BIG BLOG BONANZA

Here it is and good luck with your knowledge of American history.  "Abraham Lincoln was in all likelihood America's greatest president.  But just how many times was this famous president buried?"

Front Porch Views

Let me welcome you to a new series of stories and articles entitled "Front Porch Views".  When I was a kid growing up in Webster City, Iowa I spent many days sitting on the steps of our front porch at 308 East Dubuque Street.  It was from that front porch that I could see my world going by.  At that time the world was pretty small and life simple.  I dreamed about the year 2000 and would figure how old I would be when that year rolled around.  Boy has my view from then to now changed.  There was no thought of cable TV, cellphones, Internet, computers, etc.  Gosh we had a black and white TV that took on a good day 10 minutes to warm up!  And then you were limited to three channels to choose from.
Life was much less hectic and complicated.  It was what we call today the "little things" that were "big things" then.  And with "Front Porch Views" I hope to share with readers some personal memories of those "little things" and how they might help all of us keep life in perspective today.  So read on and enjoy.  Go back to your 'front porch' and remember those times that made you happy.
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A friend of mine who knows that I'm an adventure runner mentioned that "hey it's getting nice and about time for you to start running outside again this year."  "Yep" I replied, "I need to go get my new shoes for this season."  You see runners like me research our shoes.  I'll buy magazines like Runner's World and Trailrunner to read their shoe reviews.  They cover everything from comfort to stability, grip, color, are they shoes with zips laces or regular laces, what's the toebox like, are they built with GoreTex, and the list goes on and on. To say that runners are very particular about their shoes in an understatement.  It's serious business in a silly sort of way.
It was then that I remembered sitting on my front porch as a kid.  Each year when school was out for the summer Mom would buy my sister and I a pair of new tennis shoes.  The anticipation was overwhelming.  NEW TENNIS SHOES!!  Let's see high tops or low tops?  Duh only geeks wear high tops.  Black, red or white?  Red...red was cool.  Keds or Converse?  Hands down Converse...little kids wear Keds.  Oh and the shoes were canvas...period.  That's all there was.  I think we went either to local shoe store on Main Street USA or maybe Montgomery Wards...whoever had the best deal.  My mother probably spent less than $10 for both pairs together.  But NEW TENNIS SHOE DAY was the coolest day of the year!  I loved NEW TENNIS SHOE DAY.  When you put on your new tennis shoes one of the first things you did was show your friends.  Then you went to see just how fast you could run and how high you could jump.  This was living and life just didn't get any better.
Well its time to go get my new specialized Trail Running Shoes for this season.  My mother would have a fit if she knew that I will easily spend $100 or more for these shoes than $5  for the 1964 canvas Converse.
But one thing won't change.  I'll still be the coolest kid on the block with my new shoes.  I'll show them to family and friends.  I'll lace them up and go see how fast I can run and how far I can jump.  Hey a guy can dream...or with NEW TENNIS SHOES reminiscence.  It really is a simple thing...shoes.  Little did I know sitting on my front porch back then that shoes would still make me happy even today.

One Minute Devotion from Guidepost

A man who was once the governor of a state told me that the thing that saved him when he was exhausted and filled with despair at the lies and machinations of man was kids.
"Whenever I got really dark and hopeless," he said, "I would go visit a classroom.  The kids would just pop with energy and questions and opinions.  By the end of my term, I was canceling meetings left and right, scheduling three school visits a day and stopping at every park and playground we passed.
"The very best times were when kids told me stories right out of their hearts.  I'd be sitting in a tiny chair with my knees up, and they would tell me about their puppies or stake boards or grandmas, and it was like someone pouring hope into my head.
"I'll miss that more than anything, being with all those kids. If we say we'll take care of them and don't, then were just sinning and there's no worse sin than ignoring or mistreating a child.  You know that and I know that.  I walked away from being a governor more fired up about public service than before, but now I bend all my energies to fixing stuff for kids.  Is there anything more crucial than that?"

