Today's Story - Get Your Confidence Back!

 There was a business executive who was deep in debt and could see no way out.

Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment.

He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him. “I can see that something is troubling you,” he said.

After listening to the executive’s woes, the old man said, “I believe I can help you.”

He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying,

“Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.”

Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!

“I can erase my money worries in an instant!” he realized.

But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment.

He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check. At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared.

But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.

“I’m so glad I caught him!” she cried. “I hope he hasn’t been bothering you. He’s always escaping from the rest home and telling people he’s John D. Rockefeller.”

And she led the old man away by the arm. The astonished executive just stood there, stunned.

All year long he’d been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him.

Suddenly, he realized that it wasn’t the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around.

It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.

www.asocialox.com

Something to think about - “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius

  

“The opinion which other people have of you is their problem, not yours.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

 “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” — Mary Engelbreit

“You are more powerful than you know; you are beautiful just as you are.” – Melissa Etheridge

Orange Walnut Cake

 

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest (only the outer orange skin and not the white part), about 1 large orange

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed (about 1 – 1 1/2 large), 

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. Into a food processor, combine flour, walnuts, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Process for one minute and 30 seconds, until finely ground. Transfer mixture to a bowl and keep aside.

3. Into the same (now empty) processor, add butter, sugar and orange zest. Process for 45 seconds. Add both eggs and process for few seconds until smooth (scrape the sides of the processor to mix in any butter sticking to the sides).

4. Add half the ground flour mixture, process for 10 seconds, then orange juice, process for 10 seconds and then finish off with remaining flour mixture and process for additional 10 seconds, until combined.

5. Transfer batter into the prepared pan, spread evenly and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 33 minutes (if using 8-inch pan) and 30 minutes (if using 9-inch pan) or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes clean.

6. Place pan on a wire rack to cool (awesome when warm), 

Makes one 8-inch or 9-inch cake.

www.kitchenathoskins.com 

Today's Story - PRICE OF A MIRACLE

 

A little girl ran to her bedroom and pulled out her piggy bank from a secret drawer in her closet. She broke the piggy bank and took the change and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total has to be exactly perfect as there shouldn’t be any chance for mistake here.

She carefully placed the coins in a jar and twisted on the cap. She took the jar full of coin and slipped out of the back door. She made her way six blocks to a drug store. She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too busy attending other customers at that moment. She tried several times to get his attention, but she wasn’t successful.  Finally, she took a quarter from her jar and banged on the glass counter , which was finally able to get her some attention.

“ And what do you want little miss ?” the pharmacist asked the tiny girl in the front of his counter.

“My brother is really, really sick… and I want to buy a miracle.,” the girl answered back.

“I beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist.

“My brother  is really sick and my daddy says only a miracle can cure him now. So, I want to get a miracle for him. how much does a miracle cost?”

“I’m sorry but I can’t help you, We don’t sell miracles here, little girl.” the pharmacist said, softening a little.

“Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I will get more. Just tell me how much it costs.”

Next to the little girl was a tall well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?”

“I don’t know,” the girl replied with her eyes filled with tears. “I just know he is very sick and has something bad growing inside his head. Doctor says he needs an operation. But daddy can’t pay for it, so we need a miracle to save him now. I can to use all my money to save my brother .”

“How much do you have?” asked the man.

“One dollar and twelve cents, it’s all the money I have now, but I can get some more if needed” the girl answered barely audibly.

“Well, what a coincidence,” smiled the man. “A dollar and twelve cents, that is the exact price of a miracle for a little brothers.”

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand; he softly held her hand and said, “Take me to your brother. I want to meet your parents and see your brother. Let’s see if I have the miracle your brother needs.”

The man was a reputed neurosurgeon. He was just the right person needed to save the little boy’s life. The operation was completed without any charges and it wasn’t long until the little girl’s brother was home again and doing well.

Mommy and daddy were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this happy place. “That surgery”, her Mommy whispered, “it was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?”

The little girl smiled, as she knew exactly how much a miracle costs. One dollar and twelve cents, plus the faith of a little child.

alltimeshortstories.com

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