"Choosing Courage; Finding Peace"

That's the name of this fantastic piece written by Steve Goodier:

Do you know what my son James dreamed about last night?" a friend asked me. Her son was a bright child of about ten. "He dreamed about YOU," she went on.

"James told me this morning that he dreamed he was being chased by King Kong. Then he met you. I wondered if you rescued him from the beast and James said no. He told me that you hid with him in the bushes while the Boy Scouts beat back King Kong with sticks.'"

You have to appreciate the Boy Scouts!

Are you courageous? For most people, courage has little to do with fighting imaginary monsters in nighttime sleep. It has more to do with fighting those monsters of real life that keep us up at night. Real courage is always found in everyday living. In fact, it is the one
ingredient that, when present in a life, will ultimately bring peace.

Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the great athlete, died of cancer. Her husband stood at her bedside weeping shortly before she passed on. Babe said to him, "Now, Honey, don't take on so. While I've been in the hospital, I have learned one thing. A moment of happiness is a lifetime, and I have had a lot of happiness. I have had a lot of it."

Babe found courage to meet two of life's universal monsters -- fear of death and fear of the unknown. She chose to remember all the good that life had so generously heaped on her rather than the fact that she would die soon. She decided to meet those monsters equipped with
gratitude and a smile.

Babe chose courage. But what she actually found was peace. You may be stronger than you think! Your real-life monsters can keep you awake at night, or you can allow them to awaken strength and power within you. It's a matter of choosing courage -- and finding peace.

Steve sends out periodic emails with great essays like these several times every week. If you'd like to receive them periodically, just send an email from the email account to which you want it sent to: LifeSupport-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Steve's web site is here.

"The Greatest Success of All"

[That's the title of this piece by speaker, author, and pastor, Steve Goodier. To subscribe to a regular diet of Steve's encouraging writing, sent to you via email, go to his web site here.]

"Skipper, a special message just came in for you from the admiral,"
the sailor said to his captain as he saluted. "I have it right here."

"Read it to me," the captain ordered.

The sailor read, "You are without a doubt, the most conceited,
self-absorbed, EGO-MANIAC ever to command a ship in the United States
Navy."

The skipper responded, "Have that communication decoded at once!"

For some people, it's all about them. For others, it's all about you.
Like author Leil Lowndes says, "There are two kinds of people in this
life. Those who walk into a room and say, 'Well, here I am.' And those
who walk in and say, 'Ahh, there you are.'"

Which are you? Are you more focused on getting your own needs met, or
on easing the burdens of others? Are you mostly trying to make
yourself happy, or are you interested in the happiness of those around
you?

Albert Einstein reminded us that "life isn't worth living, unless it
is lived for someone else." And toward the end of his life, he removed
the portraits of two scientists -- Isaac Newton and James Maxwell --
from his wall. He replaced them with portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and
Albert Schweitzer. Einstein explained that it was time to replace the
image of success with the image of service.

Maybe the greatest success of all is when we realize that it's not all
about us. And maybe the greatest happiness to be found is when we
share the happiness of others.