Saturday 29 September 2012

Blessing In Disguise

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.
Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied. It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering.



All things happen for a reason,although we may not understand why.Sometimes what looks like a tragedy or a hopeless situation may turn up to be a blessing. Do not give up hope too easily.






Wednesday 26 September 2012

The Black Dot

A small town chamber of commerce invited a speaker to address its annual dinner. The community’s economy was bad, people were discouraged, and they wanted this motivational speaker to give them a boost.
During her presentation, the speaker took a large piece of white paper and made a small black dot in the centre of it with a marking pen. Then she held the paper up before the group and ask them what they saw. One person quickly replied, “I see a black dot.” “Okay, what else do you see?” Others joined in agreement : “A black dot.” “Don’t you see anything besides the dot?” she asked. A resounding “No” came from the audience.
“What about the sheet of paper?” asked the speaker. “I am sure you have all seen it”, she said, “But you have chosen to overlook it.” “In life, we also tend to overlook and take for granted many wonderful things that we have or happen around us and focus our attention and energy on small, dotlike failures and disappointments.
The so called ‘problems’ that we have are usually like the black dot on the paper. They are small and insignificant if we can widen our horizon and look at the whole picture.”
Are you one of the person who focus your attention and energy on dot-like problems?






Sunday 23 September 2012

The Horse that Wanted Perfection

A cosmic god had a horse. The horse was beautiful and also it had many good qualities. But it wanted to be more perfect in every way. It especially wanted to become beauty unparalleled.

One day the horse said to the cosmic god, “0 Lord, you have given me beauty. You have given me other good qualities. I am so grateful to you. But how I wish you could make me more beautiful. I would be extremely, extremely grateful if you could make me more beautiful.” The cosmic god said, “I am more than ready to make you more beautiful. Tell me in what way you want to be changed.”
The horse said, “It seems to me that I am not well proportioned. My neck is too short. If you can make my neck a little longer, my upper body will be infinitely more beautiful. And if you can make my legs much longer and thinner, then I will look infinitely more beautiful in my lower body.” The cosmic god said, “Amen!”

 Then immediately he made a camel appear in place of the horse. The horse was so disheartened that it started to cry, “0 Lord, I wanted to become more beautiful. In what way is this kind of outer form more beautiful?” The cosmic god said, “This is exactly what you asked for. You have become a camel.” The horse cried, “Oh no, I do not want to become a camel I wish to remain a horse. As a horse, everybody appreciated my good qualities. Nobody will appreciate me as a camel.”

The cosmic god said, “Never try to achieve or receive more than I have given you. If you want to lead a desire-life, then at every moment you will want more and more. But you have no idea what the outcome will be. If you cry for a longer neck and legs, this is what will happen. Each thing in my creation has its own good qualities. The camel is not as beautiful as you are, but it carries heavy loads and has a tremendous sense of responsibility.



We cannot expect to have all the best things in this world and to become perfect.We must learn how to be contented and utilise our own abilities to become successful rather than clamouring against our shortcomings.


Wednesday 19 September 2012

The Butterfly Cocoon

A man was regularly observing a butterfly cocoon lying on his window sill. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force it's body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. So, the man decided to help the butterfly, he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. BUT, it had a swollen body, and small shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly, because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of it's life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly.

What he had done in his well intentioned kindness and haste, he did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get through the tiny opening were the natural way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into it's wings so that it would be ready for flight ONCE it achieved it's freedom from the cocoon.





All life demands struggle.Where there is no struggle,there is no strength.If everything is given to us in the easy way,we will become selfish,weak and insensitive to the real values of life.







Monday 17 September 2012

Obstacles In Our Path

Once upon a time,there was a King who intentionally had a boulder placed on a roadway.Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.

Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder,the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road.After much pushing and straining,he finally succeeded.As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables,he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been.

The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.The peasant learned what many others never understand.



Obstacles are often unrecognised opportunity.The weak see obstacles as stumbling blocks but the strong see them as stepping stone.Inorder to reach the next stage of joy and success, we have to embrace obstacles along our pathway.Obstacles will look large or small according to whether we are large or small.



Friday 14 September 2012

Live Your Own Life

Your presence is a present to the world.
You are unique and one of a kind.
Your life can be what you want it to be.
Take the days just one at a time. Count your blessings, not your troubles.
You will make it through whatever comes along. Within you are so many answers.
Understand, have courage, be strong.
Do not put limits on yourself.
So many dreams are waiting to be realized.
Decisions are too important to leave to chance.
Reach for your peak, your goal and you prize.
Nothing wastes more energy than worrying. The longer one carries a problem the heavier it gets.
Do not take things too seriously.
Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.
Remember that a little love goes a long way.
Remember that a lot … goes forever.
Remember that friendship is a wise investment.
Life’s treasure are people together.
Realize that it is never too late.
Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.
Have hearth and hope and happiness.
Take the time to wish upon a start.

AND DO NOT EVER FORGET …. FOR EVEN A DAY HOW VERY SPECIAL YOU ARE !



Tuesday 11 September 2012

To Let Go

To let go does not mean to stop caring, it means I can't do it for someone else.

