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Perks Pearl of Wisdom

When you are about to begin something new
do so with one objective in mind. To learn from it,
whether it is successful or it fails, all experiences
have value.
Bob Perks


Hello, my friend!
A most remarkable thing happened. I met two of my
"friends I've never met." Edgar and Kim. Now I can call
them "friends." We spoke like we had been friends
forever. Now we will be.

Make this week the best ever!
I believe in you!
Bob and Marianne

Listen to this message and others:
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inspirations from me?

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Today's Message:
"The first thing I did"
By Bob Perks

Think about the bad moments in your life and ask,
"What was the first thing I did?"

Think about the good moments in life and
ask, "What was the first thing I did?"

If it involved acknowledging God I know you
understand. If it didn't "What's the first thing
you should do?"

Thank God. Give thanks for all things good
and bad. Both have something to help you
grow.

I was born and the first thing I did was cry.

I was held shortly after and the first thing I did
was sigh.

I crawled and the first thing I did was learn
to stand. I stood and the first thing I did was
learn to walk, then run, then ride a bike, then
drive a car.

I fell in love and the first thing I did was thank God
for her. We broke up. Never having lost at love
the first thing I did was worry that I would never find
love again.

I fell in love again and again and again
and the first thing I did was thank God for more
chances to love.

Throughout my life, when I fell down the first thing I
did was ask for God's help. When I stood again,
the first thing I did was thank God the the strength
to do so.

When I began to lose family to old age, disease
and accident, the first thing I did was to question
my faith, my God. I had never lost family before.

The first thing I did was turn my back on God. You
see, by this point I thought I had all the answers. I
thought God was a giver not a taker. So, I blamed
Him.

When my sons were born the first thing I did
was ask God for forgiveness. He gave me life again
and took from me the burden of a wasted life.

When my son Keith had cancer...I didn't understand,
but the first thing I did was ask God for a miracle.

When my wife, Marianne had cancer, I didn't
understand, but the first thing I did was ask the God
of miracles for still another.

When my business began to fail, the first thing I did
was give into failure.

I looked in the mirror and I wanted to die. The first
thing I did was ask God to take my life.

When I woke up in a mental health facility, the first
thing I did was thank God for unanswered prayer.

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was
thank God for another chance.

What I have discovered in my life is when things
appeared hopeless, the first thing I did was ask for
hope and found it.

When I turned my back on God, the first thing He did
was stay by my side until I turned around.

I realized today that all that I am and all that
I can be I owe to God. Because in the greatest
moments of my life He was always there for me
and the in darkest days of my life He stayed by
my side.

Today I thought about you, my "friends I've never met"
and those I have. The first thing I did was write this
message for you so that you will remember as you head
into this day, that the first thing God did was give you
another chance.

Remember...
"It's always ok in the end. If it's not okay, it's not
the end." Josh (my friend)
"I wish you enough!"
J
Bob

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and submit your email address.

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Have Faith and Move Forward

I remember about a year or so ago I decided to reread Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking. I was going through a hard time. I had just been diagnosed with Breast Cancer and I was very scared!

I didn't really know what stage the cancer was. I was in the middle of having surgery to have the tumor removed and had not yet found out how far the cancer had progressed and if it was in an early "curable stage". The good news is it was, and my treatment was nothing compared with what some woman go through. I was still so scared and the emotional toll it placed on my mind and feelings was probably the hardest thing for me to deal within my life.

Anyway, just before I was diagnosed with cancer, I had decided to expand my business. I own an art gallery in a very wealthy area of California, but found that the downtown area had become less busy in the last few years. I wanted to have a "satellite" store" in another part of town that was heavily populated with shoppers.

I had found the "perfect" spot. It was positioned between two "perfect" stores and was in a small shopping center in town that had just been renovated and was bustling with shoppers! The space had been rented and remodeled, but then the tenants backed out of the lease and it was ready for me to rent it! The rent was inexpensive and it was "MY" spot!

I had made an appointment to meet the landlord and sign the contract the next day....then I received a call from my Doctor saying that I had in fact, had Breast Cancer and we needed to operate as soon as possible. I was not able at that point to sign the contract and had to let my "perfect spot" go. It was rented shortly after that.

Within the last two years every time I had gone by that shopping center I would grunt to myself, "that space should have been mine". "If I hadn't gotten cancer, I would be in that space and all would be well". I started feeling sorry for myself.

That's when I decided to reread The Power of Positive Thinking. I remember reading in the book about a man that had lost his promotion to another man that the company had brought to fill the position. He was so angry and felt that it was so unjust for the company and God to not let him have this promotion. He had worked harder and longer than the other man in the company and felt he was the "perfect" man for the job. He was devastated.

He and his wife struggled to let go of that promotion and focus on moving forward and accept that this was not the time or the job for him at this point in his career.Two years later the President of this company stepped down from his position and this man became the President of that company! What an inspirational story I thought to myself. Yes, they tell me all the time "sometimes when things pass you by it's because there is something better waiting for you in the wings", " You need to have faith and move forward", so that's what I did. I had faith and I moved forward.

It's been a little over two years since my cancer diagnosis and I feel like I'm back to normal again. I have moved forward and a couple of weeks ago, out of the blue, a friend of mine called me to tell me that there was a space opening up beside him in a very good building that has only art galleries in it. It is a building known for having very good high end galleries and collectors from all over the country and the world come to visit this building and the galleries that are in it. Well, I'm sure you know that this was my "Perfect" spot! Yes in deed....I got a bigger space, in a better place, for less money!!!! I can't tell you how the story of the man in the Norman Vincent Peale Book came rushing back to my mind. Yes, it is true! It is! Faith and the ability to let go and move on is what was needed. I did that, I trusted and I gave myself and God time to work things out.

Next month the gallery opens and though it is a small gallery space, it is a "perfect" space, it is the space that was given to me by God.

Karen Imperial

Feel free to email your thoughts to Karen on her story to: and take the time to view her gallery website at: www.bryantstreet.com

With thanks from the source: www.insightoftheday.com

"The most difficult thing"

By

Bob Perks

It had been a long difficult week. Like sitting next to a time bomb, praying that it would never go off. Seconds churned slowly, painfully like dripping acid on my mind. Hours seemed like days until suddenly it was all over.


It was one of those things that seem unreal. Like having a bad
dream you hope you'll wake up from, but you don't. I can
remember anxiously waiting for the final word and yet, hearing
it, I still could not accept it. That is until she turned to me with
tears in her eyes, then shaking her head she whispered, "yes."
I had no idea how to react. I stood up and headed to the front
door slamming my fist into it screaming, "NO!"

I gazed out my window and the world suddenly turned black.

I could hear her crying as she continued her conversation on
the phone. I felt selfish standing there when I needed to be next
to her. I returned to the table and sat with my head in my
hands, listening as her conversation continued.

When she hung up the phone we embraced, weeping openly,
holding, squeezing each other as if never letting go would make
it all go away.

The evening was unusually silent. No television to make us laugh
or music that normally would lift our souls. Later, trying to fall
asleep, we tossed and turned in bed. I felt like I was smothering.
I needed to get up periodically to try and catch my breath.

Like clockwork, our two dogs awakened on schedule at 5:00 a.m.

I was eager to get up so I rushed out of the room closing the
door so she could sleep a little longer.

The dark days of Autumn found me standing in the spot light at
the top of the driveway. Watching the dogs so they didn't run
off, I was feeling empty and out of touch with reality.

"Maybe this is a dream," I thought to myself.

Earlier that evening there was a steady, gentle rain. The leaves
that longed to let go of the two huge trees just behind our house,
had fallen overnight. Ricky and Lucy waded through them like
fresh fallen snow.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone standing there.

It startled me.

Up to her ankles, barefoot in yellow and gold leaves stood my
wife, Marianne. She was beautifully wrapped in a full white fuzzy
robe that draped down to the ground.

She looked like an angel.

We stood a few feet apart just looking at each other, that is until
she began to cry again.

It wasn't a dream at all.

This is the most difficult thing for me to write about.

My wife Marianne has...breast cancer.

(NOTE: She is now cancer free)

"I wish you enough!"
J
Bob Perks

I encourage you to share my stories but
I do ask that you keep my name and contact
information with my work.

If you would like to receive Bob's Inspirational
stories, please visit http://www.IWishYouEnough.com
and submit your email address.
"I Wish You enough!"
© 2001 Bob Perks
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear
much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye."

This is a special submission call for writers to write 1 or 2 poems about cancer. Be creative and be engaging; I want you to explore this serious condition. I don’t want a definition poem; I prefer poems that interact with people.

OW News is a monthly Newsletter that delivers beautiful poetry.

Deadline is October 20, submit to , “Cancer poems” in the subject line.

(With thanks from: http://www.facebook.com/onealwalters )