Prisoner by choice....

No guest had come to my house for long,
my doors were locked,
my windows were barred;
I thought my night would be lonely.

When i opened my eyes i found the darkness had vanished.

I rose up and ran and saw the bolts of my gates all broken,
and through the open door your wind and light waved their banner.

When i was a prisoner in my own house,
and the doors were shut,
my heart ever planned to escape and to wander.

Now at my broken gate,
I sit still and wait for your coming,

You keep me bound by my freedom..

-Tagore.

Small boots....

In a remote training camp, a squad of rookies had just returned to their billet after a day's march under the broiling sun.

"What a life!" said one new soldier."Miles from anywhere, a sergeant who thinks he's Attila the Hun, no women, no booze, no leave and on top of all that, my boots are two sizes too small."

"You don't want to put up with that, chum,"said his neighbor."Why don't you put in for a new pair?"

"Not likely," came the reply."Taking them off is the only pleasure i have got!"

MORAL--PEOPLE LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THEIR MISERY....

This Cake is Delicious....

There was an old Zen monk.

He was on his deathbed.The last day had come, and he declared that on that evening he would be no more.So followers,disciples,friends started coming.He had many lovers, they all started coming;from far and wide people gathered.

One of his old disciples, when he heard that the master is going to die,ran to the market.Somebody asked,"The Master is dying in his hut,why are you going to the market?" The old disciple said, "I know that my master loves a particular type of cake, so I am going to purchase the cake."

It was difficult to find the cake,but by the evening somehow he managed.He came running with the cake.

And everybody was worried- it was as if the master was waiting for someone.He would open his eyes and look, and close his eyes again.When this disciple came, he said, "Okay, so you have come.Where is the cake?"The disciple produced the cake and he was very happy that the master asked about it.

Dying, the master took the cake in his hand....but his hand was not trembling.He was very old,but his hand was not trembling.So somebody asked,"You are so old and on the verge of dying.The last breath is soon to leave you,but your hand is not trembling."
The Master said, "I never tremble,because there is no fear.My body has become old,but i am still young, and i will remain young even when the body is gone."

Then he took a bite,started munching the cake.And then somebody asked,"What is your last message,Master?You will be leaving us soon.What do you want us to remember?"

The Master smiled and said,"Ah this cake is delicious."

MORAL-- THIS IS A MAN WHO LIVES IN HERE AND NOW:This cake is delicious.Even death is irrelevant.The next moment is meaningless.This moment,this cake is delicious....

HERE I AM....

All night, a man called “Allah”
Until his lips were bleeding.
Then the Devil said, “Hey! Mr Gullible!
How comes you’ve been calling all night
And never once heard Allah say, “Here, I am”?
You call out so earnestly and, in reply, what?
I’ll tell you what. Nothing!”

The man suddenly felt empty and abandoned.
Depressed, he threw himself on the ground
And fell into a deep sleep.
In a dream, he met Abraham, who asked,
“Why are you regretting praising Allah?”

The man said, “ I called and called
But Allah never replied, “Here I am.”
Abraham explained, “Allah has said,
“Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you.
Your fear and love are a noose to catch Me.
In the silence surrounding every call of “Allah”
Waits a thousand replies of “Here I am.”

- RUMI.

A Few Words on the Soul......

We have a soul at times.
No one’s got it non-stop,
for keeps.

Day after day,
year after year
may pass without it.

Sometimes
it will settle for awhile
only in childhood’s fears and raptures.
Sometimes only in astonishment
that we are old.

It rarely lends a hand
in uphill tasks,
like moving furniture,
or lifting luggage,
or going miles in shoes that pinch.

It usually steps out
whenever meat needs chopping
or forms have to be filled.

For every thousand conversations
it participates in one,
if even that,
since it prefers silence.

Just when our body goes from ache to pain,
it slips off-duty.

It’s picky:
it doesn’t like seeing us in crowds,
our hustling for a dubious advantage
and creaky machinations make it sick.

Joy and sorrow
aren’t two different feelings for it.
It attends us
only when the two are joined.

We can count on it
when we’re sure of nothing
and curious about everything.

Among the material objects
it favors clocks with pendulums
and mirrors, which keep on working
even when no one is looking.

It won’t say where it comes from
or when it’s taking off again,
though it’s clearly expecting such questions.

We need it
but apparently
it needs us
for some reason too.

- Wislawa Szymborska.

The EYE....

Said the EYE one day, "I see beyond these valleys a mountain veiled with blue mist.Is it not beautiful?"

The EAR listens, and after listening intently awhile, said, "But where is any mountain? I do not hear it."

Then the HAND spoke and said,"I am trying in vain to feel it or touch it, and I can find no mountain."

