Upgrade

Dear Mouse,

My friends told me that I was their source of strength. When three of my friends lost their jobs due to downsizing, I called them regularly to boost their morale.

For weeks now, I've been in a rocking chair. It gives me something to do but does not get me anywhere.

A friend who just left her work per my advice called me up.

She informed me that one of her close friends died last Saturday. Breast cancer. Her autistic seven year old child thought that she was just sleeping.Three years ago, the doctor declared that she was totally free of the disease. This year it had metastasized.It had given her ample time to arrange for her funeral,for the necessary papers that her family may need for the transport of her body back to the Philippines and all this time that she was into the thick preparation of this business of meeting her final days, she did not complain.

For years, she struggled to get a legal resident status in the US and she had barely enjoyed of being one.

That must have caused the stress--the stress that could have contributed to her disease.

As I have mentioned, I advised my friend to leave her job and accept another one that offered lower compensation but the work environment is not as toxic.

Shame on me for feeling low. My system must be slowing down. I need an upgrade.

10 gigs that I got from Paradoxical.

1. Never regret the choices you've made. Always be satisfied with what you have right now. Life isn't perfect. It's a blend of joy and sorrow. It's just a matter of how to deal with it.

2. When you deal with mean and hurtful people, just think of them as sandpaper. They may rub and scratch you painfully, but eventually, you end up smoother and polished.

3. God doesn't always tell you how He's working out His plans, but in His time and in His way, He'll clearly let you know His working out His best for you.

4. Shoe repair sign: I WILL HEEL YOU. I WILL SAVE YOUR SOLE. I WILL EVEN DYE FOR YOU! Just want to make you smile and SHOE away your blues. Have a shoeshiny day.

5. The truest measure of a man lies not in what he achieves for himself, but in the good things he does for others. Fulfillment does not only mean achieving our greatest hopes and dreams. It is also knowing that we have made the lives of others worth living.

5. Forget the things that made you sad and remember those that made you glad. Forget the troubles that passed your way and remember the blessings that come each day.

6. No matter how softly we pray, God listens and understands. He knows the hopes and fears we keep in our hearts, for when we trust his love, miracles happen.

7. When we lose hope, blackness settles like a shroud, days are bleak and gray, expectations die, and we die with them. We have nowhere to look except up.

8. A breath of prayer in the morning means a day of power and blessings. A soul shall never be helpless with God's infinite grace.

9. Whenever you're down, always remember: you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think, because you have Jesus to back you up.

10. God sometimes pushes us out of our comfortable lives to teach us to trust Him. WE may fall a little, but He doesn't let us touch the ground.

The Ca t