To let go is not to cut myself off, it's the realization that I can't control another.

To let go is not to enable,but to allow learning from natural consequences.

To let go is to admit powerlessness,which means the outcome is not in my hands.

To let go is not to try to change or blame another,it's to make the most of myself.

To let go is not to care for,but to care about.

To let go is not to fix,but to be supportive.

To let go is not to judge,but to allow another to be a human being.

To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own destinies.

To let go is not to be protective, it's to permit another to face reality.

To let go is not to criticize, or regulate anyone, but to try to become what I dream I can do.

To let go is to fear less, and to love more.



Sunday 9 September 2012

The Weaver Woman

Once a woman went to see her weaver friend.The weaver, who had been spinning different kinds of silk thread, was very happy to see her friend and said to her: " Friend, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you.Let me get you some refreshments". She left the room.

The woman looked at the threads of different colours and was tempted.She hid a bundle of thread under one arm.The weaver returned with the refreshments and began to feed her guest with great enthusiasm.But, looking at the thread,she realized that her friend had taken a bundle.

Hitting upon a plan to get it back,she said: "Friend,it is so long since I had seen you and this is a day of great joy for me. I feel very much like asking you to dance with me".
The friend said,"Sister,I am feeling very happy too".
So the two friends begin to dance together.When the weaver saw that her friend danced without raising her hands, she said: "Let us dance with both hand raised to show our happiness".
But the guest pressed one arm to her side and danced raising only the other.The weaver said: "How is this, friend? Why should you dance with only one hand raised? Come and dance with me raising both hands.Look at me,see how I dance with both hand raised?"
But the guest still pressed one arm to her side.She danced with the other hand raised and said with a smile, " This is all I know about dancing".



When we have done nothing against our conscience,we need not have to fear of anything.Only when we feel guilty of wrong doing,we feel uncomfortable with our actions and behaviours.



Friday 7 September 2012

The Man, The Boy and The Donkey

A Man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: "You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?"

So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: "See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides."

And thus the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn't gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: "Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along."

Well, the Man didn't know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey of yoursu and your hulking son?"

The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey's feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned. "That will teach you," said an old man who had followed them:

"Please all, and you will please none."




Everybody has different opinion on things and we must not simply listen to them just for the sake of making them happy.We cannot please all the people all the time.


Wednesday 5 September 2012

Grow Great by Dreams

The question was once asked of a highly successful businessman: "How have you done so much in your lifetime?"
 He replied, "I have dreamed. I have turned my mind loose to imagine what I wanted to do.
Then I have gone to bed and thought about my dreams. In the night I dreamt about my dreams. And when I awoke in the morning, I saw the way to make my dreams real. While other people were saying, 'You can't do that, it isn't possible,' I was well on my way to achieving what I wanted.
 As Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the U.S., said: "We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers." They see things in the soft haze of a spring day, or in the red fire on a long winter's evening.
 Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nourish them through bad days until they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true."
We may need to go through bumpy roads and obstacles in the pursuit of our dreams but don't let anyone
 steal our dreams, or try to tell us they are too impossible.









Monday 3 September 2012

Carrot, Egg or Coffee?

A daughter complained to her father about life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of struggling. It seemed that as soon as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a
bowl.Turning to her he asked. "What do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. She said, "What's the point?" He explained that each of the items had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong and hard. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"




When the going gets tough, it is always important to remember that what really matters is what happens "in" us, not to us. George Bernard Shaw onced said " Be the creator of circumstances but not the creature of circumstances". If we don't take control of a situation, we will become a victim of the situation.









Saturday 1 September 2012

The Neglected Temple

Once, three monks gathered at an unattented lonely temples. "Why is this temple so unattended?", nobody knew who started the conversation, but then, "Must be because the monks do not have the sincerity in doing the prayers and rituals that the deities did not showed them their miraculous powers.", answered the first monk. "Must be that the monks here are not hardworking enough that the temple was left unattended," explained second monk. "Must be because of the monks living here do not respect one another that the followers grew few," added the third monk.

Three of them argued...until that they decided to live in that temple to see who was the truest. The first monk do prayers, ceremonies, rituals sincerely, the second monk fixed and renovated the temple, and the third monk went preaching out to the public. Time passed and the temple became a very crowded well known temple.

"This all happened because of my sincerity in prayers that the deities decided to help and grant me miracles," said the first monk. "No, because of my hardwork working on the temple that it looked so magnificent and beautiful," replied the second monk. "Of course because of me who goes out teaching truths and preaching that our followers grow even larger everyday," the third monk explained.
Day and night they kept arguing, and cared less of the temple condition. They did not realized that they began to neglect the temple's prosperity and was more concerned with their egoistic pride. Time passed again and the temple returned to its former condition, it was then as unattented as it once was before.

The three monks left the temple, they realized and concluded that the temple was unattented not because of anything, but because there was lack of harmony within the people inside.





Unity is strength.The best teamwork always come from people who are working indepedently towards one goal in unison.When there is a lack of collaboration,and when people starts to fight for credit, nothing can be achieved.We must learn to accept responsibilty for our actions but not the credit for the achievement.