The Old Mule

This parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule praying or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together, told them what had happened, and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, HE WOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP!
This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up!” He repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!

It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him actually helped him . . . all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.




When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.When life kicks us,let it kick us forward.
THAT’S LIFE! If we face our problems and respond to them positively, we may be able to overcome the problems instead of feeling bitter or self pity.

The Chicken

Once upon a time, there was a large mountainside, where an eagle's nest rested. The eagle's nest contained four large eagle eggs. One day an earthquake rocked the mountain, causing one of the eggs to roll down the mountain to a chicken farm located in the valley below. The chickens knew that they must protect and care for the eagle's egg, so an old hen volunteered to nurture and raise the large egg.
One day, the egg hatched and a beautiful eagle was born. Sadly, however, the eagle was raised to be a chicken. Soon, the eagle believed he was nothing more than a chicken. The eagle loved his home and family, but his spirit cried out for more. While playing a game on the farm one day, the eagle looked to the skies above and noticed a group of mighty eagles soaring in the skies. "Oh," the eagle cried, "I wish I could soar like those birds."

The chickens roared with laughter, "You cannot soar with those birds. You are a chicken and chickens do not soar."
The eagle continued staring at his real family up above, dreaming that he could be with them. Each time the eagle would let his dreams be known, he was told it couldn't be done. That is what the eagle learned to believe. The eagle, after time, stopped dreaming and continued to live his life like a chicken. Finally, after a long life as a chicken, the eagle passed away.



We always act out the kind of person that we believe ourselves to be.Our beliefs are usually being shaped by our perception of past experiences,success and failures.Our self image is not who we are but rather what we think we are.If we ever dream of becoming an eagle,follow our dreams and not the words of a chicken.Until we paint a bigger picture of ourselves,we will only grow as big as our limits.

True Love

One day, a young guy and a young girl fell in love.But the guy came from a poor family. The girl’s parents weren’t too happy.So the young man decided not only to court the girl but to court her parents as well. In time, the parents saw that he was a good man and was worthy of their daughter’s hand.
But there was another problem: The man was a soldier. Soon, war broke out and he was being sent overseas for a year. The week before he left, the man knelt on his knee and asked his lady love, “Will you marry me?” She wiped a tear, said yes, and they were engaged. They agreed that when he got back in one year, they would get married.
But tragedy struck. A few days after he left, the girl had a major vehicular accident. It was a head-on collision.When she woke up in the hospital, she saw her father and mother crying. Immediately, she knew there was something wrong.
She later found out that she suffered brain injury. The part of her brain that controlled her face muscles was damaged. Her once lovely face was now disfigured. She cried as she saw herself in the mirror. “Yesterday, I was beautiful. Today, I’m a monster.” Her body was also covered with so many ugly wounds.
Right there and then, she decided to release her fiancé from their promise. She knew he wouldn’t want her anymore. She would forget about him and never see him again.For one year, the soldier wrote many letters—but she wouldn’t answer. He phoned her many times but she wouldn’t return her calls.But after one year, the mother walked into her room and announced, “He’s back from the war.”
The girl shouted, “No! Please don’t tell him about me. Don’t tell him I’m here!”
The mother said, “He’s getting married,” and handed her a wedding invitation.The girl’s heart sank. She knew she still loved him—but she had to forget him now.With great sadness, she opened the wedding invitation.And then she saw her name on it!
Confused, she asked, “What is this?”
That was when the young man entered her room with a bouquet of flowers. He knelt beside her and asked, “Will you marry me?”The girl covered her face with her hands and said, “I’m ugly!”
The man said, “Without your permission, your mother sent me your photos. When I saw your photos, I realized that nothing has changed. You’re still the person I fell in love. You’re still as beautiful as ever. Because I love you!”.

 

 

 

 

 

True Happiness

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home.
 

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, a nurse provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room .... just wait."
 

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged, it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away, just for this time in my life."
 

She went on to explain, "Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing."




Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions,it is governed by our mental attitude.If we are determine to be happy,even the simplest thing can give us happiness.

 

 

A Taste of Wisdom

An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" the master asked. "Bitter," spit the apprentice. The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake.

The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake." As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the master asked, "How does it taste?" "Fresh," remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked the master. "No," said the young man. At this the master sat beside this serious young man, who so reminded him of himself, and took his hands, offering: "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things . . . Stop being a glass. Become a lake."

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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 !

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Yesterday and Tomorrow

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is Yesterday with all its mistakes and cares,its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control.All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday.

We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said.Yesterday is gone forever.
The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow with all its possible adversities, its burdens,
its large promise and its poor performance; Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.
Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendour or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise.Until it does,we have no stake in Tomorrow, for it is yet to be born.

This leaves only one day, Today. Any person can fight the battle of just one day.It is when you and I add the burdens of Yesterday and Tomorrow that we break down.
It is not the experience of Today that drives a person mad,it is the remorse or bitterness of something which happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring.
Let us, therefore, Live but one day at a time.

The King and his Leather Shoe

A King decided to walk around his kingdom to see how his people were doing. Just a few steps out of his castle, his foot was injured by a stone lying unseen on the road. He thought, "So the road in my kingdom is this bad. I have got to get it fixed."

The King then summoned all his ministers. He ordered to have all the road in his kingdom be layered with the best of leathers. As soon as it was ordered, the ministers started getting the things ready, they gathered the cows from the whole country of the kingdom only to be made into leather.

The Ministers were surprised with the King's order and have no choice but to follow.Then along  came a wise and brave man who said to the King, "O the Powerful One, why would you have to make so much leather just to cover the whole roads spreading throughout the country when actually what you really need is just two pieces of leather to cover your soles?

The King was surprised, but he agreed to the wise man's suggestion to make a shoe for himself.




A wise man do not force the circumstances to adapt to himself, instead he adapts himself to the circumstances as water shaped itself to the vessel that contains it.

The Jumping Squirrel

Two man, one old and the other young, were sitting on a park bench watching a squirrel attempting to jump from one high tree to another.The squirrel appeared to be aiming for a limb so far out of reach that the leap look like suicide.The squirrel jumped but it missed it's target and it landed safely on another branch below.It then slowly climbed to it's intended place and appeared satisfied.

The old man remarked to the young one, " I have seen lots of squirrels jump like that, especially if predators are around, and they don't ever hit the ground. A lot of them miss the limb they are aiming for, but I never seen any get hurt in trying".
Then he laughed and continued, " I guess they have got to atleast take a risk or they would remain in one tree all their lives.When we need to choose between risking a new situation or hanging back, think of the squirrel".

The young man nodded his head in agreement.




We always feel comfortable when we are in a rut, because it is predictable, stable and secure.If we do not want to take risks we will always remain the same as we were before.The courage to take calculated risks can take us to a higher level of achievement.