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| Photo Credit: corena at morgueFile.com |
I’ve found that honesty can be much like bike riding
on a windy day. Telling the truth is like riding with the
wind at your back, pushing you along and helping you take the curvy roads of
life a whole lot easier. Being dishonest
is more like riding into the wind, as it presses against you, making you
struggle every inch of the way. And,
each curve that “lies” ahead seems that much harder to face with the fatigue of
dealing with the one before it.
If we can’t tell the truth about ourselves, I’m
thinking it will be much more difficult to tell the truth about others. Thomas
Jefferson said, “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” And, Albert Einstein stated that, “Whoever is
careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important
matters.”
I love the honesty of children. I once heard
that if you want honesty, just ask a child or someone who’s had one too many (drinks…not children – ha ha!). Just sayin’.
I love what my six-year-old daughter wrote on a Mother’s Day project at
school. She wrote, “I love my mom
because she loves me.” It’s nothing I
did. Nothing I said. Nothing I gave her. She loves me because I love her…and I love
that. It certainly beats an answer from
last year on her Mother’s Day project.
The teacher asked, “When is your mom funny?” My daughter replied, “Well, she is never
funny.” How ‘bout that.
And, since we’re being honest, there was a humorous
little e-mail I got from Mikey’s Funnies
that I thought you’d enjoy:
In my next life, I wanna be
a female bear. If you're a bear, you get
to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself silly. I could deal with that, too. If you're a bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, and cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.
If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them, too. And I could deal with that.
If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
Yup...I wanna be a bear. Are ya with me?!
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself silly. I could deal with that, too. If you're a bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, and cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.
If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them, too. And I could deal with that.
If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
Yup...I wanna be a bear. Are ya with me?!
Okay, mama bears, now let’s
be serious for a second. I also got another
e-mail from my cousin, Donna, that was very thought-provoking and I’m sure you
will benefit from reading it as much as I did.
A successful business man
was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the
business. Instead of choosing one of his
Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all of the young executives in his
company together.
He said, "It’s time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you.” The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued, “I am going to give each one of you a seed today - one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."
One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil, and compost, and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks…four weeks…five weeks went by and still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants. Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by and still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot, but she encouraged him to be honest about what happened.
Jim felt sick to his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. The plants were beautiful - in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him.
When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"
All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will even have me fired!"
When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed and Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down, except for Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "This is your next Chief Executive Officer. His name is Jim."
He said, "It’s time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you.” The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued, “I am going to give each one of you a seed today - one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."
One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil, and compost, and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks…four weeks…five weeks went by and still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants. Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by and still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot, but she encouraged him to be honest about what happened.
Jim felt sick to his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. The plants were beautiful - in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him.
When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"
All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will even have me fired!"
When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed and Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down, except for Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "This is your next Chief Executive Officer. His name is Jim."
Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. "How could he be the new CEO?" the
others asked.
Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But, I gave you all boiled seeds. They were dead. It wasn’t possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"
Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But, I gave you all boiled seeds. They were dead. It wasn’t possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"
WHAT a story, huh?!
If we plant honesty, we
will reap trust. So, let’s be careful what
we plant now; it will determine what we will reap later. Plant honesty.
WOW, what a great lesson...........sowing and reaping.....a lot to ponder.
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