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WITandWISDOM(tm) - November 9, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them. - George Bernard Shaw, "Mrs. Warren's Profession" (1893) act II Source: Quotes of the Day, http://www.quotationspage.com/qotd.html ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: When I was learning to play competitive tennis a few years ago, my coach was a tenacious, sixty-three-year-old former women's champion who never lost her touch for teaching. Tirelessly, she drilled me in ground strokes, volleys, serves and strategy. It wasn't until she died recently that I realized she taught me more about how to live life in those sessions than she did about tennis. It had to do with her techniques of bringing out the best in people. On the court, she always told me what I was doing right instead of what I was doing wrong. Always—well, almost always— I puffed right up and started doing even better, because she filled me with powerful self-confidence instead of paralyzing self-doubt. "Positive thoughts make positive shots," she hammered into me. Off the court, she sometimes explained the reasoning behind her technique. "The Good Lord gave us all gifts," she told me, "and we reach our fullest potential when we feel good about ourselves." I've never forgotten her words. And they work every time I remember to put them into practice, with my husband, a child, a friend, or the checker at the supermarket. If I build up instead of tear down, encourage instead of discourage, seek the positive instead of the negative, the results are powerful— and satisfying. Go ahead and try it. I dare you to feel good today. By Carol Kuykendall Source: Daily Guideposts 1986, © Copyright by Guideposts Associates, Inc. ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: These are well known sayings some of us use week in, week out. How well can you translate them? 1. Scintillate, Scintillate, asteroid exiguous. 2. Members of an avian species of identical plumage congregate. 3. Surveillance should precede salutations 4. Pulchritude poses possesses solely cutaneous profundity 5. It is fruitless to become lachrymose over precipitately departed lacteal fluid. 6. Freedom from incrustations of grime is contiguous to rectitude. 7. The stylus is more potent then the claymore. 8. It is fruitless to attempt to indoctrinate a superannuated canine with innovative maneuvers. 9. Eschew the implement of correction of vitiate the scion. 10. The temperature of the aqueous content of an unremittingly ogled saucepan does not does reach 100C?. 11. All articles that coruscate with resplendence are not truly auriferous. 12. Where there are visible vapors in ignited carbonaceous material, there is conflagration. 13. Sorting on the part of mendicants must be interdicted. 14. A plethora of individual with expertise in culinary techniques vitiate the potable concoctions produced by steeping certain comestibles. 15. Eleemosynary deeds have their incipience intramurally. 16. Male cadavers are incapable of yielding any testimony. 17. Individuals who make their abode in vitreous edifices would be advised to refrain from catapulting petrous projectiles. 18. Neophyte's serendipity. 19. Exclusive dedication to necessitous chores without interludes of hedonistic diversion renders John a habatudinous fellow. 20. A revolving lithic conglomerate accumulates no congeries of a small, green bryophytic plant. 21. A person presenting the ultimate cachinnation possess thereby the optimal cachinnation. 22. Abstention from any aleatory undertakings precludes a potent potential escalation of lucrative nature. 23. Missiles of ligneous or petrous consistency have the potential of fracturing my osseous structures but appellations will eternally name innocuous. [Scroll Down] [Answers] 1. Twinkle, twinkle, little star. 2. Birds of a feather, flock together. 3. Think before you speak. 4. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 5. Don't cry over spilled milk. 6. Cleanliness is next to godliness. 7. The pen is mightier than the sword. 8. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. 9. Spare the rod and spoil the child. 10. A watched pot doesn't boil. 11. All that glitters is not gold. 12. Where there's smoke, there's fire. 13. Beggars can't be choosers. 14. Too many cooks spoil the broth. 15. Good deeds begin at home. 16. Dead men tell no tales. 17. People in glass houses should not throw stones. 18. Beginner's luck. 19. All work and no play makes John a dull boy. 20. A rolling stone gathers no moss. 21. He, who laughs last, laughs best. 22. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 23. Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me. Submitted by Nancy A Thomas ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: When my husband, David, and I retired, we sold our home and decided to do some traveling. We bought a travel trailer and made the trip to our son's home. Upon arrival, our 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter, Cassidy Rose, ran out to greet us and see the inside of our new "house." Cassidy promptly sat down at our dining room table and announced that she was hungry. We explained that her mother would soon have dinner ready for her. Cassidy replied without hesitation, "I'm not hungry in my house; I'm hungry in your house." Grandpa laughed so hard that tears rolled down his cheeks, at which point Cassidy asked, "Grandpa, why are your eyes broken?" By Barbara Jean Roberts, Arlington, Washington ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: The bird feeder that hangs in front of my kitchen window was empty, so I went outside to fill it. As I approached the shrubs near the area, all of the birds flew away except one house finch. It stayed perched on top of the feeder I was about to fill. I moved closer and reached to take down the feeder, but the bird didn't move. I removed the feeder, and the bird fluttered to keep its balance. I thought it would reposition itself on a nearby shrub, but it just wouldn't budge. Not knowing what else to do, I held out my finger, and the bird quickly moved to it. The finch stayed there until I took it over to the bird-bath, where it finally hopped off to get a drink of water. I was surprised by the bird's actions, but enjoyed serving as its perch for a short time. By Frances Moore, Wilson, North Carolina, USA Source: Birds & Blooms Extra, November 2005, http://www.birdsandblooms.com