Different Sorts Information

DFSORT is a sort product sold by IBM.
SYNCSORT is a competing product sold by Syncsort, Inc.
CA-SORT is yet another sort product, sold by Computer Associates.

Obviously, most shops only buy one of these products.

ICEMAN is just another name (entry point) used for the sort program. It's common practice in shops for the system programmers to set up all the common names as entry points to their purchased SORT product. You will often find that PGM=SYNCSORT and PGM=DFSORT will both work in your shop, and both execute the same sort program (whichever one your shop purchased).

ICETOOL is an expansion to the basic SORT program, that allows you to use alternate (simpler) commands to do multiple sort operations in a single sort step. I think that ICETOOL doesn't do anything that you couldn't do via coding multiple DFSORT steps -- it just makes coding them a bit easier.

ICETOOL is supplied as part of the basic SORT package -- if you have DFSORT, you also have ICETOOL. Many people don't seem to realize this. And some troglydite managements don't understand this, and forbid use of ICETOOL in production, restricting programmers to only SORT steps. Such managements are fools (but, alas, not uncommon).

SYNCTOOL is Syncsort, Inc.'s version of the ICETOOL package.

All these are very similar products -- they all do basic sorting. And they use similar commands. For most basic sort operations, the same commands will work in all the products. When you get into more advanced functions, there are some differences between them -- some functions are only offered in one or the other product, and sometimes different syntax is used for the same operations.

Creating Current Date and Time in a file

//MANIMA JOB (020406),'MANIM/941-2',
// MSGLEVEL=1,MSGCLASS=O,NOTIFY=MANIM,
// CLASS=A
//S2 EXEC PGM=ICEMAN
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=*
//SORTIN DD *
HI MANI
//SORTOUT DD DSN=MANIM.TEST.DATE,DISP=(MOD,CATLG),
// SPACE=(TRK,(2,2)),
// DCB=(RECFM=FB,LRECL=80,BLKSIZE=800)
//SYSIN DD *
SORT FIELDS=(1,6,CH,A),FORMAT=CH
OUTREC FIELDS=(1:DATE1(-),12:TIME1(:),20:1,18)
/*

Output will be like this,

2007-04-25 03:37:44 HI MANI

Time Bank

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!! Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow".
You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
Treasure every moment that you have! And reassure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.
Remember that time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!

Date into a dataset name

Sometimes we want to create lot of datasets and will be in a confusion on which date the dataset is created, etc. So it will be better to create the datasets with date and time as shown below,

//MANIMA JOB (020406),'MANIM/941-2',
// MSGLEVEL=1,MSGCLASS=O,NOTIFY=MANIM,
// CLASS=A
//STEPA EXEC PGM=EZACFSM1
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=(*,INTRDR)
//SYSIN DD DATA,DLM=@@
//MANIMB JOB (020406),'MANIM/941-2',
// MSGLEVEL=1,MSGCLASS=O,NOTIFY=MANIM,
// CLASS=A
//STEPB EXEC PGM=IEBCOPY
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//*
//SYSUT1 DD DISP=SHR,
// DSN=MANIM.TEST.REXX
//SYSUT2 DD DISP=(NEW,CATLG,DELETE),
// DSN=MANIM.UKX0702B.S010.#1.D&LYYMMDD..T&LHHMMSS,
// UNIT=SYSDA,SPACE=(CYL,(5,5,5))
/*
//SYSIN DD DUMMY
@@
//

Output will be like this given below,

MANIM.UKX0702B.S010.#1.D070424.T024946
MANIM.UKX0702B.S010.#1.D070424.T025318

An interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture

An interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture - Author Vasudha Ranganathan.

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this
always yields better results.

Said in another words:
1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil.
2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.
3. Stockholm has 500,000 people.
4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow
Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fuelled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour
workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!"

This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means re-establishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the
"now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us
does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Emotional Equation..

When someone is doing something or about to do something, in a way I don't want it to be done - and i m not able to accept it - i become angry.
When someone is doing something or about to do something, in a way I don't want it to be done - and i m able to accept it - i remain tolerant.

When someone is having something or someone is able to produce the results which i m not able to produce - and I m not able to accept it - I become jealous.
When someone is having something or someone is able to produce the results which i m not able to produce - and i m able to accept it - i get inspired.

