Mother's love

A poor couple lived in a small village in India. They had only one son. They gave him the best education. Son graduated as an Engineer in the nearby city. Eventually he got married to a rich girl. Initially, they lived with his parents in the village. Soon the wife got tired of village life and persuaded the husband to move to the city leaving the old parents in the village. 

As time went the husband saw an ad in the newspaper about a vacancy in Jeddah. He was successful and lived in Jeddah for years with his wife. Regularly he used to send money to parents. Eventually with time he stopped and forgot about his parents whether they ever existed. Every year he performed religious prayers and immediately after each prayer, he used to see someone telling him in a dream that his prayer is not accepted. One day he related this story to a priest who advised him to go back to India to visit his parents. 

The man flew to India and reached the boundary of the village. Everything had changed. He could not find his house. He asked a small boy about the whereabouts of so and so. The little boy directed the man to a house and said : "In this house lives an old blind lady who lost her husband a few months ago. She has a son who migrated to Saudi Arabia years back and never came back again. What an unfortunate man?" 

Son enters the home and finds his mother on the bed. He tip-toed as he did not want to wake her up. He hears the mother whispering or mumbling something. He gets closer to hear her voice. This is what the mother was saying: "oh god! I am now very old and blind. My husband just died. There is no one to lower me in my grave when I die. So please send my son to fullfill my last wish. " 

This is the ending of a story where the prayer of a mother is accepted.....!! parents are a blessing never hurt them.

A human body can bear only 45 del (units) of pain. But at the time of giving birth, a mother feels upto 57 del (units) of pain... This is similar to 20 bones getting fractured, all at the same time!!

This is just to tell you the extent to which a mother loves her child!  'Love your mom till the end of your life. The lady with whom you fight almost everyday, suffered so much pain just to give you a beautiful life!

How many people will you forward/share this to?
I shared it coz I love my mother.
Do you???

SALTY COFFEE

He met her on a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he 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 like playing in the sea, 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 hometown, I miss my hometown 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 faraway 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, then they were living the happy life... And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffeee, 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 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.

MOTHER’S LOVE...heart touching story

After having a lot of success in his career a young man felt an urge to repay back to his mother for all that she had done for him.

So he asked her, “Mom, what can I give you? What can I do for you? I sincerely want to repay you for all the sacrifices you have made for me and for all the love you have showered upon me.”

Mother looked surprised and said, “Why do you think about it. It was my duty so I did it, you don’t have to repay me. Even if you want to, there is no way a man can ever repay his mother.”

Despite her continuous refusal to ask for anything,he continued to persist. To put an end to the discussion, she said, “All right. If you must, then tonight you sleep on my bed, with me, just as you used to when you were a baby.”

He said, “That’s a strange thing to ask for, but if it pleases you, I will.”

As soon as he fell asleep, the mother got up and brought a bucket of water. She poured a mug full of water on his side. Feeling disturbed by the wetness under him, in his sleep he moved away to the other side of the bed. As he settled down, his mother poured another mug of water on the other side. In his slumber he tried to find space towards the foot post of the bed.

Sometime later he woke up feeling that this part of the bed too was damp. He got up and saw his mother, with the mug in her hand. He asked angrily, “What are you doing mother? Why don’t you let me sleep? How do you expect me to sleep on a wet bed?”

Mother said, “I slept with you, when you wetted the bed in the night. I changed your clothes and moved you to the dry part of the bed, while I slept on the wet side. You wanted to repay me. Can you sleep here even for one night with me on a damp bed? If you can, I’ll take it that you have repaid me.”

Moral: Of all the debts in the world, the one that can never be repaid is the one you owe to your mother. You can never repay the love, care and time your mother gave to bring you up. You are a part of her flesh and blood; don’t forget this, because she never ever forgets it.

Be a giver not an acquirer, especially with your parents. there is a lot to give, besides money.

BECAUSE MONEY IS THE WORST WAYOF MEASURING HAPPINESS…♥

VALUE YOUR PARENTS - Paid in Full

A Young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, “With all your money you give me a Bible?” and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.

Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care things. When he arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.

He began to search his father’s important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages.

As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer’s name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words…PAID IN FULL.

Difference in Love and Marriage

A student asks a teacher, "What is love?"

The teacher said, "in order to answer your question, go to the wheat field and choose the biggest wheat and come back.

But the rule is: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick."

The student went to the field, go thru first row, he saw one big wheat, but he wonders... may be there is a bigger one later. Then he saw another bigger one... But may be there is an even bigger one waiting for him.

Later, when he finished more than half of the wheat field, he start to realize that the wheat is not as big as the previous one he saw, he know he has missed the biggest one, and he regretted.

So, he ended up went back to the teacher with empty hand.

