THE BARD, THE ACTOR!

Did you know that Shakespeare never gave up acting while he was writing thirty-seven plays. It was his livelihood. He was one of the "principal comedians" who acted in Every Man in His Humour by Ben Jonson in London in 1598. Two years after the first performance of Hamlet, his name appears on the list of "principal tragedians" who acted in Jonson's Sejanus. Eight years before his death in 1616, Shakespeare was among the "men players" who arranged to use the Blackfriars Theatre.

HUMBLE THYSELF!

"Defeatism is our major enemy in life."

If you cringe before the pitiful mental picture of yourself in your mind, you defeat yourself before you start.

What most people fail to recognize is that within each one lies a reservoir of power. The quality of our life depends upon our determination to win a total victory over the dark fears within that consign us to be weak and fearful.

The renowned lecturer and author, Norman Vincent Peale, has this advice: "you have to humble yourself." You should learn to accept the kind of person that you are. Through self-discovery you will be able to appreciate the person that you really are. Self-discovery is a confrontation with your own self. Naturally, you will never like yourself when you suffer continuing inner conflicts and frustrations that take the joy of life or when a sense of guilt haunts you.

MIND YOUR MANNERS CHILDREN!

Parents have a right to expect that their children over five years of age will have good manners at all times, but especially when strangers are visiting. A mother or father is sometimes very embarrassed when a child behaves poorly in front of visitors. Do you know why? Well, the parent thinks that the visitor will wonder whether the child was ever taught proper manners. The visitor might say to himself, "what kind of home does this child come from? Haven't his parents taught him to dress neatly? Haven't they taught him to keep himself clean? Doesn't he know how to eat properly? Can't he even say, 'hello' or 'thank you' or 'goodbye'?"

There aren't too many times that parents get angry, but bad manners sure get them hot under the collar. And they are right, for if we don't learn good manners as a child, we may never learn them.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - APPRECIATION

"A word of encouragement during
a failure is worth more than an hour of
praise after success."

Anonymous

A JOURNEY TO YOUR INNER SELF

Life is a journey. One day you will discover that you are no longer a child who constantly holds on to your mother's skirt. For years you have traveled through life and now you are approaching adolescence. You ask many questions to enable you to fully know yourself. In fact, knowing yourself will help you discover what lies ahead of you. The key to that discovery lies in your willingness to enter fully into experiences that can be positive forces to enhance the shaping of your vision--of yourself. To know and appreciate the kind of person that you are will be both an invitation and a challenge. It is an invitation for you to look deeply into yourself, to learn how gifted you are. It is a challenge to make a personal decision to enhance these gifts and do something about your shortcomings.

It is when you accept these invitation and challenge that you allow to expand your consciousness of your true being. Only then can you say, "I love and appreciate the person that I am."

SEEING THROUGH OTHERS' EYES

How you look at yourself is not always how others perceive you to be. If you need to improve and develop yourself, it is equally important to consider the opinion of others about you. The dirt in your eyes or a stain at the back of your dress can only be known by you if others tell you about it. It is only when you become aware of unbecoming spots about yourself that you can do something about them.

From time to time, we need others to mirror us and to show us how we are growing and maturing. Not all assessments of ourselves can be taken as valid. We need confirmation from others, too. It makes a big difference if the knowledge of yourself can still be enriched, modified, and shaped through the constructive feedback of others.

A shared thought.

RESPECT AND BE RESPECTED

Good manners are expressions of our consideration for others like being kind, courteous, and polite. These are pleasant and gentle acts and expressions that you do and use, as well as the proper behavior that you practice. You should show respect for others regardless of status be they rich or poor, young or old, ugly or beautiful or handsome.

A well-mannered person believes that to be respected, we must respect ourselves and others.

SELF CONFIDENCE MEANS SUCCESS

A prominent Filipino writer once wrote, "a person's real worth depends on what he makes of himself."

We may have many open opportunities in life, but when does success become reality and not just a dream. To quote Dr. Maltz, "like confidence, success means self-discovery and improvement of your self-image."

Believe in yourself. Make the daily habit of building your feeling of self-esteem. No matter how small your talents are, God gave them to you for a purpose for you to use them for your well being and for that of others. Whatever you contribute to humanity counts. That is how important you are. Recall your successes. Work on your failures.

Self confidence will help you become a successful person.

