An elephant came to the edge of a stream of clear rushing water.
Being thirsty, the elephant leaned over, dropped its trunk into the
cool water and... plunk!
"What? What happened?" the elephant cried. "I can't see! My eye...
it fell in the water! Oh nooooooh," the elephant wailed in a panic,
"I lost my eye!"
And, in fact, the elephant's right eye had popped out of its
socket and fallen into the stream. The elephant searched frantically
for the eye, groping with its trunk along the bottom of the stream.
The more he groped, the cloudier the water became. That made him panic
even more, and he started churning up great piles of sand, until
he couldn't see anything.
Then the elephant heard the sound of laughing. Furious, he
looked around to see who it was, and saw a little green frog sitting
on a log, laughing and laughing.
"You think this is funny?" the elephant shouted. "I lose an eye
and that makes you laugh?"
"What's funny is to see how upset you are. Calm down and everything
will be fine," the frog replied.
The elephant felt a little ashamed and took the frog's advice.
He stopped moving his trunk around, and soon the water became clearer
as the sand sank to the bottom. And there in the stream lay his eye.
He reached for it with his trunk and popped it back into its socket.
And then he thanked the frog.
....................................................................
This simple parable contains great wisdom. There's nothing funny
about losing an eye... the sudden panic, thrashing around in murky water,
desperation... that's exactly what happens to us when we lose control
and panic. Our haste makes us blind.
We become temporarily incapable of seeing the world around us
objectively and rationally. But there is an antidote to panic: wait.
Wait until the situation becomes clear and the black clouds disperse.
Many years ago, in a poor Chinese village, there lived a farmer and his son.
His only material possession, apart from the land and a small hut, was a horse he had inherited from his father.
One day, the horse ran away, leaving the man with no animal with which to work the land.
His neighbours, who respected him for his honesty and diligence, went to his house to say how much they regretted his loss. He thanked them for their visit, but asked:
"How do you know that what happened was a misfortune in my life?"
Someone muttered to a friend: "He obviously doesn't want to face facts, but let him think what he likes, after all, it's better than being sad about it."
And the neighbours went away again, pretending to agree with what he had said.
A week later, the horse returned to its stable, but it was not alone; it brought with it a beautiful mare for company.
The inhabitants of the village were thrilled when they heard the news, for only then did they understand the reply the man had given them, and they went back to the farmer's house to congratulate him on his good fortune.
"Instead of one horse, you've got two. Congratulations!" they said.
"Many thanks for your visit and for your solidarity," replied the farmer. "But how do you know that what happened was a blessing in my life?"
The neighbours were rather put out and decided that the man must be going mad, and, as they left, they said: "Doesn't the man realise that the horse is a gift from God?"
A month later, the farmer's son decided to break the mare in. However, the animal bucked wildly and threw the boy off; the boy fell awkwardly and broke his leg.
The neighbours returned to the farmer's house, bringing presents for the injured boy. The mayor of the village solemnly presented his condolences to the father, saying how sad they all were about what had occurred.
The man thanked them for their visit and for their kindness, but he asked:
"How do you know that what happened was a misfortune in my life?"
These words left everyone dumbstruck, because they were all quite sure that the son's accident was a real tragedy. As they left the farmer's house, they said to each other: "Now he really has gone mad; his only son could be left permanently crippled, and he's not sure whether the accident was a misfortune or not!"
A few months went by, and Japan declared war on China. The emperor's emissaries scoured the country for healthy young men to be sent to the front.
When they reached the village, they recruited all the young men, except the farmer's son, whose leg had not yet mended.
None of the young men came back alive. The son recovered, and the two horses produced foals that were all sold for a good price.
The farmer went to visit his neighbours to console and to help them, since they had always shown him such solidarity.
Whenever any of them complained, the farmer would say: "How do you know that what happened was a misfortune?"
If someone was overjoyed about something, he would ask: "How do you know that what happened was a blessing?"
And the people of the village came to understand that life has other meanings that go beyond mere appearance.
A farmer came into chinese town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could sell him a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, "There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs - millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!" So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks. The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, "Well... where are all the frogs?" The farmer said, "I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!"
1- Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs.
2- Problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.
He was a young boy who lived with his elderly Mother. His mother wanted him to learn how to play the piano because she Longed to hear her son play for her. She sent her son to a piano teacher who Took Robby in under her guidance.
However, there was one small problem Because Robby was not musically inclined and therefore was very slow in Learning.
