EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Out of Hours Hints For Life

Robert - hope you don't mind, but I just HAD to adjust certain parameters of your otherwise perfect take on life and the living of it.....

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely with an attractive and well preserved body and money in the bank. But rather to skid in sideways on a Harley chop with scantily clad bimbette on the pillion, flies on your teeth, moonshine in one hand, cheroot in the other, unpaid bills in your back pocket, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming...... WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!

And Geoff is absolutely right - timing is everything, and that's where so many of us cock it up.....

The Window

A great note for all to read it will take just 37 seconds to read this and change your thinking.

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by.

Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Epilogue: There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy. "Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present."

Enjoy the ride, have no regrets

The only regret you will have is when you will have to leave Arabia and come into the real world mate!

When I leave here I will not be returning to the damp, wet and expensive UK to live, I have better plans than that.

Umish said the Real World ...

And where is this "real world" ????

The Window

What a shame the nurses didn't put the sighted person next to the window. Call me cynical if you want, but you take the cards you're dealt and do with them the best you can. Best bluffer wins.

All this lah-di-dah "holier than thou" stuff looks great on paper, but altruism needs to be tempered with self-interest. Sure - giving everything away may feel good at the time - but you freeze your butt off standing naked in the desert that evening and then die of thirst the next day.

And sure as eggs is eggs - the bedou you gave your last blanket and water bottle to will be long gone, and the next one you meet will NOT give you his.

Why worry about the ending, enjoy the NOW

Basic Rules for Life
author unknown

If you open it - CLOSE IT!

If you turn it on - TURN IT OFF!

If you unlock it - LOCK IT BACK!

If you break it - FIX IT!

If you can't fix it - CALL SOMEONE WHO CAN!

If you borrow it - RETURN IT!

If you use it - TAKE CARE OF IT!

If you make a mess - CLEAN IT UP!

If you move it - PUT IT BACK WHERE YOU FOUND IT!

If it is out of place - PUT IT WHERE IT BELONGS!

If it belongs to someone else - GET PERMISSION TO USE IT!

If you don't know how to operate it - DON'T USE IT!

If it doesn't concern you - STAY OUT OF IT!