TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE, IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE. I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE, AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE. I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE, NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE. NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS. WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND. FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY, I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY. THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE, CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME. THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DI SORDER, NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER. WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ? CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED? I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT, OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT. SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY. THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE. I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE, ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME. THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE, I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY. THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE, 'SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE; I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE, MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY! COUNTRY, MY CORPS.' THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP, I C O ULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP. I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL. I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT, THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT. THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.' ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. 'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,! AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.' This poem was written by a Marine. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable..... PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these fe stivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed. ============================ ____________________ A long time ago, there was an Emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he likes, then the Emperor would give him the area of land he has covered. Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible. It came to a point when he had covered a substantial area and he was exhausted and was dying. Then he asked himself, "Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only need a very small area to bury myself." The above story is similar with the journey of our Life. We push very hard everyday to make more money, to gain more power and more recognition. We neglect our health and our time with our family and do not take time to appreciate the surrounding beauty and the hobbies we enjoy. One day when we look back, we will realize that we don't really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have missed. Life is not just about making money, acquiring power or recognition. Life is definitely not about work! Work is only necessary to earn a living so that we can enjoy the convenience and pleasures of life. Life is a balance of Work and Play, Family and Personal time. You have to decide how you want to balance your Life. Define your priorities, realize what you are able to compromise but always let some of your decisions be based on your instincts. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of Life, the whole aim of human existence. So, take it easy. Life is fragile, Life is short. Do not take Life for granted. Live a balanced lifestyle. Enjoy Life! Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. ___________________ Sir Ernest Shackleton was a great explorer who found himself and his crew in a life-or-death crisis when they had to abandon ship in the icy waters around Antarctica. It was 1914, and Shackleton's expedition had planned an unprecedented land crossing of the frozen continent. When the ship got stuck in the ice and sank, the crew began an unscheduled 18-month survival test. They stayed alive as they moved among the drifting ice floes until they eventually found an island, where they established a camp. When their provisions began to run low, Shackleton and several crewmembers boarded one of their salvaged lifeboats and made a daring 800-mile voyage to a whaling station. They returned with a ship, and all 27 men survived the ordeal. "There are two types of people during a crisis - those who freeze and those who focus." If you'd like to learn better focus, see the coupon at the bottom. | | | | | Dear Visitor,
 Does learning to control emotions better enable your success and achievement? Is Emotional Intelligence more important than IQ? See next article -- NEW 2008 Series: ASK Charlie! After the holidays, I'm start a series of teleseminars and virtual meetings on answering your questions about: - trust and success - best business practices - love, relationships & marriage* - finances Here's the first "Ask Charlie" question: WHAT'S YOUR SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION ABOUT HOW TO HAVE MORE TIME AND MONEY, AND PERSONAL LIFE BALANCE? eMAIL me at info@breedingtrust.com In January, I'm announcing a new partnership with a major self-development powerhouse as a Guide for Corporate Training & God is my CEO: Sex, Love & Marriage, a new internet radio channel host show in February, and a partnership with a PhD who cites studies that exercising only 8-10 minutes a day can be more healthy for you than those 40-minute workouts ... so stay tuned! | | Control Your Senses, Control You Emotions for Greater Success I love the metaphor of the Old Western movies of the stagecoach, driver dead or knocked off, and a team of 6-8 horses running without direction or reins controlling them over the bumpy desert terrain. There's always an old lady with a large sunhat on your head screaming, "help me, save me." 