"They Said It" Quotes to Live & Learn By

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.  Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."
---Cherokee Expression


"There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as if everything is."
---Albert Einstein


"There is no such thing in any one's life as an unimportant day."
---Alexander Woollcott


"My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened."
---Montaigne


"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive.  And then go and do that.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
---Harold Whitman

Uncommon Hero Extraordinary Courage

"Going Through Fire to Save A Woman"

Jodi Oakes was driving to see a friend after work, when she, tired and sleepy, blacked out behind the steering wheel.  With her foot still pressed on the gas, her car drove full speed into a tree and caught fire.

While driving home down the same road, Michael Gay noticed  a curious sight on the side of the road.  He noticed a big fire in an empty field.  He saw a tree burning and got curious.  He turned his car around and drove closer to the tree.  Then Michael saw a car on fire.

Michael heard screams and realized there was a woman in the burning car.  Inside the car, Jodi was panicking and was trying but unable to unfasten her seatbelt.  Michael ran up to the passenger door of the car but it was stuck and wouldn't open.  Then he ran to the driver side door and this time squeezed himself through the window.  The fire had burned Jodi's seatbelt.  She reached  out and grabbed Michael's hands and he was able to pull her through the flames.  Her arms and hair were on fire setting fire to Michael's hands as well. Those flames Michael was able to put out.

An ambulance arrived and Jodi was flown to a local hospital.  There the severity of her condition became apparent.  Jodi had burns over 50% of her body.  Despite her burns and injuries Jodi survived thanks to an uncommon hero who displayed extraordinary courage.

Michael doesn't consider himself a hero...just lucky to be at the right place at the right time.

BIG BLOG BONANZA

Here is this week's BIG BLOG BONANZA trivia question.  "Thousands of people pay their respects to General Sherman...no not that General Sherman but this one. Can you name this General Sherman?"
Congrats to John Creek for being Lifeworks latest winner of a McDonald's Gift Card.  John knew that Gilligan's first name was 'Willie'.
Remember to be a winner you need to sign on as a Lifeworks blog follower.  There's two ways to join and its easy!

Uncommon Hero: Robert Cook

Sacrificing His Life to Save a Stranger

Robert Cook, a 22 year-old skydiving instructor, was on a plane with a 21 year-old Kimberley Dear.  She was about to make her first skydive ever and Robert was her instructor.

But soon after the plane had taken off the engine failed.  The airplane started plummeting towards the ground at a rapid speed.

Robert calmly told Kimberly to sit on his lap.  He then hooked her harness up to his and embraced her to take the brunt of the impact onto himself.  Robert stayed incredibly calm and composed and told Kimberly exactly what she needed to do and kept her calm as well.

He then turned his body so that he was underneath Kimberly.  When the plane made impact with the ground, Robert's body softened the blow for her.

Robert died after hitting the ground.  But thanks to his heroic actions Kimberly survived.  He had given his own life to save someone who was a really a stranger to him.

Robert's father says selflessness was in his son's nature.  "He would have sacrificed anything for anybody because that's just the way he was." 

Uncommon strength and sacrifice for that of another. 

Uncommon Heroes

Today I begin a new series I think you will really enjoy entitled "Uncommon Heroes".


I am always amazed at people who are called 'heroes' any more.  Mainly its a tag given to sports figures.  But trust me when I say that real heroes walk among us everyday.  Usually they accomplish deeds that go with little fanfare.


The following article will set the tone for the people you are about to meet each week.  Enjoy their stories and appreciate in some cases their sacrifice for others.

"Uncommon heroes are like you and me.

We meet them at work, in the grocery store, on a busy street.

They come in all shapes and sizes, we only have to look around us.

Uncommon heroes have attitude.

They may be the stranger who rescues a teenager from a wrecked car, 

or the next door neighbor fighting a battle of cancer,

or the lady who lives down the road, struggling to re-learn after a brain injury.

They have a ready smile in spite of their pain.

They never complain and always think positively.

They never give up and do not let others give up either.

