by Jon Coe

Created on: March 16, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

My Mother drummed into me at a very early age that this life is just a small step to the next one... "This life may seem long and arduous at times, but stick with it and do the best you can!" she said.

She also told me, that if you mess up real bad, you only get to come back and try it all over again; so why not just face it all in this life and move on!

When I feel down, my cup is half empty side! A good sense of humor, thanks also to my Mother, will pull us through and make the cup half full again.

Good friends make a lot of difference! If people make you cry and bring you down then they are takers, not givers!

Find friends that make you feel good and try not to judge others. We're all in this boat together, so we must all pull toward the positive and not the negative.

A little bit of positiveness every day will accumulate to much, at a later date....

One of my favorite tales is about a King, that was very very bad!... His face was fierce and ugly and people were afraid to look at him. He treated people terribly! For many years he mistreated innocent peasants and took their land and sold their children into slavery. But, one fine day, as he looked at his haggard face in the mirror, it dawned on him how bad he had been.

In an effort to make good of himself, he decided to do kind things, but his face was still too unbearable and people ran for their lives. Eventually, he became frustrated and decided to wear a mask. For several years he wore it, every day performing kind deeds, in addition to giving back the land and the children.

One day he met a fair young lady and fell in love with her. She also, fell in love with him. She knew that he wore a mask. Eventually, the day came where she requested him to remove it. He explained how ugly he was and what he had done to make it so, so he refused.

She insisted that it would not matter as she loved the one within. With that, he removed his mask. She was devastated at the sight of his face. He had a very kind and loving appearance. All the lines, frowns and scars had gone.

I love this fable because it gives me hope and even if ones efforts are not appreciated right away, I am very confident that they will be at a later date.

So, is life worth living?.. I think it is and that is why I keep Trying every day to improve myself and try to give confidence to others to do the same.

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