The teacher told him, "this is love... You keep looking for a better one, but when later you realise, you have already miss the person..."

"What is marriage then?" the student asked.

The teacher said, "in order to answer your question, go to the corn field and choose the biggest corn and come back. But the rule is: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick."

The student went to the corn field, this time he is careful not to repeat the previous mistake, when he reach the middle of the field, he has picked one medium corn that he feel satisfy, and come back to the teacher.

The teacher told him, "This time you bring back a corn. You look for one that is just nice, and you have faith and believe this is the best one you get... This is marriage."

Values Of Love And Care

The passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive young woman with the white cane made her way carefully up the steps.

She paid the driver and, using her hands to feel the location of the seats, walked down the aisle and found the seat he'd told her was empty.Then she's settled in, placed her briefcase on her lap and rested her cane against her leg.

It had been a year since Susan became blind. Due to a medical misdiagnosis she had been rendered sightless, and she was suddenly thrown into a world of darkness, anger,frustration and self-pity. 'How could this have happened to me?' she would plead, her heart knotted with anger. But no matter how much she cried or ranted or prayed, she knew the painful truth, her sight was never going to return. A cloud of depression hung over Susan's once optimistic spirit. All she had to cling to was her husband Mark.

Mark was an Air Force officer and he loved Susan with all his heart. When she first lost her sight, he watched her sink into despair and was determined to help his wife gain the strength she needed to become independent again.

Finally, Susan felt ready to return to her job, but how would she get there? She used to take the bus, but was now too frightened to get around the city by herself. Mark volunteered to drive her to work each day,even though they worked at opposite ends of the city.

At first, this comforted Susan and fulfilled Mark's need to protect his sightless wife who was so insecure about performing the slightest task.

Soon, however Mark realized that this arrangement wasn't working- it was hectic, and costly.

Susan is going to have to start taking the bus again, he admitted to himself. But just the thought of mentioning it to her made him cringe. She was still so fragile, so angry. How would she react?

Just as Mark predicted, Susan was horrified at the idea of taking the bus again. "I'm blind!" she responded bitterly. "How am I supposed to know where I'm going? I feel like you're abandoning me."

Mark's heart broke but he knew what had to be done. He promised Susan that each day he would ride the bus with her until she got the hang of it. And that is exactly what happened.

For two solid weeks, Mark, military uniform and all, accompanied Susan to and from work each day. He taught her how to rely on her other senses to determine where she was and how to adapt to her new environment.

He helped her be friend the bus drivers who could watch out for her,and save her a seat. Each morning they made the journey together, and Mark would take a cab back to his office.

Although this routine was even more costly and exhausting than the previous one, Mark knew it was only a matter of time before Susan would be able to ride the bus on her own. Finally, Susan decided that she was ready to try the trip on her own. Monday morning arrived, and before she left, she threw her arms around Mark, her temporary bus riding companion, her husband, and her best friend. Her eyes filled with tears of gratitude for his loyalty, his patience, his love.

She said good-bye, and for the first time, they went their separate ways. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.... Each day on her own went perfectly, and Susan had never felt better.

On Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work as usual. As she was paying for her fare to exit the bus,the driver said,"Boy, I sure envy you." Susan wasn't sure if the driver was speaking to her or not.

After all, who on earth would ever envy a blind woman who had struggled just to find the courage to live for the past year? "Why do you envy me?" The driver responded, "It must feel so good to be taken care of and protected like you are."

Susan had no idea what the driver was talking about, "What do you mean?" The driver said,"You know, every morning for the past week, a fine looking gentleman in a military uniform has been standing across the corner watching you when you get off the bus. He makes sure you cross the street safely and he watches you until you enter your office building. Then he blows you a kiss, gives you a little salute and walks away. You are one lucky lady."

Tears of happiness poured down Susan's cheeks. For although she couldn't see him, she had always felt Mark's presence.

She was blessed, so blessed, for he had given her a gift more powerful than sight, a gift she didn't need to see to believe - the gift of love that can bring light where there had been darkness.

"You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her..."

A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND IN-DEED

There were two childhood buddies who went through school and college and even joined the army together. War broke out and they were fighting in the same unit. 

One night they were ambushed. Bullets were flying all over and out of the darkness came a voice, "Harry, please come and help me." Harry immediately recognized the voice of his childhood buddy, Bill. He asked the captain if he could go. The captain said, "No, I can't let you go, I am already short-handed and I cannot afford to lose one more person. Besides, the way Bill sounds he is not going to make it." Harry kept quiet. 

Again the voice came, "Harry, please come and help me." Harry sat quietly because the captain had refused earlier. Again and again the voice came. Harry couldn't contain himself any longer and told the captain, "Captain, this is my childhood buddy. I have to go and help." The captain reluctantly let him go. Harry crawled through the darkness and dragged Bill back into the trench. They found that Bill was dead. 

