wounds. This is just a part of be-
ing human. We do heal from those
hurts and wounds; however, some
people carry with them the burden
of bitterness, anger, even hate and
rage at the person who caused the
hurt. One woman discovered this
through an unusual suggestion
from her therapist. The source of
her extreme unhappiness was the
anger and animosity she held to-
ward her former spouse. Since tradi-
tional therapy was not working, the
counselor chose a unique approach.
At the conclusion of a session, he
handed her a brick to symbolize her
old relationship. He instructed her
to carry it around in her purse for
the next seven days.
and heavier. She soon understood
that holding on to negative feelings
was not in her best interest. Before
long, she was ready to relinquish
those feelings, a step she reinforced
by crushing the brick with a ham-
mer and scattering it into pieces.
She was able to let go of the rela-
tionship and her excess emotional
baggage, and then move on to write
a new chapter in her life.
spiritual simplicity, we will
experience more harmony,
equilibrium and balance
in daily living.
source of pleasure and joy.
Ironically, we gain more by
having less.
tor and martial arts expert Chuck
Norris went alone to a small res-
taurant. As he sat in a corner booth
a large man towered over him, de-
claring with an angry edge in his
voice that Norris was sitting in his
booth. "I didn't like his tone or his
implicit threat, but I said nothing
and moved to another booth." A few
minutes later, the large man headed
back toward Norris. "Here it comes,"
he thought to himself, "a local tough
out to make a name for himself by
taking on Chuck Norris in a fight."
As the man stood before Norris, he
looked directly at the actor, saying:
"You're Chuck Norris." The actor
nodded. "You could have beaten me
up back there a few minutes ago,"
the man said. "Why didn't you?"
over for a moment and then offered
Norris his hand. "No hard feelings?"
he said. "None," Norris responded
and shook his hand. "I had avoided
a confrontation and made a friend. I
won by losing," Norris says.
age. People often tend to explode
with road rage over minor traffic ir-
ritants. All of us can help restore
civility to daily life by reducing our
visceral tendency to express anger.
An ancient parable tells of a farmer
delivering his produce by boat to a
nearby market. As he made his way
upstream, another boat was coming
downstream and headed directly
into his path. As the boats came
closer, the farmer tried to veer away
while shouting: "Be careful. Get out
of the way. We're going to collide."
As his voice grew stronger, so did
his anger. When the boats collided
the farmer was furious and turned
to yell directly at the other boat-
man. His anger evaporated when
he realized the boat was empty and
that it had simply come loose from
its mooring. Calming down, he gen-
tly pushed it aside and continued
on his journey. The man never lost
his temper again because from that
time on he treated everyone he met
like an empty boat.
written by Henry Alford, a 19th century British
minister and author: