Tripp was plucking a few gray hairs from his head when his wife informed him that for each gray hair he pulled, ten would grow in its place. After that announcement, Tripp plucked every gray hair he had left, saying, “This is great! My hair will be ten times its thickness. Then I will buy some hair dye and color it all!”
Tripp’s wife was complaining about a headache while her friends could clearly see that she had an arrow through her head. They listened to her complaints and entertained many suggestions regarding the reason for her pain. Yet, none of them dared to mention the arrow.
One day Tripp went walking without his shoes and stepped in a pile of broken glass. The doctor’s didn’t notice a piece that was still in his foot, so they stitched the wounds and sent him away. Tripp’s foot ached for many years after that incident. Sometimes an aspirin would help rid him of the pain for a while. Other occasions required something different, or even stronger for him to obtain some relief. And though the pain would leave his foot from time to time, the glass was still there.
Tripp was seeking consolation from one of his friends. As Tripp poured his heart out, his friend silently prayed, “Lord, give me the words that I need to say so to help this man!” The more that Tripp talked, the more his friend prayed these words. Nevertheless, he found nothing comforting to say, and Tripp walked away just as depressed as he was at the beginning.
Tripp’s friend inquired of God, praying, “Why did you not give me the right words to say? Why could I not help Tripp?”
Then he heard God’s answer, “If you had only listened to him, you would have known what to say.”
Tripp tried to call his friend Bob. After dialing what he thought was Bob’s number, the respondent informed Tripp that he had indeed dialed the wrong telephone number to reach Bob. So Tripp hung up the phone, pressed redial, and tried calling Bob once again.
Tripp did not want his wife to think bad thoughts anymore because every time she did, he noticed it caused a rainstorm to come upon their region. In those days Tripp was a landscaper so his family could not afford to have his wife thinking so negatively.
One of the neighbors found Tripp’s logic to be absolutely ridiculous and challenged him. He said, “See, your wife is in a bad mood now, and it’s not raining.”
Tripp defended his theory, saying, “Her negativity doesn’t always make it rain right away!” Sometimes it takes a few hours, sometimes a few days–it has even taken several weeks. Nevertheless, every time she thinks bad thoughts–it rains.”
Tripp and his wife traveled out of the country for a vacation. After safely arriving home, they learned that many of their travel companions became ill from the food and had to get their ‘stomachs pumped’ upon their return. Tripp’s wife immediately made an appointment with her doctor and insisted that she have her ‘stomach pumped’ as well. The doctor did not understand why she wanted to have this thing done as she received no ill affects from the food. But not only did she convince the doctor to perform the procedure on her, but insisted that her husband and the other travelers [who did not become ill] also have it done to them—for precautionary measures. So each year, they continue to travel outside the country for vacation, and each year they get their ‘stomachs pumped’ upon their return.
One day Tripp went out to his backyard and picked an orange from a tree. He sat down on his porch, made himself comfortable and began peeling the orange so he could eat it. No sooner had he finished preparing the orange and the weather outside turned to rain.
Some weeks later, Tripp went outside, picked an orange and attempted the same thing. Once again, the rains came and he was unable to eat his orange while he was outside.
A few more weeks passed and Tripp’s wife invited some friends and family to the house for a picnic. Everyone there spoke of the wonderful weather that day, how perfect it was for their gathering, and what a good time they were having. Then Tripp noticed some of the company picking oranges from the trees, and his nephew was about to eat one! To this, Tripp exclaimed, “Stop—put those oranges away! Are you all crazy? Do you all want to make it rain and ruin everybody’s good time?!”
Tripp’s wife heard of a breakthrough, life-changing diet. She consulted the dietician, saying, “Please make me slimmer! I can see how I’ve been overweight for so long.” So the dietician agreed to work with her. Things went well for a while, and then she began to overeat once again. Tripp’s wife thought that if she followed the diet long enough, and exact enough, she would have a breakthrough and wake up slimmer. It didn’t happen that way, so she fell off the diet.
The dietician assured her that he was still willing to work with her and help her achieve their goal. Yet, Tripp’s wife said to herself, “Since I am already off this diet, I will indulge in all sorts of food. But one day I shall return to the diet, follow it rigidly, get my breakthrough—and wake up slimmer! Meanwhile, I must find what it is that is making me fat.”
Tripp and his friend went to the movies. Once the film was over and the credits began to roll, Tripp’s friend asked him, “So…what did you think [of the movie].”
Tripp said, “Oh, I’m waiting to read the reviews on it. Then I will let you know what I think.”