The poet pointed to an apple tree in bloom and said, "That tree is very old, but I never saw
prettier blossoms on it that it now bears. That tree grows new wood each year. Like that
apple tree, I try to grow a little new wood each year."

I can look at my daughters running into my room in the middle of the night as an intrusion to my sleep, or as a cry for help, realizing that this is but a brief moment in her and my life when she will need to cuddle with me because of a "nightmirror".

I can look at my daughters digging up the seeds we just planted as an act of malicious
mischief, or as the act of a future Edison, trying to figure out what (or who) makes those
seeds become plants.

expression of just wanting to be Rory.
I can look at my daughter as being an incredible challenge or an incredible teacher.
I can look at the war cries of my children as a punishable offense, or the first stages of

angel chose me, at once, to be her student and teacher.
I can look at having a daughter as being a trial or as being a gift from God.
When I look at my children, I see God.
There are two sides to my coin, but anyway you flip it, I come up the winner.

His practical father, a chemist, sent him to the University of Christiania to study for the
ministry and forbade him to play his beloved violin. He promptly flunked out and, defying
his father, devoted all his time and energy to the violin. Unfortunately, though he had great
ability, his teachers were relatively unskilled, so that by the time he was ready to start his
concert tour he wasn't prepared.

There were two ways Ole Bull could have reacted to that criticism. He could have let it make
him angry, or he could learn from it. Fortunately he chose the latter. He went to the
newspaper office and asked to see the critic. The astounded editor introduced him. Ole
spent the evening with the 70-year-old critic, asked about his faults, and sought the older
man's advice on how to correct them.

Then he canceled the rest of his tour, returned home, and spent the next six months
studying under really able teachers. He practiced hours upon hours to overcome his faults.
Finally, he returned to his concerts and, when only 26, became the sensation of Europe.

I had gone into a supervisor's office to talk about a couple of issues that needed to be
addressed. She, like all of the men and women in her department, had been through the
proverbial 'ringer.' The stress was so intense, one could almost taste it.

I had been assisting the department during a crunch period of being very short-handed, and
was watching everyone get close to burn-out. When I inquired about her state of mind, she
confessed that her home life was almost non-existant, because she was 'zombie-ing through
the evening'. The next words out of her mouth expressed a frustration of my own: "This
work is not my gift from God. My family is!"

I had heard of hanging all of one's problems from the office on a "Trouble Tree" while
driving home, to be picked up on the way back to the office in the morning, and for a brief
second thought about suggesting that scenario.

But what came out was: "Why don't we do something different? Let's have a Blessing Tree.
On the way home in the evening, we could pull down a blessing to dwell on a character trait
we adore in our spouse, a particular reason we love them, the love they or our children
have for us, etc. The list could be endless.

When I tried it on the way home that night, the stress seemed to melt away. There was a
'spring in my step' and when I arrived, a smile of joy and contentment was bubbling up
from within! For the first time in 2 weeks, I was overjoyed to greet my wife and children!

During a momentous battle, a Japanese general decided to attack even though his army was greatly outnumbered. He was confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt.

On the way to the battle, they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the general took out a coin and said, "I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If it is tails we shall lose."

He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious.

And then, the following day, his son tried to saddle and ride one of the wild horses, was
thrown, and broke his leg. Again the neighbors came to offer their sympathy for the
misfortune. He said, "May be."

The day after that, conscription officers came to the village to seize young men for the army, but because of the broken leg the farmer's son was rejected. When the neighbors came to say how fortunately everything had turned out, he said, "May be."

Lord, thank you for this sink of dirty dishes; we have plenty of food to eat.
Thank you for this pile of dirty, stinky laundry; we have plenty of nice clothes to wear.
And I would like to thank you, Lord, for those unmade beds; they were so warm and

Thank you for this finger-smudged refrigerator that needs defrosting so badly; It has served
us faithfully for many years. It is full of cold drinks and enough leftovers for two or three
meals.

depressed? They asked.
He did.
Wasn't it also true that he was in a continual state of happiness? They persisted.
It was.
What was the secret? They wanted to know.
Said the Master, "This: Everything is as good or as bad as one's opinion makes it."