One of those cheesey email stories that I liked...

A STORY FOR A FRIEND
HIS name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

"I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."

"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer.

At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly. "I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of."

And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, he graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

Someone once said: What goes around comes around.

Don't remember where I got this but I like it...

So you've been hearing that voice again, the one that says you're not doing what you were born to do. That may be true, but how do you figure out what it is that you should be doing?

To begin answering this question, examine whether your current career path matches your core interests, beliefs, values, needs and skills. Professional career counselors usually undertake this strategy when attempting to help clients identify appropriate career directions.

Here's what I ask clients to help them find their core. Ask yourself these questions and record your answers.

1.. What subjects do you most enjoy reading about?
2.. What television or radio programs do you most enjoy?
3.. What are your favorite types of movies?
4.. What are your favorite hobbies or pastimes?
5.. What type of volunteer activities do you prefer?
6.. What subjects do you enjoy discussing with friends?
7.. What subjects come to mind when you daydream?
8.. What have been your favorite jobs?
9.. What were your favorite school subjects?
10.. What are your pet peeves?
11.. If you doodle, what do you often draw?
12.. If you ran the world, what changes would you make?
13.. If you won a million bucks, what would you do with it?
14.. What are your favorite kinds of people?
15.. How would you like to be remembered after your death?
16.. What are your favorite toys?
17.. How would you describe your political beliefs?
18.. Who do you most admire in life and why?
19.. What tasks have brought you the most success?
20.. What tasks do you think you could do well that you haven't yet done?

Examine your answers. Do you see a certain behavior or belief in more than one aspect of your life? What information do you see repeated that seems to reveal a behavior pattern? What are your long-lasting interests?

Using this information, paint a self-portrait by completing the following statements:
a.. I am mainly interested in.
b.. I believe most in.
c.. I most value.
d.. For a good life, I feel I need.
e.. I can do the following well.

Now ask yourself if your current job helps you achieve these five statements. If it does, you're probably in the right career. Chances are, however, that the nagging voice means your current career is not satisfying your core features. If this is the case, then it's time to find a better fit.
If the right career choice is not obvious from the information you have gathered about yourself, then try reading What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands went up.

He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first let me do this " . He proceeded to crumple the $20 dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well", he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what was done to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

"Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless ".

"But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO love you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE.

"You are special - Don't EVER forget it."