"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your
trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month." - Theodore Roosevelt
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| Leave it Outside |
A man hired a carpenter to help restore an old farmhouse, he had just
finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour
of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck
refused to start. While he was being driven home, he sat in stony
silence. On arriving, he invited his contractor in to meet his family.
As they walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree,
touching the tips of the branches with both hands. After opening the
door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His face was wreathed in
smiles. He hugged his two children and gave his wife a kiss. As he
walked his contractor back to the car, they passed the tree, again so
the contractor asked him about what he'd seen him do earlier.
"Oh,
that’s my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can’t help having
troubles on the job, but one thing is for sure, troubles don’t belong in
the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree
every night when I come home. Then in the morning, I pick them up
again."
"Funny thing is, he smiled, "when I come out in the morning
to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up
the night before."
