The Trouble Tree

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and then his old pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterward, he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier. 

"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing is for sure, troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again."

"The funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

My Message:

Last week I had a great discussion with a friend on exactly the above story, so thought I would write about it in this weeks email. We all have our difficult days and sometimes difficult weeks at work. It is normal to feel pressured in our daily activities and fighting to keep up in a very fast pace world, but it is so crucial to never bring your troubles into your home as it will affect your relationships with your loved ones. Your home and family are your nest, the centre of your life, the hub from which all your daily experiences extend. Both as children and adults, our home and family are where we should feel most comfortable in the world. When you walk through the doors of your home, you are returning to a place where you can recharge, rejuvenate and be at harmony with yourself and your family - a sanctuary. Once you leave your troubles on the trouble tree, you will be able to be more relaxed and find the space to spend quality time at home. Remember your children will grow up to remember their home as a place of warmth and kindness, where people felt comfortable to gather and talk about things that mattered to them. In all likelihood, these children will grow into adults who will create the same sort of home. Don't waste such a good opportunity for growth, leave those worries outside. 

May you have an awesome week where the important things in your life make all the difference and unnecessary limitations get brushed off with a smile.

Darren Zwiers

 

This Weeks Quote:

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! ~Albert Einstein

 

 

Everyone is Important!

During Mark's first month of college, the professor gave his students a pop quiz. He was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until he read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. He had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would he know her name? He handed in his paper, leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward the quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They each deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello”. Mark never forgot that lesson. He also learned her name was Dorothy.

We move through life meeting so many people. I estimate over 100K. How many of those people are you making a difference to? Some people make massive impacts in our lives others have the smallest effect on us. The reality is that nothing is random and we pass people at certain times for specific reasons. Its up to us to take hold of these encounters and utilise them as we are meant to. You would be so surprised what a difference you can make when you greet the bus driver (as no one else does) or have a friendly chat to the clerk at the supermarket. You might just even find that new business opportunity you been looking for.

Everyone is waiting to shine, we just need to make that encounter with people and express ourselves by proactively using our greatest gift - the power of speech.

May you have an awesome week where you finally get to meet the stranger you pass everyday ;)

Darren Zwiers

The Quote:

“Yου never lose bу loving. Yοu always lose bу holding back.” – Barbara DeAngelis

Helping Hands

Helping Hands

A mother, wishing to encourage her son’s progress at the piano, bought tickets to a performance by the great Polish pianist Ignace Paderewski. When the evening arrived, they found their seats near the front of the concert hall and eyed the majestic Steinway waiting on the stage. Soon the mother found a friend to talk to, and the boy slipped away.

At eight o’clock, the lights in the auditorium began to dim, the spotlights came on, and only then did they notice the boy — up on the piano bench, innocently picking out “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” His mother gasped in shock and embarrassment but, before she could retrieve her son, the master himself appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard.

He whispered gently to the boy, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side and improvised a delightful obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerised with their blended and beautiful music.

In all our lives, we receive helping hands — some we notice, some we don’t. Equally we ourselves have countless opportunities to provide helping hands — sometimes we would like our assistance to be noticed, sometimes we don’t. Little of what we all achieve is without learning from others and without support from others and what we receive we should hand out.

This is such well told story because just as important it is to help others it is vitally important to accept the help of others. This is something we usually tend to forget. We are all placed in this magnificent world to make a powerful and positive difference, there is no way to measure how big or small our helping actions are; all are equal as they serve the glory of being a unique person of 'giving'. If we block others off from helping we are limiting our fellow neighbours from being caring and thoughtful. Cutting help off from people too many times cannot be a good thing as they will forget what their role of being human is. Give people the honour to help and you too will be helping!

May you have a fantastic week! A week full of only awesome and exciting things!

Darren Zwiers

The Quote:

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank

 

Never Be too 'Tyred' to Give

Hi all you awesome readers.

I just want to take this moment to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to enter your inbox every Monday morning and allowing me the time to share a small piece of inspiration.

Instead of my usual Monday email which starts with a story and then a message I want to do something a little different today by sharing something that I experienced last Friday afternoon.