SOUL SUPPLEMENTS

We all stand at a critical point in human history. The lure of the modern world threatens not only to break the human heart, in fact it is slowly accomplishing its work of destructions, but it also makes our human weakness as its enthusiastic accomplice.

How do we counteract or fight this thing that threatens to destroy us as a human being? What are we going to do? If we were made to choose between material and spiritual things, which would you prefer?

If we are to find fulfillment, it is necessary not only to discover our souls, but to help find a soul supplement that will lead back to Christ. Look into important sources of strengths, which will empower us to live and appreciate life in the context of Christian living and be nearer to HIM, continually making God our inspiration and model in our daily existence, taking time to profess our faith through prayer and Christ-like actions, and strengthening our faith and improving our spirituality or prayerfulness.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - COMMITMENT

"The will to sin, the desire to suceed,

the urge to reach your full potential.....

these are the keys that will unlock the door

to personal excellence."

Eddie Robinson

LOVE, A MAGNIFICENT TRIP

Here's one of the nicest love messages to share:

Love is magnificent, exhilirating trip,

and when it dies, it is worse than almost any other death.

You don't want to believe it, but the ride is over,

and you're just not going any further on this track.

A LENTEN JOKE!

Blonde who married a Catholic

On their honeymoon, the blonde bride slipped into a sexy nightie and, with great anticipation, crawled into bed, only to find her new Catholic husband had settled down on the couch.

When she asked him why he was apparently not going to make love to her, he replied, "It's Lent."

In tears, she sobbed, "well that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Who did you lend it and for how long?

MAKING YOUR HOME LIVABLE

Many of us are only a step away from becoming victims of the leading cause of off-job disabling injuries--slips, trips, and falls. Take the time now to go over ways to prevent these disabling injuries. Some helpful tips:

• If you use throw rugs in your home, secure them with double-faced adhesive tape or place them over a rug-liner or choose rugs with nonskid backs to reduce the chance of slipping.
• Avoid placing shag rugs around the home, as they can cause falls by getting caught on shoes.
• Arrange the furniture in your home so that they provide open pathways, clear of obstructions.
• Avoid having glass tables, which can be especially dangerous should you trip and fall onto one. Choose instead, sturdy wooden tables with rounded corners.
• Keep your living room floor tidy from things you can trip over like toys, tools, or books.
• Keep all telephone and electrical cords out of walkways, secure them out of the way.

MEANINGFUL PHRASES - 3

CLEANING THE AUGEAN STABLES

King Augeas owned 12 white bulls sacred to Apollo. Their stables had not been cleaned in 30 years! Hercules was called upon to do the work in one day. He diverted the course of a river, made it run through the stables, and reported his mission completed. To clean the Augean stables means to clear up a mess. The phrase is sometimes applied to the efforts of a reform government to undo the corruption left by its predecessors.

Hercules cleaning King Augeas stable

THE BED OF PROCRUSTES

Procrustes, "the Stretcher," was a highwayman and innkeeper who had an ingenious method of torturing his guests and victims. He insisted that each of them must exactly fit the iron bed in his inn. To accomplish this end, he would stretch a guest if he was too short or cut his legs to size if he was too tall. A system--educational or political--in which the individual must fit a single type or pattern and conform arbitrarily is known as a bed of Procrustes, or procrustean.

Procrustes torturing a guest

MAN AND WIFE

Here are some funny lines
shared by my best friend, Edong:


"The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret."

"When a man steals your wife,
there is no better revenge than to let him keep her."

"My girlfriend told me I should be more affectionate.
So I got myself two girlfriends."

"A man said, his credit card was stolen,
but he decided not to report it since the thief
was spending much less than his wife did."

"Man is incomplete until he is married.
Then, he is finished."

"My wife dresses to kill.
She also cooks the same way."

"My wife and I were happy
for twenty years. Then, we met."

"A good wife always forgives
her husband when she's wrong."

A shared thought
from Our Daily Bread

Warmth and sincere affection can be brought back into a marriage relationship that has grown cold. Love is not only an emotion we feel but also a decision we make. The choice may not be easy, but it's really quite simple. Take the first steps of positive action by praying for your mate and treating him or her with kindness and consideration. If you do, the sweet winds of grace will blow upon the smoldering embers of your dying marriage. The flame of love will break forth anew. Try it. It works (by H.V.L.).