“A son and his father were walking on the mountains.

Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: “AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain:

“AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Curious, he yells: “Who are you?”

He receives the answer: “Who are you?”

And then he screams to the mountain: “I admire you!”

The voice answers: “I admire you!”

Angered at the response, he screams: “Coward!”

He receives the answer: “Coward!”

He looks to his father and asks: “What’s going on?”

The father smiles and says: “My son, pay attention.”

Again the man screams: “You are a champion!”

The voice answers: “You are a champion!”

The boy is surprised, but does not understand.

Then the father explains: “People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE.

It gives you back everything you say or do.

Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.

If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.

If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.

This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life;

Life will give you back everything you have given to it.”

YOUR LIFE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. IT’S A REFLECTION OF YOU!”

— Unknown Author

Maria and Richard signed up for a required history course at their school. On their first test, both Maria and Richard failed. Richard was very upset about the possibility of failing the course. He immeadiately tried to transfer out of the class. He had an angry interview, with both the history teacher and the school guidance counselor. Finally he switched to a study hall.

Maria was also upset at failing the test, but she took this to mean she hadn’t worked hard enough. She asked her history teacher for help and studied as much as she could before the next test. Maria received an A on the second test and a B in the course.

Jackson and Martha both had to give oral presentations in class. Martha worried about the presentation. But she didn’t do much library work on her topic. She also didn’t practice her talk before she gave her speech to the class. Jackson decided he would practice. First, he carefully researched his topic. Then he tape-recorded himself to pick out the rough spots.

Martha was not prepared for her presentation. She couldn’t answer a question the teacher asked during the talk. In class, Jackson was still a little nervous, but he knew his subject well. The longer he spoke, the more at ease he felt.

I have made such a mess of my life. It seems as though the harder I try, the more things go wrong. I just do not seem to fit in anywhere. Kris just broke up with me. I guess I am just not as good-looking as the other guys. I will never be able to keep any girl friend. And my grades have slipped. Good grades are really important to Mom and Dad. I do not think I fit their idea of the perfect son. I feel lonely and, well — different. Nothing in my life right now seems worth the bother.

Karen wanted a necklace to wear to the school dance. At last she found the perfect necklace at a store. When no one was looking, Karen slipped it into her purse. At home that evening, she began to feel sorry about stealing the necklace.

Karen did not sleep well that night. In the morning she decided to tell her sister what she had done. Her sister pointed out that even though stealing was wrong, Karen could correct her mistake. Karen decided to return the necklace to the store. After returning the necklace, she apologized to the owner of the store.

Miguel always had a special relationship with his grandfather. Whenever he visited, his grandfather took the time to ask Miguel how his school work was going. He often had good advice for Miguel and told him stories about his own boyhood. Sometimes they went to a ball game together. One day Miguel came home from school to find his mother upset. His grandfather had become ill. A few days later, Miguel’s grandfather died.

At first, Miguel could not believe his grandfather was gone. Then he felt terrible pain during the first weeks after his loss. He cried often and could not sleep. He also began to feel angry at the world in general. He was especially angry with his grandfather for leaving him. At first he found it hard to do his school work or see his friends. But then he began to talk with his friends about the hurt he felt. He also expressed it to a teacher he especially liked. He did not feel like going out much, but he began to make himself do it. After a while, he grieved less. He still missed his grandfather, but he began to enjoy his memories of the good times they shared.

Rachel was given an assignment to make a brief speech to her English class. As the day for her speech approached, Rachel became more and more anxious. What if her speech were boring? What if her mind went blank in the middle of it? She got so nervous that studying for the speech became difficult. Rachel’s heart beat faster just thinking about it, and her mind kept wandering.

Rachel decided to discuss her fear about the speech with her parents. Her parents reminded her of other difficult events that had gotten through in her life. And they were sure the class would enjoy rachel’s speech. Together, the three of them agreed on a good study schedule for Rachel. They also had Rachel practice giving the speech in front of the family.

After working hard all summer mowing lawns, Mark was able to buy a bicycle. The next day he went to the garage to get the bicycle and go for a ride. He found the front wheel twisted out of shape so that the bicycle could not be ridden. Mark discovered that his younger brother, Tim, had taken the bicycle that morning without asking. Tim ran into a fire hydrant and twisted the wheel.

Mark grabbed his tennis racket and left the house. He hit the tennis balls against the wall of the garage for a long time. Then he went to his best friend and told him what had happened to his bicycle. Later that evening, Mark sat down with Tim for a talk. He told Tim how angry he was about what Tim had done. Tim agreed to use his allowance to get Mark’s bicycle fixed.