Bridge to Success

Life's Like This — A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame others for his failures. I believe it would be safe to assume that we all go through life hoping, perhaps even dreaming of finding success in our life's ambitions. The path to success is often riddled with obstacles and a series of setbacks that keep us from achieving our goals. And with those setbacks, disappointment and depression can occur causing us to doubt if our dreams and aspirations will ever materialize. At times like this, it is easy to give up hope, to throw in the towel and quit pursuing our goals. Quite often, we are quick to blame others for our failures rather than examining our role in our inability to realize our dreams. Once we start down the path of blaming others, we will find increased difficulty in achieving success until we remove the blinders that hinder our personal growth.

Kids and Manners

Life’s Like This — As generation by generation goes by, it seems that people are becoming less and less polite. Manners that were once customary seem to be fading with time. No where does it appear more evident to me than in the behavior of our children. Children often forget to express thanks and appreciation for things people do for them, gifts they receive or they act in ways that are disrespectful. The truth is, so do we adults. We, as parents and adults, have the responsibility for teaching our children to be polite. When we are poor examples, how can we expect our children to be any better. Some people may say manners are a two-way street, but we are all responsible for our own behavior regardless of how others behave. According to a report cited by Reader’s Digest, most people think manners today are worse than they were 20 years ago. We shouldn’t underestimate the importance of instilling good manners in our children if we want them to grow up to be kinder and more considerate to others.

Smile Power

Life’s Like This — It has been said that the shortest distance between two people is a smile. Everyday we come across people wearing a variety of facial expressions — facial expressions that are often mood indicators. They may be frowning, straight-lipped, or displaying a smile that can brighten your day. If you approach a person who is not smiling, you may feel less inclined to interact with that person. But this is real life and we can’t go around not interacting with people just because they are not wearing a smile. People are people and their facial expressions are often reflections of their moods. And perhaps the most powerful of these expressions is the smile because it can actually draw people together. Just during the time you have read this paragraph, you probably have glanced at the picture of the smiling kitten several times. Smiles are like magnets that draw you to the person [or creature] wearing it. People who smile inadvertently cause you to smile back at them.