**Story of Appreciation**

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score .The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "none".The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees. The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect. The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me. The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid. The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water. This was the first time the youth realised that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office. The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: " Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'. The Director asked, " please tell me your feelings."The youth said, Number 1, I now  know what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today. Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for to be my manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life.

You are hired. Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously. A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others.

For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more.

If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?*You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person.

The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

Tour of the Castle and the Snow

I apologize for missing in action. However exams come first! I will have new post later this week, but I thought I would share pictures of my tour of the castle. Also I had to show you the 5 feet of snow we have had in the last week. I don't want to see anymore snow. LOL

Chapter 21

Trust is much more than a verb we use in society. The sad part is that as humans we can’t handle the true meaning trust. Humans have a tendency to become so focused on their agendas that they misuse and abuse this very thing we call trust. Every individual has their own philosophy for how select those who they will trust. There is not a standard format or script for how to know when someone is trustworthy. It’s mainly a test of trial and error. The person I trust you may not find trustworthy.  Furthermore you may automatically give trust while I may require someone to earn my trust. I don’t think there is a right or wrong method I am just highlighting differences.

The underlying idea is that whether it’s accidental or intentional we all abuse the trust of someone at some point in our life. Now, I know some of you are so saved and perfect that you have never broken the trust of others. Well this blog entry is not for you and you won’t benefit from the pearls which are buried in this blog, because you don’t see any mistakes in your life. I have come to find out that normal people don’t wake up in the morning or go to sleep at night brainstorming ways to abuse the trust of others. It all occurs at the point when you get comfortable with your situation and you begin to want more, and most of the time the additional increase you want belongs to someone else. So essentially you are taking what doesn’t belong to you. Have you ever thought that when you seek out your own agenda in life that causes us to forget the bonds we have made with others? The bonds we break are with people who were there when you had nothing, these are the same people who strengthened you when you were weak, and the SAME people who spoke up for you when others were condemning you, but we feel we must step on them to get to the next level.

 Society fuels the fantasy that we must be better than our neighbor, but the truth is that all the material things you were blessed with, you have all those things to bless others, but who have you helped in the last 6 months (that’s another blog all together)? The interesting thing about trust is that while it can’t be purchased with money people will always break trust to get more money. While trust can’t fulfill your physical desires, you will break it to get a taste of the forbidden fruit. While trust can’t directly make you happy, you will break it to just to achieve societal recognition. The humbling feeling is that once you have broken trust to achieve all the desires of your flesh you are now alone, because you damaged relationships to get to the next level.

Stop chasing a dream that will cause your true friends not to trust you. The perception you leave behind once you have broken the trust of someone is hard to change. While they say they forgive you, they never forget! There is always a constant memory of the pain you caused and the never ending thought of will you do it again? It’s human nature to want to avoid hurtful situations and people, but I know that trust can be rebuilt. It will take time and patience, but most of all it takes hard work and determination. Are you willing to work to rebuild the trust you broke in their lives?

I know that I am not perfect and I have made mistakes that caused people I love not to trust my actions. I have done things that only supported my goals while ignoring the emotions of others. There came a time in my life when I looked at all the things I accomplished and realized that I was all alone and had no one to share them with me, but who could I blame but myself. It takes a extraordinary individual to recognize their faults and be willing to admit them and strive for change. While there are others who misused the trust I gave them I can’t use that as an excuse to why I hurt others.

However, I do know that there is one individual who I can trust when I can’t trace Him. Who has never let me down and always there when I needed Him. While others may try to discredit His presence and authority I know from experience that when you let me down He reminded me not to put trust in man. I’m glad I met Him and I know that my relationship is stronger, because when I didn’t know why things were happening in my life I heard a voice that said “do you trust me to deliver you to another level where your broken friendships will be restored and where I will give you whatever you shall ask as long as you put me first?”

The hardest thing for an individual is to stop talking at people and start listening. I dare you to stop talking and start listening. Once you start listening start trusting, and once you really start trusting you will begin to see revelation.

Fireworks Celebration

Today we had a fireworks celebration which was connected to Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot. In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Among them was Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.
The idea was to place 36 barrels of gunpowder under a cellar, just under the House of Lords. The attempt was spoiled due to a suspicious letter sent from Guy to warn his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th.

On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, as the army was sent to investigate the letter. On November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.

Here are clips from the Fireworks.

Enjoy

Chapter 20

Life is a cycle of trials and tribulations. I have realized that I make the most mistakes when I lean into my own understanding. I am quick to make assumptions that do not accurately address my situation. It’s something I am praying about, but I know that God has already brought me from a LONG WAY.

Although we may blame others for our mistakes because we were not warned, do you ever look at yourself as the cause of your issues? We find in society that people who have difficulty dealing with the outcomes of life turn to all sorts of substances and other worldly possessions. Then after the thrill is gone or they get sick and tired of being sick and tired they turn to all type people who have created programs to help them deal with their issues.

Well there is a new program out for those looking to go to the next level of life. You don’t have to be down and out to partake in this program. You don’t need to pay for it, sign up, or get approval from society. When people let you down, when society cast you out, when you are down to your last dollar, when you have tried everything else read the instruction manual of life and follow this twelve steps below. If you don’t know what manual I am talking about I will reveal it in a later blog.

1. Uncover the Revelation

2. Revelation will stimulate your motivation

3. Which will exude through your communication

4. Leading to application

5. Changing your affiliations

6. Changing your situation

7. Building a strong foundation

8. Now live in expectation

9. Through divine navigation

10. Which leads to a destination

11. Provided by divine obligation

12. Now it’s time for celebration

Be Blessed

Chapter 19

I’m at one of those stages where there is so much on my mind I honestly don’t know what to write. I will admit its rough being in a mental overload stage, but thankfully they aren’t continuous. Have you ever been in a point in your life where you don’t know whether to take the path left or right? I’m at that point and it can be rather frustrating. These type of decisions can be life changing or they can be minor, but every decision you make has a consequence (good or bad).

 In life there are times when things just appear that you never expect, and it can be difficult to adjust to the new circumstances. I relate this to the General Adaptation Stage. We face the alarm stage when the new stress is introduce, the resistance stage when our bodies try to cope with the stress, and the exhaustion stage when our bodies begin to shut down. I guess Forest Gump was right “Life is like a box of chocolates, You never know what you’re gonna get!” You wonder are these things meant to harm or distract me or are they here to benefit me? We go through life believing that we are always prepared to handle any situation we face. Although most times the situation is not that bad, but it’s the decisions you have to make in the situation that cause tribulations. It becomes difficult because you don’t know how the outcome of your choices/decision will affect your future. It’s very tempting to pick a solution without evaluating the benefits or the cost because it makes you feel good.

The issue I notice is that we as individuals feel we have all the right answers because we can use Google and the Internet. Just because something is good to you doesn’t mean it’s good for you. We have become so impatient that as soon as something new arrives we jump to act without consideration of the effects. It can be difficult hearing the voice of reason when you have barriers that are blocking your perception and your heart.

Following your heart can ensure you make the right decision. Although you never know the true outcome the best solution is to be prepared for disappointed, but never regret the decisions you make. Furthermore learn to be patient and good things will come in due course.

St. Andrews Trip