Burnt Biscuits

Authour Unkown

When I was a little child, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burnt biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite! When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologise to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I’ll never forget what he said: “Baby, I love burnt biscuits.” Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, “Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she’s real tired. And besides – a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!”

My Reflection:

I love this story because it illustrates how important it is to treat certain situations with a high level of sensitivity. You can be upset and eat burnt biscuits or you can be happy and eat burnt biscuits, either way you are eating burnt biscuits so you might as well be happy. We have to realise that the life we all live has imperfect moments and it is so important to know how to handle these moments and come to terms with them. Learning to accept each other’s faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences is an extremely powerful tool in all relationships. Everyday you have the opportunity to cut yourself and others some slack. We have no clue the type of day people are having or what they are going through at that time - so it is always important to exercise a high level of sensitivity to the people around you. When someone drops the ball, instead of giving them a hard time about it, just reach down and pick it up for them.

May you have an awesome week.
Darren Zwiers

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes." -Mahatma Gandhi

The Final Exam

A professor stood before his class of 20 senior organic biology students, about to hand out the final exam. "I want to say that it's been a pleasure teaching you this semester. I know you've all worked extremely hard and many of you are off to medical school after summer. So that no one gets their GP messed up because they might have been celebrating a bit too much this week, anyone who would like to opt out of the final exam today will receive a "B" for the course." There was much rejoicing amongst the class as students got up, passed by the professor to thank him and sign out on his offer. As the last taker left the room, the professor looked out over the handful of remaining students and asked, "Any one else? This is your last chance." One final student rose up and took the offer. The professor closed the door and took attendance of those students remaining. "I'm glad to see you believe in yourself." he said. "You all have A's."

My Reflection:

I love this story because it reminds us of how quick we are to sell ourselves short when we have what it takes to become great individuals. It’s also frightening to see how so many of us will settle with second best just because its easy or requires less effort. We should always live our lives with champions attitude. If you want to truly believe in yourself and become a successful person then you are going to have to face your self-doubts and be ready to take care of it… This isn’t a simple task but a first step will be to adopt a positive attitude. Eg. if you start wondering, “What if I fail?” you can respond by saying, “Then I’ll just try again.” or Instead of telling yourself, “I could never do X,” say, “I can’t do X yet. But I’m working on it.” This simple mindset will transform a negative situation into an opportunity for personal growth and in turn will give yourself a fighting chance to reach high levels of personal satisfaction.

Never forget that you are always more capable and worthy than you give yourself credit for, so what are you waiting for… Go for gold!

May you have an awesome week.
Darren Zwiers

“Don't be afraid to be amazing.”- Andy Offutt Irwin

Smartest Man in the World

A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy and a priest were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small private plane. Suddenly, the plane developed engine trouble. In spite of the best efforts of the pilot, the plane started to go down. Finally, the pilot grabbed a parachute and yelled to the passengers that they better jump, and he himself bailed out. Unfortunately, there were only three parachutes remaining. The doctor grabbed one and said “I’m a doctor, I save lives, so I must live,” and jumped out. The lawyer then said, “I’m a lawyer and lawyers are the smartest people in the world. I deserve to live.” He also grabbed a parachute and jumped. The priest looked at the little boy and said, “My son, I’ve lived a long and full life. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Take the last parachute and live in peace.” The little boy handed the parachute back to the priest and said, “Not to worry Father. The smartest man in the world just took off with my back pack.”

My Reflection:

I always love it when you ask someone what they do and they immediately answer with their profession. We can learn from the above story that it’s never a good thing to tie your self-identity to your job. Anything that can be taken away from you is not a good thing to base your self-identity on because you once that's gone, what or who are you? Yes, your job does take up most of your adult life, but it shouldn’t define who you are as an individual. Remember your career isn’t your life - it is simply a tool for a successful life. Stop being your job and be you!

I wish you have an Awesome week :)
Darren Zwiers

“You are you. Now, isn't that pleasant?” ― Dr. Seuss

The Two Lumberjacks

It was the annual lumberjack competition and the final was between an older, experienced lumberjack and a younger, stronger lumberjack. The rule of the competition was quite simply who could fell the most trees in 24hrs was the winner. The younger lumberjack was full of enthusiasm and went off into the wood and set to work straight away. He worked all through the day and all through the night. As he worked, he could hear the older lumberjack working in another part of the forest and he felt more and more confident with every tree he felled that he would win. At regular intervals throughout the day, the noise of trees being felled coming from the other part of the forest would stop. The younger lumberjack took heart from this, knowing that this meant the older lumberjack was taking a rest, whereas he could use his superior youth and strength and stamina to keep going.At the end of the competition, the younger lumberjack felt confident he had won. He looked in front of him at the piles of felled trees that were the result of his superhuman effort. At the medal ceremony, he stood on the podium confident and expecting to be awarded the prize of champion lumberjack. Next to him stood the older lumberjack who looked surprisingly less exhausted than he felt. When the results were read out, he was devastated to hear that the older lumberjack had chopped down significantly more trees than he had. He turned to the older lumber jack and said: “How can this be? I heard you take a rest every hour and I worked continuously through the night. What's more, I am stronger and fitter than you old man”.The older lumberjack turned to him and said: “Every hour, I took a break to rest and sharpen my saw.”

My Reflection:

After being on a rejuvenating holiday I thought it would be apt to share this story. In today’s age it's very easy to become a "workaholic," getting caught up, working long hours and taking few breaks. It’s fascinating that we naturally think the harder and longer we work, the more we can get done. This isn’t true at all… Resting correctly builds concentration, physical fitness and most importantly a positive mood. When it comes to work, you have two choices: you can rest and renew yourself everyday, or you can totally burn yourself out by overdoing everything. Every new day provides a fresh opportunity for renewal - an opportunity to recharge yourself instead of hitting the wall. There are many ways to relax in between work, you need to find what works best for you, but all it takes is for you to stop, take a break and sharpen your saw.

I wish you a new and refreshing week :)
Darren Zwiers

“Things are always better in the morning.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird