Happy Independence day! Whoa what a day so far. It is not yet 8pm and i have seen 8 emergencies already today! i did get a little break around lunch to go home and load some songs onto the computer to put on my mp3 player for when i run. the portable radio i strap on my arm isn't cutting it. it works well but they talk too much on the radio, especially in the mornings. now i will have all my good lenny kravitz, counting crows, and michael jackson songs along with a lot of other artists. i will be able to run forever!
Needless to say i have not worked out or shot my bow today. I was going to shoot my bow after the last emergency i just finished, but a tornado kept me from it. i know more excuses, right. the good thing is today was a rest day on my schedule. i was going to take tomorrow to rest too since i ran more days than i was supposed to last week.
Just think in about 72 hours i will be in montana. the bad thing is, of that 72 hours i have to be on call 36 of those hours and work another 10 or so. Emily and i are going to montana for our summer vacation. we will get to see 2 good friends out there and yellowstone. i can't wait!
i want to share a story with everyone that i have heard a couple of times, kind of a (silly) parable, but for some reason it has stuck with me for a long time. There was a man walking along the beach. on this beach there were hundreds of starfish that had been washed up with the tide. the man noticed another man down the beach doing something and he couldn't tell what. as the first man got closer he noticed the second man was throwing starfish back into the ocean. the first man looked around and after realizing the second man was trying to save all the starfish he said "you can't do it, there are too many for you to save them all, your efforts are futile." the second man just kept on working and didn't say a word. after a few more minutes the first man said "quit wasting your time, you can't make a difference." the second man threw one more in and said "it made a difference to that one. "
now i know that is a corny story but i want to extrapolate a few points from it. always try to help, no matter how small the difference you make, the point is, you made a difference. it is much better to go through life even making a little difference than making none, no matter how small. also, we weren't all made to change the world drastically, but when we try to make a small difference in your eyes it can be an incredibly amazing difference to others, and most of the time we will never know it. and don't help others just to get something in return, your reward should be looking in the mirror at night when you are all alone and knowing you did what you could that day. if you know you have done your best, it doesn't matter what other people think. the last lesson from the story is this, when someone tries to discourage you, do not waste your time with them. by answering the first man the second man might have lost out on one more starfish he could have saved. turn a deaf ear towards negative talk. James Freeman Clarke said "if i cannot do great things, i can do small things in a great way." Booker T. Washington said"excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way."
so, do everything, big or small, no matter how tiny, in a greatly uncommon way.
one thing i do want to add is that i do not think i have mastered all the things i write about or give my opinion on. most of the things i write about are things i deal with and face every day and i just like to share thoughts and sayings that have occasionally helped me get things right. i don't want anyone to think that i think i am perfect in any area. i struggle everyday with doing things right. i am so selfish and many times very lazy and proud. i just like to share things that have helped me.
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