Quote of the Day

When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it - don't back down and don't give up - then you're going to mystify a lot of folks.
—Bob Dylan

Verse of the Day

I have observed something else in this world of ours. The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. The wise are often poor, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don't always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being at the right place at the right time.
—Ecclesiastes 9:11

And then. . . 

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule.The mule fell into the farmer's well.The farmer heard the mule "braying" or whatever mules do when they fall into wells.After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving.

Instead he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened...and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.Initially, the old mule was hysterical!But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought struck him.It suddenly dawned
on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back...he should shake it off and step up!

This he did blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself.No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up! It was not long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well.

Last update: 8/17/00