Out Of Depth

A Boy was swimming in a river and got out of his depth, and was in great danger of being drowned. A man who was passing along a road heard his cries for help, and went to the riverside and began to scold him for being so careless as to get into deep water, but made no attempt to help him. "Oh, sir," cried the Boy, "please help me first and scold me afterwards."

My Reflection:

In times of crisis or difficulties it's always important to give assistance first and then advice. The quickest and most effective way to help someone out of a crisis requires immediate action. Unfortunately people are too quick to give advise when things are looking down and are too slow to really assist the person in need. It’s far better being a person of action rather than a person of words, as actions speak much louder than words them self. So the next time you see a friend, family member or colleague in need, try assist them practically before giving them advise.

I wish you an awesome week ahead.

Darren Zwiers

“You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.” ― C.G. Jung

The Law of the Garbage Truck

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us! My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, really friendly. So I asked, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!” This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck.” He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage (frustration, anger, disappointment, etc.). As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

Reflection

Successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. It’s really not worth experiencing life based on someone else’s bad mood and negativity. This is something we are all familiar with… It just takes one person’s negative attitude to ruin your day. Don’t let this happen - in fact you have the potential to turn that person's day around for the good. Just because someone seems to be in a bad mood, it doesn't mean they are constantly angry or depressed. They are just likely having a bad day and yes, we all have those days. Instead of allowing people to dump their mood on you, be extra patient with them and offer them a friendly smile and a liltle assistance.

Have a garbage free week ;)
Darren Zwiers

“Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.”  ~Unknown

Whose Problem?

(Author Unkown)

A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The doctor told him there is a simple informal test you could perform to give me a better idea about her hearing loss. "Here's what you do," said the doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response." That evening, the wife was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He says to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens." Then in a normal tone he asks, 'Honey, what's for dinner?" No response. So he moves closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats, "Honey, what's for dinner?" Still no response. Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, "Honey, what's for dinner?" Again he gets no response so; he walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. "Honey, what's for dinner?" Again there is no response. So he walks right up behind her. "Honey, what's for dinner?" "James, for the fifth time I've said, CHICKEN!"

Reflection

It’s funny how quickly we go around saying this person does this and does that and has this issue and that fault, when the problem may just be within you. Now I'm not saying if a person is always late, it's you that's late - what I am pointing out is a little bit of patience and tolerance makes peoples 'faults' seem more manageable. Everyone is fighting their own battles and it's not up to us to be the one to go around judging their personal challenges. Sometimes we can't change who people are or how they act, but we can certainly change how we view them and tolerance is a very good start. Once you can master this, you will learn how much easier it is to have relationships with people you find difficult.

The next time you find yourself judging a persons faults, remember the problem may not be with them, it could very well be within you!

May you have an awesome week!

Darren Zwiers

"What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature" ~ Voltaire.