My Thanksgiving wish for you is to believe in yourself

Your "Belief" in yourself is the first key to
your success. You have to "Believe" it before
you will ever see it.

Stephan Bourget

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class
on the very first day of school, she told the
children an untruth. Like most teachers, she
looked at her students and said that she loved
them all the same.

However, that was impossible, because there in
the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little
boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before
and noticed that he did not play well with the
other children, that his clothes were messy and
that he constantly needed a bath.

In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got
to the point where Mrs.Thompson would actually
take delight in marking his papers with a broad
red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big
"F" at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she
was required to review each child's PAST
records and she put Teddy's off until last.

However, when she reviewed his file, she was
in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, Teddy is
a bright child with a ready laugh. He does
his work neatly and has good manners, he is
a joy to be around.

His second grade teacher wrote, Teddy is an
excellent student, well liked by his class
mates, but he is troubled because his mother
has a terminal illness and life at home must
be a struggle.

His third grade teacher wrote, His mother's
death has been hard on him. He tries to do his
best, but his father doesn't show much interest,
and his home life will soon affect him if some
steps aren't taken.

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, Teddy is
withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in
school. He doesn't have many friends and he
sometimes sleeps in class.

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and
she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse
when her students brought her Christmas presents
wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper,
except for Teddy's.

His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy
brown paper that he got from a grocery bag.

Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the
middle of the other presents. Some of the
children started to laugh when she found a
rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones
missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter
full of perfume.

But she stifled the children's laughter when
she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was,
putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume
on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just
long enough to say, Mrs. Thompson, today you
smelled just like my Mom used to.

After the children left, she cried for at least
an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching
reading, writing and arithmetic.

Instead, she began to teach children.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy.
As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come
alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster
he responded.

By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of
the smartest children in the class and, despite
her lie that she would love all the children the
same, Teddy became one of her teacher's pets.

A year later, she found a note under her door,
from Teddy, telling her that she was the best
teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note
from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished
high school, third in his class, and she was
still the best teacher he ever had in life.

Four years after that, she got another letter,
saying that while things had been tough at times,
he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and
would soon graduate from college with the highest
of honors.

He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the
best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his
whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another
letter came. This time he explained that after
he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go
a little further. The letter explained that she
was still the best and favorite teacher he ever
had.

But now his name was a little longer . . .The
letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there
was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said
he had met this girl and was going to be married.

He explained that his father had died a couple
of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs.
Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in
the place that was usually reserved for the
mother of the groom.

Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what?

She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing.

Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the
perfume that Teddy remembered his mother
wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard
whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, Thank
you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me.

Thank you so much for making me feel important
and showing me that I could make a difference.

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered
back. She said, Teddy, you have it all wrong.

You were the one who taught me that I could make
a difference.

I didn't know how to teach until I met you.

For you that don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the
Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has
the Stoddard Cancer Wing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fitness and being toned help combat snoring

by Stella Parker


LIZETTE ALVAREZ pens a a cute and insightful piece on snoring and the huge impact that it can have on relationships in this extensive article. Setting aside surgery and breathing devices, guess what the recommended treatment is: lose weight and stay toned. For millions of women, snuggling up to a partner for a good night's sleep is as improbable as stumbling across a Chanel suit on a Kmart rack. Snoring is rampant, with some statistics showing that as much as 20 percent of the population snores. And there is no question that men snore a lot more than women; some experts say they are eight times more likely to than women. In large part that has to do with men's thicker neck muscles, since snoring is what happens when air passes relaxed tissue in the throat, causing a full-throttle vibration. Indulging in too many cocktails makes snoring worse for the simple reason that it over-relaxes the body. Growing older, and less toned, exacerbates the problem. Sometimes genes are to blame; some people are just born with a flabby or narrow airway. Weight gain, too, worsens snoring because the neck grows thicker. As America has gotten fatter, it also appears to have gotten louder, at least during sleep hours. Nowadays, though, many exhausted partners are refusing to sacrifice a good night's sleep. The result, doctors say, is a modern version of musical beds, featuring legions of annoyed women stomping into the guest room or bleary-eyed men shuffling away after being banished to the couch. A number of sleep-famished, stressed-out partners skip this prelude altogether, preferring to sleep in a separate room to get a night of undisturbed rest. In many snoring marriages, this arrangement is an open secret: not exactly hidden, but not readily divulged. "It's amazing how many people move to another room," said Dr. Michael J. Thorpy, director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. "People do it for months, if not years. People don't talk about it to others. There is some embarrassment. It's a feeling of failure that we can't handle this, and it comes really from the fact that snoring was not looked at as a medical problem, but something to be laughed about. We are starting to move away from that." In a survey of 1,506 randomly chosen people released this year by the National Sleep Foundation, 35 percent of those living with a snoring or fitful partner said they experienced difficulties in the relationship because of the disruption, 26 percent lost an average of 49 minutes of sleep a night and 23 percent acknowledged sleeping in a separate place. Doctors are quick to point out that snoring can cause more than disharmony in a relationship. More than 12 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea - in which the soft tissue at the back of the throat repeatedly collapses during sleep and blocks off air - and a large number of these people find themselves sleepy at work or behind the wheel, irritable and unable to concentrate. In the most serious cases, apnea can lead to high blood pressure, and less commonly to stroke or heart attack as the body struggles for oxygen.


About the Author
For information on fitness and health products and Swiss balls, please visit http://www.getfitsource.com

Will Avian Flu become Pandemic

by Alfred Jones


Experts are saying that Avian Flu or Bird Flu could become Pandemic at some time in the future, and it could affect the human race, The World Health Organization has recognized that there could be a problem, Governments have been urged to update all their plans for counteracting any possibility of this happening.

Estimates have been made that something like 50 million deaths could be expected if this flu developed in to a strain that could be passed on by humans

Pandemic Flu, means an outbreak of a flu strain that has reached different countries that have no geographical connection. There is NO Pandemic Flu at the moment but the authorities are concerned about an outbreak of a virus in South East Asia that has killed a number of people.

The flu has been seen for some time in birds, especially Chickens, which has led to millions of birds being killed, The strain involved is H5N1 and has been found in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, only a small number of people have so far died and it would appear that they almost all, had contact with birds.

The virus moves easily between birds, and sometimes it has obviously passed to humans, but at this stage it does not appear to have the ability to transfer from Human to Human, but that is not to say that sometime in the future the virus could not mutate, so that it can transfer easily.

The figures that are forecast are based usually on previous Pandemic Viruses that have hit the world, so it really could be anyone's guess. The people most at risk would normally of course be the weak the elderly and the very young, but this kind of virus would be unpredictable, so it could affect healthy people just as much.

Vaccines are currently being produced, but they can take months to develop and then of course they have to be manufactured in millions to cope with any situation that might arise.

There is currently one drug being manufactured which is supposed to beat the Avian Flu, but it is in such short supply, that in certain cities of the world it is fetching more than the street price of Heroin.

There is absolutely no need to panic, because this particular virus might never develop in to being a problem for humanity, and most countries have contingency plans for a flu pandemic, because they do happen from time to time, thankfully not too frequently. In the last century the 1900's there were three. If you do a search in Google, you will find a lot more information on Avian Flu.

My advice would be to eat healthy food and try to make sure that your Immune System is functioning as efficiently as possible, Don't worry and if you would like something to help your immune system cope with everyday illnesses better, Please look at my websites.


About the Author
Article by Alfred Jones http://www.SugarsR4U.com http://www.RUSweetEnuf.com http://golig.net/SugarsR4U/SugarsR4U.html Glyconutritionals, Himalayan Goji Juice, Human Growth Hormone.