Well, that team of horses represents your senses: touch, sight, smell, aural and taste. How else can you explain overpowering a 300-lb. man or woman as their path is redirected to the bakery or ice cream shop? :-) The reins of control attempting to guide that stagecoach, slow it down, get it under control and to its destination -- safely. And that little old lady: your soul conscience, pleading with you to get the horses {senses} under control. Note this: emotional intelligence is more important to life success than "IQ" or intellectual intelligence. Read Daniel Goleman's book on "Emotional Intelligence" to learn more .... Emotional intelligence is simply a few, but critical mastering of self and personal development: - taking full responsibility and accountability for each and everything that "happens to you" - listening to understand vs. (more typical and novice), listening to respond. Expert at demonstrating an understanding of the other person's viewpoint. - anger, less of it, and when it does come out, it's restrained, discipline, prudent, thoughtful and assertive. - ego and pride are diminished greatly; humble; happiness is not determined by other people or environments To learn more about NLP, contraception, the body, and love and marriage, see The Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II or Human Vitae. Both are actually quite deep, meaningful and profound. Trust me, we all need the guidance. Take time to read... So, could emotional intelligence be linked to abstaining from the marital embrace? Contraception is lying to the body. Or ask yourself, "Is contraception the truth to the body? | | Paradoxial LIfe Laws 1) AGNES ALLEN'S LAW: Almost anything is easier to get into than to get out of. (2) ANDERSON'S LAW: I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which when you look at it the right way, did not become still more complicated. (3) BOLTON'S LAW OF ASCENDING BUDGETS: Under current practices, both expenditures and revenues rise to meet each other, no matter which of the two is in excess. (4) BORAN'S GUIDELINES FOR BUREAUCRACY: (a) When in charge, ponder; (b) When in trouble, delegate; (c) When in doubt, mumble. (5) BOYLE'S LAW: If not controlled, work will flow to the competent man, until overload makes him incompetent. (6) BUNUEL'S LAW: Overdoing all things is harmful, even efficiency. (7) THE COMPUTER MAXIM: To err is human, but to really, really foul things up requires a computer. (8) CORCORAN'S LAW: All papers that you save will never be needed till they are destroyed, when they become absolutely essential. (9) CORNUELLE'S LAW: Authority always tends to assign jobs to those least able to do them. (10) DOW'S LAW: In any hierarchical organization, the higher the level, the more profound the confusion. (11) FINAGLE'S LAW: When an error is detected and corrected, it will be found to have been correct in the first place. (12) HARRIS' LAW: Any philosophy of management which can be put into a nutshell, belongs there. (13) HELLER'S LAW: The first myth of management usually is that it exists. (14) HULL'S WARNING: It is good practice not to insult the alligator till you have crossed the river. (15) JAY'S LAW OF LEADERSHIP: Changing things is central to leadership, and changing them before any one else is creativity. (16) JONES' LAW: Friends may come and friends may go, but enemies accumulate. (17) MILE'S LAW: On any issue, where you stand depends on where you sit. (18) MURPHY'S FORTIETH LAW: If you are eating a piece of buttered toast which slips out of your hand, the chances of the buttered side pointing downwards will be directly proportional to the cost of the carpet. (19) MURPHY'S ULTIMATE LAW: It is inherently impossible to make anything foolproof, as a fool will always find a way around it. (20) MURPHY'S LAW OF COPIERS: The legibility of a copy is inversely proportional to the importance of the document. (21) ACHESON'S RULE OF BUREAUCRACY: A memorandum is not written to inform the recipient, but to protect the writer. (22) AIRPLANE LAW: When the plane you are on is late, the plane you want to transfer to will be on time. (23) MORE MURPHY: If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. ________________________________________ | | Lessons on Life  There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and droopingwith fruit, full of life and fulfillment. The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring,the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall. Moral: Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later. _____________________________ | | A Christmas to Remember This is a first-person account from a mother about her family as they ate dinner on Christmas Day in a small restaurant many miles from their home. Nancy, the mother, relates: We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly eating and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi there." He pounded his fat baby hands on the high-chair tray. His eyes were wide with excitement and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin. He wriggled and giggled with merriment. I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man with a tattered rag  of a coat; dirty, greasy and worn. His pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and nose was so varicose it looked like a road map. We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. "Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster," the man said to Erik. My husband and I exchanged looks, "What do we do?" Erik continued to laugh and answer, ""Hi, hi there." Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, "Do ya know patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo." Nobody thought he old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments. We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. "Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to side-step him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's pick-me-up, position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man's. Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love relationship. Erik in an act of total trust, love and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain and hard labor - gently, so gently cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms for a moment, and then his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, "You take care of this baby." Somehow I managed, "I will," from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, "God bless you ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift." I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, "My God, my God, forgive me." I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking --"Are you willing to share your son for a moment?", when He shared His son for all eternity. The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, "To enter the Kingdom of God, we must become as little children." Author Unknown _____________________________________ | | The Last Word
15 Things You Probably Never Knew
1. At least 5 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. If not for you, someone may not be living.
8. You are special and unique.
9. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
10. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
11. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the
world.
12. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you believe in yourself, probably, sooner or later, you will get it.
13. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
14. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know.
15. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.
A Minute: 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.
Take the time .. to live and love.
Send this letter to all the people you care about, Including the person who sent this to you.
If you do so, You will certainly brighten someone's day and might change their perspective on life, for the better.Make it a good day & have a blessed and happy Christmas! Next newsletter, Dec. 31st ..
Charlie Charlie Breeding President, Performance Improvement Institute | | |
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