1. There's always a catch.
2. There's always a tangle.
3. There's always a few bites.
4. There's more than 1 fish you can catch.
5. The 1 that got away, got away for a reason.
6. You always reel in a few small rewards before you get a big one.
7. If your down on your luck fish on the other side.
8. Patience is a great quality.
9. If you loose your fishing pole, you haven't lost yet...Jump right on in after it!!!
10. It isn't always how far you cast, it's how you work with how far you have casted.
11. Just when you realize that you are having fun the day is over, but there's a heck of a lot of night left!
12. Just when your about to give up you get what you've been working for!!!

- John Urban, Age 15

An elderly lady is showing her grandchild a valuable lesson in life.
She boils three things in a pot of water; a carrot, an egg and a coffee bean.
The carrot goes soft, the egg goes hard, but the coffee bean stays the same, only the the water changes colour.
The lady explains that the boiling water symbolises a traumatic period for all of the objects and all of the objects can be compared to a person who has been through a traumatic period.
The carrot is the person who went into the situation hard and has come out soft and weak.
The egg is the person who went into the situation soft and has come out hardened by the experience.
The coffee bean, however, is the person who was not been changed by the experience but has used the experience to change (and help) those around them.

- Unknown

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years o ld, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. 

'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key. 

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. 

'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life ! Youbecome 21.. Even the words sound like a ceremony.YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!! 

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling.. What's wrong? What's changed? 

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you'rePUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone...

But! wait!! ! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! 

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30,  PUSH 40,REACH 50 and make it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! 

You get into ! your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'

T hen a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!' 
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!! 

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them. 
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. ! Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's family name is Alzheimer's. 
4. Enjoy the simple things. 
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on.. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive. 
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever..Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help. 
9. Don't take guilt trips.. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
11. Stop being a slow learner.

- George Carlin

People are often unreasonable, illogical,
and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some
false friends, and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone
could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you have anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

By Kent M. Keith