A Lesson from a donkey:
One
day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried for hours as the
farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old,
and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he calmed down.
He invited all his neighbors to help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he calmed down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to get out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less from people but more from God.
Two wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.
"One
is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride,
superiority, and ego.
"The other is Good - It is joy, peace,
love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy,
generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
What is the use of reading Bhagavat Gita?
Why we read the Bhagavat Gita, even if we can't understand it?
An
old farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson.
Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading
his Bhagavat Gita.
His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.
One
day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagawat Gita just
like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand, I forget
as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagawat Gita
do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove
and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back
a basket of water."
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house.
The
grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next
time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This
time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before here
turned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was
impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket
instead.
The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want
a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out
the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew
it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he
ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to
the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but
when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.
Out of breath, he said, "SEE.... it is useless!"
"So
you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket." The
boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket
was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and
was now clean, inside and out.
"Son, that's what happens when you
read the Bhagavat Gita. You might not understand or remember
everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out.
That is the work of GOD in our lives."
Richness, Success and Love
A
woman came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white beards
sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said "I don't
think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have
something to eat." "Is the man of the house home?" they asked. ” No",
she said "He's out." "Then we cannot come in," they replied.
In
the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened.
"Go tell them I am home and invite them in!" The woman went out and
invited the men in. "We do not go into a House together" they replied.
"Why is that?" she wanted to know. One of the old men explained: "His
name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and then
pointed to another one,” He is Success, and I am Love." Then he added,
"Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in
your home."
The woman went in and told her husband what was said.
Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!" he said. "Since that is the case,
let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!" His
wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?" Their
daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She
jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite
Love? Our home will then be filled with love!" "Let us hear our
daughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his wife. "Go out and
invite Love to be our guest."
The woman went out and asked the 3 old
men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest." Love
got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up
and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: "I only
invited Love, Why are you coming in?" The old men replied together: "If
you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would've stayed
out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him.
Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!!"
A Good Practical Case Study...
Once
Japan's biggest cosmetics company received a complaint that a consumer
had bought a soap box that was empty. Immediately the authorities
isolated the problem to the Assembly line, which transported all the
packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department.
For some
reason, one soap box went through the assembly line empty. Management
asked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, the engineers
worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors
manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the
line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and
they worked fast but they spent so much of money to have this done.
But
when a rank-and-file employee in a small Indian company was posed with
the same problem, he did not get into complications of X-rays, etc.. but
instead came out with another solution. He bought a strong industrial
electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan
on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes
out of the line.
Moral of the story:
Always look for simple solutions.
Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problem.
Learn to focus on solutions not on problems.
Success will not lower its standard to us....We must raise our standard to success!
Opinions
A
very learned professor went to a Zen master to find out about the
nature of the mind. They sat down and the professor just talked and
talked and talked about what he already knew. Tea was brought in and the
Zen master started to pour out tea for the professor, but when the cup
was filled the Zen master just kept pouring, the tea spilling over the
table. The professor cried out, "excuse me the, but the cup is full."
The Zen master replied, "yes just like your mind is and there is no room
for anything new."
A pencil maker told the pencil 5 important lessons just before putting it in the box:
1.) Everything you do will always leave a mark.
2.) You can always correct the mistakes you make.
3.) What is important is what is inside of you.
4.) In life, you will undergo painful sharpening, which will only make you better.
5.) To be the best pencil, you must allow yourself to be held and guided by the hand that holds you.
2.) You can always correct the mistakes you make.
3.) What is important is what is inside of you.
4.) In life, you will undergo painful sharpening, which will only make you better.
5.) To be the best pencil, you must allow yourself to be held and guided by the hand that holds you.
We
all need to be constantly sharpened. This parable may encourage you to
know that you are a special person, with unique God-given talents and
abilities. Only you can fulfill the purpose which you were born to
accomplish. Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your
life is insignificant and cannot be changed and, like the pencil, always
remember that the most important part of who you are is what's inside
of you.
Battleships
Two
battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on
manoeuvres in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead
battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility
was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping
an eye on all activities. Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of
the bridge reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow." "Is it
steady or moving astern?" the captain called out. Lookout replied,
"Steady, captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course
with that ship. The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that
ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change course 20
degrees." Back came a signal, "Advisable for you to change course 20
degrees." The captain said, "Send, I'm a captain, change course 20
degrees." "I'm a seaman second class," came the reply. "You had better
change course 20 degrees." By that time, the captain was furious. He
spat out, "Send, I'm a battleship. Change course 20 degrees." Back came
the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse." We changed course.
The nails and the fence
There
was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails
and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the
back fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the
fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to
hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care.
The Builder
An
elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor
of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more
leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss
the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.
The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.
Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project."
Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
The Apple
On
a cold day in 1942, inside a Nazi concentration camp, a lone, young boy
looks beyond the barbed wire and sees a young girl pass by. She too, is
moved by his presence. In an effort to give expression to her feelings,
she throws a red apple over the fence -- a sign of life, hope and love.
The young boy bends over, picks up the apple. A ray of light has
pierced his darkness.
The following day, thinking he is crazy for
even entertaining the notion of seeing this young girl again, he looks
out beyond the fence, hoping. On the other side of the barbed wire, the
young girl yearns to see again this tragic figure, who moved her so. She
comes prepared with apple in hand. Despite another day of wintry
blizzards and chilling air, two hearts are warmed once again as the
apple passes over the barbed wire. The scene is repeated for several
days. The two young spirits on opposite sides of the fence look forward
to seeing each other, if only for a moment and if only to exchange a few
words. The interaction is always accompanied by an exchange of
inexplicably heartening feelings. At the last of these momentary
meetings, the young boy greets his sweet friend with a frown and says,
"Tomorrow, don't bring me an apple, I will not be here. They are sending
me to another camp." The young boy walks away, too heartbroken to look
back.
