Imaniceperson.com

Some Not so Nice Statistics

Hi folks. We have had to take some time off from the site to focus on our families in this tough economy. It doesn't mean we don't believe in promoting kindness to those around us. It is vital to our society.

We hope those of you who visit for the right reasons still find joy in some of the Nice Stories written on our site. There are some great stories of kindness on here to inspire and warm hearts.

On the not so nice side, we have had over 17,000 spam comments on our site over the past few months. About once a week someone will come on the site and post links to sites which aren't necessarily nice. It's a shame these people exploit this site to build page rank for their sites.

Hopefully they'll eventually consider finding another place to post these links. We really prefer the Nice Stories stay on the site for those who need inspiration in their lives. There are plenty of other places to post these links. Please stop spamming our site.

May God bless all of you as you continue your journeys and help promote kindness throughout the World.

Hugs for the homeless

This is a pretty special story from a friend of mine who took out his Friday evening in Dublin to see how he could make someone's day. His story involves hugs, crazy hair and a lot of strange looks. This will definitely put a smile on your face, so watch it to the end if you can!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z6QGB1xuhg

Hello Nice People

We hope you are all doing well. Thank you for visiting our site. It's been a while since we've posted because we've all had to focus on our jobs and families in this tough economy.

We hope you'll find plenty of nice stories to read on our site; and we hope you'll even register and post a few nice stories of your own to share with visitors to our site.

The World is full of Nice People, and this site is full of Nice stories about life.

Thanks again for stopping by. Have a NICE day!

Free Hugs Video

I randomly found this video on Youtube. It really made my day. We all need more hugs. Here is the video. If it won't paste, just go to Youtube and type "free hugs."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

From ...

Suzanne Miller
Long time I'm a nice person fan.

Facebook For A Cause

Parents in College has team-up with Facebook Causes to raise funds in order to continue to provide resources to parents in college with support for economic challenges. Their GOAL is to raise 3, 000. We hope we can count on you to help. Please SPREAD THE WORD.........................

ENDS 12/31/09

Ask your friends to make a donation to PIC facebook causes page: Help Parents in College

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/322374/62597915?m=6d54c0aa
click link to join

thanks

Visit @ wwww.parentsincollege.org

Turn the Other Cheek

You've probably heard the saying "Turn the Other Cheek". If you haven't, it basically means...if someone is showing negativity towards you, i.e. slapping you in the face, it is often best to turn away than to get into a heated confrontation.

Face it, not everyone in this World is going to like everyone else. There may be others who are vicious, vindictive, jealous, or just angry at the World. These people may take out their frustrations on you.

While unfortunate it doesn't mean you need to stoop to their level when they bring this negativity to you.

I often tell my children, "Try not to Hate anyone". Instead, treat those who are not going to be your friends as someone you prefer to avoid.

For example, I have an acquaintance who is angry with the way their life has turned out. They constantly complain about their unhappy marriage, their unhappy homelife, their less than adequate material possessions, etc. It's no fun to listen to them complain all the time. Not only do they complain about their own situation; they also talk bad about others. Recently this couple tried to get me in trouble through my volunteer youth sports organization because they felt I was not putting their son in a prominent position.

Honestly, their son is in the best position to succeed, and he is enjoying his role. The only problem is his parents. Instead of confronting them with the truth I "Turn the other cheek" and continue to put my heart and soul into teaching these children life lessons and teamwork.

When these parents recently lost their jobs, we "hired" the husband to do some odd jobs. When he told us how we owed him, we paid double because we wanted to help them out. He barely even thanked us.

More recently the husband snapped at my wife when she made a small mistake. Having had enough, she snapped back against better judgement. What did the couple do? They went back to our youth association and tried to get my wife banned from attending our children's activities because she exemplified conduct which was a detriment to our organization.

We were approached by the organization, we explained the entire course of events, and they were surprised at how much hatred this couple showed towards us. We told the organization we would "make it go away", and we did just that.

