A couple of years ago, I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck.”

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You’ll be happy you did.

So this was it: The “Law of the Garbage Truck.” I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people a work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, “I’m not going to do anymore.”

Well, now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don’t make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.

The mark of a successful person is how quickly she can get back her focus on what’s important.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by? Here’s my bet. You’ll be happier. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so.. Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don’t.

“Thanks for inviting me to go to church with you next Sunday, Uncle Al.” Tim and his uncle were on their way to Bonny Lake. They had heard the fishing there was great. “I . . . I don’t want to hurt your feelings,” continued Tim, “but . . . well . . . I’m not sure I want to get into this religious stuff. Besides, Mom and Dad don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Oh?” asked Uncle Al in surprise. “I thought you said that your parents wouldn’t mind if you went with me. You sounded quite interested last week. You even said the Gospel was beginning to make sense to you.”

“Yeah, but since then I’ve done a lot of thinking,” Tim said slowly. “I don’t think I feel like getting ‘saved’ right now. The crowd I hang around with at school wouldn’t understand, and I like being with them. Someday I’ll start going to church, but I think I’ll just go on the way I am for a while. I know I’m not perfect, but I’m not so bad, either.”

Tim’s uncle drove on silently for a few minutes. “Oh, no!” he exclaimed as they passed a road sign. “I was so intent on our conversation that I missed the turnoff! We should have gotten off this road five miles back!”

“Guess we’ll have to turn around and go back now, huh?” asked Tim.

But Uncle Al shook his head. “I don’t feel like turning around right now,” he said. “I guess we’ll just keep going this way. I kind of like this road, and the scenery is nice.”

Tim looked at his uncle in amazement. “But we have to turn around to get to Bonny Lake,” he protested, “and the longer we keep going this way, the longer it will take to get back. If we wait too long to turn around, we might not even get there in time to fish.”

Uncle Al smiled at Tim as he slowed down for the next turn. “You’re right,” he said, “and what you said just now is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you about spiritual life . . . that when you’re traveling down the wrong road, the sooner you turn around, the better. If you wait too long, you might never get to your goal: Heaven.”

Yes, its time we turn back to god.

“Poor little butterfly,” the young girl said. “Poor little butterfly.”

Then reaching down slowly so as to not scare it away, she slid her tiny fingers underneath, urging it to step upon her hand.

It would appear to anyone that this delicate creature was lifeless leaving behind remains of what once was. But not her. She sensed something. She knew right away that there was indeed some life left in this most fragile example of God’s work.

The butterfly nearly tumbled onto her hand, wings folded straight up, apparently unable to fly.

Then, perhaps it was the warmth of her hands or the welcoming response to the attention it was given, but the butterfly began to walk slowly up to her palm.

“Poor little butterfly,” she repeated again as she brought it closer to her face.

“If I could kiss you I would, ” she said.

The butterfly, appearing to respond, slowly opened its wings, to reveal its beautiful designand colors. Now open fully, the child brought it closer and gave an angel’s kiss of love.

Just off in the distance watching this precious moment, her grandmother walked toward them.

“Oh, you have found it,” she said. “I was waiting for it and wondered where it was.”

The child looked a bit surprised and said. “You were waiting for this butterfly? Why?”

“It is sent to remind us,” grandmother said.

“But it is dying. I feel sorry for it. Don’t they fly away when it gets cold?”

“Yes, they do. But one is always chosen to remain behind,” she said.

Maybe this was just grandmother’ s way of softening the the truth so that the child would not be saddened by the thought of the butterfly dying. But what unfolded here was an incredible moment, an opportunity seen and taken to teach a lesson of love.

“Why would they choose to be left behind?” the child asked as she gently stroked the butterfly.

“They don’t choose to be, they are chosen,” she told her.

The child looked down again and held it closer.

“It is a great honor to be chosen. The story goes that God realized that when winter comes color disappears. The color of the flowers fade into the earth and all the delicate butterflies leave for warmer places. So, God decided that one should remain to remind us of the beautiful world He has created and the promise of Spring’s return.”

The child looked down and then lifting her head slowly, she whispered, “And I found it, grandmother. “

“Yes, and with that you have a great responsibility, ” she said as she held the young girl’s face in her hands.

“What?”

“You must now take time to see God’s colors in the darkness of winter. You must be the sunshine. You must help those who have forgotten how beautiful life is, to see the color of God’s love for them.”

“Oh, grandmother. I don’t know how to,” she said.

“It is simple. Be yourself. People believe only what they see. Like the flowers and butterflies. But God makes people beautiful inside. It is up to us to bring that beauty out by loving each other, helping each other and when we find someone who has fallen, just like that butterfly, it is up to us to pick them up, carress them and care for them. For one day it may very well be His Chosen One left behind.”

The child moved closer to her grandmother as they sat admiring God’s messenger.

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Take time to see the beauty, the colors of God in the people around you. You, too may find the “Poor little butterfly!”

- – - written by Bob Perks, P.O. Box 1702, Shavertown, PA 18708-1702, USA