The Value of Five Dollars

I was in a Communications class once in college and we were in the middle of chapter two and talking about values and beliefs, self esteem and self worth. Most everyone knows or has heard that you're supposed to talk positively about yourself or anything else to achieve your desired results. The "what you say is what you'll get" cliché' or "garbage in garbage out" theory is most widely used. My teacher said: "Sometimes people get depressed and quiet and don't say anything to anyone or don't feel out-going and compare themselves to other people who are out-going and think; "Well, I'd be out-going too if I was rich or if I had everything going for me, or nothing ever goes wrong in so and so's life.". Well, maybe things do go wrong for people that seem happy all the time or positive all the time. Maybe they just don't show it. Maybe they have the world falling down around their feel, but they choose to stay cheerful and positive."

You've heard it and heard it time and time again, and still you come out of the class or motivational sermon with the same feelings than when you went in. This time, as I was listening to my teacher explain the concept of "self worth", she added a new perspective that enlightened me.

She asked; "If I were to go to the ATM machine and take out a five dollar bill that was brand new, crisp, with no wrinkles or tears and held it up and asked if any of you wanted it....how many of you would say yes?" The whole class raised their hands.

"Okay, now; she asked, If I were to take a five dollar bill and tear off a couple of the corners, wad it up in a ball and roll it between my hands, then take it and throw it on the floor and step on it and kick it around with my shoe until it was dirty, then wipe it off a little and hold it up and ask if anyone wanted it....how may of you would say yes now?" Again, the whole class laughed as they raised their hands.

"That's right. I don't blame you! Just because this dollar isn't perfect and has tears and wrinkles doesn't change it's value or worth."
We all knew this, but hadn't really thought about it like that.

Then she said; "What about people. Some people have been in accidents where they are disabled, have scars or are missing a limb. They may have been abused, paralyzed or had an illness that left them physically altered. Any number of things may have happened in someone's life. Just because someone has had a rough life, doesn't mean that their life is less valuable, that their worth is any less. They're the same person with the same value even though they have tears and wrinkles and scars, they're not crisp and new."

That really impressed me as I began to think about it. Everyday, there are many of us that tend to de-value ourselves based on what has happened in the past or what is happening to us right now. We lose our self esteem, feel that our self worth is rapidly declining....but it isn't so. If I could add a little of religion here, I would say that to God, we are always valuable. Our worth never depreciates no matter what we have done. We are the same as we always were. So, the next time you feel worthless, stop and think about it. No matter how we look on the outside or how we feel about ourselves, our value hasn't changed.

Indianapolis

The time is here when I make the long trek from Arkansas to Indiana to go to the Do It Best market in Indianapolis! Indy is such a nice city and always welcomes all of members as we invade on the city in droves.
While here, there are many wonderful restaurants to eat at, along with a couple of my favorites: the Ram Brewery and St Elmo's stake house.
Of course there's plenty of shopping here and its all easily accessed with sky walks connected all over the city! The circle city mall is always a pleasant treat, with everything you would come to expect from a theater, to shopping, and of course all or your favorite mall foods!
So in closing, let me say, if you haven't been to Indianapolis, take time and come! Its an awesome city, and of course, home of the Colts!

Rose

There are many beautiful things in this world but one of my favorite are roses. They work for any occasion whether it is a wedding, Valentines day, mothers day, or even a gradutation.

Roses also come in many shapes, colors, and sizes. They have red roses, pink roses, yellow roses, and about any color in between. To me all the fragrances are close to the same, some just a little bit stronger than others.

I have found that growing roses in most cases is an easy task. But maybe you dont want to grow roses maybe you want to buy them, and well, thats totally ok too! Heres some gardening tips that might help!

Graduation

Last night I was honored to share the moment when people's lives change. Teenagers go from being carefree, to being thrust into a world full of new responsibility and stress.

Everyone that graduated last night will make it and succeed flawlessly. They will be the Bill Gates and Richard Branson's of tomorrow. Not only making themselves proud, but their families also.

I think about how long its been since I graduated! Those teenagers were probably graduating kindergarten at that time!  Wow, how time flies when you're having fun :-) !