This would be a time when most people would hate this couple. Instead, we "turn our other cheek" and choose to not associate with these people.

You don't have to hate and you don't have to fight back. When someone is hateful towards you, just avoid them. It's that easy. There are plenty of kind people in this World to associate with to fulfill your needs of friendship without having to spend your time trying to appease others who only want to make your life miserable to help them feel better about their own lives.

Have a NICE day.

Turning Your Life Around

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Life has been quite a whirlwind (in a good way).

Over the past few months business has dropped off considerably in my main income producing job. I lost a major account which dropped revenue considerably.

While disappointing, this "wake up call" ended up being a positive. Instead of
sulking and getting depressed, I got reinvigorated by lighting a new fire of necessity in my life.

The outcome? I picked up a couple of smaller accounts, I created a new business which is off to a great start, and I spent my free time helping kids
in the community.

The lesson here? If your chips seem down and you're worried about the future; don't give up because there are plenty of options available to make
a better life. We by nature can be creatures of habit in a comfort zone. Sometimes we get too comfortable in this zone.

If you challenge yourself to rise to new levels you can achieve positive results. This is a world of opportunity and we all have choices and the ability to create a better life when we think and act wisely.

Change can be good. I've found waking up is easier because I'm excited about the NEW challenges ahead. I'm excited about learning something new on a daily basis. I'm excited about the opportunity to make decisions through careful analysis vs experience. This doesn't mean experience isn't or extreme importance; it actually leads to success. It's just that trying new things provides a much better adrenaline rush in many cases.

So if you're down and out....don't give up. Get creative, get motivated, and try something new with an obtainable goal. Once you achieve this goal, reward yourself and set a new goal. Before you know it, you may be surprised at the improvement in your life which is a result of your new journey.

Have a NICE day!

Old Friends Are Good Medicine

If you're feeling down and out, or you just need a break from the rat race...call an old friend.

There is something about reminiscing about the good times you had together when you were younger. Old friends don't bring up your past mistakes as a way to bring you down. They help you remember the good times you had together. They help you reflect on the positive memories you've experienced in your life.

Old friends can create attitude adjustments that you can't get from a pill. They can change your mind frame from bad to good without a chemical reaction from a pill.

Old friends are truly great medicine for your soul.

So call an old friend and change your bad day to better. You won't regret it.

Have a NICE day!

Happy Fathers' Day

Here's an Ode to Fathers on Father's Day from our archives:

"Ah yes, fathers. The tough guys. The disciplinarians.

Today is the day we honor our fathers. Although I'm a father I'm going to use this story to honor my father and all of the other Fathers in the World who do so much for their families.

One comedian once said something along the line of...[Fathers don't get too much...they pay the bills, discipline the kids, play the tough guy, and what do they get?....The big piece of chicken!!!]

Fathers have awesome responsibility in the family unit and in the world. They make many sacrifices for their families. Most do the physical work in the household. They fix things, they do the heavy lifting, they cut the grass, they work their tails off to support the family, they have to be the tough guy, they do the dirty work, they often make the tough decisions, they teach their sons how to be men and their daughters how to watch out for men. :). They often have to be the "bad guy" when the kids get out of line and drive Mothers crazy. They have to give up a lot of their family time to support the family. They quite often are the ones who have to keep their cool when things aren't going smoothly. A great phrase my Father in Law shared with me when he was laid up in the hospital with a tube down his throat was, "We stop the Bullet!". What a true statement. Most fathers would die for their family. Many have died for our familes or for our country in our fight for the Right to Freedom. (men and women have made these sacrifices but today this is for Fathers Day)

Many fathers miss out on a lot of their childs activities because they spend so much time at work. They still make time for their children when they can. Many coach our teams or teach us how to work hard to contribute to our team or society.

