At a retirement dinner for a successful executive, there was a lot of good-hearted teasing of the guest of honor before he got up to speak. He told a few jokes of his own, before he started to reminisce about his successes and failures, and the reasons behind them. 'Let me tell you why I've enjoyed such success' he said. 'Years ago I had a great boss and mentor. One day he gave me his business card. On the back, he'd written seventeen words. He told me that whenever he had a tough decision to make, or was in a predicament, he'd read each of these words. Then he'd close his eyes, pray, and be quiet. Each time he did, something amazing would happen: one of the words would jump out at him and steer him in the right direction. He told me that for forty years these seventeen words never failed him. And I'm here tonight to tell you that in the last forty years, they've never failed me either. 'Then he passed out his business cards, and here's what was written on the back of each one: (Read each one slowly and thoughtfully).  The seventeen words that will never fail you are:

 

PREPARE ... LISTEN ... SMILE ... LOVE ... CHOOSE ... FOCUS ... BELIEVE ... RELAX ... ACT ... FORGIVE ... PRAY ... TRUST ... CHANGE ... PERSIST ... ACCEPT ... RISK ... WAIT!

 

And now the power of these seventeen words has been passed on to you!