Happy Halloween!!

Wise Advice about Perspective in Life from Mother Teresa

My mother-in-law sent this to me and it's just too good not to share!

People are often unresonable, illogical, and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motive;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight.

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis it is between you and God;

it was never between you and them anyway.

Wise Advice about Perspective in Life, from Mother Teresa

Mentoring

Yesterday, I spent my first hour as a mentor with a very sweet 6 year old girl. She was such a delightful little girl! Before I got to the school, I wondered what we would do with an hour. How would we pass the time? Sometimes it's difficult to get children to talk with you when they don't know you and aren't comfortable with you. The hour went by in a snap and I think we could have spent the whole day together reading, coloring and playing games!

Children never cease to amaze me! They still have their innocence despite terrible things that happen in their lives. They continue to have hope and the littlest things make them smile. It's too bad that most adults can't remember what it's like to be a child. The world would be a happier place!

Take some time out of your busy schedule to mentor a child! It will change your life!

Turning bullies into buddies

Although bullying has been around probably since Adam & Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, it seems to be an ever increasing issue. Izzy Kalman has some very interesting insights into how to turn bullies into buddies.

Happier Kids Now Expo

I've just recently learned about this great "free" resource to help you and your family become happier - Happier Kids Now Expo

Volunteering

I haven't had time in the past couple of weeks to make any posts. We've been dealing with sickness (I think we are all well now), getting back into the school routine and other various "bumps" along the road of life. But most of what I've been doing is volunteering.

Just this morning I attended another training class for yet another GREAT organization ~ Junior Achievement. JA's mission is to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives. One of JA's philosophies is to make it relevant. The volunteer is what makes JA relevant. A big part of the program's message to the students is that a grown-up (volunteer) has taken the time to come into their classroom and spend time with them. This process provides the students with a real-life example of how important volunteerism is to our communities.

Without volunteers, our communities wouldn't be what they are. There are numerous non-profit organizations that provide services that we wouldn't have access to without them. Our children reap the benefits of huge amounts of volunteer hours in our schools. The school districts don't have enough funding to pay enough people to do what the volunteers do. Hospital patients reap the benefits of large amounts of volunteer hours. Some kids get to play sports thanks to volunteers like the veterans of The American Legion who sponsor The American Legion baseball program. Needless to say, the list goes on and on and on.

So, to steal a quote from a volunteer friend of mine - "Volunteers aren't paid because they are worthless, but because they are priceless!" ~ Anonymous

THANK YOU to all of the volunteers!

'True Colors' - Inspirational Video

There is one certainty in life - You are loved by God!!