A  successful business man was growing old and  knew  it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. 

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or  his  children,  he decided to do something different. He called all the young  executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for  me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose  one of you. "The young executives were Shocked, but the boss  continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one  very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come  back here one year from today with  what  you have grown from the seed I have given you.
I will  then  judge  the plants that you bring, and the one
I choose will  be  the  next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he,  like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told  his wife the  story.  She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he  planted  the  seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.  After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk  about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. 

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still 
nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants,  but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six  months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had  killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had  nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however, he just  kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to  grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of  the company brought their plants to the CEO for  inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an  empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim  felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing  moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his  empty pot  to  the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at
the  variety  of  plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all  shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his  colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO  arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young  executives.

Jim  just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and  flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be  appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim  at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial  Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought,  "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!" 

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had  happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked  everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then  announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive  Officer!

His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim  couldn't even grow his seed.

"How could he be the new CEO?"  the others said.

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I  gave everyone in this  room  a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water  it,  and  bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they  were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you,  except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you  found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for  the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and  honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the  one who will be the new
Chief Executive  Officer!"

*  If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant  goodness, you will reap friends

* If you plant humility, you  will reap greatness

* If you plant perseverance, you will  reap contentment

* If you plant consideration, you will reap  perspective

* If you plant hard work, you will reap  success

* If you  plant  forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So,  be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap  later.   Think  about this  for a minute....    If  I happened to show up on your door step crying, would you care? 

If I called you and asked you to pick me up because  something happened, would you come?

If I had one day left to  live my life, would you be part of that last day?
If  I needed a shoulder to cry on, would you give me yours?

This  is a test to see who your real
friends are or if you are just  someone to talk to you when  they are bored.

Do you know what the relationship is between  your two eyes?

They blink together, they  move together,
they cry together, they  see things together, and  they sleep together,
but  they never see each other;   ....that's  what friendship is.. Your  aspiration is your motivation, your motivation  is your belief, your  belief is your peace, your  peace is your target, your  target is heaven, and life is like hard core torture without it!