Now the captain got angry and shouted at Harry, "Didn't I tell you he was not going to make it? He is dead, you could have been killed and I could have lost a hand. That was a mistake." Harry replied, "Captain, I did the right thing. When I reached Bill he was still alive and his last words were 'Harry, I knew you would come.

Good relationships are hard to find and once developed should be nurtured. We are often told: Live your dream. But you cannot live your dream at the expense of others. People who do so are unscrupulous. We need to make personal sacrifices for our family, friends, and those we care about and who depend on us.

It's all good!

I heard the story told recently about a king in Africa who had a close friend that he grew up with. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!". To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right" he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "this is good!"

"What do you mean, 'this is good'! How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year."

"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."

Author Unknown

The Elephant Rope

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.

Very touching story...

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 were shattered & devastated.

What do you think is the moral of this story?

Friday Story for my Girls

Once upon a time there was a painter who had just completed his course under disciple hood of a great painter. This young artist decided to assess his skills of skills so he decided to give his best strokes on the canvass. He took 3 days and painted beautiful scenery. Suddenly an idea flashed in his mind and he decided to display it on a busy street-square of that small town he was resident of. He wanted people's opinion about his caliber and painting skills..

He put his creation at a busy street-crossing. And just down below a board which read–

"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. Please put a cross wherever you see a mistake."

While he came back in the evening to collect his painting he was completely shattered to see that whole canvass was filled with Xs (crosses) and some people had even written their comments on the painting.

Disheartened and broken completely he ran to his masters place and burst into tears. Sobbing and crying inconsolably he told his master about what happened and showed the pathetic state of his creation which was filled with marks everywhere. Such was the state that colors were not visible, only things one could see were crosses and correction remarks. This young artist was breathing heavily and master heard him saying "I'm useless and if this is what I have learnt to paint I'm not worth becoming a painter. People have rejected me completely.. I feel like dying"

Master smiled and suggested "My Son, I will prove that you are a great artist and have learnt a flawless painting."

Young disciple couldn't believe it and said "I have lost faith in me and I don't think I am good enough.. don't make false hopes.."

"Do as I say without questioning it.. It WILL work." Master interrupted him.

"Just paint exactly similar painting once again for me and give it to me. Will you do that for your master?.." Master instructed.

Young artist reluctantly agreed and two days later early morning he presented a replica of his earlier painting to his master. Master took that gracefully and smiled.

"Come with me." master said.

They reached the same street-square early morning and displayed the same painting exactly at the same place. Now master took out another board which read –

"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. I have put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please do a favor. If you see a mistake, kindly pick up the brush and correct it."

Master and disciple walked back home.

They both visited the place same evening. Young painter was surprised to see that actually there was not a single correction done so far. But master wasn't satisfied as yet and he told his disciple "May be one day was too little a time for people to come up with ideas and take out time out of their busy schedules to correct it so let us keep it here for one more day. Tomorrow is Sunday, so we can expect some corrections coming in."

Next day again they visited and found painting remained untouched..

They say the painting was kept there for a month for no correction came in!

Moral of the Story: 

It is easier to criticize, but difficult to improve

TRUE LOVE ..(A Doctor's note)

It was approximately 8.30 a.m. on a busy morning when an elderly gentleman in his eighties arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9.00 a.m.

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat. I knew it would take more than an hour before someone would to able to attend to him. I saw him check his watch anxiously for the time and decided to evaluate his wound since I was not busy with another patient.

On examination, the wound was well healed. Hence, I talked to one of the doctors to get the supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

We began to engage in a conversation while I was taking care of his wound. I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment later as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no and said that he needed to go to the nursing home to have breakfast with his wife.

I inquired about her health. He told me that she had been in the nursing home for a while as she was a victim of Alzheimer's disease. I probed further and asked if she would be upset if he was slightly late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was and she had not been able to recognize him since five years ago.

I asked him in surprise, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?" He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

I had to hold back my tears as he left. I had goose bumps on my arm, and I thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

LOST TRAVELER OR ACCIDENTAL TOURIST

By Shazneen Pathak 

Life has been like a road, some roads are big, and some are small. Some are straight and some are topsy turvey. As roads would have it, there are crossroads in life as well. The most confusing, baffling, difficult whatever you call it, is the crossroad in life.

When we face a crossroad, the mind comes to a standstill as to which road to take? Which road is going to take us where! There are few roads, which will lead you to happiness, fame, glory, and fortune, but on the other hand there are few which would take you towards sadness, failure, defeat, disappointments.

