Top 10 Moments of 2018 (and, as always, honorable mentions)

WOWZERS... 2018 was nuts!! I had actually taken the entire month of December off because of the crazy I am now reminded of happening while making this list. Good news, with 30-days off I am chomping at the bit to tear into 2019.

However, before I get into this coming year and everything I have in store... Let's take a moment for my annual look back through the top 10 moments of 2018. **Also, if you are curious about the previous years, all the links are at the bottom!

Honorable Mentions:
*) Shareholders (My first real trip to see Walmart at that next level... It was so fun and ultimately set the tone for what all was going to take place the rest of the year)!!

Poison

A Chinese girl named Li-li got married and lived with her mother-in-law.  Since the mother-in-law was obnoxious, Li-li decided to kill her.

Li-li went to her doctor to get slow-acting poison.  The doctor said, "Just so that people don't suspect you, treat your mother-in-law very nice, as you'd like to be treated."  So Li-li was nice to her mother-in-law as she slipped a little poison into her food each day.  

Now a funny thing happened: the two started getting along much better and became best friends.  So Li-li went back to the doctor and said, "I now love my mother-in-law and don't want to kill her; please give me something to counteract the poison."  The doctor replied, "I gave you ordinary vitamins; the only poison was in your attitude."

Original Author Unknown

The Monkeys & the Fish

The rainy season that year had been the strongest ever and the river had broken its banks.  There were floods everywhere and the animals were all running up into the hills.  The floods came so fast that many drowned except the lucky monkeys who used their proverbial agility to climb up into the treetops.  They looked down on the surface of the water where the fish were swimming and gracefully jumping out of the water as if they were the only ones enjoying the devastating flood.

One of the monkeys saw the fish and shouted to his companion: "Look down, my friend, look at those poor creatures.  They are going to drown. Do you see how they struggle in the water?"  "Yes," said the other monkey.  "What a pity! Probably they were late in escaping to the hills because they seem to have no legs.  How can we save them?"  "I think we must do something.  Let's go close to the edge of the flood where the water is not deep enough to cover us, and we can help them to get out."

So the monkeys did just that.  They started catching the fish, but not without difficulty.  One by one, they brought them out of the water and put them carefully on the dry land.  After a short time there was a pile of fish lying on the grass motionless.  One of the monkeys said, "Do you see? They were tired, but now they are just sleeping and resting.  Had it not been for us, my friend, all these poor people without legs would have drowned."

The other monkey said: "They were trying to escape from us because they could not understand our good intentions.  But when they wake up they will be very grateful because we have brought them salvation." 

Traditional Tanzanian Folktale

The Dog & Chain

Once there was a dog that barked and snapped at people all the time.  On one occasion, the dog actually bit a man.  Many people in the neighborhood were afraid of the dog.  The owner of the dog realized people were afraid to come to his house, so he had no choice but to restrain the animal by putting a collar and chain on him and tying him to a tree.

For weeks, the dog strutted around the yard with his new collar and shiny chain.  One day some of the kinder and gentler dogs in the neighborhood came to pay him a visit.  While proudly showing off his “new duds,” one of the older dogs told him, “I hope you realize your chain and collar were not given to you as a reward, but as punishment for your lack of self-discipline.” 

The dog went back to his tree; finally realizing his lack of discipline had cost him his freedom.

Author Unknown

The Wooden Bowl

There was once a very old man, whose eyes had become dim, his ears dull of hearing, his knees trembled, and when he sat at table he could hardly hold the spoon, and spilt the broth upon the table-cloth or let it run out of his mouth. His son and his son’s wife were disgusted at this, so the old grandfather at last had to sit in the corner behind the stove, and they gave him his food in an earthenware bowl, and not even enough of it. And he used to look towards the table with his eyes full of tears. Once, too, his trembling hands could not hold the bowl, and it fell to the ground and broke. The young wife scolded him, but he said nothing and only sighed. Then they brought him a wooden bowl for a few half-pence, out of which he had to eat.

They were once sitting thus when the little grandson of four years old began to gather together some bits of wood upon the ground. ’What are you doing there?’ asked the father. ’I am making a little trough,’ answered the child, ’for father and mother to eat out of when I am big.’

The man and his wife looked at each other for a while, and presently began to cry. Then they took the old grandfather to the table, and henceforth always let him eat with them, and likewise said nothing if he did spill a little of anything.

By the Grimm Brothers

A Potato, An Egg and A Coffee Bean

A daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it.  She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time.  It seemed that just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.  Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen.  He filled three pots with water and placed each over a higher fire.  When the water began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.  He then let them boiling for a while without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter moaned and waited impatiently, wondering what her father was doing.  After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.  He took the potatoes and eggs out of the pots, and placed them in different bowls, and poured the coffee into a cup.  Turning to her he asked “What do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she quickly replied.  “Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.”  She did and noted that they were soft.  He then asked her to take an egg and break it.  After removing the shell she observed the hard-boiled egg.  Finally he asked her to sip the coffee.  Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.  “Father, what does this mean?” she asked.  He then explained that the potatoes, eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity- boiling water.  However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water it become soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water.  Then the inside of the egg became hard. 

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After being exposed in the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which are you?” he asked his daughter.  When adversity knocks to your door, how do you respond?  "Are you a potato, an egg or a coffee bean?”

- Unknown