Words to live by

Author:

  I dreamed I had an interview with God.

  "Come in," God said. "So, you would like to interview Me?"

  "If you have the time," I said. God smiled and said:
  "My time is eternity and is enough to do everything;
  what questions do you have in mind to ask me?"

  "What surprises you most about mankind?"

  God answered:
  "That they get bored of being children,
  are in a rush to grow up,
  and then long to be children again.

  That they lose their health to make money
  and then  lose their money to restore their health.

  That by thinking anxiously about the future,
  they forget the present, such that they live
  neither for the present nor the future.

  That they live as if they will never die,
  and they die as if they had never lived..."

  God's hands took mine and we were silent for while and then I
  asked...

  "As a parent, what are some of life's lessons you want your
  children to learn?"

  God replied with a smile:
  "To learn that they cannot make anyone love them.
  What they can do is to let themselves be loved.
  To learn that it takes years to build trust,
  and a few seconds to destroy it.

  To learn that what is most valuable
  is not what they have in their lives,
  but who they have in their lives.

  To learn that it is not good
  to compare themselves to others.
  All will be judged individually on their own
  merits, not as a group on a comparison basis!

  To learn that a rich person is
  not the one who has the most,
  but is one who needs the least.

  To learn that it only takes a few seconds
  to open profound wounds in persons we love,
  and that it takes many years to heal them.

  To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.

  To learn that there are persons
  that love them dearly, but simply
  do not know how to express or
  show their feelings.

  To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.

  To learn that two people can look at the same thing
  and see it totally different.

  To learn that a true friend in someone who
  knows everything about them...and likes them anyway.

  that they be forgiven by others,
  but that they have to forgive themselves."

  I sat there for awhile enjoying the moment.
  I thanked Him for his time and for all that
  He has done for me and my family, and He
  replied, "Anytime. I'm here 24 hours a day.
  All you have to do is ask for me, and I'll
  answer.