The Meaning of Life

On the first day, God created the dog and said:

'Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes inor walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.

'The dog said: 'That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?'

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said:

'Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll giveyou a twenty-year life span.'

The monkey said: 'Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?'

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:

'You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and sufferunder the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer'sfamily. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.'

The cow said: 'That's kind of a tough life you want me to live forsixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?'

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:'

Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give youtwenty years.'

But man said: 'Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me mytwenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, andthe ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?'

'Okay,' said God, 'You asked for it.'

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play andenjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun tosupport our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks toentertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on thefront porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

F.A.M.I.L.Y.

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,"
Oh excuse me please" was my reply.

He said, "Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you."

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.
But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,

"While dealing with a stranger,common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.

"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."

I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."
He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay.I love you anyway."

I said, "Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

FAMILY
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow,
the companythat we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.
But the family we left behind will feel the lossfor the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it,
we pour ourselves moreinto work than into our own family,
an unwise investment indeed,don't you think?
So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU