One man who loved the color yellow had yellow carpet, yellow
furniture, yellow drapes, yellow walls and even yellow appliances in
his yellow kitchen. He slept in a yellow bed with yellow covers and
wore yellow pajamas. He got sick. You guessed it ... yellow jaundice.



He called a doctor who came to his apartment building. The manager
told him he'd have no trouble finding the right one. "You just go down
the hall and come to a yellow door," he said. "That's the one."



In a few moments the doctor was back. The apartment manager asked,
"Were you able to help him?"



The doctor replied, "Help him! I couldn't even FIND him!"



I suppose it's not always a good idea to blend too closely with your
surroundings. And that holds true for the way we think and behave,
too. We may not always want to be like everyone else around us. I
admire those people willing to stand out from the crowd.



People like a Miami mother who came to police and spilled out cash and
coins totaling $19.53. Her young son added another 85 cents to the
little pile. It turns out that, after two days, they were the only
people to return money scooped up from an armored truck that toppled
on an overpass and rained more than half a million dollars onto the
street below. Police said that witnesses reported seeing rush-hour
commuters loading money into their cars and driving off while the
armored truck employees lay bleeding. Police had pleaded with
residents to return the money, but got nothing but laughter until a
mother and a boy came in.



In a world that seemed to think alike, two people had a different
idea. They refused to blend in with those around them. It was as if
they were painted with a different brush. "I have children and I
needed to set a good example," said the mother of six, who could have
used a little extra cash to supplement her low retail store wage.



Most people talk about values and what they believe to be right and
wrong. But I've noticed that our REAL values can be seen by the way we
live. It is the things we do and the choices we make that show what we
truly believe.



An 11-year-old boy who turned in 85 cents because he felt "it was
wrong for me to keep anything" stood out from the crowd. And a mother
who wanted to teach her children to do the right thing set an example
they will never forget. Like Ruth E. Renkel says, "Sometimes the
poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritances."



When this Miami mother one day passes away, she will leave her
children a rich inheritance. Maybe not a pile of money, but she will
leave them an example of a life of integrity and self respect, an
example of what it is like to be painted with a different brush. She
will leave them something far more important than wealth.



If her children inherit her values, anything else is just money.



Paint them fortunate.



__________

Steve Goodier Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com is a professional
speaker, consultant and author of numerous books. Visit his site for
more information, or to sign up for his FREE newsletter of Life, Love
and Laughter at http://LifeSupportSystem.com.