Walking back from the gym all exhausted and listening to chilled music on my iPod as i always do, I noticed two religious guys standing by a car looking a little worried, so I went across the road to see what was going on and noticed they had a flat tyre, so being all friendly I offered them a hand in changing the wheel, which was a good thing as they were struggling. In an instant I was no longer exhausted from gym and when I had finished changing the tyre, they thanked me so much, its amazing how small things make a big impact in peoples lives. It was at that point after they thanked me where a thought struck me like a lightening bolt... Why should they be the thankful ones.... I should be the one to thank THEM for giving me the opportunity to help.

There are two lessons in this small exercise which I am grateful to have experienced; the first being; When we do something of generosity we always leave feeling so much better so much more alive and so much happier than the person who we helped. So don’t you think it makes sense to always thank the people that we help. This is such an interesting point of view, because with this in mind giving becomes easier and so many more opportunities will arise where you can always be ready to help and give fully of yourself. The second valuable lesson is that by being awake and aware of our surroundings, we can contribute so much to society in ways you would never imagine. Look up, look around and notice there are always ways to do great things and together we can make the world an easier, friendlier place to live.

May you have an incredible week, where you get the opportunity to be awesome at every corner.

Darren Zwiers

The Quote:

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein

 

Triple Filter Test

The Story

Aurthur - Unknown
One day an acquaintance met a great and wise philosopher and said, "do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
"Pause a moment," The wise man replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."
"Triple filter?"
"That's right," the wise man continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say.

The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually just heard about it and..."
"All right," said the wise man. "So you don't really know if it's true or not.
Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," the wise man continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but  you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because
there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded the wise philosopher, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

My Message:

This is such a great story to remember when we have that desire to spread useless (sometimes harmful) information about others. It's always so hard to stop ourselves from spreading gossip, we all humans at the end of the day, but maybe the above 'Triple Filter Test' can prove to be a simple tool to quickly evaluate that your word has meaning and importance.

I wish you an awesome week of only goodness and success!
Darren Zwiers

The Quote:
“It takes two to speak truth, one to speak and another to hear.” - Henry David Thoreau

 

Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 PM, an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her - generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxi cab. She seemed to be in a big hurry! She wrote down his address, thanked him and drove away.Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console colour TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes but my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others." Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.My

Message:

There are few people in the world who actively go out of there way to help others on a regular basis, sadly not enough. The beauty of being a person of deed is that you have the opportunity to do acts of kindness every single day. We just get too caught up in our own affairs that we forget to look out for our neighbours, fellow travelers and even close friends. It's time to be aware of the people around you all the time and see who could use your assistance. Even if its to pick up the pen that the person in front of you dropped. There is nothing better than noticing a small thing like that and taking action. No matter how small your act of kindness is the reward is far greater than you can imagine. This week be completely aware of the people you come into contact with and go out your way to help... The effort is well worth it.Have an awesome week!
Darren ZwiersThe Quote:
Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you'll be able to see farther. J. P. Morgan

Each Day is a Gift

Each Day is a Gift
The Story
The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.
As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, The carer provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room .... just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged, it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.
It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away, just for this time in my life.
She went on to explain, "Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing."

My Message:
This is such an awesome story, its interesting how these stories are best told by old people, makes you realise that when you get older memories become more precious and opportunities become less available. Live your life now! Don't wait for a good time to do something worthwhile, do it today, express it in the best possible way you can and be completely enthusiastic about it. You would be surprised how many amazing things you can achieve if you just shift your mind in knowing you can conquer every challenge in front of you, nothing will get handed to you that you cant handle, that's why its called a challenge! The last thing you want to do is wake up old and frail one day and say 'I wish I could of done this and that'. Life is now, live it in the best way you can! This might sound cliche to some, but we need to be reminded over and over again, life as we know it isn't forever, so get cracking and make it happen today!

May you have an incredible week and conquer all the challenges set out in front of you with ease and efficiency.
Darren Zwiers

The Quote:
"Today, many will break through the barriers of the past by looking at the blessings of the present. Why not you?" Steve Maraboli