Andy the goose was born without feet and spent his days
flopping around in the dirt of a Nebraska farm. But things changed the day
inventor Gene Fleming visited the farm. Fleming, who had a knack for creating
practical gadgets that made life easy, took one look at the helpless bird and
decided to end the poor creature’s suffering.
Fleming found a pair of baby shoes, filled them with foam
rubber, and attached them to Andy’s legs. Then he fastened a small harness and
leash around Andy’s chest. After a few hours of gentle tugging, Fleming
patiently encouraged Andy to stand, stumble, and finally walk.
And that was just the beginning! Fleming designed a pair of
shoes with paddles so Andy could swim, and attached metal spikes to the soles of
another pair so Andy could walk on ice. Fleming even designed a pair of special
shoes that made it possible for Andy to mate.
With Andy now living a "full goose life" and
Fleming continually improving the shoes, the duo hit the road. They toured
schools and malls; they started Andy’s Fan Club based on this simple motto:
"Great occasions for helping others come seldom, but small occasions
surround us daily."
Word got around and the pair became celebrities in their
hometown and around the world. They appeared in popular magazines and on
national talk shows. Shoe manufacturers kept Andy’s "wardrobe"
trendy - he turned heads strutting in his high-tops.
Fleming and Andy are no longer with us. But their memory
lives on in the hearts of the people they encountered. As one Nebraskan said,
"Andy and Gene sent the message that a lot of us aren’t perfect and that
we can all use some help. And by giving that help, we can make the world a
little better place to live."
The whole world stinks
Wise men and philosophers throughout the ages have disagreed
on many things, but many are in unanimous agreement on one point: "We
become what we think about." Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "A man is what
he thinks about all day long." The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius put it
this way: "A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it." In the
Bible we find: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
One Sunday afternoon, a cranky grandfather was visiting his
family. As he lay down to take a nap, his grandson decided to have a little fun
by putting Limburger cheese on grandfather’s mustache. Soon, grandpa awoke
with a snort and charged out of the bedroom saying, "This room
stinks." Through the house he went, finding every room smelling the same.
Desperately he made his way outside only to find that "the whole world
stinks!"
So it is when we fill our minds with negativism. Everything
we experience and everybody we encounter will carry the scent we hold in our
mind.
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