 I wish all the seniors across the world the greatest luck and happiness.  Remember, you're the best there ever was, and the best there ever will be!

Toes

I'm riding in my truck, the windows are fogging up, I look over to the right and see an image that makes me smile. Its not much to some, but it's a lot to me. It's a little print on my window of nothing special, just toes.

But when I see that, it makes me think of a lot of different things. There's the foot prints on the beach that get washed away when the waves come crashing on shore and there's always the little story that everyone has hanging on a wall in their house about Jesus and only seeing one set of foot prints.Today though, it makes me think of you. I know we have our differences and we have our problems but the one thing we have is love.

I think we all, from time to time, have had that one image that you see, and it triggers the memory bank inside your brain and all of those sweet memories of days gone by start flooding back. Maybe it was the time your grandpa took you fishing and you sat on the bank of a creek somewhere. You may not have even got a bite, but now that you look back on it, that was quality time.

What about that time you were riding in the car with your mom and her favorite song came on the radio and she started singing and dancing in the car. Just to see her face light up made you start dancing too.

What about that first date you went on to the local burger joint and then maybe the movie you went to? When that song comes on the radio that was playing that night, I bet you look back in your memory and smile, saying; "what fun we had."

What it all means to me, is life flies by too fast, and before you know it, people you love have passed on, friends have moved, and times have changed.

Just remember always take time to stop and enjoy the world we live in, cause the truth is were only passing through.

Thank You For The Orange Juice

In our day to day lives, sometimes it's hard to find something to be thankful for. We take for granted our good friends, family, and even our jobs, if we are so fortunate to have them. They are so much a part of our lives that, at times you forget how important they are to you. Still, with the ups and downs of life, we are supposed to find something everyday to be thankful for. With the lack of money, bad relationships, and unsure futures, life can seem almost hopeless.

I was having a particularly stressful time in my life where nothing seemed important. Not family or friends. I seemed to be going nowhere in my life, career-wise or relationship-wise, and my future seemed to me on permanent hold while I was still growing older. I wanted everything that I wanted NOW!

Not claiming to be a perfect Christian, I was, however struggling to do the right things spiritually and to have faith in God to take care of me. Part of some teaching tapes I had been listening to said to find something every day to be thankful for no matter how small it was. I thought; "Yeah, right...." and grumbled to myself each time I tried to come up with something. Nothing ever seemed to really hit the mark.

Oddly, this came into play. I have always loved orange juice, but until recently, because of it's high acid content, I couldn't drink it. It would give me terrible heartburn and urinary tract problems. One day, I saw a commercial for a new orange juice that was acid free and I bought some. It was wonderful and didn't hurt my stomach or kidneys at all.

A few mornings later, I was washing my hair, and as usual, grumbling to myself about what to come up with to be thankful about. All of a sudden I thought of the orange juice! It seemed silly at first to be thankful for such a small thing, but it was one thing that I really was thankful for. I laughed to myself and said out loud; "God, thank you for the orange juice!", and immediately I began to feel better. Life wasn't perfect, but in this imperfect world, I had found something simple to be thankful for.

How to Info

Here at Hipp Modern Builders Supply and Do it Best Rental Center we run a full How to website at http://www.hippshelp.com/ along with an online catalog for your shopping pleasure! Our main purpose here at our hipps-help blogger is to just throw our micro busts of thoughts out to you along with sharing some of our content and specials from our parent site http://www.hippshelp.com/.


We know that people are always trying to better themselves and improve the way of life they live. If we can help one person improve the way they live then we feel like that we have accomplished our goals set for our site. I had a good friend Ray that once said "We are all put on this earth to help each other and to see that we all live a full life." Little did he know that as he was saying that he was helping me, shaping me, and pushing me in the direction that I needed to go. As I look back on these things I wish I could go back and tell him that he helped me as much or more then he ever helped anyone before.

That being said I hope that this blog will help everyone that reads it and my wish to everyone out there that you live a full and happy life!!! 
Thanks for reading, Gentry Hipp