And the NOSE said, "There is no mountain, I cannot smell it."

Then the EYE turned the other way, and they all began to talk together about the Eye's strange delusion.
And they said, "Something must be the matter with the EYE."

- Kahlil Gibran.

Too lazy to be Ambitious

Too lazy to be ambitious,

I let the world take care of itself.

Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;

a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.

Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?

Listening to the night rain on my roof,

I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

- Ryokan..

Thirst....

Don't look at your form,
however ugly or beautiful.

Look at love and at the aim of your quest.

O you whose lips are parched,
keep looking for water.

Those parched lips are proof that eventually you will reach the source....

-Rumi.

The Three Oddest Words....

When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.

When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.

When I pronounce the word Nothing,
I make something no non-being can hold.

-Wislawa Szymborska.

Love at FIrst Sight....

They're both convinced
that a sudden passion joined them.
Such certainty is beautiful,
but uncertainty is more beautiful still.

Since they'd never met before, they're sure
that there'd been nothing between them.
But what's the word from the streets, staircases, hallways--
perhaps they've passed by each other a million times?

I want to ask them
if they don't remember--
a moment face to face
in some revolving door?
perhaps a "sorry" muttered in a crowd?
a curt "wrong number"caught in the receiver?--
but I know the answer.
No, they don't remember.

They'd be amazed to hear
that Chance has been toying with them
now for years.

Not quite ready yet
to become their Destiny,
it pushed them close, drove them apart,
it barred their path,
stifling a laugh,
and then leaped aside.

There were signs and signals,
even if they couldn't read them yet.
Perhaps three years ago
or just last Tuesday
a certain leaf fluttered
from one shoulder to another?
Something was dropped and then picked up.
Who knows, maybe the ball that vanished
into childhood's thicket?

There were doorknobs and doorbells
where one touch had covered another
beforehand.
Suitcases checked and standing side by side.
One night. perhaps, the same dream,
grown hazy by morning.

Every beginning
is only a sequel, after all,
and the book of events
is always open halfway through.

-Wislawa Szymborska.

The Shadow...

Upon a June day the grass said to the shadow of and elm tree, "You move to the right and left over-often,and you disturb my peace."

And the shadow answered and said, "Not I, not I.Look skyward.There is a tree that moves in the wind to the east and to the west,between the sun and the earth."

And the grass looked up, and for the first time beheld the tree.And it said in its heart, "Why, behold, there is a larger grass than myself."

And the grass was silent.

-Kahlil Gibran.

The Path....

There lived among the hills, a woman and a son, and he was her first born and her only child.

And the boy died of a fever whilst the physician stood by.

The mother was distraught with sorrow, and she cried to the physician and besought him saying, "Tell me, tell me, what was it that made quiet his striving and silent his song?"

And the physician said, "It was the fever."

And the mother said, "What is the fever?"

And the physician answered, "I cannot explain it.It is a thing infinitely small that visits the body, and we cannot see it with our eye."

Then the physician left her.And she kept repeating to herself, "something infinitely small.We cannot see it with our human eye."

And at evening the priest came to console her.And she wept and she cried out syaing, "Oh, why have i lost my son, my only son, my first-born?"

And the priest answered, "My child, it is the will of God."

And the woman said, "What is God and where is God? I would see God that i may tear my bosom before Him,and pour the blood of my heart at His feet.Tell me where shall i find Him."

And the priest said, "God is infinitely vast.He is not to be seen with our human eye."

Then the woman cried out, "The infinitely small has slain my son through the will of the infinitely great! Then what are we? What are we?"

At that moment the woman's mother came into the room with the shroud for the dead boy, and she heard the words of the priest and also her daughter's cry.And she laid down the shroud, and took her daughter's hand in her own hand, and she said, "My daughter, we ourselves are the infinitely small and the infinitely great; and we are the path between the two."

-Kahlil Gibran

Finding Neverland....

BELIEVE!!!!
And LO!!....You are in your Neverland......
-Wookie.

Important thing!!!!!!!

Let there be one thing always in your life...............

AWE!!!!!!

-Wookie....

Upon The Sand...

Said one man to another, "At the high tide of the sea,long ago, with the point of my staff I wrote a line upon the sand; and the people still pause to read it, and they are careful that naught shall erase it."

And the other man said,"And i too wrote a line upon the sand, but it was at low tide, and the waves of the vast sea washed it away. But tell me, what did you write?"

And the first man answered and said, "I wrote this, 'I am He Who is.' But what did you write?"

And the other man said,"This I wrote: 'I am but a drop of this great ocean.' "

-Khalil Gibran.

Beauty and Ugliness....

Upon a day Beauty and Ugliness met on the shore of a sea.And they said to one another,"Let us bathe in the sea."

