The other day a friend came up to me at our Lions Club meeting and asked this question: “Where do you get all those stories that you use in your column?” I told him they had come as a result of collecting them from various sources over the past 25 years.

During this time, I have heard many outstanding speakers, listened to inspirational tapes, read countless books and have heard hundreds of sermons at the various churches I’ve attended. In addition to making brief notes, I have a very good memory, and stories just have a way of sticking in my subconscious mind. Of course, many of the best stories are the result of true-life experiences, either my own or those I receive from someone else.

            When I pass along a story in this column, I do my best to make sure it contains a moral or a principle that will help you in some way. You are my primary consideration and stories can be a great teaching tool, if you know how to use them. I’m also very careful to never use stories that are off color or suggestive, not only because they deeply offend some people, but mostly this is the way I try to live. When it comes to my personal philosophy of telling stories, however, there is one exception: the use of stories that I think are humorous. With all the stress and pressures associated with life in our nation today, there has never been a time in our history when we need to laugh, not only at ourselves but also with others when we can do it in a positive and constructive way.

            With these thoughts in mind, I want to tell you my favorite motivation story. This story is about two fellows who would meet every afternoon after work at the local diner for a cup of coffee and some good conversation. Invariably, they would lose track of time and stay until late in the night. These fellows lived in a small town and this was back in the days before everyone had a car, so they walked back and forth to work. This one fellow lived several blocks across town. On his route there was a cemetery, and if he took a trail across the middle of the cemetery he could save several minutes and considerable distance. Well, this particular night, around 11 o’clock, he started home and decided to take the usual shortcut across the cemetery. Little did he know that during the day the sexton had dug a grave right in the middle of the trail. Not being wide awake, the man stumbled and fell in. For the next several minutes he tried to climb out but without success, and then he began to holler for help. After a while he gave up and became resigned to spending the night there and waiting for help in the morning. Faced with this dilemma, he settled back in the corner and tried to get comfortable.

Would you believe it, about 30 minutes later another man on his way home took the shortcut and came along the same trail. When he came to the open grave, he too fell in. He also tried vainly to get out and then began to holler for help. In about five minutes he heard a voice from over in the corner say, “YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF HERE” … but he did!!

My friend, here was a case of real motivation. The second fella would have probably gotten out of that grave even if it had been 10 feet deep. Motivation has become big business with all the rallies, books and tapes. I prefer the term inspiration because I would prefer to ‘inspire’ someone to use their God-given talents to become the person God wants them to become.

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(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. For a personalized copy of “Your Future Begins Today” send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)