From that day forward, the calming image of the sweet girl
would appear to him in moments of anguish. Her eyes, her words, her
thoughtfulness, her red apple, all were a recurring vision that would
break his night time sweats. His family died in the war. The life he had
known had all but vanished, but this one memory remained alive and gave
him hope.
In 1957 in the United States, two adults, both
immigrants, are set up on a blind date. "And where were you during the
war?" inquires the woman. " I was in a concentration camp in Germany,"
the man replies. "I remember I used to throw apples over the fence to a
boy who was in a concentration camp," she recalls. With a feeling of
shock, the man speaks. "And did that boy say to you one day, "don’t
bring an apple anymore because I am being sent to another camp?'" "Why,
yes," she responds, "but how could you possibly know that?" "He looks
into her eyes and says, “I was that young boy."
There is a brief
silence, and then he continues, “I was separated from you then, and I
don't ever want to be without you again. Will you marry me?" They
embrace one another as she says, "Yes."
On Valentine's Day 1996,
on national telecast of the Oprah Winfrey show, this same man affirmed
his enduring love to his wife of forty years. " You fed me in the
concentration camp," he said, "you fed me throughout all these years;
now, I remain hungry if only for your love."
The darkest moments of one's life may carry the seeds of the brightest tomorrow
Benefits of struggling ( why struggle??)
A
man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he
sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to
force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making
any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it
could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he
took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.
The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and
small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because
he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to
be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither
happened!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.
Rebellion against the stomach
Once a man had a dream in which his hands and feet and mouth and brain all began to rebel against his stomach.
"You
good-for-nothing sluggard!" the hands said. "We work all day long,
sawing and hammering and lifting and carrying. By evening we're covered
with blisters and scratches, and our joints ache, and we're covered with
dirt. And meanwhile you just sit there, hogging all the food."
"We
agree!" cried the feet. "Think how sore we get, walking back and forth
all day long. And you just stuff yourself full, you greedy pig, so that
you're that much heavier to carry about."
"That's right!" whined
the mouth. "Where do you think all that food you love comes form? I'm
the one who has to chew it all up, and as soon as I'm finished you suck
it all down for yourself. Do you call that fair?" "And what about
me?" called the brain. "Do you think it's easy being up here, having to
think about where your next meal is going to come from? And yet I get
nothing at all for my pains." And one by one the parts of the body joined the complaint against the stomach, which didn't say anything at all. "I have an idea," the brain finally announced. "Let's all rebel against the lazy belly, and stop working for it." "Superb
idea!" all the other members and organs agreed. "We'll teach you how
important we are, you pig. Then maybe you'll do a little work of your
own."
So they all stopped working. The hands refused to do lifting
and carrying. The feet refused to walk. The mouth promised not to chew
or swallow a single bite. And the brain swore it wouldn't come up with
any more bright ideas. At first the stomach growled a bit, as it always
did when it was hungry. But after a while it was quiet.
Then, to
the dreaming man's surprise, he found he could not walk. He could not
grasp anything in his hand. He could not even open his mouth. And he
suddenly began to feel rather ill.
The dream seemed to go on for
several days. As each day passed, the man felt worse and worse. "This
rebellion had better not last much longer," he thought to himself, "or
I'll starve."
Meanwhile, the hands and feet and mouth and brain
just lay there, getting weaker and weaker. At first they roused
themselves just enough to taunt the stomach every once in a while, but
before long they didn't even have the energy for that.
Finally the man heart a faint voice coming from the direction of his feet.
"It could be that we were wrong," they were saying. "We suppose the stomach might have been working in his own way all along."
"I
was just thinking the same thing," murmured the brain. "It's true that
he's been getting all the food. But it seems he's been sending most of
it right back to us."
"We might as well admit our error," the
mouth said. "The stomach has just as much work to do as the hands and
feet and brain and teeth."
"Then let's get back to work," they cried together. And at that the man woke up.
To
his relief, he discovered his feet could walk again. His hands could
grasp, his mouth could chew, and his brain could now think clearly. He
began to feel much better.
"Well, there's a lesson for me," he
thought as he filled his stomach at breakfast. "Either we all work
together, or nothing works at all."
Xvxry pxrson is important
One manager let employees know how valuable they are with the following memo: "You Arx A Kxy Pxrson"
Xvxn though my typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works vxry wxll -- xxcxpt for onx kxy. You would think that with all thx othxer kxys functioning propxrly, onx kxy not working would hardly bx noticxd; but just onx kxy out of whack sxxms to ruin thx wholx xffort.
Xvxn though my typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works vxry wxll -- xxcxpt for onx kxy. You would think that with all thx othxer kxys functioning propxrly, onx kxy not working would hardly bx noticxd; but just onx kxy out of whack sxxms to ruin thx wholx xffort.
You may say to
yoursxlf -- Wxll, I'm only onx pxrson. No onx will noticx if I don't do
my bxst. But, it doxs makx a diffxrxncx, bxcausx an xffxctivx
organization nxxds activx participation by xvxry onx to thx bxst of his
or hxr ability. So, thx nxxt timx you think you arx not important,
rxmxmbxr my old typxwritxr. You arx a kxy pxrson.
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