MyLifeYoga

A small town chamber of commerce invited a speaker to address its annual dinner. The community’s economy was bad, people were discouraged, and they wanted this motivational speaker to give them a boost.

During her presentation, the speaker took a large piece of white paper and made a small black dot in the centre of it with a marking pen. Then she held the paper up before the group and ask them what they saw.

One person quickly replied, “I see a black dot.”

“She swivelled to another person in the audience, “Okay, what do you see?”

“A black dot.”

“Don’t you see anything besides the dot?” she turned and asked the audience.

A resounding “No” came from the audience.

“What about the sheet of paper?” asked the speaker. “I am sure you have all seen it”, she said, “But you have chosen to overlook it.”

“In life, we also tend to overlook and take for granted many wonderful things that we have or happen around us and focus our attention and energy on small issues and disappointments.”

It is natural for us to focus on our problems but is it wise to overlook the bigger picture? From time to time we must step back and acknowledge that which is good in our life. This should bring balance in our lives and allow us to have a proper perspective on the problems we face.

Credits:
Source unknown. We found the story here.

You may also like: Things Are Not Always As They Appear

Anne Mahlum loves running. One day she realized that she was just running past homeless people without doing anything to help or acknowledge. This realization changed her life. She approached the homeless and started chatting with them and building a relationship. Running is what got Anne through difficult times as her family struggled through the problem of her father’s addiction to gambling. Now she felt that running could also help the homeless. She knew that instead of running by the homeless she had to run with them. She then approached the Mission and received permission to start a running club. With donated shoes and running clothes the first runners assembled on July 3rd 2007 at 6 am. Each runner signed a “Dedication Contract” committing to:

• Show up every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 am.
• Be on time.
• Respect oneself.
• Support teammates.

Today this has grown into a national movement known as “Back on My Feet” with 10 chapters all across the US. “Back on My Feet” has more than 387 members who are currently experiencing homelessness and are participating in the running program. Since inception 818 homeless people who joined the running program have obtained employment and 552 have obtained housing and are no longer homeless.

Anne’s story and work shows us how we can make an impact on the world if we are willing to care and be kind, and put actions behind our thoughts.

Related:
Back on My Feet
How the program works.

People tell me that there is something about giving birth that makes a woman worried. Not about actually giving birth but about being a bad mother. I don’t have kids, but every woman I know who has been initiated into the ranks of Mummy tells me they worry.

If my child comes home with head lice, am I a Bad Mother? If I let my child sort out their own battles, am I a Bad Mother? What if I step in to level the playing field when that kid from mother’s group is biting mine?

It’s really hard.

You worry. You worry so much about your kids. You just want to protect them, to see them grow into happy people. This is why I have always been puzzled as to why, when I told my mother that my father was sexually abusing me, she said I was lying.

It seemed so very…un-motherly.

And, if you ask me, it was an actual, real-life example, one of the few, of bad mothering. It took me five years to work up the courage to tell my mother what was going on, and then…nothing. No help. No acknowledgment. Just denial.

And instructions to stop giving my father attitude. Continue reading →