I am your Flag. I have been kicked, trampled, burned, and shot full of holes. I have fought battles, but I prefer the untroubled air of a world at peace.
I am your Flag. I represent the freedom of humanity, and I shall fly high, thundering in silence for the whole world to hear. My gentle rustling in the breeze sounds out the warning to all who would bury me forever that below stands a population dedicated to liberty.
For those who have perished for my right to freedom of flight, for those who will die, and indeed for those who will live, I stand as a symbol of freedom-loving people.
I have been carried into battle in faraway lands, always for the cause of freedom. I am blood-stained, torn, and many times wearied and saddened by the thousands who have paid the supreme sacrifice.
Do not let it all be for nothing. Tell me the brave have died for a worthwhile cause. Be proud of what I represent, and display me for all to see.
Whether you call me "Old Glory," “Stars and Stripes," or "Star Spangled Banner," I shall fly forever as a symbol of your freedom, as I did for your ancestors, and I shall for your heirs.
~By James M. Fillmore~
=============================================================================
Today's inspirations:
There is great force hidden in a gentle command.
- George Herbert
________________________
Sometimes you just have to take the leap, and build your wings on the way down.
--Kobi Yamada
________________________
"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends, and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life."
-- Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises from 1959-1994
________________________
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be
successful.
--Herman Cain
_______________________
He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own.
- Aesop
_______________________
Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.
--May Sarton
=====================================================================
If your world looks gloomy and you're feeling grim and glum
make a rainbow for yourself, don't wait for one to come.
Don't sit watching at the window for the clouds to part.
There'll soon be a rainbow if you start one in your heart.
Take some lovely thought out of a poem or a prayer.
Turn it over in your mind and let it linger there.
Keep out every memory that dims the light within,
And hold on to the magic word that lets the brightness in.
Work your own small miracle and make the dull days glow.
Put some sunshine into life and let the glory show.
Make a rainbow for yourself with colors brave and gay,
And underneath its golden arch your cares will fade away.
================================================================================
Humor:
There is a new virus: its code name is "work". If you receive "work" from your colleagues, your boss, via e-mail or any one else, do not touch "work" under any circumstances !! This virus wipes out your private life completely.
If you should come into contact with this virus, put on your jacket and take two good friends and go straight to the nearest pub. Order three beers and after repeating 14 times, you will find that "work" has been completely deleted from your brain.
Forward this warning immediately to at least 5 friends.
Should you realize that you do not have 5 friends, this means that you are already infected by this virus and "work" already controls your whole life. This virus is deadly. Please pay close attention to it and take heed.
Thank you.
_______________________
IOU1
by Bob Perks
I see them all the time -- license plates that carry a message most often understood only by the owner.
Mine says IBLEVNU.
I love to look in my rear view mirror and see people mouthing the words. "I believe in you."
These "vanity plates" as they are called seem to be offered in most every state here in the United States.
I wrote a story about a wonderful woman who held a sign in the window of her car that read "Heartwarmers" as she drove by. She had read a story of mine there and recognized my license plate.
Small world.
"IOU1" the plate read on the car in front of me. Normally I'd just read it and continue on, but this one had a handwritten sticker next to it and I knew I had to meet this person. He wasn't headed where I wanted to go, but this seemed more important. So I decided to follow him. Luckily he pulled into the post office in town. Otherwise, I might have been writing this from on the road somewhere.
I got out of my car and approached the man.
"Excuse me, sir. May I ask you about your license plate?"
"You wouldn't be the first one," he said as he kept walking.
My curiosity kept pace with him as he entered the post office and stayed with him until he returned to his car.
"I understand the "IOU1" on your plate. I've said "I owe you one" many times in my life."
"Did you pay up?" he asked with a smile.
"Pardon me?"
"Did you pay back the ones you owed?"
"Oh, sure... I mean I guess I did. That's something you say so freely after someone does you a favor. I guess I meant it," I told him.
"Well, I'm still working on this one," he said.
"That sticker you have next to your plate. Is that part of it?"
"It surely is. It'll take the rest of my life to pay this one back," he said.
He then stopped at the door suddenly, almost causing a pile up of people behind us.
"In fact, it could probably take two lifetimes to pay this one back," he said.
We continued out the door heading back to his car.
"Would you mind telling me what happened?" I asked.
"No, not at all. It's part of my pay back. I promised to tell as many people as I could, any time and any place."
He then stopped behind his car, leaned on the truck near the plate and began to tell his story.
He went on to tell me about an accident he was in with his family. The car had flipped over and his youngest daughter, still seated in her child seat, somehow flew out the car door in the accident. He was pinned
inside. Hanging upside down the only thing he could see was the back of her car seat sitting about ten yards in front of him.
Not being able to free himself, he prayed for her.
"God, if you make sure my baby is alright, I'll owe you one," he said in his prayer.
She was. They found her sitting there untouched and smiling.
That explained it all.
His license plate read "IOU1" and the sticker said "God!".
=====================================================================
Published in U S Legacies Magazine
- Log in to post comments