When i m encountering uncertainty or is about to encounter uncertainty, which i m not sure how i m going to handle - and i m not able to accept it - it causes fear in me.
When i m encountering uncertainty or is about to encounter uncertainty, which i m not sure how i m going to handle - and i m able to accept it - i feel adventurous about it.
When someone has done something that has emotionally hurt me - and i m not able to accept it - it develops hatred in me.
When someone has done something that has emotionally hurt me - and i m able to accept it - it helps me forgivethem.

When someone is present in my thoughts, but is not physically present - and i m not able to accept it - i say 'i m missing u'.
When someone is present in my thoughts, but is not physically present - and i m able to accept it - i say 'i m thinkin of u'.
Thus, Emotional Equation becomes:

Something + acceptance = positive emotion
Something + non-acceptance = negative emotion
So, it is not 'something' or 'someone' who is making me feel positive or negative, but it's my 'acceptance' or 'non-acceptance' of something or someone, which impacts things .

The Obstacle in Our Path

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.

Every obstacle presents an opportunity
to improve one's condition.

Invoke Search-For Extended utility using REXX

Function:
This REXX exec can be issued as an EDIT macro or from the Data Set List panel to invoke the Search-For Extended utility for the current data set.

Operation:
Enter SFE as a line command on the DSLIST panel or as a primary command in EDIT or VIEW to enter the Search-For Extended utility and search the current data set.

/*************REXX*****************/
ADDRESS 'ISPEXEC'
"CONTROL ERRORS RETURN"
"ISREDIT MACRO (SRF4FILE)"
IF RC=0 THEN DO
IF SRF4FILE='' THEN DO
"ISREDIT (DSN) = DATASET"
IF RC>0 THEN EXIT RC
SRF4FILE="'"DSN"'"
END
END
ELSE
ARG SRF4FILE
IF SRF4FILE='' THEN EXIT 4
SRF4MEM='*'
SRC4WKPL='Y'
"VPUT (SRC4WKPL SRF4FILE SRF4MEM)"
"SELECT PGM(ISRSEPRM) PARM(S4) SCRNAME(SRCHFORE) "
IF ZERRMSG\='' THEN "SETMSG MSG("ZERRMSG")"

Expect The Best

A little girl walked daily to and from school. Though the weather this particular morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her trek to the elementary school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning.

The child's mother, concerned that her daughter would be frightened and possibly harmed by the storm got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school.

As she did so, she saw her little daughter walking along happily but at each flash of lightning the child would stop, look up, and smile.

Stopping the car, the mother called to the child to get in with her. As they drove toward school, the girl continued to turn toward each lightning flash and smile.

The Mother asked, "What are you doing?"

The child answered, "Well, I must do this, God keeps taking pictures of me."

So, Expect the BEST within you!

Never Give Up

Author: Murali Duggineni

"You are never given a wish without also having been given the power To make it come true."
--- Richard Bach.
Trite? But true. What you need is patience, perseverance, and a burning desire that constantly needs to be fueled. The quest for the realization of your dreams is like waging a momentous battle during which you might encounter severe setbacks. But success comes to those who turn adversities into opportunities, overcome their limitations and bounce back with renewed vigor.
If you have fallen down, get up and brush the dust off your knees and move on. A temporary setback is not a defeat. For that matter, there's no such thing as defeat. Nothing is impossible in this world. If you have the will to win, you can achieve anything. And always remember that the whole world will help you when you want to achieve something. Just imagine a young girl who learned dancing when she was three-years old and whose greatest passion remains dancing. She loses one of her legs in an accident. Read on this true incident that took place almost 20 years ago and find out whether she gives up dancing or fights back to realize what she believes in:
Sudha Chandran, a classical dancer from India, was cut off in the prime of her career - quite literally - when her right leg had to be amputated after a car accident. Though the incident brought her bright career to a halt, she didn't give up.
In the painful months that followed, she met a doctor who developed an artificial limb made from vulcanized rubber filled with sponge. So intense was her desire that she decided to go back to dancing after she had been fitted with an artificial leg. Sudha knew that she believed in herself and could fulfill her dream, She began her courageous journey back to the world of dancing - learning to balance, bend, stretch, walk, turn, twist, twirl and finally dance.
After every public recital, she would ask her Dad about her performance. "You still have a long way to go" was the answer she use to get in return. In January 1984, Sudha made a historic comeback by giving a public recital in Bombay. She performed in such a marvelous manner that it moved everyone to tears while catapulting her to the number one position again. That evening when she asked the usual question her dad, he didn't say anything. He just touched her feet as a tribute to a great artiste. Sudha's comeback was such heart-warming that a film producer was inspired to capture the incident into a celluloid box office hit, `Mayuri.' When someone asked Sudha how she had managed to dance again, she said quite simply, "YOU DON'T NEED FEET TO DANCE."

