By Bob Perks

It seemed like a long time to be dealing with this. The truth is, I have been complaining about it for years.

I’ve had tests, xrays, nerve conduction, MRI’s and never any results that solved the problem.

Recently, it had gotten worse so I went to my doctor with a list of about a dozen things that was wrong with me.

Nothing fatal. Nothing life threatening.

Still, life was not the same.

When you reach 50 everything changes. It is a label, a neon light that goes with you wherever you go.

Everything you felt at 49 was a concern. Everything you feel after 50 is simply classified as “getting old.”

I am 58.

Add to that I have Fibromyalgia and I can never have another symptom that won’t be labeled as age or fibro.

I think doctors stop listening and friends your age always have something worse than you.

“I have this pain in my shoulder.”

“Pain? You want to know pain? I have such pain you could never handle it.”

I have been blessed. I have never been in the hospital or had an operation. I really have not had any terrible diseases. So, having to go to a physical therapist is a first for me.

“How long have you had this pain in your neck?” he asked.

“Well, my wife and I have been married for 20 years,” I replied. “Oh, you mean this pain.”

He laughed and I knew I had the right guy.

So, what great lesson have I taken from this experience?

Are you ready?

In order to ease this discomfort in my neck, I need to stretch it.

The stretching will appear to cause more discomfort, but doing so will eventually relieve the pain and strengthen the muscles.

Your discomfort in life right now, no matter how painful, can only be relieved when you stretch beyond your present circumstances, causing temporary discomfort, but eventually strengthening your stance.

I need to stick out my neck in order to relieve the pressure and pain.

I will never find relief without creating more discomfort.

One more thing. I really love MY “pain in the neck!”

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

Our friend Vonda Pabon of the Guilford County Dept. of Public Health stopped by the Wolf studio this morning and gave us our flu shots.  She also stressed the importance of getting vaccinated early, since it takes about two weeks for your body to build up proper immunity to this season’s strains of flu.  We figure if we can do it, so can YOU!

And there’s something really cool going on this year; health officials are sort of bribing folks to get vaccinated against flu.  Here’s the deal:

The NC Division of Public Health wants to “tackle the flu” by encouraging residents 6 months of age and older to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza.   “Tackle the Flu” is North Carolina’s flu vaccination campaign slogan for this flu season. Everyone is invited to participate in a text messaging campaign that will enter them in a drawing to win four tickets to any NC professional sports event of their choice. By “opting in” to the campaign, individuals also will receive several reminder messages about getting their flu shot.   Anyone can enter by texting TACKLEFLU to 94253.

By Joseph Walker

“Joe? Is that you?”

The woman speaking to me at the baseball game looked vaguely familiar.

“Marci?”

“It IS you!” she exclaimed, smiling broadly. “Gosh, it’s good to see you again!”

It was good to see Marci, too. Off and on during the past few decades I’ve wondered about her. I almost tried to track her down a few years ago after talking to a mutual friend who had indicated that the 1990s had been pretty rocky for Marci. So bumping into her at the baseball game was, at the very least, fortuitous.

We spent a few minutes catching up on the business of our lives: kids and grandkids, spouses and houses, education and recreation (it’s always a little disconcerting to see how few words are required to summarize 32 years of living). We played a little “have you seen…?” and “did you know…?” and we reminisced about the good old, bad old days.

Then Marci grew quiet for a moment, looking out over the crowd milling about the concession area.

“You know, Joe,” she said, “I’ve always wanted to tell you… how… you know… how sorry I am for the way I treated you.”

I squirmed. One does not like to remember when one has been unceremoniously dumped.

“It’s OK,” I said. “No big deal.” At least, I thought to myself, not now.

“But I was such a jerk,” she continued.

Yes you were, I thought. “We were both pretty young,” I said.
“I know,” she said. “But that’s no excuse for…” She hesitated, then continued. “It’s just always bothered me, remembering how mean I was to you. And I’ve wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. So… I’m sorry.”

The smile on her face was warm and sincere. And there was something in her eyes — it looked a lot like relief — that melted any vestiges of icy resentment that may have built up within me during the years since she had played Wiffle ball with my heart.

“OK,” I said. “Apology accepted!”

Overcome by the sweetness of the moment, I reached an arm around her and gave her a quick hug. Just then, the crowd erupted with a huge cheer, and Marci and I both returned our attention to the game. By the time I looked over to where she had been, she was gone. But the warm, wonderful feeling of our brief exchange was still there, and continues to this day whenever I think about it.

We all carry bitter, discomforting memories of deeds done or undone, and words said or unsaid. And we all bear wounds — some slight, some not-so-slight — that have been inflicted upon us by others. The healing balm of forgiveness can soothe a troubled conscience and bring peace to an injured soul — even years after the fact.

Of course, it isn’t enough to just say “I’m sorry” and “You’re forgiven.” While there is indeed great power in those simple words, it is not available to those who are insincere, or who are only looking for a way to control, manipulate or exploit.

But when those words are truly felt and sincerely expressed, they can open the door to miracles of the heart and soul — miracles of forgiveness.

Even at a baseball game.

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

Author unknown

The upstate NY man was rich in almost every way. His estate was worth millions. He owned houses, land, antiques and cattle. But though on the outside he had it all, he was very unhappy on the inside. His wife was growing old, and the couple was childless. He had always wanted a little boy to carry on the family legacy.

Miraculously, his wife became pregnant in her later years, and she gave birth to a little boy. The boy was severely handicapped, but the man loved him with his whole heart. When the boy was five, his mom died. The dad drew closer to his special son. At age 13, the boy’s birth defects cost him his life and the father died soon after from a broken heart.

The estate was auctioned before hundreds of bidders. The first item offered was a painting of the boy. No one bid. They waited like vultures for the riches.

Finally, the poor housemaid, who helped raise the boy and loved him, offered $5 for the painting and easily took the bid. To everyone’s shock, the auctioneer ripped a handwritten will from the back of the picture.

This is what it said: “To the person who thinks enough of my son to buy this painting, to this person I give my entire estate.”

The auction was over. The greedy crowd walked away in shock and dismay.

How many of us have sought after what we thought were true riches only to find out later that our Father was prepared to give us His entire estate if we had only sought after His Son alone?

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

By Michael Josephson, www.charactercounts.org

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

Michael Josephson is a nationally known ethicist and radio commentator. For more information, please visit this site: www.charactercounts.org

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

Author unknown

Many years ago the Rev. Robert Burris, now 92 years of age, worked for four and one-half years as a missionary in South China. As part of his ministry he journeyed into the mountains carrying copies of the Scriptures in Chinese for distribution. In this way, although he could not speak fluent Chinese, the people were given God’s word.

Toward the end of his term Mr. Burris and three companions began a 180- mile journey with 4,000 copies of the Chinese New Testament. In the first ten days about half of these New Testaments had been distributed. Then, in the remote countryside, they were stopped by five armed bandits who took everything–money, clothing, shoes— and the remaining 2,000 copies of the New Testament. Mr. Burris and friends limped home barefooted in their shirts and trousers, glad to be alive.

Approximately 25 years later when Mr. Burris was the pastor of a church in Ohio, he and his wife attended a lecture with slides presented by a missionary to South China. Among the slides shown was a picture of the very place in which he had been robbed by the bandits.”Now,” the missionary said, “we come to the most important slide in my collection.

I call it The Miracle Church.” The picture on the screen showed a large rough empty building.”This is The Miracle Church,” the missionary continued, “because no one knows who started it, or how, every Sunday, 400 people attend, each with a copy of The New Testament in Chinese.

No one knows where they got these New Testaments. So far as is known, no missionary or distributor ever went into these mountains which are infested with bandits and robbers. Yet today, the church is there and the people have God’s Word”.

Mr. Burris smiled in gratitude. God’s Word, taken from him that day by bandits had been building its own church in China for 25 years.

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

Author unknown

Everybody Knows:
You can’t be all things to all people.
You can’t do all things at once.
You can’t do all things equally well.
You can’t do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else’s.

So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of *being you*.

Then:
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you’ll be a most vital mortal.

Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it’s more than a right, it’s your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you’ll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

Excerpted from the book “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train” by Howard Zinn

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places – and there are so many – where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

Three cheers for Chick-Fil-A and the folks behind the scenes who made this happen literally at the last minute.  Four locations have offered to be drop-off points for food items and supplies needed by our North Carolina neighbors on Hatteras Island who were devastated by Hurricane Irene and virtually cut off from the rest of the world (read the complete story below).

Please check the list of needed items in the following article and bring them to one of these Chick-Fil-A locations Friday, Sept. 23:

6:30 – 7:30am – Winston-Salem – Hanes Mall Blvd @ Stratford Rd

8 – 9am – Kernersville - S. Main St

9:30 – 10:30am – Greensboro – W. Wendover @ I-40

11am – 12 noon – Burlington – Elon Commons

By Michael Josephson ©2003

According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container. The student challenged his teacher: “Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?”

The teacher replied, “You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter.”

I think we understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children. Whether it’s a ceramic tray or a macaroni bracelet, the natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.

Gratitude doesn’t always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!