A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes.

Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed – Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!”

Jim couldn’t believe it.

Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.

“How could he be the new CEO?”

the others said.

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the New Chief Executive Officer!”

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

* If you plant hard work, you will reap success

* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

* If you plant faith in God, you will reap a harvest

• I believe- that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
• I believe- that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
• I believe- that just because someone doesn’t love you the way you wantthemo doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.
• I believe- that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
• I believe- that it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
• I believe- that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
• I believe- that you can keep going, long after you can’t.
• I believe- that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
• I believe- that either you control your attitude or it controls you.
• I believe- that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
• I believe- that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
• I believe- that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
• I believe- that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down, will be the ones to help you get back up.
• I believe- that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.
• I believe- that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.
• I believe- that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
• I believe- that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.
• I believe- that just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.
• I believe- that you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
• I believe- that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
• I believe- that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people Who don’t even know you.
• I believe- that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you will find the strength to help.
• I believe- credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
• I believe- that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

Christmas is a time of year that can be challenging to many. There are memories, regrets, and losses that seem to rush to our minds, especially as we get older. There is nothing wrong with feeling sadness at Christmas, it doesn’t diminish or disprove your faith in any way. If you look at it in the right way, it can merely be a longing for a better place and the reflection of a life lived loving and connecting with others. Sometimes though, our loneliness is tied to anger, regret or bitterness. Either way, here is a touching story to help you decided how to to approach life.

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She is 92 years old, petite, well poised, and proud. She is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coiffed, and her makeup perfectly applied, in spite of the fact she is legally blind.

Today she has moved to a nursing home. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making this move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, where I am employed, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet curtains that had been hung on her window. “I love it,” she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room…just wait,” I said. Then she spoke these words that I will never forget: “That does not have anything to do with it,” she gently replied.

“Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not, does not depend on how the furniture is arranged. It is how I arrange my mind. I have already decided to love it. It is a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice. I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or I can get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do work.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I will focus on the new day and all of the happy memories I have stored away…just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you have already put in.