The teacher did not have much faith in the boy because of his Weakness. The mother was very enthusiastic and every week she would send Robby to the teacher .
One day Robby stopped attending the piano lessons. The teacher thought that He had given up and in fact she was quite pleased since she did not give Much hope to Robby. Not long after, the piano teacher was given the task to Organize a piano concert in town. She sent out circulars to invite the Students and public to attend the event.
Suddenly, she received a call from Robby who offered to take part in the concert. The teacher told Robby that He was not good enough and that he was no longer a student since he had Stopped coming for lessons.
Robby begged her to give him a chance and Promised that he would not let her down.
Finally, she gave in and she put him to play last, hoping that he will Change his mind at the last minute. When the big day came, the hall was Packed and the children gave their best performance. Finally ,
It was Robby's Turn to play and as his name was announced, he walked in. He was not in Proper attire and his hair was not properly groomed.
The teacher was really Nervous since Robby's performance could spoil the whole evening's brilliant Performance.
As Robby started playing the crowd became silent and was amazed At the skill of this little boy. In fact, he gave the best performance of The evening. At the end of his presentation the crowd and the piano teacher Gave him a standing ovation. The crowd asked Robby how he managed to play so Brilliantly.
With a microphone in front of him, he said, "I was not able to Attend the weekly piano lessons as there was no one to send me because my Mother was sick with cancer.
She just passed away this morning and I wanted Her to hear me play. You see, this is the first time she is able to hear me Play because when she was alive she was deaf and now I know she is listening To me. I have to play my best for her!"
SUCCESS PRINCIPLES
This is indeed a touching story of love and excellence. When you have a Passion and a reason to do something, you will surely excel.
You may not be Talented or gifted but if you have a strong enough reason to do something, You will be able to tap into your inner God given potential.
Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons from Arabia. They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.
Months passed and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.
The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch. Having tried everything else, the king thought to himself, "May be I need someone more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem." So he cried out to his court, "Go and get a farmer."
In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his court, "Bring me the doer of this miracle."
The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?"
With head bowed, the farmer said to the king, " It was very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch of the tree where the bird was sitting."
Moral :-
We are all made to fly - to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable, the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling. So let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight..
A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits (phone numbers).
The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation.
Boy: ‘Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?
Woman: (at the other end of the phone line): ‘I already have someone to cut my lawn.’
Boy: ‘Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now.’
Woman: I’m very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.
Boy: (with more perseverance) : ‘Lady, I’ll even sweep your curb and your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all of Palm beach , Florida.’
Woman: No, thank you. With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store-owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy. Store Owner: ‘Son… I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job.’
Boy: ‘No thanks.’
Store Owner: But you were really pleading for one.
Boy: No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the Job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!’
Moral: This is what we call ‘Self Appraisal’. Every time if we don’t get ahead of others, we blame others for it. We should look to our self and compare, find our weaknesses and work hard to throw away weaknesses. Always Work Hard, Honest and with full Dedication. It will always pay up.
The young man was climbing the hill, slowly a step at a time. His bowed
head seemed to indicate that something was bothering him. Perhaps he was
lonely, or discouraged. He was coming to seek guidance from the wise man that
lived on the hill on the outskirts of town.
Entering the counsellor's house, the young man found him reading, deep in
thought.
"Excuse me, sir," he said hesitantly. The old man lifted his eyes.
Timidly, with a courteous bow and a voice of desperation, the young man said, "I
have come seeking your help … sir." After a short pause, he continued, "I have
dreams that I believe I can achieve, but no one thinks I have the ability
to
reach them. People see little value in me."
The old man continued his reading. After a while, he said, "Before I can
give you any counsel, I need your help. Are you willing?" Somewhat
disappointed for having his own needs ignored, the young man nevertheless
responded, "I will try, sir."
The wise man stood up. Stretching himself a bit, he said, "I may need to
pay a large debt in the future, for which I will need money. Here is my gold
ring. Take it to the market and find out how much I can get for it, but
don't settle for anything less than five gold coins. There is my horse.
Go!"
The young man held onto the ring tightly and upon reaching the market
place, went from stall to stall, offering it in exchange for cash. The fruit
seller ignored him. The clothes merchant told him that he was not interested. The
farmer selling chickens continued to bargain with a customer and waved him
away.
Finally, the young man reached the pig seller's stall. After examining the
ring for a while in his dirty hand, he said with a covetous smirk, "Tell
the owner that I am willing to give him five bronze coins for this."
"I fulfilled your assignment, sir," said the young man upon his return.
"No one in the market is willing to give five gold coins for your beautiful
ring."
"That's fine," responded the wise man. Now we know how little the market
people value this ring. Go to the jeweller in town and show it to him."
When the jeweller saw the gold ring, he quickly stood up and used a silk
handkerchief to hold it carefully. Bring it under a lamp, he examined it
in detail with a magnifying glass. "A masterpiece," he said softly. "If the
owner of the ring is in a hurry, I will buy it for 10 gold coins myself.
But if he gives me time to bring out all its beauty, I shall find a wealthy
customer willing to pay at least 20 gold coins for it."
The wise man listened attentively to the report the happy young man
brought back and then told him, "Don't let the ignorant tell you the value of
something they know nothing about. Listen only to the appraisal of the
skilled specialist, the one who can recognize the true value of a master
artist's work."
And with a smile, the wise man placed the golden ring back on his finger
and waved the young man good-bye.
My wife called, 'How long will you be with that newspaper? Will you
come here and make your darling daughter eat her food?'
I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter
Sindu looked frightened.
Tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled
to its brim with Curd Rice. Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent
for her age.She has just turned eight. She particularly detested
Curd Rice. My mother and my wife are orthodox, and believe firmly in
the 'cooling effects' of Curd Rice! I cleared my throat, and picked
up the bowl. 'Sindu, darling,why don't you take a few mouthful of
this Curd Rice?Just for Dad's sake, dear.
Sindu softened a bit, and wiped her tears with the back of her
hands. 'OK, Dad. I will eat - not just a few
mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this. But, you should...' Sindu
hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this entire curd Rice, will you give me
whatever I ask for?'....... ....Oh sure,
darling'.... 'Promise? '........ .........
'Promise'. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with
mine, and clinched the deal.
'Ask Mom also to give a similar promise', my daughter insisted.
My wife put her hand on Sindu's, muttering 'Promise'.
Now I became a bit anxious. 'Sindu dear, you shouldn't insist on
getting a computer or any such expensive items.Dad does not have
that kind of money right now. OK?'
'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'.Slowly and painfully,
she finished eating the whole quantity.
I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for forcing my child
eat something that she detested.
After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide
with expectation.
All our attention was on her......... ....'Dad, I
want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!' was her demand.
'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'A girl child having her head shaved
off? Impossible!' 'Never in our family!' my mother rasped.'She has
been watching too much of television. Our culture is getting totally
spoiled with these TV programs!'
Sindu darling, why don't you ask for something else? We will be sad
seeing you with a clean-shaven head.'
'No, Dad. I do not want anything else', Sindu said with finality.
'Please, Sindu, why don't you try to understand our feelings?' I
tried to plead with her.
'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice'.
Sindu was in tears. 'And you promised to grant me whatever I ask
for.Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told
me the story of King Harishchandra, and its moral that we should
honor our promises no matter what?'
It was time for me to call the shots. 'Our promise must be kept.'
'Are you out your mind?' chorused my mother and wife.
'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honor
her own. Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.'
With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face, and her eyes
looked big and beautiful.
On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to
watch my hairless Sindu walking towards her classroom.She turned
around and waved. I waved back with a smile.
Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and shouted, 'Sinduja, please
wait for me!'
What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. 'May be, that is
the in-stuff', I thought.
'Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!' Without introducing
herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued,' That boy who is
walking along with your daughter is my son Harish.He is suffering
from... ... leukemia.' She paused to muffle her sobs. Harish could
not attend the school for the whole of the last month.He lost all
his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to
come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of
the schoolmates. 'Sinduja visited him last week, and promised him
that she will take care of the teasing issue.
But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the
sake of my son!
Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your
daughter.'
I stood transfixed. And then, I wept. 'My little Angel, you are
teaching me how self-less real love is!'
Prakash
Iyer, Managing Director, Kimberly-Clark Lever and Executive Coach
shares two important management lessons he learnt from a 500-rupee note.
Read on.
1. It happened some years ago but I can recall the evening like it happened just last week.
I was in an audience listening to a motivational guru.
The speaker whipped out his wallet and pulled out a five hundred-rupee note.
Holding it up, he asked, "Who wants this five hundred rupee note?"
Lots of hands went up. Including mine.
A slow chorus began to build as people began to shout "Me!" "Me!"
I
began to wonder who the lucky one would be who the speaker would
choose. And I also secretly wondered -- and I am sure others did too --
why he would simply give away five hundred rupees.
Even as the shouts of "I want it" grew louder, I noticed a young woman
running down the aisle. She ran up onto the stage, went up to the
speaker, and grabbed the five hundred-rupee note from his hand. "Well
done, young lady," said the speaker into the microphone.
"Most of us just wait for good things to happen. That's of no use. You've got to make things happen."
The speaker's words have stayed with me ever since.
'Simply thinking about doing something is of no use'
Our lives are like that. We all see opportunities around us. We all want the good things.
But the problem is we don't take action.
We all want the five hundred rupee notes on offer. But we don't make the move. We look at it longingly
Get up, and do something about it. Don't worry about what other people might think. Take action.
2. Several years later, it was another day, another time.
And another motivational guru.
As
I watched him pull out a five hundred rupee note and hold it up for all
to see, I thought I knew what he was going to do next. But he just
asked a simple question. "How much is this worth?"
"Five Hundred rupees!" the crowd yelled in unison.
"Right," said the speaker. He then took the note and crumpled it into a ball and asked "How much is it worth now?"
"Five Hundred rupees!" screamed the audience.
He then threw the note on the ground, stamped all over it and picked up
the note and asked one more time: "And how much is it worth now?"
"Five Hundred rupees!" was the response.
"I want you to remember this," said the speaker.
"Just because someone crumples it, or stamps on it, the value of the note does not diminish.
We should all be like the five hundred rupee note.
In
our lives, there will be times when we feel crushed, stamped over,
beaten. But never let your self-worth diminish. Just because someone
chooses to crush you -- that doesn't change your worth one bit!
Don't allow your self-worth to diminish because someone says something nasty -- or does something dirty -- to you."
Take my Son.....
A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.. |
When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas,
There was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands..
He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly... He often talked about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.'
The father
Opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift.'
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?'
There was silence...
Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'
But the auctioneer persisted. 'Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?'
Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh's, the Rembrandts. Get on with the Real bids!'
But still the auctioneer continued. 'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting...' Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.
'We have $10, who will bid $20?'
'Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.'
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel.. 'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!'
A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!'
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'
'What about the paintings?'
'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will... I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.
The man who took the son gets everything!'
Money is not EVERYTHING.
A person was tired of facing difficulties again and again in life. He was fed up with life and decided to sucide. God stopped him and came before him. The person asked god why did he save him. He said that he was fed up with life because he was facing troubles repeatedly. God took him to jungle.There a small lion was chasing a zebra for its lunch. This was the first time the lion was hunting without any big lions around it. Usually at least one big lion will be with him while he was hunting and so the small lion will get its lunch easily. But today it is not the case, the lion was left alone to catch its own meal.
The lion spots a zebra and tries to chase it and kill it. The lion chases the zebra but couldn't kill it as the zebra was big and experienced. The zebra has escaped from the clutch of this lion.
The zebra has escaped this lion as of now. But tomorrow another big lion may chase it up and may or may not kill the zebra.
God said, if the zebra thought that why he has to face this life going struggle daily again and again he would not have grown this big. God also said that you may respond that it doesn't have a brain.
The god asked the person to look at the lion again.
As we have seen the same lion was tired chasing this zebra and couldn't get its food. It began to search for its lunch and at that time it spotted a raccoon moving. I would like to remember you again that the lion was small and was hunting for the first time alone. He got no big experience in hinting. The small lion began to chase the raccoon and the raccoon started climbing a tree to escape from the lion and climbed to the top of the tree.
The lion started to climb the tree, The lion thought it could chase the racoon and get it caught by climbing the tree. It tried hard and started climbing the tree a little. It then began to realize that it cannot be able to proceed further as the racoon does. It began to felt defeat and then thought it will descend the tree and find another lunch.
A cat can jump from heights and will not get hurt as it is of small weight. But it is not the case of the lion as it is of huge weight. To climb down the tree is the toughest part than climbing up. The reason being it has to bring down its entire weight while coming down. The lion faced many challenges like it got its head caught in a tree trunk and later finally come down.
Generally Big lions dont chase raccoons and climb trees because the lion knows that it cannot climb trees like raccoons by way of experience. This denotes that it also had thinking ability to know that it cannot be able to climb after it tried at least once. So comming back to the zebra , the god said that the troubles for the zebra and you are somewhat same. But I would say that you are far better than the Zebra.
The reason being the zebra has the risk of loosing its life. So life is full of troubles for every living being in earth. If you started facing it positively, you will survive out of it and become sharper. It is not that every struggle will hit you, it will only mould you more. So start to change your mind to face the struggles instead of thinking why i am having problems again and again in life. Try to beat this and come up in life as life is a struggle.
Different people have different perception. One man's meat could be another man's poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On the way home, a boy commented, "Very stupid. Why neither of them ride on the donkey? "Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey. He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, "The husband is the head of family. How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?" Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on the donkey.
Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no gentleman."
The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey. Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you." Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their shoulders.
It seems to be the only choice left. Later, on a nar row bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river. You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.
Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..
I was watching shows in TV.There are many mentally challenged peoples who live in the world and trying to come up in life. This show is about them telling their bottlenecks in life. In that a person was telling a situation which he feels laughing. This person was mentally and physically challenged. He came to the hospital with his mother. There was an old man sitting opposite to him and seeing this boy (person telling this story), by sensing this boys behavior, the old man began to sense that this boy is not a normal boy.
The boy’s mother left her seat to enquire about the doctor's availability. The old man who was sitting opposite to the boy came to this boy and sat next to him. He asked the boy whether this problem was from intermediate due to some accident or from his child birth. The boy told this story and told the audience. What would the old man going to do if he told him that it is from child birth or if it is from intermediate? Will it going to help this boy anyway. No. So the boy asked why people ask these silly questions and hurt other people.
People don’t realize that by asking these types of question will hurt the person opposite who is facing that kind of Problem.
Is God good or Bad? The first thing when it comes to many of our minds is good. This is not so at all the time. Sometime when we are at sorrow like when someone nearer to us was taken away permanently, we feel that god is bad. I am going to tell a short story. There was a family with a father, mother and a kid. In that family suddenly the kid died due to an accident and everyone was feeling very bad and his mother was even scolding the god and telling that god is very bad by taking her only kid. In somewhere distance at the same time a child is born and everybody is thanking god for the good for bringing a new life to the world. Now coming to the family, After a year the lady who lost her kid gives birth to a baby. The family is thanking god for giving her a new child. So my question is the same person who said god is bad at a certain point of life says god is good. Did god suddenly change from bad to good or good to bad? No. It is the maturity which is achieved by experiences in life which teaches us good and bad.
Once upon a time two brothers, who lived on adjoining farms, fell into conflict. It was the first serious rift in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed without a conflict.
Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.
One morning there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter's tool box.
"I'm looking for a few days' work" he said. "Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there I could help with? Could I help you?" "Yes," said the older brother. "I do have a job for you."
"Look across the creek at that farm. That's my neighbor; in fact, it's my younger brother. Last week there was a meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll do him one better."
"See that pile of lumber by the barn? I want you to build me a fence --an 8-foot fence -- so I won't need to see his place or his face anymore."
The carpenter said, "I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails and the post-hole digger and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."
The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day.
The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing.
About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job.
The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge -- a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work, handrails and all -- and the neighbor, his younger brother, was coming toward them, his hand outstretched. "You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done."
The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other's hand.
They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox onto his shoulder. "No, wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other projects for you," said the older brother.
"I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, but I have many more bridges to build.
One day Maths teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in
'Kargil' war and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never attended Funeral of a serviceman before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The place was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk. The teacher was the last one to bless .
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Sanjay's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Sanjay talked about you a lot..'
After the funeral, most of Sanjay's former classmates were there. Sanjay's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Sanjay when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Sanjay's classmates had said about him.
'Thank you so much for doing that,' Sanjay's mother said. 'As you can see, Sanjay treasured it.'
All of Sanjay's former classmates started to gather around. Arjun smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'
Prithwiraj's wife said, ' Prithwiraj asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Rashmi said. 'It's in my diary'
Then Deepali, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Deepali said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Sanjay and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
Moral:
What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own
There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "A speech will either prosper or ruin a nation." Many relationships break off because of wrong speech. When a couple is too close with each other, we always forget mutual respect and courtesy. We may say anything without considering if it would hurt the other party.
A friend and her millionaire husband visited their construction site. A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted, "Hi, Emily! Remember me? We used to date in the secondary school." On the way home, her millionaire husband teased her, "Luckily you married me. Otherwise you will be the wife of a construction worker." She answered,"You should appreciate that you married me. Other wise, he will be the millionaire and not you."
Frequently exchanging these remarks plants the seed for a bad relationship. It's like a broken egg - cannot be reversed.