This Is A No Garbage Zone

June Ashworth, our church treasurer, approached me just after church on Wednesday night. She handed me a folded piece of paper and said, "Read this when you get a chance".

I had been "on the job" for about 12 hours, and was tired from the long day. There have been times (not often) when June has had to brief me on financial concerns. Perhaps there was a look of concern on my face when she handed me the paper. There must have been, because June smiled and said quickly, "Don't worry. This is something good."

When I opened the note, I quickly saw that it seemed to be one of those things that people forward to each other via email, all the time. My eyes quickly went to the bottom of the print out. There was no promise of an angel being dispatched to my shoulder, and no warning of bad things that might happen to me if I didn't forward it to 10 friends and back to the person that sent it. (I hate that stuff, and when I see it, I usually just delete the whole thing and move on). Since it appeared to be different, I sat down at my desk and read the short article, and was glad that I did. I don't usually forward these things on to people, but this one is worthy of sharing. The author is unknown, and I don't know if it is a true story or not, but it is a message worth sharing. Check it out:

"One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.
We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car pulled out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your taxi and sent us both to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I call The Law of the Garbage Truck.

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. 'They
run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of
disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, and sometimes they'll dump it on you. When that happens, don't take it
personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't
take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.'

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks
take over their day. Life is too short to wake up in the morning with
regrets, so ... love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who
don't.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how
you take it."

Well, that's the message, folks. I hope it will speak to you like it did to me. Very simple, yet excellent advice.

Have a blessed, garbage free day!