50 Things That Really Matter

The Big Idea
The book 50 Things That Really Matter tells of the simple pleasures of life--apart from the luxurious, fancy and extravagant possessions-- that gives people inner and deeper fulfillment. This promising gift book is a compilation of fist-person stories of different people with their own unique experiences on the things that really do matter.

• Wisdom
It was shortly aftercollege, while this young man didn't know what to do with his life, that he met an elderly saxophonist, Lucky, who taught him wisdom and the great values that goes with it. Lucky would often tell him real life stories just like how a farmer would effortlessly toss away seeds from his hands. Little did the young man know that these anecdotes would serve as gold nuggets of wisdom that he would carry onthrough his life.
• Warm Spring Days
This is a story of a young man's love for baseball. Though he never became a star of the Little League, baseball mirrored out the significance of his relationship with his dad. It was during the springtime ritual of playing catch with dad that he realized his father's dedication to be always around for him, no matter what. Thanks to the warm spring days.
•Memories
In a small town dotted with cemeteries is a woman who believes that saying out loud the names of the people who have died is another way of remembering them-asserting that they will always be part of their families' precious memories. After 35 years of not seeing her grandmother's grave, this woman wished that somehow, someone is also walking her dog by the cemetery and taking time toread aloud from the worn out stone, the carefully carved name of her beloved grandmother.
• Honest Work
Matt, exposed to hard work while he was just 10, teaches his wife lessons on devotion and honesty to one's work. For him, devotion is an opportunity of expression-- giving people a different kind of fulfillment to every work done.
• Faith
Jeb, a man whose faith is rooted on old timemiracles, missed how God had tried to rescue him amidst the dangers of the big flood. God sent a rowboat, powerboat and a helicopter to Jeb's rescue but he didn't mind. Jeb didn't realize that God works in ways we sometimes don't understand and sends us gifts of comfort and protection that we don't always recognize.
• Bubble Baths
Enjoying bubble baths, feeling its smooth and calming touch, is likesetting out our spirits free. Bubble baths transcend great relaxation and exude something magical that makes us leave the past behind and reconnects us again with life.
• Passion
A daughter, fascinated by how her father transforms everything that he touches into a wonderful work of art, saw something far beyond the father's talented hands. She saw passion. Believing that it is somethingeveryone of us has, seated deep down in our hearts, waiting yet to be discovered-to fuel our soul, give our lives purpose, and to connect us into something larger than ourselves.
• Puppies
After years of resisting the idea of getting a dog, Matt's wife finally relented. They, one day, got Lulu-- a yellow lab that taught them precious lessons about life, one lick at a time.
o Lulu Lesson #1: Whenyou're really enjoying play, you don't care how foolish you look.
o Lulu Lesson #2: Parenting can make you neurotic than you've ever dreamed possible.
o Lulu Lesson #3: Ritual is a glue that holds love together.
o Lulu Lesson #4: Unconditional love is a renewable resource.
o Lulu Lesson #5: True communication is only possible when we don't reply upon language.
• The Sound of Music
Hereis a story of a man's realization of how music can define life. After growing up to be a man of notes and instruments, this man decided to shut himself from music of any form for a couple of years. One day, however, while he was on top of the mountain, he had close encounter with silence. It was this time that he realized how the absence of music has brought sorrow and sadness into his life. He...