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WITandWISDOM(tm) - June 18, 2002 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "A man begins to grow in business when he stops worrying about putting his own ideas over and keeps his mind open for the best ideas, no matter whose they are" - Jacob M. Braude Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright 2002, http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.htm Subjects: Success, Unselfishness ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Wilma Rudolph was born in a shack in the backwoods of Tennessee of very poor parents. She was a premature baby born at four and one half pounds. At age four she had double pneumonia and scarlet fever that left her with a partly paralyzed left leg. She had to wear a steel brace. God didn't give Wilma the same strong legs He gave everybody else. But Wilma had a mother who constantly told her that she could do whatever she wanted to do with her life, that all she needed to do was have faith and persistence and courage and a never-give-up spirit. So at the age of nine Wilma did away with the brace. In four more years she finally developed a rhythmic stride that enabled her to run. At 13 she entered her first race and came in dead last. But Wilma kept running. And one day she started winning. Finally she made it to the 1960 Olympics to run the 100 meter race against the unbeaten and world record holder, Yetta Mynie from Germany. Wilma won. She won again in the 200 meter. Finally came the 400 meter relay. She was the anchor, the last runner on the U. S. team, and her competitor was Yetta Mynie. Just as the baton was handed to Wilma she dropped it, giving Yetta the lead. Yet, somehow Wilma Rudolph caught up and won! I wonder if Wilma dreamed of being the fastest runner in the world when she was hobbling around on steel braces with a paralyzed leg. What an impossible dream! Think about this: if God had given Wilma two good legs, she'd probably have run just like everyone else. But He didn't. So she came to run faster and further. It is so true - One can become strongest at one's weakest point. Source: Never Give Up by Tim Crosby, Copyright (c) 2001 by The Quiet Hour http://www.thequiethour.org/ Subjects: Disabilities, Olympics, Running ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: A couple of F-15's are escorting a C-130 Hercules, and their pilots are chatting with the pilot of the transport to pass the time. Talk comes around to the relative merits of their respective aircraft. The fighter pilots contend that their airplanes were better because of their superior speed, maneuverability, weaponry, and so forth, and pointed out the Hercules deficiencies in these areas. After taking this for a while, the C-130 pilot says, "Oh yeah? Well, I can do a few things in this old girl that you'd only dream about." Naturally, the fighter pilots challenge him to demonstrate. "Just watch," comes the quick retort. And so they watch. But all they see is that C-130 continue to fly straight and level... After several minutes the Hercules pilot comes back on the air, "There! How was that?" The fighter pilots reply, "What are you talking about? What did you do?" And the Hercules pilot replies, "Well, I got up, stretched my legs, and got a cup of coffee." Source: Clean Laffs, http://www.shagmail.com/sub/sub-jokes.html Subjects: Airplanes, Air Force ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: My friend Kimberly announced that she had started a diet to lose some pounds she had put on recently. "Good!" I exclaimed. "I'm ready to start a diet too. We can be dieting buddies and help each other out. When I feel the urge to drive out and get a burger and fries, I'll call you first." "Great!" she replied. "I'll ride with you." By Katina Fisher, Panama City Beach, Florida, USA Source: Reader's Digest, Copyright (c) October 1999, http://www.readersdigest.com Subjects: Diet ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: A few years ago psychologist Ruth W. Berenda and her associates carried out an interesting experiment with teenagers designed to show how a person handled group pressure. The plan was simple. They brought groups of ten adolescents into a room for a test. Subsequently, each group of ten was instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on three separate charts. What one person in the group did not know was that nine of the others in the room had been instructed ahead of time to vote for the second-longest line. Regardless of the instructions they heard, once they were all together in the group, the nine were not to vote for the longest line, but rather vote for the next to the longest line. The experiment began with nine teenagers voting for the wrong line. The stooge would typically glance around, frown in confusion, and slip his hand up with the group. The instructions were repeated and the next card was raised. Time after time, the self-conscious stooge would sit there saying a short line is longer than a long line, simply because he lacked the courage to challenge the group. This remarkable conformity occurred in about 75% of the cases, and was true of small children and high-school students as well. Berenda concluded that, "Some people had rather be president than right," which is certainly an accurate assessment. By C. Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, Published by Thomas Nelson (Sep 1, 1989) ISBN: 0849931770 http://isbn.nu/0849931770 Source: My Daily Dose of Inspiration, http://www.quietstones.com/mydailydose Subjects: Peer Pressure, Honesty |