“How to Be

a Great

Person”

BY

Omprakash Sukumalani

Preface Thank you for picking up this book. I hope these ideas help you as much as have helped me and thousands of others. In fact, I hope that this book changes your life forever. There is never enough time to do everything you have to do. You are literally swamped with work and personal responsibilities, projects, stacks of magazines to read and piles of books you intend to get to one of these days as soon as you get caught up. But the fact is that you are never going to get caught up. You will never get on top of your tasks. You will never get far enough ahead to be able to get to all those books, magazines and leisure time activities that you dream of doing.

And forget about solving your time management problems by becoming more productive.

No matter how many personal productivity techniques you master, there will always be

more to do than you can ever accomplish in the time you have available to you, no matter

how much it is.

You can only get control of your time and your life by changing the way you think, work and deal with the never ending river of responsibilities that flows over you each day. You can only get control of your tasks and activities to the degree that you stop doing some things and start spending more time on the few things that can really make a difference in your life.

“Wow! What a great person YOU are?”

“YOU are very nice human being!”

“I have never seen the person like YOU on the earth!”

“YOU are really a role model for all of us!”

“YOU are one of the wonderful men in the world!”

“I want a snap with YOU!”

“I want YOUR autograph!”

“I want to meet with YOU again and again!”

“I want to be like YOU!”

“I have really learnt a lot from YOU!”

These are the few statements that every human being on the earth wants to hear for themselves,

and off course “I” am one of them. Everybody in the world love to hear these statements for

themselves whether they are poor or rich, educated or uneducated, skilled or unskilled, black or

white, male or female, physically perfect or not, mentally wise or not.

Whenever I meet with my friends and relatives, most of the time I asked the question that is “How

to Be Great Person in the World?” And “What qualities I need to be the great person?”

Most of the common answers that I received from my friends & relatives are “MONEY”, “SKILLS”,

“QUALIFICATION”, “DESIGNATION”, “KNOWLEDGE”, “PERSONALITY”, “COMMUNICATION” and

“LUCK”.

I have seen many millionaires, who earn a lot of money, having a huge brand in the market but they

can’t even pay fare wages to their employees, they can’t provide them safety and security of the job.

That means they are not a Great people. Only MONEY can’t give me the title of “Great Person”

I have seen many people with the “SKILLS” but instant of doing the work perfectly they are showing

off their skills.” Only skills can’t sufficient for being the great person in the world.”

I have seen many people at the huge “DESIGNATION” but they are exploiting their employees, they

are ignoring the feeling of their subordinates, sometimes they are involving in corruption and sexual

harassment at work places. “I can’t say they are great people.”

Sometimes the KNOWLEDGABLE people are involve in anti-social activities. “They are not a great

people.”

There are many people in the world having good PERSONALITY, but they are consuming drugs and

committed suicide. “My mind can’t allow me to say that they are great one”.

The people having the power of COMMUNICATION but they are using abuse word in

communication. They can’t appreciate the efforts of someone, sometimes they hurt the feeling of

people and then the question arises for their greatness.

But the LUCK is very complicated word in the world.

One day one of my students asks me the meaning of LUCK. And I reply “LUCK is not like a finished

product available in the market, just like the “ENO which is starting action within 6 seconds.”

In my sense LUCK is the by-product of efforts and positive attitude.”

After all the discussion in my mind about the qualities of great people, but I have never satisfied with

their answers and one day I decided to search for the correct answer or I can say the qualities that I

need to become the Great Person.

The journey begins very soon to find the qualities that the great people have:

Once I had visited a temple under construction where I saw a sculptor making an idol of God.

Suddenly I noticed a similar idol lying nearby.

Surprised, I asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?"

"No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the

last stage."

I had examined the idol and found no apparent damage... "Where is the damage?" I asked.

"There is a scratch on the nose of the idol," said the sculptor, still busy with his work.

"Where are you going to install the idol?"

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high.

"If the idol is that high, which is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" I asked.

The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at me, smiled and said, "I know it and God knows it!"

At that time I have realised, “Excellence in Attitude is more important than Excellence in Skills.” The

desire to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not. Excellence is a

drive from inside, not outside. Excel at a task today - not necessarily for someone else to notice but

for your own satisfaction.

Quality that I need is “ATTITUDE”

-------

One day two of my friends Girish and Lukesh decided to go for picnic;

My friends Girish and Lukesh were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey,

they had an argument and one friend Girish slapped the other one Lukesh in the face.

Lukesh got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:

'Today my best friend slapped me.'

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. Lukesh who had

been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the Girish saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

'Today my best friend saved my life.'

My friend Girish who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, 'After I hurt you, you wrote

in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?'

Lukesh replied, 'When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand, where winds of

forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must

engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.'

I learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them,

but then an entire life to forget them.

Do not value the things you have in your life, but value that you have in your life!

-------

One day on a beautiful morning, I was enjoying sunrise at my balcony of my home, and I saw,

An older gentleman, aged 75, was sitting with his son when he asked his son what was sitting in the

window. He himself was not able to recognize what it was, due to his weak eyesight.

His son replied, "That is the crow."

Due to his age, the older man forgot and asked again.

His son again replied the same thing, "That is the crow."

This exchange continued for seven to eight times when, and at last, his son got annoyed and replied

with anger, "Why are you asking the same thing again and again?"

The old man replied with tears in his eyes. "Son, don't get angry. When you were at the age of 4

years you asked me the same question 40 times and I never got angry."

Sometime I forget the kindness, but the great people are always remembering kindness.

-------

One of friend got married last month and I learn some valuable lesson from them:

A young couple moves into a new neighbourhood. The next morning, while they are eating

breakfast, the young wife sees her neighbour hang the wash outside.

"That laundry is not very clean," she said to her husband. "The neighbour doesn't know how to

wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbour hung her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the young woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on her neighbour’s

line and said to her husband, "Look! She has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who

taught her this!"

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows!"

Can you see how it might be a good idea to check first, to see if your windows are clean? What we

see when watching others depends on the purity of the windows through which we look.

“Great people can’t judge others incorrectly.”

Before we give any criticism, it might be a good idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves if

we are ready to see the good rather than just look for something wrong in the people we encounter.

-------

Dealing with boss is always a hectic part in job, especial when the boss is rude. Same problem I am

also facing in my job. One day when I am in train, one of the passengers seating next to me start

taking about the condition of Indian railways, very soon he told me one real story about the great

person… The story is like that...

There were about 70 scientists working on a very hectic project. All of them were really frustrated

due to the pressure of work and the demands of their boss but everyone was loyal to him and did

not think of quitting their job.

One day, one scientist came to his boss and told him, "Sir, I have promised my children that I will

take them to the exhibition going on in our township so I want to leave the office at 5:30 pm."

His boss replied, "OK, You're permitted to leave the office early today."

The Scientist started working. He continued his work after lunch. As usual, he got involved to such an

extent that he looked at his watch only when he felt he was close to completion. The time was 8.30

PM.

Suddenly he remembered the promise he had made to his children.

He looked for his boss but he was not there. Having told him in the morning himself, he closed

everything and left for home. Deep within himself, he was feeling guilty for having disappointed his

children. He reached home. The children were not there.

His wife alone was sitting in the hall and reading magazines. The situation was explosive; any talk

would boomerang on him. His wife asked him, "Would you like to have coffee or shall I straight away

serve dinner if you are hungry?"

The man replied, "If you would like to have coffee, I too will have but what about the children?"

His wife replied, "You don't know? Your boss came here at 5.15 PM and has taken the children to the

exhibition."

What had really happened was ... The boss who granted him permission was observing him working

seriously at 5.00 PM. He thought to himself, this person will not leave the work, but if he has

promised his children they should enjoy the visit to exhibition. So he took the lead in taking them to

exhibition.

The boss does not have to do it every time. But once it is done, loyalty is established.

That is why all the scientists at Thumba continued to work under their boss even though the stress

was tremendous.

The passenger asked, “By the way, can you hazard a guess as to who the boss was?”

I said “No, I don’t know about that great manager, who takes care of their employees at that

level?”

He answered, “He was none other than the mastermind behind India’s successful nuclear

weapons and missiles program. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Former President of India.”

Top Designation doesn’t means that you hold employees in hands and exploit them. Manager has to

motivate their employees at every time whether the employees performing well or not. If the

employees are not performing good then, its responsibility of manager to teach and motivate them.

In Bible “employee is the only asset that given to employer from the God and employer has

taken care of their respect.”

“The Great Leader or Manager is one who take care of their employees at every level”

-------

On last Sunday of 2011, I was walking on Versova beach, Mumbai. I saw another man in the

distance. I noticed this man kept leaning down, picking up something and throwing it out into the

water, again and again. As, I approached even closer, I noticed that the man was picking up starfish

that had been washed up on the beach. He was throwing them back into the water, one by one.

Puzzled, I approached the man and said, "Good Evening. I was wondering what you are doing."

He replied "I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, its low tide and all these

starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If, I don't throw them back into the ocean,

they'll die up here from lack of oxygen." I argue "But, there must be thousands of starfish on

this beach. You can't possible get to all of them. And, don't you realize this is probably

happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't

possibly make a difference?” The man bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and threw it

back into the ocean. With a smile he replied, "Made a difference to that one!!!"

Just remember, no matter how small the deed it really does makes a difference.

“Make a difference today. Do something nice for someone else.”

-------

Last year I have attended the seminar in Mumbai. During the seminar:

A speaker was speaking about the power of positive thinking and the power of words.

One of the audience raised his hand and said,

"It's not because I say good fortune, good fortune, good fortune that will make me feel

better. Nor will saying bad luck, bad luck, bad luck, make me feel worse. They're only words

and, by them, have no power."

The speaker replied. "Shut up, you fool, you don¹t understand a thing about this."

The member of the audience was stunned including me, his face became red and he was about to

reply,

"You, son of a..."

The speaker raised his hand.

"Please excuse me. I didn't mean to upset you. Please accept my most sincere apologies."

The member of the audience calmed down. Some people in the hall murmured; others shuffled their

feet.

The speaker resumed. "There's the reply to the question you asked me. A few words made you

very angry. The other words calmed you down."

"Now do you understand the power of words?"

The great people always use conservative words; they always remember the power of words. They

take care the feeling of others.

“Communication means not talk so much, it means talk sensible.”

-------

Competition is start since I start growing, in childhood the competition in playing Cricket, Video

Game, running etc. during higher school and college competition for marks and rank, competition

for job and business. Now the question arises, “whether the competition is productive or not?”

and “If the competition is productive than up to what extent?”

One day when I was watching DD National Channel on TV. I saw animated movie; the movie is like

that;

remember the famous Rabbit-Turtle race (Tortoise and the Hare)? We all know that at the end of

the story the Rabbit was not able to win the race against the Turtle.

Well, this is actually not the end of the story. After a disgraceful loss to the Turtle, the Rabbit

decided to have a race again. This time, he decided, he would not take a nap.

The race started & soon the Rabbit was far away from the sight of the Turtle & all the spectators.

This time he didn't stop & defeated the Turtle by a big margin.

The Turtle lost the race this time; however, he didn't give up. He challenged the Rabbit again on a

different racetrack. The Rabbit, full of confidence, accepted it. He knew the reason he lost earlier: his

laziness during the first race. He was able to win the second race because he was able to work on it.

The Third Race started. The Rabbit, like always, soon disappeared. Everyone was laughing at the

Turtle but the Rabbit didn't want to stop to see why & kept on running as fast as he could. He

wanted to defeat the Turtle by a much bigger margin than the earlier race. Suddenly, he came to a

river. He was not able to make out how to cross it & was forced to stop.

After some time the Turtle reached the river & very confidently stepped into it. He swam much

faster than he could ever run. Within no time he crossed the river & moved towards the finishing

point while the Rabbit helplessly looked on as the Turtle won the race.

The story does not end here.

After the first race, the Rabbit learned that he lost it because of his laziness.

After second race, the Turtle learned that he lost the race because his opponent was actually good

at running.

After the third race, the Rabbit learned that being faster is not enough; one should have brains as

well to complete the task.

The Rabbit & the Turtle decided to run again. This time it was just running & not a race.

While running, until they reached the river, the Rabbit put the Turtle on his back. Once they needed

to cross the river, the Turtle put the Rabbit on his back. After crossing the river, the Rabbit again put

the Turtle on his back & both of them reached the finishing point in less time than ever.

What did they learn?

They both learned that with teamwork they can finish the same task quicker & both of them can

enjoy the reward. During the time they were competing against one another, just one of them was

able to win after wasting a lot of time & energy.

The Great People follow the philosophy of:

“Competition Kill relations, team work build relations.”

-------

During the childhood my grandmother told me about the impatient people, the story that I have

remember forever in life, the story is:

Once there was a rich man who fell seriously ill. He sold all his belongings just to cure his illness.

After he became healthy, he realized that he had nothing left. He had difficulties feeding himself, but

he thought that in no time things would be back to normal again, he would be rich again.

He waited for a long, long time but nothing happened. His life was dreadful and so he decided that if

he took his own life, it would be over. So he did. He committed suicide.

While on his way to hell, he met two angels who were carrying a heavy load. He asked them where

they were going.

After their long explanations, this man realized that the two angels were coming to him. The heavy

load they were carrying was a bag full of money. But since he was no longer alive, he wouldn't be

able to receive it.

PATIENCE! PATIENCE!! PATIENCE!!!

Time is the greatest Teacher in the world, Time teaches every one whether rich or poor, male or

female, qualified or not. Time gives Punishment or Reward to everyone. Just wait for your turn.

-------

Once my cousin visited to my home, very soon our communication turns to a serious discussion on

the problem of his life, he said, “my study pressure is worst now, my part time job is almost to

layoff, breakup with my girlfriend and family problems etc.” he paused; and start again “my life

is hell now!”

I said;

“There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So

he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer and the youngest son

in the rain-fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so

beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and

fulfilment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only

one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of

who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the

end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer,

fulfilment of your fall.”

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are

sure to come sometime later.

-------

Sometimes we spend time asking who is responsible or who to blame, whether in a relationship, in a

job or with the people we know. We miss out some warmth in human relationship to give each other

support. Just a little story that can change the way we generally look at...

A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a loving couple and the boy

was the apple of their eyes. When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw

a medicine bottle open. He was late for work so he asked the wife to cap the bottle and keep it in

the cupboard. The mother, preoccupied in the kitchen totally forgot the matter. The boy playfully

went to the medicine bottle and, fascinated with its colour, drank it all. It happened to be a

poisonous medicine meant for adults in small dosages. When the child showed signs of poisoning

the mother took him to the hospital, where he died. The mother was stunned. She was terrified how

to face her husband. When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the dead child, he

looked at his wife and uttered just four words.

1. What were the four words?

2. What is the implication of this story?

Check with the answers only after you have tried to come up with your own.

The husband just said “I Love You Darling. “ The husband's totally unexpected reaction is proactive

behaviour. He is indeed a genius in human relationships. The child is dead. He can never be brought

back to life. There is no point in finding fault with the mother. She had also lost her only child. What

she needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband. That is what he gave

her. If ever everyone can look at life with this kind of perspective, there would be much fewer

problems in the world. To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little.

To be happy with a woman you must understand her a lot and love her with all your heart. "A

journey of a thousand miles, begins but with a single step.” Take off all your envies, jealousies, non-

forgiveness, selfishness, and fears AND you will find things are actually not as difficult as you think."

There are many beautiful, charming and wonderful men and women here on earth; it's just a matter

of who you get to meet along the way and who you choose to end up with for the rest of your life.

"Love has its own time, season and reason. You can't ask for it to stay. You can only embrace it when

it comes and be glad that for a moment in your life, it was yours”

“Treasure what you have”

-------

During the college days, a lecturer was giving a lecture to his student on “stress management". He

raised a glass of water and asked the audience, "How heavy do you think this glass of water is?"

The students' answers ranged from 20g to 500gm.

“It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how long you hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, it is OK.

If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance.

It is the exact same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

"If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden

becoming increasingly heavier."

"What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again."

We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on.

So before you return home from work tonight, put down the burden of work. Don't carry it back

home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it

down for a moment if you can. Pick it up again later when you have rested... Rest and relax.

Life is short, enjoy it!!

The Great People know the art of “Stress Management”

-------

This is a real story that happened between the customer of General Motors and its Customer-Care

Executive. A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors

"This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you for not answering me, because

I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice- Cream for dessert after

dinner each night. But the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we’ve eaten the whole

family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it.

It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have

created a problem.

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won't start. If I

get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I'm serious about this! ;

question, no matter how silly it sounds "What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I

get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?"

The Pontiac President was understandably sceptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it

out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well-educated man in a

fine neighbourhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinnertime, so the two hopped into

the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after

they came back to the car, it wouldn't start. The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first

night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The

third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start. Now the Engineer, being a logical man, refused

to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue

his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem.

And toward this end he began to take notes he jotted down all sorts of data time of day, type of gas

uses, time to drive back and forth etc. In a short time, he had a clue the man took less time to buy

vanilla than any other flavour. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the

most popular flavour, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pick up. All the other

flavours were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer

to check out the flavour. Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it

took less time. Once time became problem - not the vanilla ice cream Eureka!!!!

The engineer quickly came up with the answer “vapour lock". It was happening every night; but the

extra time taken to get the other flavours allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start.

When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapour lock to dissipate.

Remember, Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple

only when we find the solution with a cool thinking. Don't just say its "IMPOSSIBLE" without putting

a sincere effort...

Observe the word "IMPOSSIBLE" carefully... Looking closer you will see, "I'M POSSIBLE".

What really matters is your attitude and your perception.

-------

Once I had read the story book:

There was once a hat-seller who passed by a forest decided to take a nap under one of the trees, so

he left his whole basket of hats by the side. A few hours later, he woke up by some sounds. The next

thing he realised was that all his hats were gone. He heard some monkeys on the tree and so he

looked up. To his surprise, the tree was full of monkeys and they had taken all his hats. An idea came

to him, he took his hat and throws it on the floor and the monkeys do that too. So he finally

managed to get all his hats back.

FACT OF THE LIFE - BEST SCHOOLING IS IN THE FEETS OF SENIORS

If you think you have read this before! ...................... Read on!!!

Fifty years later, his grandson, also became a hat -seller and had heard this monkey story from his

grandfather. One day, just like his grandfather, he passed by the same forest, it was very hot, and he

took a nap under the same tree and left the hats on the floor. He woke up and realised that all his

hats were one. He looked up and realised that the monkeys had taken all the hats. He remembered

his grandfather's words, started scratching his head and the monkeys follow. He took down his hat

and fanned himself and again the monkeys followed. Now, very convinced of his grandfather's idea,

Grandson threw his hat on the floor but to his surprise, the monkeys still held on to all the hats.

Then one monkey climbed down the tree, grabbed the hat on the floor, gave him a slap and said

“You think only you have a grandfather?”

Great people never underestimate or take anyone for granted & never think that the

opposite person is feeble or weak.

-------

Around two weeks ago I was called to judge a talent contest at one of the city colleges. I noticed all

the participants were given slips of paper with a topic written on it and told to come up and speak

for three minutes. Lots were drawn as to who would be the first speaker and the next and the next.

The first contestant I noticed looked a little disgruntled as he got onto the podium to address the

others.

"My fellow students and respected judges," he said loudly, "this is an unfair contest!" I, along

with my fellow judges looked up surprised. "I have been given this paper," he continued, "to

speak on a subject with just a few minutes preparation whereas those after me have more

time to work on their speech.

This is unfair!" He then proceeded to leave the stage and stormed out of the hall. Nobody missed

him and the contest went on smoothly.

I met him on the landing as I was being escorted out later.

"Who said life is fair?" I asked him with a smile. He looked at me startled and I asked him to walk

with me to my car. "Life," I told him, "is fighting the unfair and still winning! Do you read

automobile magazines?"

"Yes," he said eagerly, "I do."

"Have you seen statistics shown when a new car is being introduced into the market? They

talk about speed and torque and transmission and horse power."

"Yes," he nodded.

"But there is a line they put after all these figures. They say all this data is when there are

ideal road conditions!"

"Yes," he said again.

"Show me ideal road conditions?" I asked him and he smiled. "The car that sells well," I

continued is the car that will deliver power and speed and durability in the worst of roads, in

potholes and mud and slush. That car is a winner!" We had reached my car and he stood by my

side as I heaved myself in. "Don't look for ideal playing conditions," I said. "Fight the unfair and come

out a winner!" I looked back in my rear view mirror as I drove away and saw him smile and wave and

knew he would fight the unfair from now on. The fight never stops. Ask all the successful people in

our own country. They fight regardless whether the battle is fair or unfair.

Stop telling the world about the unfair deal you've got out of life; start battling the unfair,

come out victorious..!

-------

Imagine you were going skydiving for the first time. Your heart would be racing as the instructor

gives you final instructions before you jump from the plane.

You ask an important question, " Are you sure this parachute will work?"

Now, which answer would you prefer your instructor to give:

"I believe it wills work." or "I know it will work?"

The word belief implies question. By definition there is a degree of uncertainty. Think about it, if you

believe with certainty, then you wouldn't say, "I believe", you would say, "I KNOW".

To know is to be certain. There is no question in knowing. There can be no doubt found when you

KNOW something. Take time to analyse your internal dialog and perspectives. Do the words you use

imply empowerment or disempowerment? I'm reminded of a story I once heard about a community.

This was a test between believing and knowing.

The story goes like this...

Several years ago, a small farming community was experiencing a terrible drought. The leaders of

the community called a prayer meeting in hope of everyone attending and holding a group prayer

for rain.

One man was in attendance with his small son. As everyone was praying, the small boy reached up

and tugged his father's shirt to ask, "Daddy, what is everyone doing?" The man explained that

everyone was praying for rain and then went back to his prayer.

The boy looked around for a few more minutes and was puzzled. He tugged again on his dad's shirt

and asked, "Daddy, if everyone is here to pray for rain, why anyone didn’t bring an umbrella?"

Think about it...

Do you believe you can reach your goals or do you KNOW you can?

-------

Once in college canteen I saw, a little boy is telling his Grandma how "everything" is going wrong:

school, family problems, and severe health problems in the family. Meanwhile, Grandma is baking a

cake. She asks her grandson if he would like a snack, which of course he does.

"Here, has some cooking oil," she says. "Yuck" says the boy. "Then how about a couple raw

eggs?" "Gross, Grandma!" he replies. "Would you prefer some flour then? Or maybe some

baking soda?" she asks.

"Grandma, those are all yucky!" he replied. To which Grandma replies: "Yes, all those things

seem to taste bad all by themselves. But when they are mixed together in the right amounts

and the right manner, they make a delicious cake!"

She continued, "God works the same way. Many times we wonder why he would let us go

through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in

His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all

make something wonderful!"

"God is crazy about you," says Grandma, "If God had a refrigerator; your picture would be on

it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a

sunrise every morning. When you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the

universe, and He chose your heart.”

Great people don’t see a single aspect of life.

-------

My mother used to ask me “what the most important part of the body is.” Through the years I

would take a guess at what I thought was the correct answer.

When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans, so I said, "My ears,

Mommy."

She said, "No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again

soon."

Several years passed before she asked me again. Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated

the correct answer.

So this time I told her, "Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes."

She looked at me and told me, "You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because

there are many people who are blind."

Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years, Mother asked me a couple

more times and always her answer was, "No. But you are getting smarter every year, my child."

Then last year, my grandpa died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was crying. Even my father cried. I

remember that especially because it was only the second time I saw him cry. My Mom looked at me

when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to Grandpa.

She asked me, "Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?"

I was shocked when she asked me this now. I always thought this was a game between her and me.

She saw the confusion on my face and told me, "This question is very important. It shows that

you have really lived in your life. For every body part you gave me in the past, I have told you

were wrong and I have given you an example why. But today is the day you need to learn

this important lesson."

She looked down at me as only a mother can. I saw her eyes well up with tears.

She said, "My dear, the most important body part is your shoulder."

I asked, "Is it because it holds up my head?"

She replied, "No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a loved one when they cry.

Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in life. I only hope that you have enough love

and friends that you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it."

Then and there I knew the most important body part is not a selfish one.

It is sympathetic to the pain of others.

-------

During the college days one of my professors told this story in the class:

There were once 2 brothers who lived on the 80th level. On coming home one day, they realized to

their dismay that the lifts were not working and that they have to climb the stairs home.

After struggling to the 20th level, panting and tired, they decided to abandon their bags and come

back for them the next day. They left their bags then and climbed on. When they have struggled to

the 40th level, the younger brother started to grumble and both of them began to quarrel. They

continued to climb the flights of steps, quarrelling all the way to the 60th floor.

They then realized that they have only 20 levels more to climb and decided to stop quarrelling and

continue climbing in peace. They silently climbed on and reached their home at long last. Each stood

calmly before the door and waited for the other to open the door.

And they realized that the key was in their bags which were left on the 20th floor.

Professor continued, “This story is reflecting on our life...many of us live under the expectations of

our parents, teachers and friends when young. We seldom get to do the things that we really like

and love and are under so much pressure and stress so that by the age of 20, we get tired and

decided to dump this load.

Being free of the stress and pressure, we work enthusiastically and dream ambitious wishes.

But by the time we reach 40 years old, we start to lose our vision and dreams. We began to feel

unsatisfied and start to complain and criticize. We live life as a misery as we are never satisfied.

Reaching 60, we realize that we have little left for complaining anymore, and we began to walk the

final episode in peace and calmness.

We think that there is nothing left to disappoint us, only to realize that we could not rest in peace

because we have an unfulfilled dream ...... a dream we abandoned 60 years ago.

So what is your dream?

Follow your dreams, so that you will not live with regrets.

-------

During the trails in the life I always ask this question from myself “Why me?” but after reading the

below true story in magazine, I never raised this question;

Do You Ever Ask 'Why Me?'

When Life Is Good!

When you got good rank or grade in school or college, when you got job or when you are promoted

to senior level, or when you got marry and many more beautiful scene in your life.

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player, was dying of AIDS. He contracted HIV during the

blood transfusions he had received during a heart surgery in 1983.

From all over the world, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why does GOD

have to select you for such a bad disease?"

To this Arthur Ashe replied:

"The world over, 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis,

500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50

reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi-final, and 2 make it to the finals and only one win the world cup.

When I was holding a cup, I never asked GOD 'Why me?’ And today, in pain, I should not be

asking GOD 'Why me?'"

"Happiness keeps you Sweet, Trials keep you Strong, Sorrow keeps you Human, Failure

keeps you Humble and Success keeps you Glowing, but only Faith & Attitude keeps you

going."

-------

After the Delhi gang-rape case my college conduct the workshop on the women safety, the Deputy

Commissioner of Policy was a chief speaker of the workshop. Few male & female students come to

me and say “we can’t able to attend this workshop” few students have to go for coaching classes or

job and many more reason. Most of the boys said, “Sir, gang-rape is not a problem for males, then

please allow us to go for my additional task.” Few girls said, “This is problem of Delhi but not for

Mumbai, we feel secure in my city, so we don’t need to attend this workshop.”

I have decided to gather those entire students in classroom:

I said, “Let me tell you one small story”… I started

We Are All Connected

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opens a package.

"What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered.

He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed this warning, "There is a mousetrap in the

house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr Mouse, I can tell this is a grave

concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a

mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr Mouse, but there is nothing I can do

about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a

mousetrap in the house!"

The cow said, "Wow, Mr Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap...

alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house - the sound of a mousetrap catching its

prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it.

It was a venomous snake whose tail was caught in the trap.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. When she returned home she

still had a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup so the farmer took his hatchet to the

farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued.

Friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered

the pig.

But, alas, the farmer's wife did not get well...

She died.

So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough

meat for all of them for the funeral luncheon.

And the mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and you think it doesn't concern you,

remember ---

When one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life.

We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Great People are not thinks for themselves, they think for other.

-------

After the completion of my graduation, I joined the company named GTL Ltd., Mrs George was my

trainer in GTL Ltd she taught one beautiful lesson that I’m sharing with you;

One day all the employees of a GTL Ltd reached their office and all saw a big sign on the main door

which said this:

"Yesterday, the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away.

We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym."

In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they

started getting curious to know who was that person who hindered the growth of their colleagues

and the company itself?

The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within

the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up.

Everyone thought - "Who is this person who was hindering my progress?"

One by one the intrigued employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it, they

suddenly became speechless.

They all got to stand near the coffin, and all ended up shocked and in silence, as if someone had

touched the deepest part of their soul.

There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see themselves!

There was also a sign next to the mirror that said;

“there is only one person who is capable of setting limits to your growth and IT IS YOU!”

Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents

change, when your husband or wife changes, when your company changes, when your religious

changes, when your location changes, when your money changes, when your status changes.

No, your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs.

Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don't be afraid of difficulties, impossibilities and losses. Be a

winner; build yourself and your reality. It's the way you face life itself that makes the difference.

-------

One day I went to Church to meet with my ex- colleague Alex Anderson in Bandra. He was telling me

his breakup reason with his girlfriend, we can’t realised that our communication is heard by the

Father of the Church, The Father interrupt our communication and seated with us and he said

“Sometimes Gifts Are Hard To Recognize.”

Alex said, “I can’t understand, what you mean to say?”

The Father replied, “Come with me, I’ll show you a lady”

We both are blindly follow the Father, and reach in the prayer room, the Father pointed out the lady

seated on the bench, “She is Lisa, around 73 years old, a married lady was expecting a birthday gift

from her husband. For many months she had admired a beautiful diamond ring in a showroom, and

knowing her husband could afford it, she told him that was all she wanted.

As her birthday approached, this lady awaited signs that her husband had purchased the diamond

ring.

Finally, on the morning of her birthday, her husband called her into his study room. Her husband

told her how proud he was to have such a good wife, and told her how much he loved her. He

handed her a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, she opened the box and found a lovely, leather-

bound Bible, with her name embossed in gold.

Angrily, she raised her voice to her husband and said, "With all your money, you give me a

Bible?" And stormed out of the house, leaving her husband.

Many years passed and she was very successful in business. She managed to settle for a more

beautiful house and a wonderful family, but realized her ex-husband was very old, and thought

perhaps she should go to visit him. She had not seen him for many years.

But before she could make arrangements, she received a telegram telling her that her ex-husband

had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to her. She needed to come back immediately and

take care of things.

When she arrived at her ex-husband's house, sudden sadness and regret filled her heart. She began

to search through her ex-husband's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as she had left

it years before.

With tears, she opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. Her ex-husband had carefully

underlined a verse, Matt 7:11, "And if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your

children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father, who is in heaven, given to those who

ask Him?"

As she read those words, a tiny package dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a diamond ring,

with her name engraved on it -- the same diamond ring which she saw at the showroom. On the tag

was the date of her birth, and the words...'LUV U ALWAYS'.

How many times do us Miss God's blessings, because they are not packaged as we expected? Trust

HIM always. HE knows what is good for you and may even ignore what you thought was good for

you.

Do not spoil what you have, by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have

was once among the things you only hoped for.

If your gift is not packaged the way you want it, it's because it is better packaged the way it is!

Always appreciate little things; they usually lead you to bigger things!

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must

be felt with the heart."

“Great People are always appreciating the little things.”

-------

Imagine you wanted to start a blog. And you were a pessimist. Your thoughts would be “It’s not

going to work anyway, nobody will read my blog, why even try.” And voila, you’d never even

start a blog.

Being an optimist, on the other hand, I started my blog. I stuck with it for the two months when I had

basically zero readerships. Then, one day, I wrote a blog post that I felt was my best so far (Why

Linux doesn’t spread – The Curse of being free). So I submitted the post to several social news sites,

it hit the Slashdot front page, and the rest is history.

As an optimist, you’ll see beyond obstacles that others consider impossible to overcome. They will

think you’re crazy. But oh, they will be SO wrong. They laughed at the Wright brothers. They laughed

at you. But you’ll show them, you’ll *show them all*!

Thomas A. Edison was interviewed by a newspaper after 800 unsuccessful tries to make a working

light bulb.

“How does it feel to have failed 800 times?” the reporter asked.

And Edison’s answer

“I haven’t failed 800 times. I haven’t failed once. What I have done, is I have succeeded in

proving that those 800 ways won’t work. Once I eliminate all the ways that won’t work, I will

find the one way that will.”

Several years later, after thousands more “successful proofs” he managed to find a way that works,

and thus illuminated the world.

Great People are always Optimist in all situations.

-------

Jyoti and Nitesh are my colleagues Professors working with me in College. We three are good friends

also. Last year in June, Gouri (younger sister of Prof Jyoti) was engaged. Her fiancé was businessman

and stay in Raipur.

They were enjoying their engagement period, as usually other engaged couples. But due to

hundreds of miles distance between Mumbai and Raipur, they can’t meet personally; they were use

cell phones and internet to communicate with each other.

Their engagement period was going well.

During the Ganesh Utsav; her fiancé visited in Mumbai for business purpose, and he was came to her

home for spent few hour with Gouri and her family. After the engagement it was the first time when

Gouri and her fiancé meet personally. After the few minutes to talk with each other, suddenly Gouri

realised that her cell phone was misplaced somewhere in the home, so, Gouri picked up the cell

phone of her fiancé to call on her cell phone, when she were using her fiancés cell phone, she saw a

photo of a girl on the wallpaper of cell phone, she didn’t recognised the girl in the photo, she

thought the girl in the photo may be his sister or relative or may be his friend. She ignored this. And

dial her number from her fiancés cell phone, and she found her cell phone in other room. After a few

hours her fiancés depart for Raipur.

Days and weeks were passed; Gouri was deeply involved in the dreams. She was planning her

marriage. Everything was going well, communication on phone and internet goes well.

One day, she asked her fiancés about the girl which she had seen on wallpaper of cell phone of her

fiancés, he didn’t replied anything. But after several times she requested her fiancés, he said, “she

was my girlfriend, she got married now.”

Not a big deal for open mined girl, she doesn’t over react on this statement. But her fiancés said, “I

don’t want to marry with you, because still I love my girlfriend”

“What? I didn’t understand what you mean to say?” Gouri replied.

“I mean, I don’t want to marry with you, because still I love my girlfriend and she too loves me” he

said.

“If both of you loved each other then, why you engaged with me?” Gouri asked.

“My parents didn’t allow me to marry with that girl, who is already got married with some else! And

what about the society; they say the son of rich family got married with the girl who is already

married…No” he pause… and continued “engagement with you is my plan!”

“Plan! What kind of plan?” Gouri asked.

“I think it’s a right time to execute the plan” he replied

“Tell me, what kind of plan?” Gouri asked.

“My plan is too engaged with any girl and after sometime break up the relationship with that girl, at

the same time my girlfriend also divorces with her husband, so, my parents and society doesn’t say

anything to us.” He replied.

“Are you mad? What are you saying? Gouri asked.

“I’m sorry” he said and disconnect the call.

Everything was blank, suddenly her all dream smash down badly. She was fall down in endless

darkness of the life. One man who was cheated her, she was felt herself very cheated, but she react

very smart, she share all the conversion with her family, her family react positively, and having a

word with boys family.

Few days later Prof Jyoti share her family problem me and Prof Nitesh, we were shocked. Prof Jyoti

told us her sister was in shock and she spent most of time in her room, she is not taking care of

herself, and she was in depression. We console Prof Jyoti.

Prof Nitesh very soon contact with the Gouri, and try to be in touched with her to recover her from

that situation. Once Gouri was decided to committed suicide, but Prof Nitesh explain her importance

for her family, friends and society. He continued to work hard to motivate her. He said, “No matter

how frustrated you are about a situation, do not be too frustrated to learn the message that

situation will teach you because a friend would always say that the mess you go through is

the message you have for tomorrow and the test you go through is your testimony for

tomorrow.” “No person, no disappointment was worth committing suicide over. Life is

always worth living. There’s always something to be grateful for.”

Further he add; "We sometimes find ourselves under pressure but do not know they are

pressures that will bring treasures."

Very soon she was recovering from that situation. Now she is decide to be a Lawyer.

I learn two qualities of two Great People:

First Great Person; Gouri –

“Great People are recovering very soon from any problem.”

Second Great Person; Prof Nitesh –

“Great People always motivate the depressed people.”

-------

When I was the employee of GTL Ltd. One of my senior managers Ramnath Dixit told me the

importance of loyalty with the beautiful and meaningful story.

The story goes like this:

One day, the master commanded his two servants to plant seeds while he was away.

One servant placed the command of his master to His heart and obeyed while the other servant only

heard the words of His master and went on his own way.

The first servant, who loved his master more than himself, worked hard. Every day he planted seeds

underneath the sun. Though sometimes he felt so tired, he never quit; he just took a rest and

thought of his master coming back. There were also times when he got hurt because of stones,

insects and other harmful objects but still he never gave up; he continued doing his master's

command. He knew that someday all his hard work would pay off and his master would be pleased

with him.

But the other servant, who loved himself more than his master, enjoyed the pleasure of the world.

He thought that his master wouldn't know what he was doing. He used his freedom for his own sake.

He put aside his master's command and followed his own will.

Many years passed; still the master did not come back. The faithful servant kept following him,

bearing his master's promise, while the other servant wandered around the world.

One day their master appeared and was pleased when he found one servant in the field harvesting

the crops but disappointed when he couldn't find the other one.

The master called the two servants and explained why he had been gone for such a long time.

He said that he built a beautiful home as payment for the service they rendered, and those who

have been faithful would be with him, back on his property, in their new home.

So he asked them how good their harvest was.

The faithful servant happily announced that he had hundred fold of harvest every year while the

other servant bowed down and asked for forgiveness because he had nothing for his master.

The master, who was just, rewarded the first servant and took him back to his land and gave him a

new home but the other servant got nothing and was punished.

So let us remember to be like the faithful servant so that when our Master comes back, we will be

rewarded and not punished.

Great People are always Loyal with their job.

-------

Once I was reading the inspirational book “You Can Win” by “Shiv Khera” the story goes like this;

An African farmer had heard tales about other farmers who had made millions of dollars by

discovering diamond mines. These tales so excited the farmer that he could hardly wait to sell his

farm and go prospecting for diamonds himself.

So he sold the farm and spent the rest of his life wandering the African continent, searching

unsuccessfully for the gleaming gems that brought such high prices on the markets of the world.

Finally, broke, worn out, and in a fit of despondency, he threw himself into a river and drowned.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, the man who had bought his farm happened to be crossing a small

stream on the property one day when he saw something gleaming at the bottom of the stream. He

picked it up. It was a sparkling stone - a good size stone - and, admiring it, he later put it on his

fireplace mantel as an interesting curiosity.

Several weeks later, a visitor admired the stone, looked closely at it, hefted it in his hand and nearly

fainted. He asked the farmer if he knew what he'd found. When the farmer said no, that he thought

it was just a piece of crystal, the visitor told him he had found one of the largest diamonds ever

discovered.

The farmer was astonished. He told the man that his creek was full of these brilliant stones, and his

farmland was covered with them. Not all were as large, perhaps, as the one on his mantel, but they

were sprinkled generously throughout his property.

Needless to say, the farm the first farmer had sold, so that he could search for a diamond mine,

turned out to be the most productive diamond mine on the entire African continent.

The first farmer had owned, free and clear, acres of diamonds, but had sold them for practically

nothing in order to look for them elsewhere.

The moral is clear: If the first farmer had only taken the time to study and prepare himself - to learn

what diamonds looked like in their rough state - and, since he had already owned a piece of land, to

thoroughly explore the property he had before looking elsewhere, his wildest dreams would have

come true.

Each of us is, at this moment, standing in the middle of his or her own acre of diamonds.

If each of us will only have the wisdom and patience to begin by exploring ourselves, we will find

that we contain all the riches necessary to be able to succeed in whatever endeavours to which we

may set our minds and hearts.

-------

“Where is peace in this world?” answer is “Peace is at Himalaya and K2” just joking. The

question is not “where is peace?” But the important question is “do you know the meaning of

peace?” “Let me tell you the story”

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace.

Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he

had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all

around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it

was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky,

from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a

foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the

rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat

the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

"Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise,

trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in

your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

“Great People know the meaning of Peace.”

-------

Most important questions we are facing an interview is “Why I select you? What quality you

have? What is your qualification?”

I have done Bachelors, Masters and Doctorates etc. stop talking about your qualification. Read the

following story:

A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications, he said,

"I can sleep when the wind blows."

This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him.

A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They

quickly began to check things out to see if all was secure. They found that the shutters of the

farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace.

The young man slept soundly.

The farmer and his wife then inspected their property. They found that the farm tools had been

placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements.

The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were

calm. All was well.

The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man's words, "I can sleep when the wind

blows."

Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared

for the storm when it broke. So when the wind blew, he was not afraid. He could sleep in peace.

“Qualification makes you eligible for job but Qualities makes you able to do the job.”

------

Once I was visited in Surat, on the wall of the hotel, one story was written, the story was like this;

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop

and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream

sundae?" "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and

studied a number of coins in it.

"How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a table and

the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely.

The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought

the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the

cashier and departed.

When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what

she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies - her tip.

“Great People Always Remember Those Who Serve.”

-------

Yukti wanted to be a dancer from the very beginning. She was a gifted artist. She could dance for

hours on music. Seeing this, her parents decided to make her a ballet dancer. Those days there was a

big dance troupe in town. Her parents took her to the chief of the ballet group and requested him to

train her. He asked her to perform. She did that. Instead of paying any attention, he didn’t even

bother to look at her. He was busy with his own work. After her performance, he admonished her,

saying that she neither had the talent nor the inclination. It would be better if she gave up the idea

of pursuing a career in that field and should opt for another career.

Yukti was heart- broken. She felt her world coming to an end. She followed the dance master’s

advice and gave up dancing—her only passion. She joined as a teacher in a school. She had been

working there for five years now. Once it so happened that the dance master was away for a while.

Yukti was asked to supervise the children. She was teaching them dancing when suddenly the dance

teacher reached there. She was stunned to see her talent. She encouraged her and praised her

immensely. She told her that she danced superbly. Yukti was stunned to hear that. She couldn’t

believe her ears. She was taken to the dance teacher and the world then witnessed one of its most

exotic dancers in her.

So, we see how one pessimistic, negative minded teacher could curb Yukti’s talent for 15 years,

whereas the other one shaped her into a true artist.

Do you want some such person to demolish your aspirations and hopes and dreams? Do not

surrender yourself to any such person who can turn you into a frustrated creature and pull you down.

“Always be Positive Minded person.”

-------

Three engineers worked in a foreign land. For some reason the king of that place was displeased

with them and punished them a death sentence. They pleaded and begged before the king. He

wouldn’t retrace the decision, rather told them that God willing, they could be saved. In his

kingdom, they could chop off the neck of the prisoner by some machine. On the day of execution, an

old man who pitied them, advised them saying not to utter a single word there. Remain mum. Those

engineers agreed to that. The first one was taken to the guillotine. Somehow the gadget failed to

work properly and the engineer was saved. It was the turn of the second engineer—same thing

happened and he too, escaped the death-knell.

Now, the third one was intently watching all this. He forgot what he had promised to that old man,

about keeping quiet. The moment he was put there, he jumped saying that what you are voicing as

God’s sweet will, is nothing but a technical defect in the apparatus. He pointed out the flaw and the

executioner easily did the job--- he was killed.

This principle advocates that whenever a situation is heated up, there is a controversy, any argument

getting out of hand, your boss/husband/wife—anybody in a fuming rage, a single word from you

would add fuel to the fire. So best would be—TO REMAIN QUIET.

After an argument, if the other person finds out that you were correct, even then you never

retaliated, listened patiently—he would be thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed. He would

certainly repent while your prestige would increase manifolds.

-------

How many of us know someone who was told as a child that they would never amount to anything,

that they were stupid, fat, ugly, or conversely, brilliant and beautiful? How many people lived up to

what they were told? Did you?

Words are powerful. Yet we take them for granted.

What impact have your words had in the past 24 hours?

Did they build someone up or tear someone down?

Communication is everything.

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that

read "I am blind, please help".

A creative publicist was walking by him and stopped to observe he only had a few coins in his hat, he

dropped a few more coins in his hat and without asking for his permission took the sign, turned it

around, and wrote another announcement.

He placed the sign by his feet and left. That afternoon the creative publicist returned by the blind

man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins. The blind man recognized his footsteps and

asked if it was him who had re-written his sign and he wanted to know what did he write on it?

The publicist responded "Nothing that was not true, I just rewrote your sign differently". He

smiled and went on his way.

The blind man never knew but his new sign read “TODAY IS SPRING AND I CANNOT SEE IT".

Change your strategy when something does not go your way and you'll see it will probably be for the

best. Have faith that every change is best for our live.

Great People know the power of words.

-------

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called

his parents from San Francisco.

"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favour to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring

home with me."

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know” the son continued, "He was hurt pretty badly in the

fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go,

and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "You don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a Handicap

would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something

like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy.

He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days

later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling

from a building, they were told.

The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to

the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also

discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or

fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable.

We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.

Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an

unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

“Great People Loves Everyone Unconditionally.”

-------

One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route. No

problems for the first few stops-a few People got on, a few got off, and things went generally well.

At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight inch, Built like a wrestler, arms

hanging down to the ground. He glared at the Driver and said, "Big John doesn't pay!" and sat

down at the back.

Did I mention that the driver was five feet three inch, thin, and basically meek? Well, he was.

Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it.

The next day the same thing happened-Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and

sat down. And the next day, and the one after that, and so forth. This grated on the bus driver, who

started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him.

Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that

good stuff. By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good

about himself.

So on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said, "Big John doesn't pay!"

the driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, "And why not?"

With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, "Big John has a Bus pass."

"Be sure there is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve one."

-------

A kindergarten teacher asked each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few

potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of

potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she

hates.

So on Monday, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some

had two potatoes; some had three potatoes, while some up to five potatoes.

The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they

go (even to the toilet) for the whole week.

As days passed by, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the

rotten potatoes. Besides, those potatoes they also had to carry bags. On Friday, the children were

relieved.

The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for the whole

week?"

The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble that they had to go

through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go.

Then the teacher explained: "This is exactly what happens when you carry your hatred for

somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will

carry it with you wherever you go. If we cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just

one week, can you imagine what is it like to have the stench of hatred in our heart for our

lifetime? Forgiving others is the best attitude to take. Try to love others even if you don't like

them."

“Always Love Others Even If You Don’t Like Them.”

-------

An old friend of Nasruddin once came for visiting and brought along a big chicken. Mullah’s wife

cooked the chicken and they enjoyed the feast for dinner.

The next morning, they had delicious chicken soup that Mullah’s wife prepared. The friend enjoyed

his short stay with Mullah.

The next day when he was leaving, Mullah returned his friend’s profuse thanks by thanking the latter

for bringing the big chicken along.

An hour after his friend had left Mullah heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, a

man introduced himself and quickly entered: “I am a friend of your friend who brought you that

big chicken!”

Reluctant to insult the friend of a friend, Mullah invited the man inside and asked him to stay back

for lunch. They had some lovely chicken stew for lunch, which the man also enjoyed. Having eaten

like a glutton, the man left thanking Mullah profusely for the tasty chicken.

A couple of hours later, there was a knock on the door and Mullah beheld another stranger before

him. “I am the friend of your friend’s friend,” the man smiled.

Again, not wanting to turn away the friend of a friend’s friend, Mullah invited him inside and asked

him to stay back for dinner. The man accepted hurriedly. He too feasted on some delicious chicken

stew and left smacking his lips some time later.

Barely had the man left, there was another knock and another stranger at the door! The friend-of-a-

friend story all because of a chicken was now getting Mullah’s goat!

“My house has been turned into an eating house!” Mullah muttered to himself as he permitted

the man to enter.

The next day too there was no respite as another man entered with the same tale: “I am a friend of

the friend of the friend of the friend of the friend who had come here with a huge chicken!”

Mullah smiled weakly and asked the man to come right in and have a meal. The man entered

hurriedly, smacking his lips in anticipation of a tasty chicken meal. A few minutes later, a bowl of

soup was placed before him.

Just one sip told the man that this ‘soup’ was nothing but boiled water.

“This is nothing but boiled water!” the man protested angrily.

“Not at all!” Mullah smiled wickedly. “This is the soup of the soup of the soup of the soup of

the soup of the soup of the chicken!”

When people take advantage of your generosity and hospitality, do not turn them away rudely.

Instead, invite them in and serve them a lesson they will never forget for a long time to come – just

as Mullah did by serving the soup of the soup of the soup…

-------

Tarun and Nilesh joined a wholesale company together just after graduation. Both worked very hard.

After several years, the boss promoted Nilesh to sales executive but Tarun remained a sales rep. One

day Tarun could not take it anymore, tender resignation to the boss and complained the boss did not

value hard working staff, but only promoted those who flattered him.

The boss knew that Tarun worked very hard for the years, but in order to help Tarun realise the

difference between him and Nilesh, the boss asked Tarun to do the following. Go and find out

anyone selling water melon in the market? Tarun returned and said “yes.” The boss asked how

much per kg? Tarun went back to the market to ask and returned to inform boss the Rs.12 per kg.

Boss told Tarun, I will ask Nilesh the same question? Nilesh went, returned and said, “boss, only

one person selling water melon. Rs.12 per kg, Rs.100 for 10 kg, he has inventory of 340

melons. On the table 58 melons, every melon weighs about 15 kg, bought from the South

two days ago, they are fresh and red, good quality.”

Tarun was very impressed and realised the difference between himself and Nilesh.

He decided not to resign but to learn from Nilesh.

My dear friends, a more successful person is more observant, thinks more and understands in depth.

For the same matter, a more successful person sees several years ahead, while we see only

tomorrow. The difference between a year and a day is 365 times.

Think! How far have you seen ahead in your life? How thoughtful in depth are you?

-------

A city boy, Kenny, moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100.00. The

farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.

The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey

died last night."

Kenny replied: "Well then, just give me my money back."

The farmer said: "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Kenny said: "OK then, just unload the donkey."

The farmer asked: "What are you going to do with him?"

Kenny: "I'm going to raffle him off." (Note: To raffle is to sell a thing by lottery – draw lot - to a

group of people each paying the same amount for a ticket)

Farmer: "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"

Kenny: "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, "What happened with that dead

donkey?"

Kenny: "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of

$898.00."

Farmer: "Didn't anyone complain?"

Kenny: "Just the guy who won. So I gave him back his two dollars."

Kenny grew up and eventually became the chairman of ENRON.

-------

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about

nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug

on his overalls. He looked down into the Eyes of a little boy.

“Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."

"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come

from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful

of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a

look?"

"Sure," said the farmer.

And with that he let out a whistle, "Here Dolly!" he called.

Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy

pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the

doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this One noticeably smaller.

Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward

the others, doing its best to catch up....

"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never

be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of

his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself

to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well

myself, and he will need someone who understands."

“The world is full of people who need someone who understands.”

-------

An old man sat studying just outside of the gates of an ancient city.

A traveller approached him saying “Old man, tell me what are the people like in this city?” The

old a looked up from his reading and said “First tell me what the people were like in your home

city?” traveller replied “The people in my home city were a miserable lot, greedy and mean

spirited; they are why I left to wander the cruel world. I have vowed never to return to that

horrible place.”

The old man sadly looked up and said “Sir I am afraid you will find the people in this city to be

much the same.” The traveller shook his head in disgust and passed through the city gates.

A few minutes later another traveller approached and bowing to the old man said “Venerable one,

may I ask you to tell me of the people in this beautiful place?” Again the old man asked “First

tell me what the people were like in your home city?” The young man smiled and said “It is a

place much blessed, the people are kind and generous, I look forward to the time when my

travels carry me back home so I can tell them of all the wonders I have seen.” The old man

smiled and said “Sir I am happy to tell you will find the people in this city to be much the

same. Welcome.”

-------

A group of salespeople left town for a meeting and told their families they would be back home

Friday evening for supper. But as with meetings the way they are, one thing leads to another and

they didn't finish on time. They were delayed and had to catch a flight. They came to the airport just

at the last minute, with tickets in hand, and ran, hoping the plane hadn't departed. While running,

one of them hit a table and on the table was a fruit basket. All the fruit got scattered and bruised but

they didn't have time to stop. They kept running and made it to the plane and all of them breathed a

sigh of relief that they had made it, except one. He got in touch with his feelings, got up, said good-

bye to his friends and went. What he saw made him glad that he came out. He went to the table that

was knocked down and behind the table was a ten-year old blind girl who was selling the fruits to

make a living. He said, "I hope we haven't ruined your day." He pulled out Rs. 500 from his

pocket, handed it to her and said, "This will take care of the fruits," and he left. The girl couldn't

see what was going on; all she could hear were the footsteps leaving. As the footsteps faded away,

she shouted from behind, "Are you God?" He missed his flight but was he a winner? You bet.

One can be a winner without a medal and one can be a loser with a medal if winning is not

kept in perspective.

-------

A boy went to the pet store to buy a puppy. Four of them were sitting together, priced at Rs. 5000

each. Then there was one sitting alone in a corner. The boy asked “if that was from the same

litter, if it was for sale, and why it was sitting alone.” The store owner replied “that it was from

the same litter, it was a deformed one, and not for sale.”

The boy asked “what the deformity was?” The store owner replied “that the puppy was born

without a hip socket and had a leg missing.” The boy asked, "What will you do with this one?"

The reply was it would be put to sleep. The boy asked “if he could play with that puppy.” The

store owner said, "Sure." The boy picked the puppy up and the puppy licked him on the ear.

Instantly the boy decided that was the puppy he wanted to buy. The store owner said "That is not

for sale!" The boy insisted.

The store owner agreed. The boy pulled out Rs. 400 from his pocket and ran to get Rs. 4600 from his

mother. As he reached the door the store owner shouted after him, "I don't understand why you

would pay full money for this one when you could buy a good one for the same price." The

boy didn't say a word. He just lifted his left trouser leg and he was wearing a brace. The pet store

owner said, "I understand. Go ahead, take this one."

This is empathy.

-------

There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to the baker. One day the baker decided to

weigh the butter to see if he was getting a pound and he found that he was not. This

angered him and he took the farmer to court. The judge asked the farmer if he was using

any measure. The farmer replied, “Amour Honour, I am primitive. I don't have a proper

measure, but I do have a scale." The judge asked, "Then how do you weigh the butter?"

The farmer replied "Your Honour, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I

have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the

bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed,

it is the baker."

We get back in life what we give to others.

-------

Tushar had a mill manager whose people weren’t producing their quota of work.

“How is it,” Tushar asked him, “that a manager as capable as you can’t make this mill turn

out what it should?”

“I don’t know,” the manager replied. “I’ve coaxed the men, I’ve pushed them, I’ve sworn and

cussed, and I’ve threatened them with damnation and being fired. But nothing works. They

just won’t produce.”

This conversation took place at the end of the day, just before the night shift came on.

Tushar asked the manager for a piece of chalk, then, turning to the nearest man, asked,

“How many heats did your shift make today?”

“Six.”

Without another word, Tushar chalked a big figure six on the floor, and walked away.

When the night shift came in, they saw the “6” and asked what it meant.

“The big boss was in here today,” the day people said. “He asked us how many heats we

made, and we told him six. He chalked it down on the floor.”

The next morning Tushar walked through the mill again. The night shift had rubbed out “6”

and replaced it with a big “7.”

When the day shift reported for work the next morning, they saw a big “7” chalked on the

floor. So the night shift thought they were better than the day shift did them? Well, they

would show the night shift a thing or two. The crew pitched in with enthusiasm, and when

they quit that night, they left behind them an enormous, swaggering “10”. Things were

stepping up.

Shortly this mill, which had been lagging way behind in production, was turning out more

work than any other mill in the plant.

The principle?

Let Tushar say it in his own words: “The way to get things done,” says Tushar “is to stimulate

competition. I do not mean in a sordid, money-getting way, but in the desire to excel.”

The desire to excel! The challenge! Throwing down the gauntlet! An infallible way of

appealing to people of spirit.

-------

Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the

circus. Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter.

This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the

age of 12. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive,

but they were clean.

The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by- two behind their

parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, elephants and

other acts they would see that night. One could sense they had never been to the circus

before. It promised to be a highlight of their young lives.

The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. The mother

was holding her husband's hand, looking up at him as if to say, "You're my knight in shining

armour." He was smiling and basking in pride, looking at her as if to reply, "You got that

right."

The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly responded,

"Please let me buy eight children's tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the

circus."

The ticket lady quoted the price. The man's wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the

man's lip began to quiver. The father leaned a little closer and asked, "How much did you

say?"

The ticket lady again quoted the price. The man didn't have enough money.

How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn't have enough money to

take them to the circus?

Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand into his pocket, pulled out a Rs. 1000 note

and dropped it on the ground. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father

reached down, picked up the note, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me,

sir, and this fell out of your pocket."

The man knew what was going on. He wasn't begging for a hand-out but certainly

appreciated the help in a desperate, heart-breaking, embarrassing situation. He looked

straight into my dad's eyes, took my dad's hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the Rs.

1000 note, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied,

"Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family."

My father and I went back to our home. We didn't go to the circus that night, but we didn't

go without.

Self-Respect and Appreciation Allows You to Offer Wonderful Gifts to Others

-------

A Story about Gandhi

As Gandhi stepped aboard a train one day, one of his shoes slipped off and landed on the

track. He was unable to retrieve it as the train started rolling. To the amazement of his

companions, Gandhi calmly took off his other shoe and threw it back along the track to land

close to the first shoe.

Asked by a fellow passenger why he did that, Gandhi replied, “The poor man who finds the

shoe lying on the track will now have a pair he can use."

Lessons about Insight

-------

A story tells of a merchant in a small town who had identical twin sons. The boys worked for

their father in the department store he owned and, when he died, they took over the store.

Everything went well until the day a dollar bill disappeared. One of the brothers had left the

bill on the cash register and walked outside with a customer. When he returned, the money

was gone.

He asked his brother, "Did you see that dollar bill on the cash register?" His brother replied

that he had not.

But the young man kept probing and questioning. He would not let it alone. "Dollar bills just

don't get up and walk away! Surely you must have seen it!"

There was subtle accusation in his voice. Tempers began to rise. Resentment set in. Before

long, a deep and bitter chasm divided the young men. They refused to speak. They finally

decided they could no longer work together and a dividing wall was built down the centre of

the store. For twenty years hostility and bitterness grew, spreading to their families and to

the community.

Then one day a man in an automobile licensed in another state stopped in front of the

store. He walked in and asked the clerk, "How long have you been here?"

The clerk replied that he'd been there all his life. The customer said, "I must share

something with you. Twenty years ago I was "riding the rails" and came into this town in a

boxcar. I hadn't eaten for three days. I came into this store from the back door and saw a

dollar bill on the cash register. I put it in my pocket and walked out. All these years I haven't

been able to forget that. I know it wasn't much money, but I had to come back and ask your

forgiveness."

The stranger was amazed to see tears well up in the eyes of this middle-aged man. "Would

you please go next door and tell that same story to the man in the store?" he said. Then the

man was even more amazed to see two middle-aged men, who looked very much alike,

embracing each other and weeping together in the front of the store.

After twenty years, the brokenness was mended. The wall of resentment that divided them

came down.

It is so often the little things that finally divide people- words spoken in haste; criticisms;

accusations; resentments. And once divided, they may never come together again.

The solution, of course, is to let it go. There is really nothing particularly profound about

learning to let go of little resentments. But for fulfilling and lasting relationships, letting

them go is a must. Refuse to carry around bitterness and you may be surprised at how much

energy you have left for building bonds with those you love.

-------

There was this museum laid with beautiful marble tiles, with a huge marble statue displayed

in the middle of the lobby. Many people came from all over the world just to admire this

beautiful marble statue.

One night, the marble tiles started talking to the marble statue.

Marble tile: "Marble statue, it's just not fair, it's just not fair! Why does everybody from all

over the world come all the way here just to step on me while admiring you? Not fair!"

Marble statue: "My dear friend, marble tile. Do you still remember that we were actually

from the same cave?"

Marble tile: "Yeah! That's why I feel it is even more unfair. We were born from the same

cave and yet we receive different treatment now. Not fair!" he cried again.

Marble statue: "Then, do you still remember the day when the designer tried to work on you,

but you resisted the tools?"

Marble tile: "Yes, of course I remember. I hate that guy! How could he use those tools on me,

it hurt so badly?"

Marble statue: "That's right! He couldn't work on you at all as you resisted being worked

on."

Marble tile: "So???"

Marble statue: "When he decided to give up on you and start working on me instead, I knew

at once that I would be something different after his efforts. I did not resist his tools, instead

I bore all the painful tools he used on me."

Marble tile: "Mmmmmm......."

Marble statue: "My friend, there is a price to everything in life. Since you decided to give up

half way, you can't blame anybody who steps on you now."

-------

A young man asked Socrates the secret to success.

Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. They met.

Socrates asked the young man to walk with him toward the river. When the water got up to

their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and ducked him into the water. The boy

struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until the boy started

turning blue.

Socrates pulled his head out of the water and the first thing the young man did was to gasp

and take a deep breath of air.

Socrates asked, 'What did you want the most when you were there?"

The boy replied, "Air." Socrates said, "That is the secret to success. When you want success

as badly as you wanted the air, then you will get it." There is no other secret.

A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishment. Just like a small fire cannot

give much heat, a weak desire cannot produce great results.

"Try not to become a man of success but a man of value," said Albert Einstein.

-------

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in

the state fair where it won a blue ribbon.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about

how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his

neighbours.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours when they are

entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The winds pick up pollen from the ripening

corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior corn, cross-pollination

will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my

neighbours grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his

neighbour’s corn also improves.

So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbours to live

in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is

measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to

find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

If we are to grow good corn we must help our neighbour grow good corn.

-------

Everybody is born with a talent and ability to achieve destiny. The family you are born into is

a prepared platform on which you are setup for life.

On this platform are keys designed especially for you to help unlock the mystery in the

setup. Dreams and aspirations are usually the end product, not how nor when but the

result.

We need to be focus on the big picture which we have (dreams & aspirations) and the keys

(talent & ability), not what we could or should have that the other person has.

A man once told me the reason he could not succeed in his endeavours was because he was

not born with a silver spoon, so, I invited him to come to my house for dinner. He did.

I only have one silver spoon at the dinner table for me. I gave him soap & water to wash his

hands so he could eat with his hand. Surprised, he asked why?

I said to him the answer is at the end of the meal (end product, result).

After the meal, I asked if he enjoyed the food. He said, yeah!

I asked if he had enough food and the answer was, yeah!

I asked if his hand was hurting and the answer was no, I'm fine. (End product & Result

achieved)

Being born without a silver spoon will not and cannot stop you from eating hot rice or stop

you from becoming who you are destined to be.

"God chooses what we go through; we choose how we go through it."

-------

An old man once had an argument with his only son. He tried to apologize many times but

the young man would not listen. The father never gave up because he loved his son with all

his heart, but the son would not give in, because he was too blinded by his pride.

Years passed and as the man lay in his deathbed, he made a final attempt to reconcile with

his son, but still he would not listen and so the father died with a heart full of grief.

During this time the son too had a child who had now grown up into a young adult. To this

child he never mentioned his father and when the young man asked about his grandfather

he would tell him never to mention him again.

One day, they too were both involved in a hot argument and his son fled away as his father

did many years before. The man was extremely saddened and this time he had no pride, but

felt completely isolated.

He was afraid that he had lost his son forever and for the first time after many years he

turned to God in prayer. At that moment something filled his heart and he realized how his

father must have felt many years back.

He remembered how he had hurt his old man and only at that point he realized the extent

of the hurt he had caused. The more he thought the more he understood how unjust he was

with his old father, the man who gave him everything through out his life.

With these sad thoughts he felt asleep on the couch. Next morning when he opened his

eyes he found himself tucked in his bed and in front of him stood his son. The man could not

believe his eyes, and the two hugged each other while they cried together.

After lots of apologies, the young man explained that up till the day before he felt lots of

hatred towards his father, but during the night he had a strange dream that touched his

heart. He dreamt that an old man was hugging him, and as he embraced him, all his hatred

turned into love. The old man then told him to forgive and forget. He then explained that as

soon as he woke up he came running to his father's house.

At this point the man told his son that on the same night, he learnt an important lesson, and

how he had let his father down when he was younger. The son wanted to know more about

his grandfather who he never met or even saw, and this was the most appropriate time.

The man went to an old bookshelf and fetched an old family album. He then picked an old

photograph of his father and when the son saw it, he remained dumb-founded. The son

then explained that the man in the photograph was the same one he dreamt of the night

before.

-------

This is a story that makes you see why you should live each day as if it were your last...

There was a guy that was born with cancer. A cancer that has no known cure. He was 17

years old and could die at any moment. He was always at home, under his mother's care.

One day he decided to go out, even if it was just once. He asked his mother for permission

and she agreed. Walking down his block he saw many stores. Stopping at a music store he

looked in and saw a very pretty girl of his own age, it was love at first sight and he walked in.

He walked up to the counter were the girl was. She smiled at him and asked "Can I help you

with anything?"

The guy could only think that it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen and

stuttered, "Well, ummm, I'd like to buy a... ". He grabbed the first one he saw and gave her

the money.

"Do you want me to wrap it?" the smiling girl asked. The guy said yes and the girl went into

the back room to wrap it. The guy took the wrapped CD and walked home.

From that day on he visited the music store every day, and each day he bought a CD. And

each day the girl wrapped them up and the guy stored them unopened in his closet.

He was a very shy boy, and although he tried he couldn't find the nerve to ask the girl out.

His mother noticed this and encouraged him.

The next day the guy set out for the store with a determined mind, like the previous days he

bought a CD and the girl wrapped it as usual. While she was busy he left his telephone on

the counter and rushed out of the store.

The following day the guy didn't visit the store, and the girl called him. His mother answered

the phone, wondering who it could be. It was the girl from the music store! She asked to

speak with her son and his mother started crying. The girl asked her what was the matter.

"Don't you know? He died yesterday." There was a long silence on the phone.

Later that afternoon the guy's mother entered his room to remember her son. She decided

to start with his closet, and to her surprised she saw a big pile of unopened CDs wrapped in

festive paper. She was curious because there were so many of them, and she opened one.

As she tore open the package she noticed a slip of paper that said: "Hi! You're cute, I would

love to meet you. Let's go out some time. Sophie"

The mother started crying as she opened another, and another, and another. Every single

CD contained a slip of paper that said the same.

That's the way life is, don't wait to show those special people the way you feel, tomorrow

could be too late.

-------

About 4 years ago, as a newly minted general manager for a chemical blending facility near

Toronto, I was faced with several leadership challenges. When I was first appointed as

(acting) GM, the plant was not even covering its costs and I was told that it either turned

around or else!

I met with all employees and explained the severity of the situation and that we would all

need to do what we could to increase sales and improve performance / reduce operating

expenses. They all appreciated my honesty although were very nervous about their futures.

I then started working with each department head to determine how I could support their

efforts. At first, they thought that I was looking to fix the blame for inefficiencies, but over

time, they realized that I only wanted to help them find solutions.

They learned to trust me; as when things sometimes went poorly, I told my boss that I was

the person in charge so was responsible rather than pointing my finger at one of my direct

reports. When we gained new business and it directly improved our bottom line, I praised

the efforts of the entire team to senior management.

The plant workers became more and more motivated and now they all seem to really enjoy

their jobs and I feel honoured to be their leader. Do we still have challenges? Yes, but the

strength of the team is such that we all pull together to face them 'as one'; kind of like a

family facing life's ups and downs.

-------

It was 27th of January. I was coming back to my home from my hometown. Because the

train was late, I reached Noida around 9 in the morning. Then I got ready for office and went

to the nearest auto stand and boarded.

On that beautiful morning, I was destined to meet this guy; a good looking educated guy

who was in middle or late 30's, driving the auto.

Just as I boarded, we struck up a conversation. Initially we talked about his daily routine and

crime in Noida. Then we started talking about education and he told me that he graduated

with a B.A. degree in 1993.

He continued by telling me about his first job - a cleaner in an office where he used to get

500 Rs per month. Later he changed his job and his salary went to 1000 Rs per month. From

there he was promoted to a clerical job, where his salary reached around 3000 Rs per

month. But somehow the story of growth was stopped suddenly by fate and he lost his job.

He told me of times when he used to gather chapattis, thrown by his neighbours, and then

put them into water and again make an eatable roti for his kids and that he and his wife

went hungry for a few days just to feed their children.

Then one day a guy asked him to deliver cylinders from one place to another. He started

delivering 3 cylinders, each, twice in a day and started earning 20 Rs per cylinder which

sums out to be 120 Rs per day.

Then he started delivering more cylinders and his earning reached around 50 Rs per

cylinder. Then he came to know the hidden truth - he could earn around 200 Rs per cylinder,

if he could buy his own cylinders. Somehow he managed to buy docs for 10 cylinders and

that cost him around 10k.

With some more money, he bought an auto. He was not happy being an auto driver as he

gave his reasons that this job is not a job of pride and even rickshaw pullers come up and

says expletives to him.

On a personal level, being an educated guy, it hurts him to drive an auto. But the best part

he said is; "Now my children don't go to sleep hungry at night. I don't have to pick others'

thrown away food."

This guy has now risen to the level where he can now keep his family happy and is earning

handsome money. He plans to buy a new auto rickshaw. His children study in English

medium school and he is proud to give them the best.

But there was one thing he was worried about and still is: whether his children will think

about him the way he thought about himself?

And then, on the next turn he said, "I am quite optimistic that whatever good I will do

today, will result in a much better future for me tomorrow."

I don't know his name, I don't know who he was but he taught me a few lessons that will

remain with me forever.

Some of you may find this a stupid story to tell and some may have their own crux of this

story but I just want to share a few morals I learned:

There is a new start at every bend in the road.

If you can dream big and wish to grow, no one can ever stop you.

Sometimes we remain hungry to feed our loved ones and the pain acts as a firing ball

forever in the future.

There are few people in our life who sacrifice a lot to make their loved ones happy

without ever thinking of their own interests and still they are optimistic that they will

somehow get something in return.

Crisis can show you a path that may be difficult but still leads to the things you

aspire, if you have that vision.

Even if you give your best, and for the time being you didn't get the returns back,

just expect the best and stop brooding or bothering about it.

Strength is not measured with the number of toned muscles in your body, it is

measured in terms of the strength of your heart - when you remain hungry to feed

your children and then grow to give them the best.

It is a true story ... the writer is ME but the actor is HIM. Thanks to HIM for enlightening me

with the next few lessons for my life.

-------

One behavioural symptom of stress is negative thinking or self-talk, which usually contains

self-defeating or self-diminishing statements. For example, "I just know I'm going to fail." or

"Things just never work out right for Me." or "I always get the short end of the stick."

I've noticed that negative self-chatter is pervasive with many people. One example comes

from a conversation I had a while back with a desperate woman who somehow found my

phone number. Negativity and depressive beliefs dripped from her lips. No matter what I

said, she insisted that she had nothing to be happy about and that her heart had closed. I

tried to help her see that as long as she looked only at what was wrong with herself and her

life, she would continue to find more things wrong, and that she could not get to happiness

from where she now stood. But she kept interrupting me to share more problems.

Amazingly, this woman also told me how happy and successful she used to be, but she had

lost it all. It was clear to me that she had allowed the conditions and circumstances of her

life to determine her level of happiness. As long as things went well, she was happy. But as

soon as circumstances changed, she lost her happiness. Yet try as I might, I couldn't help her

break through her wall of self-defeating talk.

After thirty minutes of trying to help her remember something - anything - that would bring

her a feeling of hope or happiness, I began feeling hopeless myself when I was suddenly

inspired to say, "This may be a little thing, but when you hear a bird sing, does it bring you

joy?"

Her response was immediate: "That's not a small thing to me. I love to hear birds sing."

"And hearing the laughter of a child playing?" I countered. I could almost hear the rush of

relief (mine or hers?) that broke forth as she shifted her perception.

For the first time in our conversation she stopped insisting that she had nothing to be happy

about. In her silence I could tell that my message had finally penetrated her resistance. I've

found that negative thinking derives from beliefs about ourselves that were formulated long

ago - about who we think we are and what we're capable of doing.

In our early years, many of us had parents who didn't know how to be loving, nurturing or

supportive, so we learned from them how to criticize and judge ourselves. As a result, we

often treat ourselves exactly as we were treated as children, scolding ourselves for being

afraid or for making a mistake and often taking on a distorted view of how things are

without ever questioning its validity.

But the past is ancient history, gone, dead and buried (at least if you allow it to be), and now

it's time to treat yourself exactly as you've always wanted to be treated. When you catch

yourself beating yourself up, remind yourself to be gentle and loving. After all, if you aren't

that way with yourself, how do you expect others to be that way with you?

-------

After the completion of the college, all my classmates were engaged in their professional

life, almost after the 4 years of college, I had meet with my friend Anjali. After the long

conversation she said:

My husband is an Engineer by profession. I love him for his steady nature and I love the

warm feeling when I lean against his broad shoulders.

Three years of courtship and now two years into marriage, I would have to admit that I am

getting tired of it. The reasons for loving him before have now transformed into the cause of

all my restlessness.

I am a sentimental woman and extremely sensitive when it comes to a relationship and my

feelings. I yearn for the romantic moments, like a little girl yearning for candy.

My husband is my complete opposite. His lack of sensitivity and inability to bring romantic

moments into our marriage has disheartened me about love. One day, I finally decided to

tell him my decision - that I wanted a divorce.

"Why?" he asked, shocked.

"I am tired; there are no reasons for everything in the world!" I answered.

He kept silent the whole night, seeming to be in deep thought, with a lighted cigarette in his

hands at all times.

My feeling of disappointment only increased. Here was a man who couldn't even express his

predicament. What else can I hope from him?

Then finally he asked me, "What can I do to change your mind?"

Somebody said it right; it's hard to change a person's personality and I guess I started losing

faith in him.

Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered, "Here is the question. If you can answer and

convince my heart, I will change my mind. Let's say, I want a flower located on the face of a

mountain cliff and we both are sure that picking the flower will cause your death. Will you

do it for me?"

He answered, " I will give you your answer tomorrow... "

My hopes just sank by listening to his response.

I woke up the next morning to find him gone and saw a piece of paper with his scratchy

handwriting, underneath a milk glass, on the dining table near the front door, that went...

"My dear, I would not pick that flower for you, but please allow me to explain the reasons

further..."

This first line was already breaking my heart but I continued reading.

"When you use the computer, you always mess up the software programs and you cry in

front of the screen. I have to save my fingers so that I can help to restore the programs.

You always leave the house keys behind, thus I have to save my legs to rush home to open

the door for you. You love traveling but always lose your way in a new city; I have to save my

eyes to show you the way.

You always have the cramps whenever your "good friend" approaches every month; I have

to save my palms so that I can calm the cramps in your tummy.

You like to stay indoors and I worry that you will be infected by infantile autism. I have to

save my mouth to tell you jokes and stories to cure your boredom.

You always stare at the computer and that will do nothing good for your eyes. I have to save

my eyes so that when we grow old, I can help to clip your nails and help to remove those

annoying white hairs so I can also hold your hand while strolling down the beach, as you

enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful sand and tell you the colour of flowers, just like the

colour of the glow on your young face.

Thus, my dear, unless I am sure that there is someone who loves you more than I do, I could

not pick that flower yet, and die."

My tears fell on the letter and blurred the ink of his handwriting and I continued reading...

"Now that you have finished reading my answer, if you are satisfied, please open the front

door for I am standing outside bringing your favourite bread and fresh milk."

I rushed to pull open the door and saw his anxious face and his hands clutching tightly the

milk bottle and loaf of bread. Now I am very sure that no one will ever love me as much as

he does and I have decided to leave the flower alone.

That's life and love. When one is surrounded by love, the feeling of excitement fades away

and one tends to ignore the true love that lies in between the peace and dullness.

Love shows up in all forms, even very small and cheeky forms. It has never been a model.

Flowers and romantic moments are only used and appear on the surface of the relationship.

Under all this, the pillar of true love stands... and that's our life.

Love, not words, wins arguments.

-------

A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need

a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family Doctor to discuss the

problem.

The Doctor told him there is a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the

Doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

“Here's what you do," said the Doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal

conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so

on until you get a response."

That evening, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He says to

himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens." Then in a normal tone he asks,

'Honey, what's for dinner?"

No response.

So the husband moves to closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats,

"Honey, what's for dinner?"

Still no response.

Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks,

Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again he gets no response.

So he walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again there is no response.

So he walks right up behind her. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

"Ajay, for the FIFTH time I've said, CHICKEN!"

The problem may not be with the other person as we always think, could be very much

within us!

-------

Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?

Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant, you're probably set back on your heels.

However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she/he can get back her/his focus

on what's important.

Five years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a taxicab in Indianapolis.

Here's what happened:

I hopped in a taxi and we took off for Indianapolis Airport. We were driving in the right lane

when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi

driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head

around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the

guy. And, I mean, he was friendly.

So, I said, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the

hospital!' And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage

Truck.'

"Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full

of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it.

And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take

it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did."

So this was it: “The Law of the Garbage Truck.” I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage

Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other

people: at work, at home, on the streets?

It was that day I said, 'I'm not going to do it anymore.'

I began to see garbage trucks. Like in the movie 'The Sixth Sense,' the little boy said, 'I see

Dead People.' Well, now 'I see Garbage Trucks.' I see the load they're carrying. I see them

coming to drop it off. And like my taxi driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile,

wave, wish them well, and I move on.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that

they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. Leaders and

parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best, for the people they care

about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

What about you?

What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

You'll be happier.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you

right. Pray for the ones who don't.

Believe that everything happens for a reason.

If you get a chance, TAKE IT! If it changes your life, LET IT! Nobody said it would be easy.

They just promised it would be worth it!

-------

My mother-in-law sat on the beach in Aruba and reached for her cold beverage nestled in

the sand by her chair. She miscalculated her grasp and instead, her hand dove into the sand

and she pulled out a glorious 14K solid gold rope necklace. Teams of salvage hunters spend

millions of dollars, countless years and untold hours searching for lost treasure, more often

finding it elusive. How is it then, some people find treasure when not seeking it and others

hunt and never find anything even when using elaborate calculations? The dichotomy of old

sayings, "It'll show up when you least expect it," versus "Persistence pays," provides Spirit

an opportunity to intrigue us in our journey and increase the value of things we desire but

cannot yet manifest.

-------

Back in 1959 Walt Disney said,

"If you can dream about it... you can make it happen!!"

A good friend of mine Gabriel had a tiny farm near Medellin, Colombia in a little town called

San Pedro de Los Milagros. He only had a cow and dreamed about having a large cattle

ranch.

He looked at the horizon every sunset and once he told his father, "Jose, I would like to have

that land over there… how I can get it?"

His father encouraged him to go and talk to the landowner to see how they could obtain the

land.

Gabriel replied, "But we don’t have the money."

His father said, "Do not worry; go and talk to him."

Several years have passed and right now Gabriel not only owns the land but Via Lacteal

Theme Park that includes several hundred cows, an small zoo, canopy, horse ride

cabalgatas, four wheels motors and much more fun for the whole family enjoyment.

A year ago, when the park was already attracting a huge number of Eco tourist, Gabriel’s

wife Sarah had a dream... "I want to build the biggest cow in the world ", she said.

They called a friend of mine, Manuel Hernandez, for this task. In three days he had plans for

the whole project. Then they asked, "How much will it cost?"

Manuel mentioned a big sum of money.

"Nobody will loan us that quantity of money to build a Cow", they thought but the manager

of the bank trusted them and their dreams.

Last October, La Manuela, the biggest cow in the world was opened to the public.

It is 9 meters tall and 16 meters long. The cow actually eats you ...and you travel inside the

cow learning how grass is converted into milk. Afterwards, you descend from the udder of

the cow lift completing a 17 minute magical ride inside the cow.

If you can dream about it and you put all your energy and foremost desire to make it

happen, it will become a reality despite how difficult or expensive it may sound.

-------

A father was trying to read the newspaper, but his little son kept pestering him. Finally, the

father grew tired of this and, tearing a page from the newspaper - one that bore a map of

the world - he cut it into several pieces and handed them to his son.

“Right, now you've got something to do. I've given you a map of the world and I want to see

if you can put it back together correctly.”

He resumed his reading, knowing that the task would keep the child occupied for the rest of

the day. However, a quarter of an hour later, the boy returned with the map.

“Has your mother been teaching you geography?” asked his father in astonishment.

“I don't even know what that is,” replied the boy. “But there was a photo of a man on the

other side of the page, so I put the man back together and found I'd put the world back

together too.”

-------

I was strolling in the gardens of an insane asylum when I met a young man who was reading

a philosophy book.

His behaviour and his evident good health made him stand out from the other inmates.

I sat down beside him and asked:

“What are you doing here?”

He looked at me, surprised. But seeing that I was not one of the doctors, he replied:

“It's very simple. My father, a brilliant lawyer, wanted me to be like him. My uncle, who

owns a large emporium, hoped I would follow his example. My mother wanted me to be the

image of her beloved father. My sister always set her husband before me as an example of

the successful man. My brother tried to train me up to be a fine athlete like himself.

And the same thing happened at school, with the piano teacher and the English teacher -

they were all convinced and determined that they were the best possible example to follow.

None of them looked at me as one should look at a man, but as if they were looking in a

mirror.

So I decided to enter this asylum. At least here I can be myself.”

-------

The wise man, Saadi of Shiraz, was walking along a road with his disciple when he saw a man

trying to get his mule to move. When the animal refused to budge, the man began calling

him the worst names he could think of.

“Don't be silly,” said Saadi. “The mule will never learn your language. You would do better

to calm down and learn his language.”

And as he walked away, he remarked to his disciple:

“Before you get into an argument with a mule, remember the scene you have just

witnessed.”

-------

A man arrived in a village carrying a mysterious bugle decorated with red and yellow rags,

glass beads and animal bones.

“This bugle can drive away tigers,” said the man. “From this day forth, for a modest daily

fee, I will play the bugle every morning and you will never be eaten by those terrible

animals.”

Terrified by the threat of attack by a wild animal, the inhabitants of the village agreed to pay

what the newcomer asked.

Many years passed, the owner of the bugle grew rich and built himself a magnificent castle.

One morning, a boy who was passing through the village, asked who the owner of the castle

was. When he heard the story, he decided to go and talk to the man.

“I was told that you have a bugle that can drive away tigers,” said the boy. “But there are no

tigers in this country.”

The man immediately called together all the villagers and asked the boy to repeat what he

had said.

“Did you hear that?” cried the man as soon as the boy had finished speaking. “There you

have irrefutable proof of the power of my bugle!”

-------

We all have a tendency to believe that everything we do will turn out wrong, because we

think we do not deserve to be blessed. Here is an interesting story about precisely that

feeling.

A man was quietly eating his breakfast. Suddenly, the piece of bread which he had just

spread with butter fell to the ground.

Imagine his surprise when he looked down and saw that it had landed buttered side up! The

man thought he had witnessed a miracle. Excited, he went to tell his friends what had

happened, and they were all amazed because when a piece of bread falls on the floor, it

always lands buttered side down, making a mess of everything.

“Perhaps you're a saint,” one friend said. “And this is a sign from God.”

Soon the whole village knew, and they all started animatedly discussing the incident: how

was it that, against all expectations, that man's slice of bread had fallen on the floor

buttered side up? Since no one could come up with a credible answer, they went to see a

Teacher who lived nearby and told him the story.

The Teacher demanded one night to pray, reflect and ask for Divine inspiration. The

following day, they all returned, eager for an answer.

“It's quite simple really,” said the Teacher. “The fact is that the piece of bread fell exactly as

it should have fallen, but the butter had been spread on the wrong side.”

-------

After many years of work and meditation on the best way to cross the river that ran past his

house, a man created a kind of footbridge out of planks. The villagers, however, rarely used

it because it seemed so precarious.

One day, an engineer appeared. With the help of the inhabitants, he built a proper bridge,

which infuriated the maker of the footbridge. He would tell anyone who would listen that

the engineer had failed to show due respect for his work.

“The footbridge is still there!” replied the other villagers. “It's a monument to your years of

effort and thought.”

“Yes, but no one uses it,” the man would reply tetchily.

“You are a highly respected citizen and we all like you, it's just that we find the new bridge

more beautiful and more useful than your plank footbridge.”

“But it's crossing my river.”

“Now, however much we may respect your work, we have to say that the river is not yours.

We could wade, swim or row across it, but if people prefer to use the bridge, why not

respect their wishes? Besides, how can we trust someone who, instead of trying to improve

his own bridge, spends all his time criticising someone else's?”

(Based on a story by Silvio Paulo Albino)

-------

A Zen master was resting with one of his disciples. At one point, he took a melon out of his

bag and cut it in two so that both could eat it.

While they were eating, the disciple said:

“Wise master, since everything you do has a meaning, perhaps your sharing this melon with

me is a sign that you have something to teach me.”

The master continued eating in silence.

“Your silence obviously conceals a question,” the disciple insisted, “and it must be this: does

the pleasure I am experiencing in eating this delicious fruit reside in the melon or in my

tongue?”

The master said nothing. The disciple went on excitedly:

“And since everything in life has meaning, I think I am close to finding the answer to that

question: the pleasure is an act of love and interdependence between us, because without

the melon there would be no object of pleasure and without my tongue...”

“That's enough!” said the master. “The real fools are those who think themselves terribly

intelligent and spend all their time trying to interpret everything. The melon is delicious, and

that's enough, now let me eat in peace!”

-------

Zilu asked Confucius:

“If King Wen were to ask you to govern the country, what would your first action be?”

“I would learn the names of my advisers.”

“What nonsense! That is hardly a matter of great concern to a prime minister.”

“A man cannot hope to receive help from what he does not know,” replied Confucius. “If he

does not understand Nature, he will not understand God. In just the same way, if he does

not know who is at his side, he will have no friends. Without friends, he will be unable to

draw up a plan. Without a plan, he cannot direct anyone's actions. Without direction, the

country will plunge into darkness, and even dancers will not know which foot to put down

next. So an apparently banal action - learning the name of the person at your side - can

make an enormous difference. The besetting sin of our time is that everyone wants to put

things right immediately, and they forget that in order to do so you need a lot of people.”

Every day Nasruddin went to beg for alms in the market, and people used to make fun of

him by playing the following trick: they would show him two coins, one worth ten times

more than the other, and Nasruddin would always choose the smaller coin.

The story went round the whole province. Day after day, groups of men and women would

show him the two coins, and Nasruddin would always choose the smaller one.

Then one day, a generous man, tired of seeing Nasruddin ridiculed in this fashion, beckoned

him over to a corner of the square and said:

“When they offer you two coins, you should choose the larger one. That way you would

earn more money and people wouldn't consider you an idiot.”

“That sounds like good advice,” replied Nasruddin, “but if I chose the larger coin, people

would stop offering me money, because they like to believe that I am even more stupid than

they are. You've no idea how much money I've earned using this trick. There's nothing

wrong with looking like a fool if, in fact, you're being really clever.”

-------

A very rich young man went to see a Rabbi in order to ask his advice about what he should

do with his life. The Rabbi led him over to the window and asked him:

“What can you see through the glass?”

“I can see men coming and going and a blind man begging for alms in the street.” Then the

Rabbi showed him a large mirror and said to him:

“Look in this mirror and tell me what you see.”

“I can see myself.”

“And you can't see the others. Notice that the window and the mirror are both made of the

same basic material, glass; but in the mirror, because the glass is coated with a fine layer of

silver, all you can see is yourself. You should compare yourself to these two kinds of glass.

Poor, you saw other people and felt compassion for them. Rich - covered in silver - you see

yourself. You will only be worth anything when you have the courage to tear away the

coating of silver covering your eyes in order to be able to see again and love your fellow

man.”

-------

After he had won independence for India, Mahatma Gandhi visited England. He was walking

through the streets of London with some other people when his attention was drawn to the

shop window of a famous jeweller's.

Gandhi stood there studying the precious stones and the exquisitely made jewellery. The

owner of the shop recognised him at once and came out into the street to greet him.

“I am greatly honoured by your presence here, looking at our work. We have many objects

of immense value, beauty and artistry and we would like to give you something.”

“Yes, I'm amazed by all these marvellous things,” replied Gandhi. “And I'm even more

surprised at myself, for, even knowing that I could receive a valuable present, I nevertheless

can manage to live and be respected without the need of jewels.”

Let us divide the word “preoccupation” into two parts - pre-occupation, that is, occupying

your mind with something before it actually happens. This is what worrying is: trying to

resolve problems that have not even had time to appear; imagining that things, when they

do happen, will always turn out for the worst.

Naturally there are exceptions. One of them is the hero of this little story.

An old king of India condemned a man to the gallows. When the king had finished reading

the sentence, the condemned man said:

“You are a wise man, Your Majesty, and curious about everything that your subjects do. You

respect gurus, sages, snake-charmers and fakirs. Well, when I was a child, my grandfather

taught me how to make a white horse fly. Since there is no one else in the whole kingdom

who knows how to do this, my life should be spared.”

The king immediately ordered a white horse to be brought.

“I need to spend two years with this animal,” said the condemned man.

“All right, you will have two years,” replied the king, already somewhat suspicious. “But if

this horse does not learn to fly, you will be hanged.”

Overjoyed, the man left with the horse. When he reached his house, he found his whole

family in tears.

“Are you mad?” they all cried. “Since when has anyone in this house known how to make a

horse fly?”

“Don't worry,” he said. “First of all, no one has ever tried to teach a horse to fly, and the

horse might well learn. Secondly, the king is already very old and he might die in the next

two years. Thirdly, the horse might die and then I'll be given another two years to teach the

new horse - not to mention the possibility of revolutions, coups d'état and general

amnesties. And even if everything remains exactly as it is, I will still have gained two years of

life with which I can do anything I like. Does that seem little to you?”

-------

This is the procedure adopted by circus trainers to ensure that elephants never rebel - and I

suspect that it is also what happens with a lot of people.

When still a baby, the elephant is tethered by a very thick rope to a stake firmly hammered

into the ground. The elephant tries several times to get free, but it lacks the strength to do

so.

After a year, the stake and the rope are still strong enough to keep a small elephant

tethered, although it continues to try, unsuccessfully, to get free. At this point, the animal

realises that the rope will always be too strong and so it gives up.

When it reaches adulthood, the elephant can still remember how, for a long time, it had

wasted its energies trying to escape captivity. At this stage, the trainer can tether the

elephant with a slender thread tied to a broom handle, and the elephant will make no

attempt to escape to freedom.

-------

For years, Hitoshi tried in vain to awaken the love of the woman he believed to be the love

of his life. But fate is ironic: on the very day that she finally accepted him as her future

husband, she learned that she had an incurable disease and would not live for very much

longer.

Six months later, when she was about to die, she said to him:

“Promise me one thing: never fall in love with anyone else. If you do, I will come every night

to haunt you.”

And then she closed her eyes for ever. For many months, Hitoshi avoided other women, but

fate continued to be ironic, and he discovered a new love. When he was preparing to

remarry, the ghost of his ex-beloved kept her promise and appeared to him.

“You are betraying me,” the ghost said.

“For years, I offered you my heart and you rejected me,” replied Hitoshi. “Don't you think I

deserve a second chance of happiness?”

But the ghost of his ex-beloved was not interested in excuses and came every night to

frighten him. It described in detail what had happened during the day, the words of love

that he had spoken to his fiancée, the kisses and embraces they had exchanged.

Hitoshi could no longer sleep and so he went to consult the Zen master Basho.

“It's certainly a very intelligent ghost,” said Basho.

“It knows everything down to the last detail! And now it's ruining my relationship because I

can't sleep and during intimate moments with my fiancée, I feel somehow constrained.”

“Don't worry, we'll get rid of the ghost,” said Basho.

That night, when the ghost returned, Hitoshi spoke first, before the ghost could say a word.

“You're such a clever ghost; I'd like to make a deal with you. Since you watch me all the

time, I'm going to ask you about something I did today. If you answer correctly, I will give up

my fiancée and never take another wife. If you answer wrongly, you must promise never to

appear again, or else be condemned by the gods to wander for ever in the darkness.”

“Agreed,” replied the ghost confidently.

“This afternoon, when I was in the grocer's shop, at one point, I picked up a handful of grain

from a sack.”

“Yes, I saw you,” said the ghost.

“My question is the following: how many grains of wheat did I have in my hand?” The ghost

realised that it would never be able to answer that question and, in order to avoid being

pursued by the gods into eternal darkness, it decided to disappear for ever.

Two days later, Hitoshi went to Basho's house.

“I came to thank you.”

“Be sure to learn the lessons your experience has taught you,” said Basho. “First: the spirit

kept coming back because you were afraid. If you want to rid yourself of a curse, simply

ignore it. Second: the ghost took advantage of your feelings of guilt. Whenever we feel

guilty, we always unconsciously long to be punished. And finally, no one who truly loved you

would force you to make such a promise. If you want to understand love, first learn about

freedom.”

-------

Nasruddin was talking to a friend, who asked him:

“Have you never considered getting married, Mullah?”

“I have,” replied Nasruddin. “In my youth, I resolved to find the perfect woman. I crossed

the desert and reached Damascus, and I met a lovely, very spiritual woman, but she knew

nothing of the world. I continued my journey and went to Isfahan; there I met a woman who

knew both the spiritual and the material world, but she was not pretty. Then I decided to go

to Cairo, where I dined in the house of a beautiful woman, who was both religious and a

connoisseur of material reality.”

“Why didn't you marry her, then?”

“Alas, my friend, she was looking for the perfect man.”

-------

Jean was out walking with his grandfather in Paris. At one point, they saw a shoemaker

being insulted by a customer who claimed that there was something wrong with his shoes.

The shoemaker calmly listened to his complaints, apologised and promised to make good

the mistake.

Jean and his grandfather stopped to have a coffee. At the next table, the waiter asked a man

if he would mind moving his chair slightly so that he could get by. The man erupted in a

torrent of abuse and refused to move.

“Never forget what you have seen,” said Jean's grandfather. “The shoemaker accepted the

customer's complaint, while this man next to us did not want to move. Men who perform

some useful task are not bothered if they are treated as if they were useless, but men who

do no useful work at all always think them very important and hide their incompetence

behind their authority.”

-------

Near Tokyo, there lived a very great Samurai who, now an old man, devoted himself to

teaching Zen Buddhism to the young. Despite his great age, it was said that he could defeat

any adversary.

One afternoon, he was visited by a warrior who was known to be entirely without scruples.

This warrior was also famous for his technique of provocation; he would wait for his

adversary to make the first move and then, using his exceptional intelligence to assess any

errors made, he would launch a lightning counterattack.

The impatient young warrior had never once lost a contest. He knew the Samurai's

reputation and had gone there in order to defeat him and thus enhance his own reputation.

Despite his students” protests, the old Samurai accepted the warrior's challenge.

Everyone gathered in the city's main square, and the young man began insulting the old

teacher. He threw a few stones at him, spat in his face, heaped every known insult both on

him and on his ancestors. For hours, he did everything he could to provoke the Samurai, but

the old man remained utterly impassive. By the end of the afternoon, the fiery warrior

withdrew, exhausted and humiliated.

Disappointed that their teacher had failed to respond to these insults and provocations, his

students asked:

“How could you put up with such indignities? Why, even though you risked losing the fight,

did you not use your sword, rather than reveal yourself to us as a coward?”

“If someone comes to you with a gift, and you do not accept it, to whom does that gift

belong?” asked the Samurai.

“To the person who tried to give it,” replied his disciples.

“The same applies to envy, anger and insults,” said the teacher. “If they are not accepted,

they remain the property of the person who carries them within himself.”

-------

A journalist went to interview Jean Cocteau, whose house was a jumble of ornaments,

paintings, drawings by famous artists and books. Cocteau kept absolutely everything and

felt a deep affection for every object. It was then, in the middle of the interview that the

journalist decided to ask Cocteau: “If this house was to catch fire right now and you could

take only one thing with you, what would you choose?”

“And what did he reply?” asks Álvaro Teixeira, a fellow guest at the castle where we were

staying and himself an expert on Cocteau's life.

“Cocteau said: “I would take the fire.”

And there we all sat in silence, applauding in our hearts that brilliant response.

-------

A student of martial arts said to his teacher:

“I would like to be a great aikido fighter,” he said. “But I think I should also devote myself to

judo, so that I am familiar with many different styles of fighting. That is the only way I can

become the best.”

His teacher replied: “If a man goes into a field and starts running after two foxes at the same

time, there will come a moment when the foxes will go their separate ways, and the man

will be left not knowing which one to pursue. While he is pondering the problem, the foxes

will be far away and he will have wasted both his time and his energy.

Anyone who wants to become a master must choose just ONE thing in which to become an

expert. All else is mere cant.”

Teacher and disciple confront the river

A disciple had such faith in the powers of the guru Sanjai that he once asked to meet him

beside the river.

“Master, everything I have learned from you has changed my life. I was able to save my

marriage, sort out the family business and help my neighbours. Everything I ever asked for

in your name and in good faith I have received.”

Sanjai looked at his disciple, and his heart swelled with pride.

The disciple walked down to the edge of the river.

“Such is my faith in your teachings and in your divinity that I have only to say your name and

I will be able to walk on the waters.”

Before the teacher could say anything, his disciple had entered the river, crying:

“All praise to Sanjai! All praise to Sanjai!”

He took one step. Then another.

And a third step. His body began to levitate and the young man managed to reach the other

side of the river without even getting his feet wet.

Sanjai looked in surprise at the disciple, who was standing on the other shore waving at him

and smiling.

“Perhaps I am more enlightened than I thought I was. I could have the most famous

monastery in the region! I could rise to the same heights as the great saints and gurus!”

Determined to repeat his disciple's success, he too walked down to the shore and, as he

stepped into the river, he began to cry:

“All praise to Sanjai! All praise to Sanjai!”

He took one step and a second step, but by the third he was already being swept away by

the current. Since he did not know how to swim, his disciple had to dive into the water to

save him from certain death.

When both men reached the shore, exhausted, Sanjai remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he said:

“I hope you can draw a wise lesson from what happened today. All that I taught you were

the scriptures and the correct way to behave. However, none of that would have been

enough if you had not added what was missing: the faith that such teachings could improve

your life. I taught you because my teachers taught me. But while I thought and studied, you

put into practice what you had learned. Thank you for helping me to understand that one

does not always believe in what one wants others to believe.”

-------

Ciccone German tells the story of a man who, thanks to his enormous wealth and infinite

ambition, decided to buy everything he possibly could. Once he had filled his many houses

with clothes, furniture, cars and jewels, the man decided to buy still more things.

He bought ethics and morality, and thus was born corruption.

He bought solidarity and generosity, and indifference came into being.

He bought justice and its laws, bringing impunity into the world.

He bought love and feelings, and the result was pain and remorse.

The most powerful man in the world bought all the material goods he wanted to possess

and all the values he wanted to master. Then one day, drunk on so much power, he decided

to buy himself.

Despite all his money, he could not do it. At that precise moment, there was born in the

consciousness of the Earth the only thing on which no one can put a price - self-worth.

-------

The monk Shuan was always telling his students about the importance of studying ancient

philosophy. One student, known for his iron will, made a note of all Shuan's teachings and

spent the rest of the day reflecting on the ancient thinkers.

After a year spent studying, the student fell ill, but continued to attend the classes.

“I'm going to carry on studying even though I am ill. I'm on the trail of wisdom and there's

no time to lose,” he said to his teacher.

Shuan replied:

“How do you know that wisdom is ahead of you and that you must run after it? Perhaps it's

walking along behind you, trying to catch up, and you, in some way, are not allowing it to do

so. Just relax and let your thoughts flow, for that too is a way of achieving wisdom.”

-------

A man once heard tell that, in a nearby desert, a certain alchemist had lost the result of

years of work: the famous philosopher's stone, which could transform into gold any metal

that it touched.

Driven by the desire to find it and to become rich, the man went to that desert. Since he did

not know quite what the philosopher's stone looked like, he began picking up every stone

he came across; he would then hold it to his belt buckle to see what happened.

A year passed, and then another, and still nothing. The man, however, clung obstinately to

his desire to find the magical stone. Mechanically, he walked every valley and mountain in

the desert, rubbing one pebble after another against his belt buckle.

One night, just before going to sleep, he noticed that his buckle had been changed into gold!

But which stone had it been? Had the miracle occurred during the morning or the evening?

How long had it been, in fact, since he had bothered to check the results of all his efforts?

What had started out as a search with a clear objective had become a mechanical, joyless

exercise with no real goal. What had started out as an adventure had become dull duty.

Now he had no way of finding the right stone, because his belt buckle was already gold and

no other transformation could possibly take place. He had followed the right road, but had

failed to notice the miracle awaiting him.

-------

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old

university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and

in life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a

large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain

looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain

and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the

source of your problems and stress.

"What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the

best cups and were eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee and the jobs, money and position in society are the

cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and do not change the quality of Life.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided.

So, don't let the cups drive you ... enjoy the coffee instead."

-------

The teacher placed a large glass jar on the table.

Then out of a bag he took ten stones, each the size of an orange, and began placing them,

one by one, in the jar.

When the jar was filled to the brim with stones, he asked his students:

“Is it full?”

They all agreed that it was. The teacher, however, took some gravel from another bag and

by jiggling the large stones around inside the jar, managed to fit in quite a lot of gravel.

“Is it full now?”

The students said, yes, this time it was definitely full. At that point, the teacher opened a

third bag, this time full of fine sand, and he began to pour it into the jar. The sand filled up

any empty spaces between the large stones and the gravel, right up to the top.

“Right,” said the teacher. “Now the jar is full. What do you think I've been trying to

demonstrate to you?”

“That it doesn't matter how busy you are, there's always room to fit in something else,” said

one student.

“Not at all. What this little demonstration shows us is that we have to put the large stones in

first because, afterwards, they won't fit.

Now what are the important things in our lives? What are the plans we postpone, the

adventures we never have, the loves we fail to fight for? Ask which are the large, solid

stones that keep God's flame alive in you and put them into your jar of decisions now,

because very soon there will be no room for them.”

-------

Near Olite, in Spain, there is a ruined castle. I decide to visit the place and as I am standing

there before it, a man at the door says:

“You can't come in.”

My intuition tells me that he is saying this for the pure pleasure of saying “No'. I explain that

I've come a long way, I try offering him a tip, I try being nice, I point out that this is, after all,

a ruined castle...suddenly, going into that castle has become very important to me.

“You can't come in,” the man says again.

There is only one alternative: to carry on and see if he will physically prevent me from going

in. I walk towards the door. He looks at me, but does nothing.

As I am leaving, two other tourists arrive and they too walk in. The old man does not try to

stop them. I feel as if, thanks to my resistance, the old man has decided to stop inventing

ridiculous rules. Sometimes the world asks us to fight for things we do not understand and

whose significance we will never discover.

-------

In the mid 1970’s, when he was about to complete his doctorate in physics, the scientist

Stephen Hawking - who was already carrying the disease that would gradually paralyse all

his movements - heard a doctor say of him that he had only two more years to live.

“Right then,” he thought to himself. “Now that I don't need to worry about things like

pensions or paying the bills, I can concentrate on trying to understand the Universe.”

Since the disease was progressing rapidly, he was forced to come up with ways of explaining

his ideas as simply and as briefly as possible.

Two and a half years went by, twenty years went by, and Hawking is still alive. He can

communicate his highly abstract ideas through a tiny computer hooked up to his wheelchair

and which has a vocabulary of only 500 words. He wrote his classic A Brief History of Time

and was responsible for creating an entirely new vision of modern physics.

Rather than leading him into a life of complete disability, the illness forced him to discover a

new way of thinking.

-------

A young man wished to marry the farmer's beautiful daughter. He went to the farmer to ask his

permission. The farmer looked him over and said, "Son, go stand out in that field. I'm going to

release three bulls, one at a time. If you can catch the tail of any one of the three bulls, you can

marry my daughter."

The young man stood in the pasture awaiting the first bull. The barn door opened and out ran the

biggest, meanest-looking bull he had ever seen. He decided that one of the next bulls had to be a

better choice than this one, so he ran over to the side and let the bull pass through the pasture out

the back gate. The barn door opened again. Unbelievable. He had never seen anything so big and

fierce in his life. It stood pawing the ground, grunting, slinging slobber as it eyed him. Whatever the

next bull was like, it had to be a better choice than this one. He ran to the fence and let the bull pass

through the pasture, out the back gate. The door opened a third time. A smile came across his face.

This was the weakest, scrawniest little bull he had ever seen. This one was his bull. As the bull came

running by, he positioned himself just right and jumped at just the exact moment. He grabbed... but

the bull had no tail!

Life is full of opportunities. Some will be easy to take advantage of, some will be difficult. But once

we let them pass (often in hopes of something better), those opportunities may never again be

available. So always grab the first opportunity.

-------

One night a snake, looking for food, entered a carpenter's workshop. The carpenter, who was a

rather untidy man, had left several of his tools lying on the floor. One of them was a saw.

As the snake went round and round the shop, he climbed over the saw, which gave him a little cut.

At once, thinking that the saw was attacking him, he turned around and bit it so hard that his mouth

started to bleed. This made him very angry.

He attacked again and again until the saw was covered with blood and seemed to be dead. Dying

from his own wounds, the snake decided to give one last hard bite then turned away.

The next morning the carpenter was surprised to find a dead snake on his doorstep.

Sometimes in trying to hurt others, we only hurt ourselves.

-------

Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large

sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant's

beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant's debt if he could

marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag.

The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would

become the moneylender's wife and her father's debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white

pebble, she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to

pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble-strewn path in the merchant's garden. As they talked, the

moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed

that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick

her pebble from the bag.

What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told

her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.

The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral

and logical thinking.

Read on...

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled

and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other

pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left,

you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And

since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible

situation into an advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think

about them in a different way.

-------

He met her on a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he was so

normal, nobody paid attention to him. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with

him, she was surprised, but due to being polite, she promised. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was

too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, she thought, please, let me go home. Suddenly

he asked the waiter: "would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody

stared at him, so strange! His face turned red, but, still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She

asked him curiously: why you have this hobby? He replied: "when I was a little boy, I was living near

the sea, I liked playing in the sea, and I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty

coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my home

town, I miss my home town so much, I miss my parents who are still living there". While saying that

tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That's his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A

man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has

responsibility of home. Then she also started to speak, spoke about her far away hometown, her

childhood, her family. That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story.

They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands; he had

tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him!

Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story, the princess

married to the prince, and then they were living the happy life...

And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that's the way

he liked it. After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said:" My dearest, please forgive

me, forgive my whole life lie. This was the only lie I said to you---the salty coffee. Remember the first

time we dated? I was so nervous at that time, actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt, it was

hard for me to change so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our

communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I

have promised not to lie to you for anything... Now I'm dying, I am afraid of nothing so I tell you the

truth: I don't like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste. But I have had the salty coffee for my

whole life! Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my

biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the second time, still want to know you and have

you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again".

Her tears made the letter totally wet.

Someday, someone asked her: what's the taste of salty coffee?

It's sweet. She replied.

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What Is The Truth?

Once upon a time there was one storyteller. After getting tired of telling old fabricated stories, he

left his house in search of a real life story.

He reached a village and took a cottage for rent. After roaming in the village throughout the month,

in search of true story, the storyteller couldn't find one. Disappointed, he decided to stop his search.

The next day, while sitting in the cottage, he suddenly heard a voice - a woman was yelling at

someone. The voice was coming from the big wall behind his cottage.

He tried to hear the conversation; it sounded like the woman was abusing her daughter-in-law. The

storyteller didn't like it but he was happy to finally get his story.

Listening to the conversations each day he added them to his story. Though he couldn't see the

characters of his story, he started hating the Mother-in-law, as she seemed to be villain.

Now it was time to finalize the end of the story. But before he did, the storyteller wanted to see the

characters once, so he climbed the wall.

There he saw the mother-in-law sitting in a wheelchair. It seemed she was handicapped and that the

daughter-in-law was resting nearby.

He saw the old lady trying to get a food item lying on the table near her chair. But because of her

condition, she couldn't reach it and the daughter-in-law looked like she was enjoying the old lady's

helplessness.

Suddenly the old lady fell from the chair and started abusing her daughter in-law.

The storyteller went back and quickly changed the ending of the story and was stunned at how

different it was compared to what he originally thought it would be.

Truly he had found both a real life story and a real life lesson.

Lesson: Never judge a situation unless you know all the aspects well. Sometimes you can't imagine

your distance from the reality.

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The train has started moving. It is packed with people of all ages, mostly working men and women

and young college guys and gals. Near the window, sat an old man with his 30-year-old son.

As the train moves, the son is overwhelmed with joy because he is thrilled by the scenery outside.

"See dad, the scenery of green trees moving away is very beautiful."

This behaviour from the thirty-year-old son made the other people on the train feel strange about

him. Everyone started murmuring something or other about this son.

"This guy seems to be a crack," newly married Anup whispered to his wife.

Suddenly it started raining. Raindrops fell on the travellers through the opened window. The thirty-

year-old, filled with joy said, “See dad, how beautiful the rain is..."

Anup's wife became irritated with the raindrops, as they were dropping on her new suit and spoiling

it.

"Anup, can't you see it's raining? You. Old man. If your son is not feeling well, get him to a mental

asylum soon and don't disturb the public henceforth."

The old man hesitated first and then in a low tone replied, "We are on the way back from hospital.

My son was discharged this morning. He was blind at birth. Only last week he regained his vision.

Rain and nature are new to his eyes. Please forgive us for the inconvenience caused."

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