How to ‘Trace Backward’ in XPED?

We can use the MONITOR and REVERSE commands to ‘go back’ to previous steps. First give the MONITOR command and then give the REVERSE command. Now if you press PF9 it will start tracing backwards. If you want to again go forward give REVERSE again.

Some more Information…
The MONITOR and REVERSE commands are used to activate review mode. Review mode enables you to record and then review the execution path by reversing the direction of program execution. Use the MONITOR command before executing your program to record execution. Then use the REVERSE command to review the execution history by tracing through the recorded history in the reverse direction. You can see the execution path and the changing data values as you review program execution. MONITOR records the program's execution in a buffer. The default buffer size is 1M. XPEDITER/TSO wraps and overwrites the existing data when the buffer is filled. Use the SET REVSIZE command to increase or decrease the buffer size. Review mode can be used with OS/VS COBOL, COBOL II, and CA-OPTIMIZER. However, ANSI COBOL 68 is not supported. Review mode is not valid in an unattended batch test.

Usage Notes
1. MONITOR without a module name records history for the current module—not necessarily the active module where execution is located, but the module indicated by the program field on the third header line.
2. Use a list of module names to monitor the execution path that spans multiple called COBOL modules.
3. Use the DELETE command to stop recording the execution history.
4. The REVERSE and RESUME commands are valid only if MONITOR has first been turned on.
5. Issuing a MONITOR ALL command in an initial script or at the beginning of the test session allows you to review the execution of all COBOL statements.

Today's Professional Management FUNDAS

1."We will do it" means "You will do it"
2."You have done a great job" means "More work to be given to you"
3."We are working on it" means "We have not yet started working on the
same"
4."Tomorrow first thing in the morning" means "Its not getting done
"At least not tomorrow!"
5."After discussion we will decide-I am very open to views" means "I
have already decided, I will tell you what to do"
6."There was a slight miscommunication" means "We had actually lied"
7."Lets call a meeting and discuss" means "I have no time now, will
talk later"
8."We can always do it" means "We actually cannot do the same on time"
9."We are on the right track but there needs to be a slight extension
of the deadline" means "The project is screwed up, we cannot deliver
on time."
10."We had slight differences of opinion "means "We had actually
fought"
11."Make a list of the work that you do and let's see how I can help
you" means "Anyway you have to find a way out no help from me"
12."You should have told me earlier" means "Well even if you told me
earlier that would have made hardly any difference!"
13."We need to find out the real reason" means "Well I will tell you
where your fault is"
14."Well Family is important; your leave is always granted. Just
ensure that the work is not affected," means, "Well you know..."
15."We are a team," means, "I am not the only one to be blamed"
16."That's actually a good question" means "I do not know anything
about it"
17."All the Best" means "You are in trouble"

Who is Scott in Oracle??

You must have always wondered why the uname / pwd in Oracle is Scott/Tiger....

Who is this Scott ? Here is the answer to ur query.... ..

Bruce Scott was one of the first employees at Oracle (then Software Development Laboratories). He co-founded Gupta Technology (now known as Centura Software) in 1984 with Umang Gupta, and later became CEO and founder of PointBase, Inc. Bruce was co-author and co-architect of Oracle V1, V2 and V3. The SCOTT schema (EMP and DEPT tables), with password TIGER, was created by him. Tiger was the name of his cat.

Scott has led the drive to develop new data management architectures that capitalize on emerging computing paradigms - following the migration from mainframes to mini-computers; from personal computers to servers; and from servers to personal systems and devices. After co-founding Oracle in 1977 and helping that company revolutionize the database market, Scott went on to co-found Gupta Technology in 1984 with Umang Gupta. Serving as vice president of Database and Connectivity Research and Development, he provided the company with database technology leadership for more than ten years. While at Gupta, he invented SQLBase, the first commercially available PC-oriented client/server database and the patented software development design paradigm for SQLWindows.

