything more important in my whole life!
To me, it was a divine appointment.

People may not remember what you said or did, but they will remember how you made them feel!

God Bless you...

Yaddy