UNLIKE HERO

Not many people have heard about Bill Havens. But Bill

became an unlikely hero of sorts - at least among those

who knew him. At the 1924 Olympic Games in

Paris, the sport of canoe racing was added to the list of

international games competitions. The US team was

the favorite in the four-man canoe race and Bill Havens

was one of the members of that team.

As the time for the Olympics neared, it became clear

that Bill's wife would give birth to their first child about

the time the US team would be competing in the Paris

Games. In 1924, there

were no jet airliners

from Europe to the

United States and only

slow ocean-going ships

operated between the

two continents. And so

Bill found himself in a

dilemma. Should he go

to Paris and risk not

being at his wife's side

when their baby was

born? Or should he

withdraw from the

team and remain with

his family? Bill's wife

insisted that he go

to Paris.

After all, competing in

the Olympics was the

culmination of a lifelong

dream. But Bill felt

the conflict and, after

much soul-searching,

decided to withdraw

from the competition.

He considered being at

her side his highest

priority - even higher

than going to Paris to

fulfill his dream.



As it turned out, the United States four-man canoe

team won the gold medal in Paris. And Bill's wife was

late in giving birth to their baby. She was so late, in fact,

that Bill could have competed in the event and returned

home in time to be with her when she gave birth. People

said, "What a shame." But Bill said he had no regrets. For

the rest of his life, he believed he had made the right

decision. He knew what was most important to him.

Not everybody figures that out. And he acted on what

he believed was best.

The baby eventually

born to Bill and his wife

was a boy, whom they

named Frank. Twentyeight

years later, in

1952, Bill received a

cablegram from Frank.

It was sent from

Helsinki, Finland, where

the 1952 Olympic

Games were being held.

The cablegram read:

"Dad, I have won! I'm

bringing home the gold

medal mom told me

you had lost while

waiting for me to

be born."

Frank Havens had just

won the gold medal for

the United States in the

canoe-racing event, a

medal his father had

dreamed of winning

but never did.



Your words, your dreams, and your thoughts have the
power to create conditions in your life.
What you speak about, you can bring about.

If you keep saying you can't stand your job,
you might lose your job.

If you keep saying you can't stand your body,
your body can become sick.

If you keep saying you can't stand your car,
your car could be stolen or just stop operating.

If you keep saying you're always broke, guess what?
You'll always be broke.

If you keep saying you can't trust a man or trust a woman,
you will always find someone in your life to hurt and betray you.

If you keep saying you can't find a job,
you will remain unemployed.

If you keep saying you can't find someone
to love you or believe in you,
our very thoughts will attract more
experiences to confirm your beliefs.

Turn your thoughts and conversations around to be more positive
and power packed with faith, hope, love and action.

Don't be afraid to believe that you can
have what you want and deserve.

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",
for it becomes your "Destiny"

So.......To prevent any obstacles... ....

GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY!

Enjoy every minute you live!!

BE BOLD......BE FRAGRANCIVE..........

A daughter complained to her father about her life
and how things were so hard for her. She did not how
she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She
was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as
one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He
filled three pots with water and placed each on a high
fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed
carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he
placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil,
without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited,
wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes
he and turned off the burners. He fished the carrots
out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out
and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out
and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her he asked. "Darling, what do you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the
carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He
then asked her to take an egg and break it. After
pulling off the shell, she observed the hard- boiled
egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She
smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

She humbly asked. "What does it mean Father?"

He explained that each of them had faced the same
adversity, boiling water, but each reacted
differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.
But after being subjected to the boiling water, it
softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had
protected its liquid interior. But after sitting
through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique however. After
they were in the boiling water, they had changed the
water.

"Which are you," he asked his daughter. "When
adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? "

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How about you? Are you the carrot that seems hard,
but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become
soft and lose your strength?

Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable
heart? Were you a fluid spirit, but after a death, a
breakup, a divorce, or a layoff have you become
hardened and stiff. Your shell looks the same, but
are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and
heart?

Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes
the hot water, the thing that is bringing the pain, to
its peak flavor reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When
the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their
worst, you get better and make things better around
you.