Shoes Gone Astray

Written by David Leonhardt


Dorothy lost hers. I forgot mine. My wife broke hers. I speak of shoes, of course.

So why are we all smiling?

Dorothy is that sweet little girl who broke in that bustin' bronco of a tornado, landing in Oz and inheriting magic ruby slippers from a dead wicked witch.

For most people,repparttar story ends when Dorothy loses her precious slippers somewhere overrepparttar 132562 scorching desert that surrounds Oz ... much like a Congressman loses his power when he flies out of Washington and crosses overrepparttar 132563 gridlock onrepparttar 132564 scorching mid-summer Beltway.

Just as a Congressman is bound to return to Washington sooner or later, Dorothy actually does return to Oz many times. In fact, there are dozens more books inrepparttar 132565 Oz series featuring hundreds of almost unknown characters.

With or withoutrepparttar 132566 power of her ruby slippers, Dorothy makes her way back to enjoy a multitude of unbelievable adventures with her favorite misfits.

Shoe lesson number one. When you lose your shoes, improvise.

I discovered my shoes were missing also while flying high inrepparttar 132567 sky.

Back in my days as a consumer advocate, I was on my way to deliver a speech in Newfoundland, sharingrepparttar 132568 lectern withrepparttar 132569 Newfoundland Minister of Transportation.

Sitting comfortably inrepparttar 132570 airplane seat, my mind was bobbing aimlessly on an ocean of emptiness. Suddenly I broke out in a cold sweat as I realized I had forgotten my dress shoes at home. In fact, they were waiting faithfully byrepparttar 132571 front door, ready to greet me upon my return.

In a matter of seconds I torpedoed through one thought afterrepparttar 132572 other:

Yikes! I'm wearing running shoes for an important speech.

I know, I can buy a new pair when I land.

Too late;repparttar 132573 stores are already closed.

What about inrepparttar 132574 morning?

No, tomorrow is Sunday and my speech is scheduled for 9:00 a.m.

How do you define happiness?

Written by David Leonhardt


I ran a contest in "Your Daily Dose of Happiness" to see how people define happiness. I was stunned to discover that I amrepparttar only person who defines happiness as an extra helping of cheesecake.

There were other shockers, too.

We know that money can't buy happiness ... except, of course, when we are flat broke. But I figured several people would define happiness, at least in part, as a bulging bank vault or "financial freedom". Just three people cited money in their definitions of happiness.

I also figured many people would cite health as part of their definition of happiness, as in "health, wealth, and happiness". But only four people mentioned health.

No health? No wealth? How do people define happiness?

The top rated mention goes to family. It seems that we might be flat broke and deathly ill, but a loving family will make us happy justrepparttar 132560 same.

Altruism and kindness are also key. It seems we smile by making others smile. Isn't that nice? No health and no wealth. Just smile.

Faith scores big, too. This works out very well, because we can ask our loving family to pray for a speedy recovery and a big win in El Gordo next month (assuming we recover first).

What does this mean? It meansrepparttar 132561 spammers have it all wrong. They keep sending us useless emails about making money.

A typical spam message says, "Getrepparttar 132562 insider secrets to making millions onrepparttar 132563 Internet. I will give you these valuable secrets for peanuts just because I love your smile so much. You could make $5,433 inrepparttar 132564 next hour if you act now. Hurry. Don't wait. This isrepparttar 132565 real thing. You can trust me. Allrepparttar 132566 others are just scammers."

Instead, spammers should be sending offers like, "Getrepparttar 132567 insider secret to building a loving family onrepparttar 132568 Internet. I will give you these valuable secrets for peanuts (and a big virtual hug) just because I love your smile so much. You could love your kids, spouses, uncles, parents, pets – anybody! – inrepparttar 132569 next hour if you act now. Hurry. Don't wait. This isrepparttar 132570 real thing. You can trust me. Allrepparttar 132571 others are just family planners."

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