They have great vision, no handicap, no obstacle can keep them from pursuing their dreams.

They care alot about people in their community.

They always say, "I know what you are going through."

They have an indomitable spirit and great strength.

They have an incredible faith and courage.

They take pleasure in performing small acts of kindness rather than in great intentions.

They look for the best and give the best they have.

They inspire us to carry on when things go wrong.

Uncommon heroes are people who touch our lives,

and leave footprints on our hearts that change our lives forever.

"They Said It" Quotes to Live & Learn By

"Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less,
say more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours."
---Swedish proverb


"If you think you're a winner you 'll win, If you dare to step out you'll succeed.
Believe in your heart, have a purpose to start, Aim to help fellow man in his need.
Thoughts of faith must replace every doubt,
Words of courage and you cannot fail.
If you stumble and fall, rise and stand ten feet tall,
You determine the course that you sail."
---Anonymous


"I suspect that the happiest people you know are the ones who work at being kind, helpful and reliable - and happiness sneaks into their lives while they are busy doing those things.  It is a by-product, never a primary goal."
---Harold Kushner


"Risk!  Risk anything!  Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices.
Do the hardest thing on earth for you.  Act for yourself.  Face the truth."
---Katherine Mansfield

One Minute Devotion from Guidepost

My wife Sharon, and I were watching our first ballet, held onstage at our local high school.  The white-clad dancers graced their way through a rainbow of spotlights, leaving us spellbound.  At intermission, I sat listening to the adults around me rave about the performance.  The most common comment was "I wish I had taken ballet lessons."
Meanwhile, a number of children left their seats and wandered down front.  Inspired by the performance, they began spontaneously twirling, twisting, leaping, spinning - oblivious to the crowd that was watching in amusement.
I whispered to Sharon, "Children don't need lessons.  We adults are always dreaming and wishing.  Children just do it."
As I lay in bed that night, I thought about all the things I wish I had done in my life.  I wanted to learn to ice-skate.  I wanted to plant an orchard.  I wanted to make a movie.  I wanted to bind books.  I wanted to visit a South Sea island.
I couldn't get these children off my mind.  In the next few weeks, I decided to stop dreaming and so some things.
I planted a peach tree in the side yard.  I checked out a video on the South sea islands.  I borrowed a video camera and made a funny movie.  I bound a book, in my own crazy, unorthodox way.  Now, if I could just find some ice skates in size 13.
It's nice to have dreams, but perhaps some of our dreams are keeping us from doing the doable.

"They Said It" Quotes to Live & Learn By

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."
                                                                                                           ---Dr. Seuss


"Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life.  Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people's thinking.  Don't let the noise of other's opinion drown out your own inner voice.  And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary."
                                                                                                           ---Steve Jobs


"A good character is the best tombstone.  Those loved by you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered.  Carve you name on hearts, not on marble."
                                                                                                           ---Charles Spurgeon

One Minute Devotion from Guidepost

It's All About the Attitude...Right?

I was sitting in a crowded New York restaurant, waiting for my friends to arrive.  I was early for once, and as I scanned the crowd, I saw the hostess approaching with two people who had decidedly grumpy expressions.  She seated them at the table right next to me.  There was some squirming and napkin unfurling and water glasses were put beside them.

But something was wrong.  "We're not going to be happy at this table," the woman announced, not revealing why.  She summoned the waitress and announced they had to move to a different table.  The couple wriggled out and off, and the hostess approached again, leading an elderly woman with a cane and a smile, accompanied by a gray-haired man who nodded and smiled as they squeezed in.  "What a nice table!" they exclaimed.

We started to chat.  It turned out that the woman was in her 90's, her husband even older.  They'd been at the museum and regaled me with observations about the exhibit they'd seen.  As they laughed and chattered, I saw the younger couple giving the waitress a hard time.

It made me think of all the times I, too, come into a situation thinking "I'm not going to like this."  I'm switching to "This will be great!  It will be an adventure."  It's a simple lesson, but one I never get tired of.  It's all in your attitude, isn't it?