FRIENDS

This one goes out to all SMEs; who have been there with me thru thick n thin. I salute each n everyone of u. Thank you, and may God bless each and everyone of u.....

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I though to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running towards him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said " Those guys are jerks." They really should get lives. He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"

There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me. So, I asked him why I had never seen him before…He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends, He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.


Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I become best friends.. When we were seniors we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship…


Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd.. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak.

Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks", he said.


As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began.

"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.

Your parents,
Your teachers,
Your siblings,
maybe a coach....
but mostly your
FRIENDS…

I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.

"I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.."


I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions..

With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way.. Look for God in others.

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.

There is no beginning or end...

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift…that’s why it’s called the PRESENT!

Work, work, work!!

Stress

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked 'How heavy is this glass of water?'Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it."

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. 'He continued,'And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy,we won't be able to carry on.

''As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.''So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.

'So, my friend, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now..Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while...

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

* Always wear stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be"Recalled" by their maker.

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance!

* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

* The second mouse gets the cheese.

* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

* We could learn a lot from crayons... some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

A Million Dollar Lesson

A cab driver taught me a million dollar lesson in customer satisfaction and expectation. Motivational speakers charge thousands of dollars to impart his kind of training to corporate executives and staff. It cost me a $12 taxi ride. I had flown into Dallas for the sole purpose of calling on a client. Time was of the essence and my plan included a quick turnaround trip from and back to the airport. A spotless cab pulled up.

The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door. As he got in the driver's seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to me for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy.

Well! I looked around for a "Candid Camera!" Wouldn't you? I could not believe the service I was receiving! I took the opportunity to say, "Obviously you take great pride in your work. You must have a story to tell." "You bet," he replied, "I used to be in Corporate America. But I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough. I decided to find my niche in life where I could feel proud of being the best I could be.

I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day's work and done it well. I evaluate my personal assets and... wham! I became a cab driver.

One thing I know for sure, to be good in my business I could simply just meet the expectations of my passengers. But, to be GREAT in my business, I have to EXCEED the customer's expectations! I like both the sound and the return of being 'great' better than just getting by on 'average'" Did I tip him big time? You bet! Corporate America's loss is the traveling folk's friend!

-----Lessons:
· Go an Extra Mile when providing any Service to others.
· There is no good or bad job. You can make any job good.
· Good service always brings good return.

Some Favourite Customer Service Quotes:

“You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied.” -- JERRY FRITZ

“Customer service is not a department, it's an attitude!”

“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.” -- PETER DRUCKER

Japanese solution

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the water close to Japan has not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring the fish. If the return trip took more time, the fish were not fresh. To solve this problem, fish companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen fish. And they did not like the taste of frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price.

So, fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, they were tired, dull, and lost their fresh-fish taste. The fishing industry faced an impending crisis!

But today, they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan .

How did they manage?

To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks but with a small shark. The fish are challenged and hence are constantly on the move. The challenge they face keeps them alive and fresh! Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired and dull?

Basically in our lives, sharks are new challenges to keep us active. If you are steadily conquering challenges, you are happy. Your challenges keep you energized. Don't create success and revel in it in a state of inertia. You have the resources, skills and abilities to make a difference.Take a Risk, take a chance.

Put a shark in your tank and see how far you can really go!

Maryellen Rubio

Life Is Too Short To Waste Time Hating Anyone

A story tells that two friends
were walking through the desert

During some point of the

Journey they had an

Argument, and one friend

Slapped the other one

In the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt,

but without saying anything,

wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE .

They kept on walking until they found an oasis,

where they decided to take a bath.

The one who had been slapped got stuck

in the mire and started drowning,

but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning,

he wrote on a stone:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.

The friend who had slapped and saved

his best friend asked him,

"After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now,

you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied

"When someone hurts us we should

write it down in sand where winds of

forgiveness can erase it away.

But, when someone does something good for us,

we must engrave it in stone where

no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE

SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE!!!

They say it takes a minute to find a special person,

an hour to appreciate them,

a day to love them,

but then an entire life to forget them.

Do not value the THINGS you have in your life.

But value WHO you have in your life!

" Happiness is not something you find, it's something you create..."

- Rose Maria -

We are...Family...