Friday, October 3, 2008

The People Who Make A Difference In Your Life

Brother David Lettelier sent me this. I thought it profound enough to post here. We as Masons do not have to be festooned with medals or a Grand Lodge Officer to make a difference in someone else's life. The average Joe six pack Mason does a hell of a lot of good and is strong support for those around him and with whom he comes in contact. Be proud to be just a Mason.

The following is the philosophy of some unkown author. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read the following straight through, and you'll get the point.


1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize..

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.




How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners .




Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with .



Easier?

The lesson : The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

6 comments:

Stephen Dafoe said...

Fred:

As nice as these thoughts may be, I'm afraid you have both been taken in by another Internet hoax.

Shultz did not write this.

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/schulz.asp

Frederic L. Milliken said...

Nice to know but doesn't change the message. Whoever did write it wrote something nice. Seems weird that they would not want to claim authorship.

Thanks for your continued dilegence. Maybe I'll run everything someone sends me by Snopes from now on.

Greg Stewart said...

I like the idea behind the words. In playing the mental exercise, the friends came to mind immediately, where the stars/celebs I drew a complete blank.

Gingerman said...

I'm often struck by the importance people place on credentials. Without the proper credentials, what someone says has less value. I believe it was David Hume who said, when speaking of natural religion, that if something doesn't make sense to a child, it probably just doesn't make sense. The obverse of that applies as well.

Truth doesn't require credentials, you just have to measure and weigh it. Those who influence us most only need to have been, not to have been qualified.

When I was a child, I used to remark on my "friends." My mother said that most of those I called friend were actually acquaintances, and that a person usually has few real friends in this world. I took that to heart. Too much so, in retrospect. I am too selective of those I call friend, and have lost out thereby.

Stephen Dafoe said...

"Truth doesn't require credentials"

You are quite correct; however, citation requires truth.

Look, I acknowledged the beauty of the thoughts - in fact, I quite agree with the piece.

I merely pointed out that it is uncorrectly attributed to Charles Schulz and the asserttion that they are his words is a hoax.

Sorry Fred, I shouldn't have held your Beehive blog to the same standards I required when I was paying you to write The Beehive for Masonic Magazine.

Frederic L. Milliken said...

I removed the reference to Charles Schultz which is what I should have done in the first place.