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WITandWISDOM(tm) - April 4, 2007 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Beauty endures for only as long as it can be seen; Goodness, beautiful today, will remain so tomorrow. – Sappho Source: Inspire, http://www.inspirelist.com/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: One of the great joys of parenting is to discover that we’re not wasting our time lavishing our children with important information and good advice. More often than we realize, what we say, what we do, and what we allow or encourage our children to do shapes the values and attitudes of the future parents of our grandchildren. A few years back, I was struggling to liberate a new Barbie doll from the almost invincible packaging that imprisoned her. I was muttering as I was untwisting the seventh of thirteen wire fasteners that secured the new toy when, sensing my frustration, my almost four-year-old Abrielle, said, "It’s all right, Daddy, you can do it." "Yeah," my five-and-a-half-year-old Samara chipped in. "Don’t give up. You can do anything if you really try." Later, while backing out of the driveway, my two year-old, Carissa, perched in her car seat in the third row of our not-so-mini van, noticed I hadn’t put on my seat belt yet. "Daddy, buckle up, I love you," she yelled. She was repeating a mantra my wife taught all our children to remind them that being safe and careful is a responsibility because there are people who love you. It’s heartwarming to hear our children earnestly repeat the little wisdoms we taught them, but it also helps us to live up to our own lessons. You can bet next time I’m on the verge of quitting I’ll remember my daughters` encouragement: "You can do it, Daddy." And if I’m tempted to do something unsafe or imprudent I’ll think of Carissa saying, "Buckle up, I love you." This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts. © 2007 Josephson Institute of Ethics; reprinted with permission. Michael Josephson, one of the nation's leading ethicists, is the founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the premier youth character education program, CHARACTER COUNTS! For further information visit http://www.charactercounts.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Ways To Know You're Cheap! You attend a weekly coupon club. Fast food is your idea of fine dining. You spend more time counting change during a single week than you spend at church. You're outraged when the price of a can of soda goes up a nickel. You haven't purchased a name brand product in the past ten years. You take the pennies from the container next to the cash register. Matinee. Every time. Ramen flavors correspond to days of the week in your home. Submitted by B. B. ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: I recently attended a small business marketing seminar at which the speaker used actual examples to reinforce her teaching points. She told a delightful story about a coffee shop that distinguished itself from the competition by prominently displaying a warning sign that read: "Unattended children will be given a double espresso and a free puppy!" Source: Pulpit Supply, http://lively.ca/mailman/listinfo/pulpitsupply_lively.ca ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: It's an old story but the meaning is still true. A very wealthy man donated the money to a college for a new building. During the Depression he was wiped out. He was ridiculed by some friends for having given the building to the college. "That's not the way I see it," he said. "That building is all that's left from my lifetime of work. What I gave away has been saved, what I kept has been lost." Submitted by R. P. Cly