Running with Gazella, Eating with Lion's

Every morning in Africa, a gazella wakes up.

It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning a lion wakes up.

It knows it must outrun the slowest gazella or it will starve to death.

It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazella.

When the sun comes up, you better start running.

Life Package

A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care things. When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.

He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words...PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

What Goes Around Comes Around

One day a man saw a old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. 
He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.' 

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way. 

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, 'And think of me..' 

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight. 

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan ...

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills. 

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: 'You don't owe me anything. I have been there too.. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard.... 

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, 'Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.' 

Try Timelessness

At least one day a week, take off your watch and go timeless. Cover the clock on your car dashboard. Turn the clocks in your home toward the wall.

It is important to get out of time (as we know) periodically, to refresh, revitalize, and renew your inner metabolic rhythms. During this day, eat only when you are hungry, sleep when you are tired. Try to guess the hour from the position of the sun in the sky. Notice if you feel different than on your "normal" days.

Einstein called it the theory of relativity - time contracts or expands according to your attitude and what you are doing. Thirty seconds of a wonderful kiss can seem way too short - thirty seconds with your hand on a hot stove can seem like an eternity.

Breaking out of our day - to - day clock-bound reality opens a space for other kinds of time to come through. When you go into timelessness you will begin to see things you never saw before. One friend, who is absolutely superior at getting everything done on a very tight schedule, was bowled over when he set aside a timeless day. He finally noticed the flowers along his walkway for the very first time.

"A Special Love For A Special You”

Bai Fang Li started giving his donation at the age of 74. This is the story how his heart was touched and how he made the decision to do what he was doing.

One day he was resting after dropping off a customer. He saw a tiny and skinny six year old boy on the street offering his service to an older lady to carry her groceries that she bought from a nearby market.

He saw this little boy carry the heavy grocery bags with a lot of struggle, but he was determined to do the job well. There was a big smile on the boy's face when had completed the duty and receive some change from the lady for his service.

He watched the boy doing it to several ladies who were shopping in the market, and every time he received payment for his services, he would looked up to the sky and mumbled something.

Later, he saw the boy going to a pile of garbage and dug into the garbage looking for something. When he found a dirty piece of bread, he was so happy. He cleaned the bread the best he could, and he put the bread in his mouth and enjoyed it.

Bai's heart was so touched by what he saw. He approached the boy and offered him to share his lunch with him. Bai was wondering why the boy did not buy a decent lunch with the money he earned from providing services to the ladies.

The boy said, "I will use the money to buy food for my siblings." Bai asked, "Where are your parents?" The boy replied, "My parents were separating stuff from garbage everyday. However, one month ago, they disappeared and I have never seen them again. Thus, I have to work to feed myself and my two younger sisters."

Bai Fang Li asked to boy to take him to his sisters. Bai's heart was crying when he saw the two girls, 5 and 4 years old. The girls were dirty and skinny, and their clothes were very dirty. The neighbours did not care about the condition of these three children, because they were struggling to cope with their own lives too.

Bai Fang Li took these three children to an orphanage in Tianjin. He told the manager of the orphanage that he would bring all the money he made and give it to the orphanage to help the children there to get food, care and education.

Since then Bai Fang Li decided to work harder and with more determination in operating the rickshaw to earn money for the orphanage. He started early and finished late to get the extra money. From all his earning everyday, he put aside some to pay rent for his living space in the hut, to buy two raisin breads for his lunch and a small piece of meat and egg for his dinner. The rest of the income was donated to the orphanage to help them to feed and care for the children.  

He is very happy doing all these things, despite his limitation. He felt that it was a luxury that he had a place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear, even clothes that he got from a disposal. He was always thankful for what he had.

Bai Fang Li worked as rickshaw operator 365 days a year, regardless of the weather, and often when it was snowing or when the sun was very strong and hot. When asked why he would sacrifice so much for these children, he always said, "It is OK that I suffer, as long as the poor children have something to eat and can have the proper education. I am happy to do all these things."

Giving Without Expecting Anything in Return

Bai Fang Li, died 93 years old, lived in poverty. Yet, he donated an aggregate sum of        RMB 350,000 to universities and schools in Tianjin to help 300 poor children in need.

For almost twenty years, he paddled his tricycle earning Yuan by Yuan to save up for his donations.

His lunch was two buns and plain water. Luxury to him was the sauce he put into the water. Dinner was a piece of meat or an egg. What he wore was what he picked from the dump. Any extra piece was luxury. He paddled 365 days a year every year, in the snow and in the soaring heat of 50 degrees C. He started at 6 in the morning and finished at 7 or 8 at night. It’s alright I suffer,” he said, “But let the poor kids go to school.”

At 90 years old, he arranged his last saving of RMB500 neatly in a box and handed to Yao Hua School, saying, “I cannot paddle any more. I am not able to donate any more. This shall be my last …”

All teachers in the School wept … The last image people had of him was his photo inscribed,

“A special Love for a special you."