LookWhatYouFindalongtheWay

　　If you have ever been discouraged because of failure, please read on.

　　For often, achieving what you set out to do is not the important thing. Let me explain.

　　Two brothers decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. As they were working, a couple of older boys stopped by to watch.

　　"What are you doing?" asked one of the visitors.

　　"We plan to dig a hole all the way through the earth!" one of the brothers volunteered excitedly.

　　The older boys began to laugh, telling the younger ones that digging a hole all the way through the earth was impossible.

　　After a long silence, one of the diggers picked up a jar full of spiders, worms and a wide assortment of insects. He removed the lid and showed the wonderful contents to the scoffing visitors.

　　Then he said quietly and confidently, "Even if we don't dig all the way through the earth, look what we found along the way!"

　　Their goal was far too ambitious, but it did cause them to dig. And that is what a goal is for-to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen; in other words, to set us to digging!

　　But not every goal will be fully achieved. Not every job will end successfully. Not every relationship will endure. Not every hope will come to pass. Not every love will last. Not every endeavor will be completed. Not every dream will be realized.

　　But when you fall short of your aim, perhaps you can say, "Yes, but look at what I found along the way! Look at the wonderful things which have come into my life because I tried to do something!"

　　It is in the digging that life is lived. And I believe it is joy in the journey, in the end, that truly matters.

AnEmptyBox

　　Once upon a time, a man punished his 5-year-old daughter for using up the family's only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight, and he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve, he saw that the child had pasted the gold paper so as to decorate a shoebox to put under the Christmas tree.

　　Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!"

　　As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction.

　　But when he opened it, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady, " he said harshly, "when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package!"

　　The little girl looked up at him with tears rolling from her eyes and said: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full."

　　The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

　　An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept that little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.

　　In a very real sense, each of us as human beings have been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God.

　　There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.