Inspiration

"UNDER OUR SKIN!"

There once was an oyster, whose story I tell;

Who found that some sand, had gotten into his shell.

It was only a grain, but it gave him great pain;

For oysters have feelings, although they are plain.

Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate,

That had brought him to such a deplorable state?

"No," he said to himself, "Since I cannot remove it,

I'll lie in my shell, and think how to improve it."

The years rolled around,as the years always do,

And he came to his ultimate Destiny...stew.

Now the small grain of sand that had bothered him so,

Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow.

This tale has a moral, for isn't it grand,

What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand?

Think... What could WE do, If we'd only begin,

With some of the things that get under OUR skin.

--Author Unknown

"So tell me, Mrs. Smith," asked the interviewer, "have you any other skills you think might be worth mentioning?"

"Actually, yes," said the applicant modestly. "Last year I had two short stories published in national magazines, and I finished my novel."

"Very impressive," he commented, "but I was thinking of skills you could apply during office hours."

Mrs. Smith explained brightly, "Oh, that was during office hours."

"A blind boy paid his way to a master's degree at Northwestern University by taking notes on class lectures in Braille, typing them, and selling copies to classmates who had stronger eyes but weaker ambition."

"A giving church is a living church."