Monday, October 4, 2010

October's Monthly Events

Join Us For Our Monthly Calls...

Invitation Webinar are held every Tuesday, and Thursday at 7 p.m. MDT

Connecting Us All International, known globally as The Worldwide Giving Network, invites you to attend our invitation webinar/call! This presentation will ignite the fire and passion in you, your guests and your team. These calls, held Tuesdays and Thursdays, will inspire, motivate and introduce this worldwide movement. Get registered now because spacing is limited to 1000 attendees.

Tuesday's Registration:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/451537816

Thursday's Registration:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/517987392


Thursday Inspiration and Training – Webinar is held every Thursday at 8 p.m. MDT

Join the Connecting Us All International Leadership Team as they inspire all with this wonderful new Training Program.

Registration for this event:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/517987392

Super Saturday

Super Saturday’s calls are held on the first Saturday of every month. The webinars are as follows….

Train the Trainer - Level 1 at 12 p.m. MDT

Train the Trainer Level 1 members will be instructed in the art of training Team Leaders throughout the Connecting Us All membership.

Register for this event:

Restricted Registration - Contact Tommy Tibbetts: myeternalvoice@yahoo.com

Connecting Us All - Super Saturday - Invitation Webinar at 2 p.m. MDT

Connecting Us All invites you to join our International Leadership team for our Super Saturday Webinar. This presentation is an introduction to the Connecting Us All organization and core areas of our system. Get your team energized and charged up each week to expand this Global Message.

Register for this event:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/413462649

Connecting Us All - Super Saturday - Invitation Webinar at 4 p.m. MDT

Connecting Us All invites you to join our International Leadership team for our Super Saturday Webinar. This presentation is an introduction to the Connecting Us All organization and core areas of our system. Get your team energized and charged up each week to expand this Global Message.

Register for this event:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/413462649

Connecting Us All - Super Saturday - Invitation Webinar at 6 p.m. MDT

Connecting Us All invites you to join our International Leadership team for our Super Saturday Webinar. This presentation is an introduction to the Connecting Us All organization and core areas of our system. Get your team energized and charged up each week to expand this Global Message.

Register for this event:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/413462649

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Window By: Author Unknown

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

Moral of the story:

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.

The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are like programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging, and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips just before we begin to grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Don't We All By: Author Unknown

I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. I had just come

from the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out of work.
Coming my way from across the parking lot was what society would
consider a bum.
From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no
money. There are times when you feel generous but there are other times
that you just don't want to be bothered. This was one of those "don't
want to be bothered times."
"I hope he doesn't ask me for any money," I thought.
He didn't.
He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn't look
like he could have enough money to even ride the bus.
After a few minutes he spoke.
"That's a very pretty car," he said.
He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly
blond beard keep more than his face warm.
I said, "thanks," and continued wiping off my car.


He sat there quietly as I worked. The expected plea for money never
came.
As the silence between us widened something inside said, "ask him if
he needs any help." I was sure that he would say "yes" but I held true
to the inner voice.
"Do you need any help?" I asked.
He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never forget.
We often look for wisdom in great men and women. We expect it from
those of higher learning and accomplishments.

I expected nothing but an
outstretched grimy hand. He spoke the three words that shook me.
"Don't we all?" he said.

I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a bum
in the street, until those three words hit me like a twelve gauge
shotgun.
Don't we all?
I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I
needed help. I reached in my wallet and gave him not only enough for bus
fare, but enough to get a warm meal and shelter for the day. Those
three little words still ring true. No matter how much you have, no matter
how much you have accomplished, you need help too. No matter how little you
have, no matter how loaded you are with problems, even without money or
a place to sleep, you can give help.

Even if it's just a compliment, you can give that.
You never know when you may see someone that appears to have it all.
They are waiting on you to give them what they don't have. A different
perspective on life, a glimpse at something beautiful, a respite from
daily chaos, that only you through a torn world can see.
Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the streets. Maybe
he was more than that.

Maybe he was sent by a power that is great and
wise, to minister to a soul too comfortable in themselves.

Maybe God looked down, called an Angel, dressed him like a bum, then said, "go minister to that man cleaning the car, that man needs help."
Don't we all?

Monday, August 30, 2010

Attitude Is Everything By: Author Unknown

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy", I protested.

"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning, and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door", Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?", I asked.

Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?", I asked.

"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me", said Jerry. She asked if I was allergic to anything. "Yes", I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply... I took a deep breath and yelled, "Bullets!" Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Wooden Bowls By: Author Unknown


A frail old man lived with his son, his daughter-in-law, and his four-year-old grandson. His eyes were blurry, his hands trembled, and his step faltered.

The family would eat together nightly at the dinner table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating rather difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon, drooping to the floor. When he grasped his glass of milk, it often spilled clumsily at the tablecloth.

