1.

One foot in front of the other, One more step, and then one
more. Jack's only thoughts were to keep moving no matter how
much his body screamed to stop and rest. He's lost almost all his
energy and his entire body ached beyond belief, but he forced
himself to take another step. Then another. And then one more.

2. He read about a hike called the incline in the guidebook. It

said it was a strenuous hike and to bring plenty of water. “A
beautiful hike to the clouds” described one review. “Not for the
faint-hearted,” said another. “Not too bad of a workout”, bragged a
third review. I thought I’d hike it when I fly in from Maryland on my
day off from the senior citizen's wellness conference. I hiked 2
miles a day around the neighborhood so I could handle a 1.1-mile
hike. What a foolish mistake that was for a 70-year-old low-lander.

3. I'm meant to be writing at this moment. What I mean is, I'm

meant to be writing something else at this moment. The document
I'm meant to be writing is, of course, open in another program on
my computer and is patiently awaiting my attention. Yet here I am
plonking down senseless sentiments in this paragraph because
it's easier to do than to work on anything particularly meaningful. I
am grateful for the distraction.

4. There once lived an old man and an old woman who were
peasants and had to work hard to earn their daily bread. The old
man used to go to fix fences and do other odd jobs for the farmers
around, and while he was gone the old woman, his wife, did the
work of the house and worked in their own little plot of land.
5. The answer was within her reach. It was hidden in a box and
now that box sat directly in front of her. She'd spent years
searching for it and could hardly believe she'd finally managed to
find it. She turned the key to unlock the box and then gently lifted
the top. She held her breath in anticipation of finally knowing the
answer she had spent so much of her time in search of. As the lid
came off she could see that the box was empty.

6. Frank knew there was a correct time and place to reveal his
secret and this wasn't it. The issue was that the secret might be
revealed despite his best attempt to keep it from coming out. At
this point, it was out of his control and completely dependant on
those around him who also knew the secret. They wouldn't
purposely reveal it, or at least he believed that, but they could
easily inadvertently expose it. It was going to be a long hour as he
nervously eyed everyone around the table hoping they would
keep their mouths shut.

7. The time to take action was now. All three men knew in their
hearts this was the case, yet none of them moved a muscle to try.
They were all watching and waiting for one of the others to make
the first move so they could follow a step or two behind and help.
The situation demanded a leader and all three men were
followers.

8. “Ingredients for life,” said the backside of the truck. They

mean food, but really food is only 1 ingredient of life. Life has so
many more ingredients such as pain, happiness, laughter, joy,
tears, and smiles. Life also has hard work, easy play, sleepless
nights, and sunbathing by the ocean. Love, hatred, envy, self-
 assurance, and fear could be just down aisle 3 ready to be bought
when needed. How I wish I could pull ingredients like these off
shelves in a store.

9. The tree missed the days the kids used to come by and play.
It still wore the tire swing the kids had put up in its branches years
ago although both the tire and the rope had seen better days. The
tree had watched all the kids in the neighborhood grow up and
leave, and it wondered if there would ever be a time when another
child played and laughed again under its branches. That was the
hope that the tree wished every day as the swing gently swung
empty in the wind.

10. It probably seemed trivial to most people, but it mattered to

Tracey. She wasn't sure why it mattered so much to her, but she
understood deep within her being that it mattered to her. So for
the 365th day in a row, Tracey sat down to eat pancakes for
breakfast.