Could not resist forwarding this one -

Soffie

Subject:  Interview with God . . .

With my newly acquired title as a journalist,
I decided to strike a high note.

"Come in," God said to me, "so, you would like
to interview Me?"

"If you have the time," I said, "Can we talk while we walk?"

He smiled through His beard and said: "Certainly.  My time is
called eternity and is enough to do everything; what would you like to
know?"

"What's the one thing that surprises you most about mankind?"

He answered: "That they get bored with being children,
are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be children
again. That they lose their health to make money and
then lose their money to restore their health.

That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget
the present, such that they live neither for the present
nor the future. That they live as if they will never die,
and they die as if they had never lived..."

His hands took mine and we were silent. After a long
period I said, "May I ask you another question?"
He replied with a smile.

"As a Father, what would you ask your children to do for
the coming years?"

"To learn that they cannot make anyone love them.
What they can do is to let themselves be loved. To
learn that it takes years to build trust, and a few
seconds to destroy it.

To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have
in their lives, but who they have in their lives.

To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to
others. There will be others better or worse than they are.

To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.

To learn that they should control their attitudes,
otherwise their attitudes will control them.

To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound
wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years
to heal them.

To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.
To learn that there are persons that love them dearly, but
simply do not know how to show their feelings.

To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.
To learn that while at times they may be entitled to be
upset, that does not give them the right to upset those around them.
To learn that great dreams do not require great wings, but
a landing gear to achieve.

To learn that true friends are scarce, he/she who has
found one has found a true treasure.

To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven
by others, but that they forgive themselves.

To learn that they are masters of what they keep to
themselves and slaves of what they say.

To learn that they shall reap what they plant; if they
plant gossip they will harvest intrigues, if they plant
love they will harvest happiness.

To learn that true happiness is not to achieve their goals
but to learn to be satisfied with what they already achieved.

To learn that happiness is a decision.  They decide to be
happy with what they are and have, or die from envy and
jealousy of what they lack.

To learn that two people can look at the same thing and
see something totally different.

To learn that those who are honest with themselves
without considering the consequences go far in life.

To learn that even though they may think they have
nothing to give, when a friend cries with them, they find
the strength to ease the pain.

To learn that by trying to hold on to loved ones, they very
quickly push them away; and by letting go of those whom
they love, they will be side by side forever.

To learn that even though the word "love" has many
different meanings, it loses value when it is overstated.

To learn that they can never do something extraordinary
for Me to love them; I simply do.

To learn that the shortest distance they could be from Me
is the distance of a prayer..."

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