Then they disrobed and swam in the waters.And after a while Ugliness came back to shore and garmented himself with the garments of Beauty and walked his way.

And Beauty too came out of the sea,and found not her raiment,and she was too shy to be naked,therfore she dressed herself with the raiment of Ugliness.And Beauty walked her way.
And to this very day men and women mistake the one for the other.

Yet some there are who have beheld the face of Beauty,and they know her notwithstanding her garments.And some there be who know the face of Ugliness,and the cloth conceals him not from their eyes.

-Khalil Gibran.

Ignorance...

"What is the biggest obstacle to Enlightenment?"

"Ignorance."

"Is there just one type of ignorance or are there many?"

"Many," said the master. "For instance, your particular brand of ignorance demands you search for Enlightenment."

Fly High....

"Come to the Edge."
"We can't.We are Afraid."

"Come to the Edge."

"We can't.We will fall!"

"COME TO THE EDGE"

And they came.
And he pushed them.

And they FLEW.

-Guillaume Apollinaire

Love, Wealth and Success....

A woman came out of her house & saw 3 old men with long white beards
sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said "I don't
think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in & have
something to eat."


"Is the man of the house home?", they asked.

"No", she replied. "He's out."

"Then we cannot come in", they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had
happened.

"Go tell them I am home and invite them in!"

The woman went out & invited the men in"

" We do not go into a House together," they replied.

"Why is that?" she asked.

One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to
one of his friends, & said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and
I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in & discuss with your husband which
one of us u want in ur home."

The woman went in & told her husband what was said. Her husband was
overjoyed. "How nice!!", he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite
Wealth. Let him come & fill our home with wealth!"

His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?"

Their daughter was listening from the other corner of the house. She
jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite
Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"

"Let us heed our daughter's advice," said the husband to his wife.

"Go out & invite Love to be our guest ."

The woman went out & asked the 3 old men, "Which one of you is Love?
Please come in and be our guest."

Love got up & started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up
and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth & Success: "I only
invited Love, Why r u coming in?"

The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success,
the other two of us would've stayed out, but since u invited Love,
wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also
Wealth & Success!!!!!!”

TONGUE TWISTERS.... [:P]

-Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

-Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.

-Betty Botter had some butter,
"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter--
that would make my batter better."
So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.

-A big black bug bit a big black bear,
made the big black bear bleed blood.

-She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

-I am not the pheasant plucker,
I'm the pheasant plucker's mate.
I am only plucking pheasants
'cause the pheasant plucker's running late.

-A flea and a fly flew up in a flue.
Said the flea, "Let us fly!"
Said the fly, "Let us flee!"
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

-I cannot bear to see a bear
Bear down upon a hare.
When bare of hair he strips the hare,
Right there I cry, "Forbear!"

-How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would
if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

-Ruby Rugby's brother bought and brought her
back some rubber baby-buggy bumpers.

-Which witch wished which wicked wish?

-You've no need to light a night-light
On a light night like tonight,
For a night-light's light's a slight light,
And tonight's a night that's light.
When a night's light, like tonight's light,
It is really not quite right
To light night-lights with their slight lights
On a light night like tonight.

-Of all the felt I ever felt,
I never felt a piece of felt
which felt as fine as that felt felt,
when first I felt that felt hat's felt.

-Swan swam over the sea,
Swim, swan, swim!
Swan swam back again
Well swum, swan!

-I thought a thought.
But the thought I thought wasn't the thought
I thought I thought.

-Truly rural.

MOMENT MATTERS...

"Looking at a sunset...... just for a second........you forget your separateness.........you are the sunset.......That is the moment......... when you feel the beauty of it........ But the moment you say that it is a beautiful sunset..........you are no longer feeling it.......... you have come back to your separate, enclosed entity of the ego............... Now the mind is speaking........... And this is one of the mysteries........... that the mind can speak........... and knows nothing......... and the heart knows everything........and cannot speak...........Perhaps to know too much makes it difficult to speak.........the mind knows so little......... it is possible for it to speak."

-OSHO

JUST DO IT.....

Somebody said that MAY BE IT COUDN'T be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
on his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

Relations...

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, "I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you."
The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who had been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.
That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. "What's wrong, are you well," she asked? My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.
"I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you," I responded, "Just the two of us." She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I would like that very much."
That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's.
"I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed," she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear about our meeting."
We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print.
Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. "It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small," she said.
"Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor," I responded.
During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation---nothing extra-ordinary but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you."
I agreed.
"How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got home.
"Very nice; much more so than I could have imagined," I answered.
A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her.
Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said:
"I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates--one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you son."
At that moment, I understood the importance of saying "I LOVE YOU" in time and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve.
Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till "some other time."

