(Erik's Webhome Online)

Note : This is a place where youcan read compiled stories and poetry that I find truly reveal the truthin us. This is a place where emotions are honored as god-given rights.Feel free to delve deep into your inner being and learn that there is stillpeace within you. Most of the master pieces below have been obtained fromChickenSoup for the Soul : Home Delivery. I would like to take this opportunityto thank a special friend who subscribed me to this free service.

Index
Poetry
Caution (not really the real title)

Stories
Jessie's Glove
Puppies For Sale
Seeing, Really Seeing
To Track Down My Dream

It was the district track meet - the one we had been training for allseason. My foot still hadn’t healed from an earlier injury. As a matterof fact, I had debated whether or not I should attend the meet. But thereI was, preparing for the 3,200-meter run.

"Ready...set..." The gun popped and we were off. The other girls dartedahead of me. I realized I was limping and felt humiliated as I fell fartherand farther behind.

The first-place runner was two laps ahead of me when she crossed thefinish line. "Hooray!" shouted the crowd. It was the loudest cheer I hadever heard at a meet.

"Maybe I should quit," I thought as I limped on. "Those people don’twant to wait for me to finish this race." Somehow, though, I decided tokeep going. During the last two laps, I ran in pain and decided not tocompete in track next year. It wouldn’t be worth it, even if my foot didheal. I could never beat the girl who lapped me twice.

When I finished, I heard a cheer - just as enthusiastic as the one I’dheard when the first girl passed the finish line. "What was that all about?"I asked myself. I turned around and sure enough, the boys were preparingfor their race. "That must be it; they’re cheering for the boys."

I went straight to the bathroom where a girl bumped into me. "Wow, you’vegot courage!" she told me.

I thought, "Courage? She must be mistaking me for someone else. I justlost a race!"

"I would have never been able to finish those two miles if I were you.I would have quit on the first lap. What happened to your foot? We werecheering for you. Did you hear us?"

I couldn’t believe it. A complete stranger had been cheering for me- not because she wanted me to win, but because she wanted me to keep goingand not give up. Suddenly I regained hope. I decided to stick with tracknext year. One girl saved my dream.

That day I learned two things:

First, a little kindness and confidence in people can make a great differenceto them.

And second, strength and courage aren’t always measured in medals andvictories. They are measured in the struggles we overcome. The strongestpeople are not always the people who win, but the people who don’t giveup when they lose.

I only dream that someday - perhaps as a senior - I will be able towin the race with a cheer as big as the one I got when I lost the raceas a freshman.

By Ashley Hodgeson
from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul
Copyright 1997 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger

Source : Unknown

His nose was all smooshed looking, like maybe his mom had dropped himwhen he was a baby. His ears were two -- maybe even two and a half -- sizestoo big for his head. And his eyes! His eyes bulged like they were readyto pop right out of their sockets. His clothes were nice, Tim had to admit.But he was still the homeliest kid he had ever seen.

So why was he leaning on Jennifer Lawrence's locker like they were bestfriends or something? She was a cheerleader and one of the coolest girlsin school. And why was she smiling at him instead of twisting her noseall funny like she did when she looked at Tim? Strange, he thought. Reallystrange.

By lunchtime, Tim had forgotten about the new kid. He sat down at hisusual table...in the corner, all alone. Tim was a loner. He wasn't as uglyas the new kid, just a little on the heavy side and kind of nerdy. Nobodytalked to Tim much, but he was used to it. He had adjusted.

About halfway through his peanut butter and ketchup sandwich (he putketchup on everything) Tim looked up and saw that kid again. He was holdinghis lunch tray and standing over Jennifer, grinning like he'd just aceda math test. And she was grinning, too. Then she moved over and made roomon the bench next to her. Strange. Really strange.

But even stranger was what the new kid did. Tim would have plunked intothat seat so fast, his lunch bag would have been left behind just hangingin the air. But not this new kid. He shook his head, looked around, andwalked straight to Tim’s table.

"Mind if I join you?" he said.

Just like that. Mind if I join you? Like the entire eighth grade isfighting to sit at my table or something, Tim thought.

"Sure," Tim said. "I mean no. I don't mind."

So the kid sat down. And he came back, day after day, until they werefriends. Real friends.

Tim had never had a real friend before, but Jeff -- that was his name,Jeff -- invited Tim to his house, on trips with his family, and even hiking.Right! Tim – hiking!