With this happening almost every night, the son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.

"We must do something about grandfather," said the son.

"I've had enough of his milk spilling, noisy eating and food on the floor," the daughter-in-law agreed.

So the couple set a small table at the corner.

There, grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed their dinner at the dinner table. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in wooden bowls. Sometimes when the family glanced in grandfather's direction, he had a tear in his eye as he ate alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening, before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly: "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy replied, "Oh, I'm making a little bowl for you and mama to eat your food from when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

These words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears streamed down their cheeks. Though no words were spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening, the husband took grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days, grandfather ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk was spilled or the table cloth was soiled.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Just Five More Minutes By: Author Unknown

While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground.

“That’s my son over there,” she said, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater who was gliding down the slide.

“He’s a fine looking boy” the man said. “That’s my daughter on the bike in the white dress.”

Then, looking at his watch, he called to his daughter. “What do you say we go, Melissa?”

Melissa pleaded, “Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more minutes.”

The man nodded and Melissa continued to ride her bike to her heart’s content. Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his daughter. “Time to go now?”

Again Melissa pleaded, “Five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes.”

The man smiled and said, “OK.”

“My, you certainly are a patient father,” the woman responded.

The man smiled and then said, “Her older brother Tommy was killed by a drunk driver last year while he was riding his bike near here. I never spent much time with Tommy and now I’d give anything for just five more minutes with him. I’ve vowed not to make the same mistake with Melissa.

She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bike. The truth is, I get Five more minutes to watch her play.”

Life is all about making priorities, what are your priorities?
Give someone you love 5 more minutes of your time today!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Connecting Us All- Monthly Events (August)

Join Us For Our Monthly Calls

All Team Invitation Webinars are held every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 3 p.m. MDT:
Join Harvey Dockstader, J.J. Ulrich and Tommy Tibbetts for this Invitation Webinar. Invite your Team and new members to this exciting opportunity to learn about Connecting Us All. Have some questions? Also get your basic questions regarding Connecting Us All answered by our Key Leaders!

Registration link for the Monday Event:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/595278064
Registration link for the Tuesday Event:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/387317640
Registration link for the Thursday Event:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/778498880


Conexión Us All Webinar Invitación Internacional - Español se llevan a cabo todos los lunes, martes y jueves a las 5 pm MDT
(Connecting Us All International Invitation Webinar - Spanish are held every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 5 p.m. MDT):
Únete a Harvey Dockstader y nuestro Equipo de Liderazgo Internacional de la presente invitación especial a la conexión con nosotros Todos los Webinar. No se pierda esta oportunidad para presentar a tus amigos y familiares a esta maravillosa actividad.

Lunes, martes y jueves de registro (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday's Registration):
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/614951568


Invitation Webinar are held every Tuesday, and Thursday at 7 p.m. MDT
Connecting Us All invites you to join our International Leadership team for our Tuesday and Thursday Night invitation webinars. This presentation is an introduction to the Connecting Us All organization and core areas of our system. Get your team energized and charged up each week to expand this Global Message.

Registration link for the Tuesday Event:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/451537816
Registration link for the Thursday Event:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/517987392


Thursday Inspiration and Training – Webinar is held every Thursday at 8 p.m. MDT
Join the Connecting Us All International Leadership Team as they inspire all with this wonderful new Training Program.

Registration link for the Thursday Event:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/517987392


Super Saturday
Super Saturday calls are held on the first Saturday of every month.

Train the Trainer - Level 1 at 12 p.m. MDT
Train the Trainer Level 1 members will be instructed in the art of training Team Leaders throughout the Connecting Us All membership.

Register for this event:
Restricted Registration - Contact Tommy Tibbetts: myeternalvoice@yahoo.com


Super Saturday - Invitation Webinar this event reoccurs throughout the day at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. MDT

Connecting Us All invites you to join our International Leadership team for our Super Saturday Webinar. This presentation is an introduction to the Connecting Us All organization and core areas of our system. Get your team energized and charged up each week to expand this Global Message.

Register for this event:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/413462649

Friday, May 28, 2010

"Something For Stevie"

Something for Stevie
by Dan Anderson

I try not to be biased, but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and wasn't sure I wanted one. I wasn't sure how my customers would react to Stevie.

He was short, a little dumpy with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Down syndrome. I wasn't worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don't generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade.

The four-wheeler drivers were the ones who concerned me; the mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded "truckstop germ;" the pairs of white shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truckstop waitress wants to be flirted with.

I knew those people would be uncomfortable around Stevie so I closely watched him for the first few weeks. I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my truck regulars had adopted him as their official truckstop mascot. After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table. Our only problem was convincing him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished. He would hover in the background, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, scanning the dining room until a table was empty. Then he would scurry to the empty table and carefully bus the dishes and glasses onto cart and meticulously wipe the table up with a practiced flourish of his rag. If he thought a customer was watching, his brow would pucker with added concentration. He took pride in doing his job exactly right, and you had to love how hard he tried to please each and every person he met.

Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. They lived on their Social Security benefits in public housing two miles from the truckstop. Their social worker, which stopped to check on him every so often, admitted they had fallen between the cracks. Money was tight, and what I paid him was the probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home.

That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work. He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a new valve or something put in his heart. His social worker said that people with Down syndrome often had heart problems at a early age so this wasn't unexpected, and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.

A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery and doing fine. Frannie, my head waitress, let out a war hoop and did a little dance in the aisle when she heard the good news. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at the sight of the 50-year-old grandmother of four doing a victory shimmy beside his table. Frannie blushed, smoothed her apron and shot Belle Ringer a withering look.

He grinned. "OK, Frannie, what was that all about?" he asked. "We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay." "I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?" Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, then sighed. "Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be OK," she said, "but I don't know how he and his mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is." Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables.

Since I hadn't had time to round up a busboy to replace Stevie and really didn't want to replace him, the girls were busing their own tables that day until we decided what to do. After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand a funny look on her face.

"What's up?" I asked. "I didn't get that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting cleared off after they left, and Pony Pete and Tony Tipper were sitting there when I got back to clean it off," she said, "This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup."

She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed "Something For Stevie". "Pony Pete asked me what that was all about," she said, "so I told him about Stevie and his mom and everything, and Pete looked at Tony and Tony looked at Pete, and they ended up giving me this." She handed me another paper napkin that had "Something For Stevie" scrawled
on its outside. Two $50 bills were tucked within its folds. Frannie looked at me with wet, shiny eyes, shook her head and said simply "truckers."

That was three months ago. Today is Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work. His placement worker said he's been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, and it didn't matter at all that it was a holiday. He called 10 times in the past week, making sure we knew he was coming, fearful that we had forgotten him or that his job was in jeopardy. I arranged to have his mother bring him to work, met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back.

Stevie was thinner and paler, but couldn't stop grinning as he pushed through the doors and headed for the back room where his apron and busing cart were waiting.

"Hold up there, Stevie, not so fast," I said. I took him and his mother by their arms. "Work can wait for a minute. To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me."

I led them toward a large corner booth at the rear of the room. I could feel and hear the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw booth after booth of grinning truckers empty and join the procession.

We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups, saucers and dinner plates, all sitting slightly crooked on dozens of folded paper napkins.

"First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess," I said. I tried to sound stern.

Stevie looked at me, and then at his mother, then pulled out one of the napkins. It had "Something for Stevie" printed on the outside. As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table. Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed or scrawled on it.

I turned to his mother. "There's more than $10,000 in cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. Happy Thanksgiving."

Well, it got real noisy about that time, with everybody hollering and shouting, and there were a few tears, as well. But you know what's funny? While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table. Best worker I ever hired.

Author Unknown

Friday, May 14, 2010

We are still taking last minute requests for your team placement. Please submit them now to info@connectingusall.org.

Spring Cleaning has started!

There is still time to log into your account if you have been inactive! If you don’t, your account may be deactivated.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Tomorrow Connecting Us All will begin restructuring EVERY team into a 2x2 system. Send requests to info@connectingusall.org!

Tomorrow Connecting Us All will begin clearing out Inactive Accounts! Every account that has had no activity in 90 days will be deactivated.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

In 1 Day Connecting Us All will be restructuring EVERY team into a TWO by TWO system. Send your requests on how you want yours restructured.

In 1 Day Connecting Us All will be clearing out Inactive Accounts! Every account that has had no activity in 90 days will be deactivated.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Organizational Overview Call

Only 6 hours till our big Monthly overview call, Make sure you register time is running out.https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/144746457

Monday, May 3, 2010

Shook up Saturday

Shook up Saturday Join us with our host Steve Shook for our Live Interactive Training Call.

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/187137280

Thursday Night Live Interactive Training Call.

Join us and our guest Dave Migriplis for a strong night of Testimony’s

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/187137280

This 1 hour meeting is filled with strong Testimonies that will touch your heart. This meeting is interactive and will be open so that everyone may participate.

Thursday Night Training Calls.

Go step by step through setting up your profile with our International Leaders. Ask any questions you may have and get them answered throughout the call.

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/517987392

Locked in Success Tuesday night Interaction Call.

Learn step by step how to set up and use Social Media sites.

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/349901185

Tuesday Invitation Calls.

This call is the introduction to Connecting Us All and our core areas. Great for those of you that would like to join in our World of Giving.

http://www1.gotomeeting/register/451537816

Monday Night Executive Call.

Join our CEO as he announces what is new in the community

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/392693465