NO MORE WITH ME

Salaam guys, read on and enjoy.. thanks.


NO MORE WITH ME

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me! I don't mean to hold you up," he said as he
struggled to get off the escalator.


I'll admit to it. There have been times when walking or driving behind an
older person I've gotten impatient and upset. I've huffed and zoomed around
them because I was in a hurry to get nowhere. Perhaps I'm more aware of it
now because I see myself there one day soon. Today I saw myself in this old
man's shoes and it caused me to slow down, stop and ask for his forgiveness.


He was about five or six people ahead of me. I was in a hurry and saw him as
an obstacle. I've seen people get off the end of an escalator and stop dead
in their tracks, gather their things and suddenly there's a pile up of angry
people behind them. You can't stop an escalator full of people behind you.
Like the Energizer bunny, they keep on goin'.


This man was well aware of the challenge. He tried desperately to step
aside. Fumbling with his small packages, struggling to gain his footing, you
could see how troubling this was for him. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me! I
don't mean to hold you up," he said as he struggled to get off the
escalator.


I suddenly saw this in a whole new light. It was like I was watching my
future. I felt sorry for him. I felt sick to my stomach because this man was
apologizing to everyone, when we should have been helping him and calming
his fears.


One by one, people zipped around him. I heard a few angry comments whispered
as one lady passed by him.


I saw me.


By the time I got to him he was just about steady on his feet.


"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know there was more," he said.


"No, sir. No more with me," I said. This really hit me hard. I realized
right then how sad it was that the world was in such a hurry. That, of
course, included me. But...no more with me. Count me out.


This wonderful man paid his dues. For whatever time he had spent on this
earth, he most likely walked many rough roads and too many important miles.
Now he should be apologizing for moving slower?


My heart ached as I looked into his eyes. I wished that I could see what he
had seen all those years. His face weathered from life itself, was creased
and wrinkled. The small soft pockets under his eyes and the gentle lines
that curved up and around them told me he had many happy moments, too. Those
were traces left behind from laughter and a smiling, happy man.


"My friend, can I help you with those things?" I asked.


Hesitant at first, he finally said, "Well, yes, thank you!"


I placed my hand under his left arm and walked with him a safe distance away
from the rush of people.


"So what are you shopping for, sir?"


"Oh, just a little something for my neighbor. She's a young mother raising
kids on her own. She's always so nice to me. I thought a box of candy for
Mother's Day..." he said, stopping suddenly as he searched his inside pocket
of his sport coat.


"Do you need something?" I asked.


"Oh, no. Here. I think I have it right here. I always carry them with me,"
he said. Then pulling out a hand full of papers he shuffled through them and
handed me a business card that read:


"John A. Pomicter
Friend to all...enemy to no one!

I said a prayer today and you were the answer. Thank you!"


"That's for you," he said. "Thanks for stopping to help an old man."


"My friend, you helped me. I discovered that I was unhappy with the world
and I was part of the problem. Now I'll be part of the solution. No more
with me!"


"Then this was meant to be," he said smiling.

"You know God sends me gifts every day and always at least one special
person. You were my gift for today! Let's go get some chocolates, my
friend."




"Anonymous"

"The Answers"...

Salaam guys, read on and enjoy.. thanks.


Rex Barker here with "The Answers"...

There was a man who had a little boy that he loved very much. Everyday
after work the man would come home and play with the little boy. He
would always spend all of his extra time playing with the little boy.

One night, while the man was at work, he realized that he had extra
work to do for the evening, and that he wouldn't be able to play with
his little boy. But, he wanted to be able to give the boy something to
keep him busy. So, looking around his office, he saw a magazine with a
large map of the world on the cover. He got an idea. He removed the
map, and then patiently tore it up into small pieces. Then he put all
the pieces in his coat pocket.

When he got home, the little boy came running to him and was ready to
play. The man explained that he had extra work to do and couldn't play
just now, but he led the little boy into the dining room, and taking
out all the pieces of the map, he spread them on the table. He
explained that it was a map of the world, and that by the time he
could put it back together, his extra work would be finished, and they
could both play. Surely this would keep the child busy for hours, he
thought.

About half an hour later the boy came to the man and said, "Okay, it's
finished. Can we play now?" The man was surprised, saying, "That's
impossible. Let's go see." And sure enough, there was the picture of
the world, all put together, every piece in its place.

The man said, "That's amazing! How did you do that?" The boy said, "It
was simple. On the back of the page was a picture of a man. When I put
the man together the whole world fell into place."

What is the lesson here? Send it in!

Answers Submitted by Joke-Of-The-Day.com Members
(There were hundreds of great answers ? sorry, we could only list a few)

1) If man puts himself in order, the whole world will come together.

2) Sometimes you can't see the forest but for the trees unless you
rise above and see from a different view.

3) One person can be someone's whole world.

4) If you work on one human being at a time, the world will come together.

5) Don't under estimate the power of a child

6) Giving someone a task to perform, with the correct motivator and
without detailed instructions as to how to complete the task allows a
person to be creative and find solutions other than the obvious.
Sometimes the solution is much more efficient than what are mindset
is.

7) To every problem or situation, there is a way out.

8) When complexity stares you in the face....look around for another
approach!

9) The world was not complete till God made man to be upon earth.

10) Our unconscious perception as ego (self) -centered beings is that
the world spins around us. When we fall apart, world falls apart. When
the fallen pieces of our broken self come together again, the world
falls into place again.

11) You can tear the world into as many pieces as you like, but a
small boy with a dream can put it back together again.

12) A person is a mini-universe, so complex and wonderfully made. When
the person falls apart, chaos is generated in the universe. The world
is made of unique individuals linked to each other. If one individual
falls apart, in a sense the whole world suffers.

13) You have the choice to do something the easy way or hard way. It
will still all come together in the end. There is a solution to every
problem. You just have to know where to look! Nothing is unachievable
if you put your heart and mind to it.

14) You are never too young to teach an old man a lesson he will not soon
forget

15) My husband once said to me "There can't be a us unless there is a
me." He meant that he had to get himself together before he could
contribute to this thing we call marriage. I apply the same concept
to the man/world relationship. For there to be a world, there must be
a man to contribute to it. That is what I got out of this lesson.

16) Leave it up to the children to teach us. Keep it simple and try
not to complicate things in your mind. It all falls in place

When giving a child something to keep them busy for HOURS, MAKE
CERTAIN that the other side of the torn map doesn't give ANY clues to
where each piece goes! Don't make it so simple because for all that
child knew, he was just putting the man together and the map fell into
place...just as he said!!

Thanks again,
Rex