From Gupta, Scott founded PointBase, bringing to market a platform-independent technology that enabled applications to manage, synchronize, and extend data across networks of servers, desktops, laptops, and mobile/wireless devices. As president and chief executive officer, he led the company's efforts in developing Java-based application-embedded databases for enterprise mobility applications.

How to master a foreign language

STEP 1: Think of a language as a way of expressing meaning. Each language chooses different sounds and arrangements of sounds, to express meaning.
STEP 2: Try to "forget" your native language's grammar as much as you can while you're learning the new language. This will prevent "interference" from your native language.
STEP 3: Identify how your native language and the new language do things differently and keep these in mind when speaking the foreign language.
STEP 4: Review early and often.
STEP 5: Find a tutor to give you feedback on what you're doing correctly and incorrectly.
STEP 6: Keep lists of new vocabulary and sentence constructions. Review as much as you can each day.
STEP 7: Visit a place where the language you're studying is a native tongue, if possible. Speak your own native tongue as little as possible while you're there.

Tips & Warnings
Get a good bilingual dictionary. It'll go a long way to helping you build new vocabulary.

If you can't visit a place full of native speakers, then watch movies and TV programs in the native language. Read newspapers, too, and learn songs.

Don't be discouraged when the words don't flow. The only way to really master the grammar is to speak the language a lot. Develop a thick skin.

If you're afraid you'll sound like a fool, you won't ever learn how to speak correctly.

Rexx Inventor - Mike Cowlishaw

Mike Cowlishaw, an IBM Fellow based at the IBM UK Warwick location, and also a Visiting Professor at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Warwick.(Warwick is situated in central England, midway between Coventry and Stratford-upon-Avon.)
His technical interests include:
decimal arithmetic (algorism) in hardware and software, includingthe decimal data types and arithmetic in the current IEEE 754 revision, the General Decimal Arithmetic Specification, the decNumber open source and commercial implementations of this in ANSI C, and the enhanced BigDecimal class for Java 5, as described in Java SR-13. the Rexx, Object Rexx, NetRexx, Java, PL/I, and C programming languages cognitive processes, including neural, genetic, and evolutionary algorithms and systems, especially empirical models that may give insight into thought processes vision and colour perception (hence the shading algorithms used in PMGlobe and Palm Globe) high-power Light-Emitting Diodes and designing circuits for driving them lightweight (preferably solid-state) computers (one such is the IBM Workpad, for which I wrote Palm Globe; another is the Acorn System 1 and the Emulator I wrote for that); I currently carry an IBM Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC electronic publishing, including the Oxford English Dictionary and other dictionaries, SGML, the LEXX (now called LPEX) editor, Wikipedia, the World Wide Web, and my GoServe Web server (used for my personal research tool, MemoWiki).

Determination

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.
Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.
Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge. The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move. "We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams." "It`s foolish to chase wild visions."Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap, Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.
It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.
He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

A Most Important Lesson

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely, this was some kind of joke.

I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

"Absolutely," said the professor.

"In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello'."

"I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

A Wise Donkey

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw.

As every shovel of dirt hit his back, the donkey did something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed, as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of a hole is to shake it off and take a step up.

Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest holes just by not stopping, never giving up!

Shake it off and take a step up!

An Used Book

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car.

Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box.

Curious, and somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound book, with the young man's name embossed in gold.

Angry, he rose his voice to his father and said "with all your money, you give me a used book?" and stormed out of the house.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.

Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still gift-wrapped book, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the book and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined.

As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the book. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because we can't see past our own desires?

Believe In Yourself

Author: Sharon Pires

Believe in yourself and you can achieve
Things you never thought possible
Believe in yourself and you can discover
Talents new, that lie away hidden

Believe in yourself and you can reach
New heights that you thought unscalable
Believe in yourself and you can solve
Problems that defy any solution

Believe in yourself and you can conquer
Any situation, however difficult
Believe in yourself and you can make
The most complicated things seem simple

Believe in yourself and you can learn
The skills of gaining knowledge from experience
Believe in yourself and you can enjoy
The beauty in nature's abundance

Believe in yourself and you can perceive
New depths your senses can apprehend
Believe in yourself and you can perform
Way beyond your expectations

Believe in your goal and work towards it
With determination and dedication
Believe in yourself and output enhance
By contributing to a given situation

Believe in yourself and you'll feel blessed
As God's very own special creation.