Funny thing was...one day Tim realized he wasn't so heavy anymore. Allthat hiking, I guess, thought Tim. And kids were talking to him, noddingto him in the hallways, and even asking him questions about assignmentsand things. And Tim was talking to them. He wasn't a loner anymore.

When Jeff sat by Tim one day at lunch, Tim had to ask him, "Why didyou sit with me that first day? Didn't Jen ask you to sit with her?"

"Sure, she asked. But she didn't need me."

"Need you?"

"You did."

"I did?"

Tim hoped that nobody was listening. This is really a dumb conversation,he thought.

"You were sitting all alone," explained Jeff. "You looked lonely andscared."

"Scared?"

"Uh huh, scared. I knew that look. I used to have one too, just likeit."

"You?" Tim couldn't believe it.

"Maybe you didn't notice, but I'm not exactly the best looking guy inschool. At my old school, I always sat alone, with my eyes on my lunch.I was afraid that if I looked up I would see everyone laughing at me."

"You?" Tim knew he sounded stupid, but he couldn't picture Jeff sittingall by himself. He’s so friendly.

"Me. It took a friend to help me see that I wasn't alone because ofmy nose or my ears. I was alone because I never smiled or took an interestin people. Other people. I was so concerned about myself, that I neverpaid attention to anyone else. That's why I sat with you. To let you knowthat someone cared. Jennifer already knew."

"Oh, she knows, all right," Tim said, as he watched two guys fightingto sit near her. Tim and Jeff both laughed. It felt good to laugh, andI've been doing a lot of it lately, realized Tim.

Then Tim looked at Jeff. Really looked. He isn’t so bad looking, Timthought. Oh, not handsome or anything like that. But he isn't homely. Jeffis my friend. That's when Tim realized that he was seeing Jeff for thefirst time. Months earlier all that Tim had seen were a funny-looking noseand "Dumbo ears." Now he was seeing Jeff, really seeing Jeff.

By Marie P. McDougal
from Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul
Copyright 1998 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen andIrene Dunlap

I do a lot of management training each year for the Circle K Corporation,a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address inour seminars is the retention of quality employees - a real challenge tomanagers when you consider the pay scale in the service industry. Duringthese discussions, I ask the participants, "What has caused you to staylong enough to become a manager?" Some time back a new manager took thequestion and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, "It was a $19baseball glove."

Cynthia told the group that she originally took a Circle K clerk jobas an interim position while she looked for something better. On her secondor third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-yearold son, Jessie. He needed a baseball glove for Little League. She explainedthat as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check wouldhave to go for paying bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove withher second or third check.

When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning, Patricia, the storemanager, asked her to come to the small room in back of the store thatserved as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong orleft some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concernedand confused.

Patricia handed her a box. "I overheard you talking to your son yesterday,"she said, "and I know that it is hard to explain things to kids. This isa baseball glove for Jessie because he may not understand how importanthe is, even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. Youknow we can't pay good people like you as much as we would like to; butwe do care, and I want you to know you are important to us."

The thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store managerdemonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer caresthan how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of aLittle League baseball glove.

By Rick Phillips
from Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work
Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Maida Rogerson,Martin Rutte & Tim Clauss

A store owner was tacking a sign above his door that read "Puppies ForSale." Signs like that have a way of attracting small children and sureenough, a little boy appeared under the store owner's sign. "How much areyou going to sell the puppies for?" he asked.

The store owner replied, "Anywhere from $30 to $50."

The little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out some change. "Ihave $2.37," he said. "Can I please look at them?"

The store owner smiled and whistled and out of the kennel came Lady,who ran down the aisle of his store followed by five teeny, tiny ballsof fur. One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the littleboy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said, "What's wrong withthat little dog?"

The store owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the littlepuppy and had discovered it didn't have a hip socket. It would always limp.It would always be lame. The little boy became excited. "That is the littlepuppy that I want to buy."

The store owner said, "No, you don't want to buy that little dog. Ifyou really want him, I'll just give him to you."

The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store owner'seyes, pointing his finger, and said, "I don't want you to give him to me.That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I'llpay full price. In fact, I'll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a monthuntil I have him paid for."

The store owner countered, "You really don't want to buy this littledog. He is never going to be able to run and jump and play with you likethe other puppies."

To this, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveala badly twisted, crippled left leg supported by a big metal brace. He lookedup at the store owner and softly replied, "Well, I don't run so well myself,and the little puppy will need someone who understands!"

By Dan Clark Weathering the Storm
from Chicken Soup for the Soul
Copyright 1993 by Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen