Rich or Poor?

One day a rich father took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family.

When they got back from their trip the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"Very good Dad!"

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Yeah!"

"And what did you learn?"

The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, they have a creek that has no end.We have imported
lamps in the garden, they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, they have a whole horizon."

When the little boy was finishing, his father was speechless.

His son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how rich they are!"

Author Unknown


" THE WEALTH OF THE MIND IS THE ONLY TRUE WEALTH".........HESOID.

Enjoy Your Coffee

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.
Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and 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.
Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.



Sometimes we focus too much on materialism that we often neglect the basic things in life.We wanted to have the best of everything and obsessed with gratifications and pleasures that does not add values or quality to our life.The happiest people does not have the best of everything but they just make the best of what they have.

The Bridge Builder

Once upon a time, two brothers who lived on adjoining farms fell into conflict. It was the first serious rift in 40 years of farming side-by-side, sharing machinery and trading labor and goods as needed without a hitch.

Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference and finally, it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.

One morning there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter's toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days' work," he said. "Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there I could help with? Could I help you?"

"Yes," said the older brother. "I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm. That's my neighbor. In fact, it's my younger brother! Last week there was a meadow between us. He recently took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll do him one better. See that pile of lumber by the barn? I want you to build me a fence an 8-foot fence -- so I won't need to see his place or his face anymore."

The carpenter said, "I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails and the post-hole digger and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."

The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day -- measuring, sawing and nailing. About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job.

The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. There was no fence there at all.

It was a bridge .. A bridge that stretched from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work, handrails and all! And the neighbor, his younger brother, was coming toward them, his hand outstretched.

"You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done."

The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in middle, taking each other's hand. They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox onto his shoulder.

"No, wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other projects for you," said the older brother.

"I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, "but I have many more bridges to build."

--- Author Unknown ---

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.

The Marble Tile and The Marble Statue

There was this museum laid with beautiful 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! Why does everybody from all over the world come all the way here just to step on me while admiring you? This is not fair!"
Marble statue: " My dear friend marble tile. Do you still remember that we 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 hurts so badly".
Marble statue: " That's right! He couldn't work on you at all as you resisted being worked on so he started working on me instead.When he did so, 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 was quiet for a while and marble statue continue saying " My friend, there is a price to everything in life.Since you decided to give up halfway, you can't blame anybody who steps on you now".

--Author unknown.



Too often, we choose to stay in our comfort zone and resist changes.Though we always feel uncomfortable and painful with change, we must remember that this is the only way to grow and progress to a higher level.

The Boy and the Wooden Fence

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper.His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the wooden fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence.Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day he was able to hold his temper.The day passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.The fence will never be the same.When you say things in anger,they leave a scar just like this one.It won't matter how many times you say I am sorry, the damaged has already been done and often unrepairable".


" KEEP YOUR TEMPER. A DECISION MADE IN ANGER IS NEVER SOUND"..........FORD FRICK

The Four Seasons

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 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 fulfillment.

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, fulfillment of your fall.

The Real Meaning of Peace

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.

 The king chose the second picture as it reflects the true meaning of peace.

We cannot find peace by avoiding life.True peace does not mean the absence of activities or distractions but rather how we control our mind to maintain calmness in facing those situations.            
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Letting Go

There was once a lonely girl who longed desperately for love. One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving song birds. She took them home and put them in a small glided cage. She nurtured them with love and the birds grew strong. Every morning they greeted her with a marvellous song. The girl felt great love for the birds. She wanted their singing to last forever.

One day the girl left the door to the cage open. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl watched anxiously as he circled high above her. She was so frightened that he would fly away and she would never see him again that as he flew close, she grasped at him wildly. She caught him in her fist. She clutched him tightly within her hand. She was relieved at her sucess in capturing him. Suddenly she felt the bird go limp. She opened her hand stared in horror at the dead bird. Her desperate clutching love had killed him. 

She noticed the other bird teetering on the edge of the cage. She could feel his great need for freedom. His need to soar into the clear, blue sky. She lifted him from the cage and tossed him softly into the air. The bird circled once, twice, three times.

The girl watched delightfully at the bird's enjoyment. Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss. She wanted the bird to be happy. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest melody, she had ever heard.





We must not be too possessive or overly attached to something or someone we love.We can appreciate and care for them but it will usually bring us miseries and grievances if we do not learn how to let go sometimes.Over attachment causes illusions and we live in reality only when we are detached.

The Flower Garden

A young man named Nashruddin planted a flower garden, but when the flowers came up so did a great crop of dandelions among them. Wishing to eliminate the unwanted 'guests', Nashruddin consulted with gardeners near and far, but none of their solutions worked.

Finally, Nashruddin traveled to the palace of the sheik to seek the wisdom of the royal gardener himself. But alas, Nashruddin had already tried all the methods the kind old man recommended to him for eradicating such troublesome plants.

Silently they sat together for a good long time. At last, the royal gardener looked at Nashruddin and said, "Well, then, the only thing I can suggest is that you learn to love them."




We have to accept certain limitations or imperfections at times, no matter what we are doing.We can change whatever that is changeable but whatever that cannot be change,we have to accept and live with it.

The Emperor's Seed

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different.
He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you.”
The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today, one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!”

One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully.
Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about 3 weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still nothing.
By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn’t have a plant, and he felt like a failure. 6 months went by; still nothing in Ling’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing.

Ling didn’t say anything to his friends. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection.
Ling told his mother that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot but his Mother said he must be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his Mother was right.
He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, “Hey nice try.”
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!”
All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down.
He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.
Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”

(Author Unknown)


We must have the courage to face the truth and do the right thing because it is right.We should not compromise our integrity for the sake of achieving what we want. People of integrity will always triumph in the end.

Habits

If we continously perform certain actions a sufficient number of times,it will eventually become a habitual pattern, and will become a part of us.I remembered when I was a secondary school student, our teacher used to tell us why it was so hard to break a habit.He said , "Habit is spell H,A,B,I,T.If we remove the H, we still have "ABIT".Try getting rid of the A,we still have "BIT".Take away the B, we still have "IT"".

It is always difficult to get rid of an old habit,because the more you think about not doing it,the more it stays in your mind.The best approach to break the habit is to 'replace' it with a new habit.For example, if you are trying to quit smoking, take up chewing sugarless gum.If you want to stop consuming alcohol, drink herbal tea instead.Once we start acting on the new habits and do it consistently and frequently enough, it will eventually form a new behavioural pattern, replacing the old one.

It takes a lot of will power and discipline to do this, but as long as the negative habit is replaced with a positive one, there is always motivation and a sense of achievement.


"HABIT IS A CABLE; WE WEAVE A THREAD OF IT EVERDAY, AND AT LAST WE CANNOT BREAK IT ".............HORACE

Think Win-Win

In a school east of America, there was a very reputated school. To enter the school, one need to have almost perfect mark, and the school fees can be compared to be as much to a living expense of a simple family for a whole month. However, the school had been facing a big trouble, beside the school were a group of mischievous harmful teenagers of the poor families. It was too often that they destroy the school facilities such as window glasses, students cars and they keep annoying the students when they are out of their school.

"Why our top well-known most reputated school has such an evil neighbour?", the school principal was very mad at a meeting among the commitee. "Drive them out of our land! It is easy! We shall purchase all of their land, and convert the land to our school garden with our annual budget."
The school garden was getting larger, but the situation got worse. The poors did move out, but they rebuild again their new homes near the garden. The security got looser than before due to the very spacious garden.

The school commitee had no more idea, they reported this condition to the police. "When we can't communicate with our neighbours, the best way is not by driving them out or create impenetrable wall upon ourselves. Instead, we should try to understand and communicate with them. Then we EDUCATE them," explained one of the officer.
All the teachers dropped to their silence, as teachers, as educators, they had forgotten their function and their ability to educate others.
In the end, the school established a tuition school for them with very affordable price. They invited the poors around them to visit and give them textbooks and educational books to them for free. The school garden was changed to a sportground, so that the students and the youngsters can get along better. In several years to come, the school had been completely free of any disturbance. And of course the poors have better brighter future lies ahead of them.



The Win-Win approach requires us to find out more about the situation first and explore the options before thinking about the final solution.


"THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS WE CANNOT SOLVE TOGETHER,AND VERY FEW THAT WE CAN SOLVE BY OURSELVES"...........LYNDON  B.JOHNSON