Personally, my father is quite special in many ways. He taught me how to ride a bike (and how to get up and try again when I wrecked!). He taught me to respect my elders. He taught me how to use my mind to make rational decisions. He taught me the value of money. He showed me that sacrificing time at work for the benefit of our family was most important. He taught me how to catch a ball. He taught me mental toughness. He taught me to give my best effort...and not to be complacent with my achievments as we all have room form improvement. He was the disciplinarian in the family and when he spoke...we listened. He taught me a lot about business, honor, trust in others and yourself, instinct, dependability, the value of a dollar, how to turn off the lights to save electricity and close the door when the A/C was running :) He gives me advice on the hard stuff...business, contracts, negotiation, etc. He pushes me to do better. He shows me how to be level headed. He has inspired me through his actions for his entire life. He is a rock. He is my inspiration. When the tough gets going........I call my father because I know he's going to give me his true opinion and his best judgement, and most of the time he's right.

Many Dads are great role models for their sons and daughters. They love their daughters and always look out for their best interest. They protect them, make them feel like princesses, and fix many of their mistakes.

Fathers so often get stuck with the hard stuff. Wrecked cars, bounced checkbooks, emotional kids who lost the game or failed the test. Most don't cave in...they toughen up.

Good fathers are a very important part of this world. They often don't get the recognition until the kids are grown up and faced with the challenges of the real world on their own....and fatherhood.

I'm hear to tell you. Fathers....you are great and you are respected. You have earned much more than the "big piece of chicken". You have earned the respect of your sons, your daughters, your wives, your parents, and your friends.

Enjoy your Father's Day. You deserve it.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY and thank you for being such great examples for the rest of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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Being nice is expensive

I have been operating Table Talk Ministries for 7 years now.
I have performed repairs large and small on about 75 homes.
That may not sound like a lot, but, keep in mind that we have only received around $6500.00 in outside donations during that period, the rest has come out of my own pocket. I quit counting it at $40,000.00, that was two years ago.
I only make 55-60k per year driving a truck, which takes 60 hours per week of my time.

I am on vacation this week (from driving), I am removing a tub surround and building a custom tile shower for a large man (Mike) who could no longer get into his tub. I praise God that most of the tile was donated by Home Depot, otherwise, we would not have had the funds to get this one done, and he hasn't had a shower in two years, (he takes sponge baths).

Sometimes, I get discouraged because I don't have the funds to help all who call on me, which has become more and more lately, we are now getting referrals from Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together, Putnam County Comprehensive Services, Family and Social Services Administration, Weatherization Program, Energy Assistance Program, The USDA Rural Development Dept. and Social Service departments from Hospitals and several Churches throughout Indiana and the surrounding states. I get discouraged because I don’t have the money or time to help everyone of them as they call.

Every time a magazine, a newspaper, a radio station or TV station feels like they need to do a story about me, I get more clients, but, not more donations, Table Talk is a 501c3 Public Charity so donations are tax-deductible, but, I hate to ask, because I hate to tell someone that I can’t help them right now.

THIS IS HOW GOD WORKS;

We did get a large donation after we were featured on the Terre Haute TV News, $5,000 was sent to us that week, the next week, there was an emergency where some folks roof had leaked so much, it caved in the ceilings in 90% of their home, it cost $9,000 for the materials to repair it, inside and out.

We just happen to have $4,000 set aside to build our own garage which was blown down in a storm, so we added it to the donation to help those folks out.

Still don’t have a garage.

When I do get discouraged, I think about people like Mike, whose home I am working on now, the people I help have already lost their dignity, most have cordoned off the unlivable rooms in their houses and use the other rooms. They call me, or their family calls me, because, when I show up, I talk to them like an old friend, I let them know that somebody loves them and I am here to help. When I think about them, I get a renewed perpsective and sense of purpose.

I have started taking names and working on the ones with the greatest need first. My mother raised me to be kind to the elderly, my dad taught me how to work on anything, My JESUS taught me how to show HIS love by using my gifts and talents to help the elderly, the disabled and the poor.

Discouraged or not, money or not, I’ll always do what I can, with what I have, for you.

I’ll be posting pictures of Mike’s on the website next week after I get it done.