-Anonymous

Make a Difference.......

A man was walking down the beach at sunset.

As, he walked along, he saw another man in the distance. He noticed this man kept leaning down, picking up something and throwing it out into the water, again and again. As, he approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach. He was throwing them back into the water, one by one.

Puzzled, he approached the man and said, "Good Evening. I was wondering what you are doing."
"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide and all these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If, I don't throw them back into the ocean, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."
"But, there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possible get to all of them. And, don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"
The man bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and threw it back into the ocean. With a smile he replied, "Made a difference to that one !!!"

Just remember, no matter how small the deed it really does makes a difference.Make a difference today.

-Anon.

Never lose your value

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $500/- note in the room of 200,

He asked, " Who would like this 500 note?" Hands Started going up.

He said, " I am going to give this note to one of you But first let me do this."
He proceeded to crumple the note up.

He then asked, " Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, " What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground

And started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, Now all crumpled and dirty. " Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. " My friends, you have all learned a very valuable Lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $ 500/-.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or
what will Happen, You will never lose your value. You are special don't ever forget it!

Never let yesterday's disappointments overshadow tomorrow's dreams

-Anon.

HAVE SOME TIME.....

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his
5-year-old son
waiting for him at the door...

Son: "Daddy, may I ask you a question"

Daddy: "Yeah sure, what it is?"

Son: "Dad, how much do you make an hour"

Daddy: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"

Son: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an
hour?"

Daddy: "I make Rs. 500 an hour"

"Oh", the little boy replied, with his head down.

Looking up, he said, "Dad, may I please borrow Rs. 300?"

The father was furious,
"if the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money
to buy a silly toy or other nonsense, then march yourself to your room
and go to
bed.
Think why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this
childish
behavior"

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's
questions.

How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down,
and started to think:

"May be there was something he really needed to buy with that
Rs. 300 and he really didn't ask for money very often!"

The man went to the door of little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.
"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, may be I was too hard on you earlier", said the
man,
"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.
Here's the Rs.300 you asked for"

The little boy sat straight up, smiling "oh thank you dad!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled some crippled up notes.
The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry
again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his
father.

"Why do you want money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy I have Rs. 500 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?
Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you"

-Anon.

The Dream Contract...

Nasruddin was fast asleep at nine in the morning.The Sun was in the sky,the birds were singing in the trees and his breakfast was getting cold.So his wife decided to wake him up.

He woke up in a rage."Why did you wake me up,just now?" he yelled.

"The sun has risen in the sky,"said she, "the breakfast is getting cold."

"Breakfast be damned,"he said, I was about to sign a contract worth a million grammes of gold!"

With that he closed his eyes to recapture his shattered dream and those million grammes of gold.

Now Nasruddin was cheating in that contract and his business partner was a tyrant.

If , on recapturing the dream, he stops cheating, he will become a saint.

If he struggles to free the people from the oppression of the tyrant, he will be a freedom fighter.

If, in the middle of it all,he suddenly realises he is dreaming, he will become Awakwned.Enlightened

-From TOI.

HEAVENLY RIDE THRU SILENCE....

You talk when you cease
to be at peace with your thoughts.

And when you can no
longer dwell in the solitude of your heart
you live in your lips, and sound
is a diversion and a pastime.

And in much of your
talking, thinking is half murdered.

For thought is a bird
of space, that in a cage of words
many indeed unfold its wings but cannot
fly.

There are those among
you who seek the talkative through
fear of being alone.

The silence of aloneness
reveals to their eyes their naked
selves and they would escape.

And there are those
who talk, and without knowledge
or forethought reveal a truth which they
themselves do not understand.

And there are those
who have the truth within them,
but they tell it not in words.

In the bosom of such
as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence.

When you meet your
friend on the roadside or in the market place,
let the spirit in you move
your lips and direct your tongue.

Let the voice within
your voice speak to the ear of his ear;

For his soul will keep
the truth of your heart as the taste
of the wine is remembered
when the colour is
forgotten and the vessel is no more.

-Khalil Gibran.

The Difference...

THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SANE AND INSANE PEOPLE IS--- THAT INSANE PEOPLE SPEAK IT OUT LOUD....

ATTITUDE.....

By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed Him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.

" I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

GREEN IS THE COLOUR...

Heavy hung the canopy of blue
Shade my eyes and I can see you
White is the light that shines through the dress that you wore
She lay in the shadow of the wave
Hazy were the visions of her playing
Sunlight on her eyes but moonshine beat her blind everytime
Green is the colour of her kind
Quickness of the eye deceives the mind
Envy is the bond between the hopefull and the damned
-PINK FLOYD.