Lessons of a Lifetime

You and Yours can be successful!

The idea for writing this book came to me as I was flying across the US as part of building our business and providing for my family. The thought that occurred to me was, if this plane were to go down, “How would my son learn what he needs to know to be successful?” Hence, this book.

I chose to write it as a series of short stories that each carry a lesson or at least should make you think. Together the lessons helped me to be successful in all aspects of life by which most people would measure success. I think these lessons can serve you, or anyone you care about, in the same way.

My hope, dream and prayer is that each person that reads this book can increase their successes emotionally, socially and financially. I certainly believe this is possible and I look forward to hearing about your success. Please feel free to contact me at daneta@bright.net.

Thank you!

Here is a sample of what is in-store for you. Enjoy!

A Friendly Visitor for Dinner My father worked as a barber for 26 years before times had changed so much that he chose to change jobs. While working as a barber he met many people. Every now and then my father would invite one of his new friends to dinner. We didn't have an abundance of things but we seemed to always have enough to share.

My father came home from work one day and told us that we would be having company the next night for dinner. He never gave out any details about the people that would be coming over. I'm not sure exactly why but the way I figure it now is the details didn't matter. What mattered was that my father had met someone whom he thought would enjoy a nice family meal. We were all quite young at the time but I'm sure there were feelings of what this would mean for us: would there be more food, a special treat, early excuse from the table so that the grown-ups could talk. Nobody was sure but it really didn't matter anyway.

The next evening just prior to dinner the doorbell rang and we all gathered in the front room to meet our guest. What I saw when the door was opened I could not believe. Our guest was a tall thin man with dark skin and dark hair. I had never seen anyone like him before. He spoke with an accent but his voice was very clear and kind. He was dressed very well and had a great smile. He was a well dressed man and you couuld tell from the way he looked that he was well educated. Little did I know that his being there was part of my education.

Throughout dinner my father and he talked and he fascinated me with his stories. It turned out that he was an engineer who worked for NASA. He actually helped to put people into outer space. The stories of his work I believe were the first seeds that grew into my career choice of becoming an engineer.

One of the things this stranger did and said before leaving our house sticks with me to this day. First, he brought with him a large bag of oranges for the family. When my dad told him that he didn't need to do that his response was, "It is a custom for my people that when visiting a friend's home for a meal to always bring along a small gift." Secondly, upon leaving our home, (almost literally as he was about to exit), he said, "Anything that I may have said tonight that offended you was done only through my own ignorance and was not meant to harm you. I am sorry." He of course had said nothing that even came close to offending us and my father proceeded to tell him so, but he again told him that this was a custom of his people.

I'm not sure whether my father knew the effect that bringing people home to dinner would have on me or if he was just trying to be kind to a new friend, but I like to think that he knew exactly the outcome of actions.

I believe that as a direct result of the stories that this man told, I saw that there was a job that involved doing extraordinary things like sending people to outer space. That night of stories steered me to studying and becoming an engineer. Little did I know that my choice might have also influenced my younger brothers such that by the time we were done, our family had four engineers to help the world. It is amazing the affect that one night of stories can have on the world.