We have to decide which road we would take with completely no clue where we going to land at the end! No assurances No guarantees! Since life offers us no guarantees and assurances, it's better to take that risk and make that decisions because unless we don't decide, and go that way we will never know whether the decision was right or wrong.

Instead of standing on the crossroad better to move forward. It's not always that the road, which we think is right for us, is going to give us happiness, there are certainly going to be heartbreaks. You might not achieve what you had thought, but at least you tried. We really do not have power on the outcome but we definitely have the power of our decisions. Taking risks, does not mean to decide in the spur of a moment! Think and then move forward.

If we had known that the road we are choosing is a wrong one and it can make us lost, or the outcome is going to be bad, we would have never decided to go that way. We will only know about the outcome once we walk that road, whether the decision was correct or worthless.

When we have to choose, we need to analyze the options we have, sometimes the options are many, sometimes very few and sometimes none at all. We need to weigh the pros and cons, make option of our own if we don't have any! But at no point take decision haphazardly.

We cannot find that confidence to decide at times, especially when we have no idea what the consequences are going to be. Trust yourself and think that it's the best decision at that point of time. Do not regret it whatever the outcome, learn from it and make better decisions in future. Always remember life will give us more chances to make right decisions.

And after all, I believe it's all the matter of perspective, as to what you want to be a lost traveller or accidental tourist, because you never know which road opens which new horizon!

Firday Story Nite: Nails in the Fence - A Story About Anger

Once upon a time there was a little boy who was talented, creative, handsome, and extremely bright. A natural leader. The kind of person everyone would normally have wanted on their team or project.

But he was also self-centered and had a very bad temper. When he got angry, he usually said, and often did, some very hurtful things. In fact, he seemed to have little regard for those around him.Even friends. So, naturally, he had few. “But,” he told himself, “that just shows how stupid most people are!”

As he grew, his parents became concerned about this personality flaw, and pondered long and hard about what they should do.

Finally, the father had an idea. And he struck a bargain with his son. He gave him a bag of nails, and a BIG hammer. “Whenever you lose your temper,” he told the boy, “I want you to really let it out. Just take a nail and drive it into the oak boards of that old fence out back. Hit that nail as hard as you can!”

Of course, those weathered oak boards in that old fence were almost as tough as iron, and the hammer was mighty heavy, so it wasn’t nearly as easy as it first sounded.

Nevertheless, by the end of the first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence (That was one angry young man!). Gradually, over a period of weeks, the number dwindled down. Holding his temper proved to be easier than driving nails into the fence!

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He felt mighty proud as he told his parents about that accomplishment. “As a sign of your success,” his father responded, “you get to PULL OUT one nail. In fact, you can do that each day that you don’t lose your temper even once.”

Well, many weeks passed. Finally one day the young boy was able to report proudly that all the nails were gone.

At that point, the father asked his son to walk out back with him and take one more good look at the fence. “You have done well, my son,” he said. “But I want you to notice the holes that are left. No matter what happens from now on, this fence will never be the same. Saying or doing hurtful things in anger produces the same kind of result.

There will always be a scar. It won’t matter how many times you say you’re sorry, or how many years pass, the scar will still be there. And a verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. People are much more valuable than an old fence. They make us smile. They help us succeed. Some will even become friends who share our joys, and support us through bad times.

And, if they trust us, they will also open their hearts to us. That means we need to treat everyone with love and respect. We need to prevent as many of those scars as we can.”

A most valuable lesson, don’t you think? And a reminder most of us need from time to time. Everyone gets angry occasionally. The real test is what we DO with it.

If we are wise, we will spend our time building bridges rather than barriers in our relationships

About Stories...

From personal and professional experiences, I know that stories are very powerful because,

1. they are entertaining and can build rapport and connect with your target audience;

2. they can make it memorable and meaningful which will help in learning (assuming you are a good storyteller); and

3. they can help to bypass conscious resistance (sounds very technical leh!) – meaning, people will be less defensive and open to your sharing;

I use stories to communicate key messages in my work almost everyday. At home, I will try to spend time sharing a story with my girls before they go to bed on Friday nights. I use stories to impart values to my girls besides modelling the way. I find this extremely effective and fun. It’s my way of bonding with my two girls.

Both my girls enjoy my stories very much and sometimes when I am too tired to share my stories, they would remind me or drag me out of bed just to tell them a story before they go to sleep. I must confess that sometimes I do miss my Friday story night with them when I’m too tired mentally. Nevertheless, I strive to share my stories with my two princesses at least once a week.

If you want some inspiration for stories, please checkout my stories section in my blog or click on the link below.


http://jimlearningandinspirationalmoments.blogspot.sg/search/label/Stories

Arrogance of Authority

The Arrogance of Authority 

A DEA officer stopped at a ranch in Texas , and talked with an old rancher. 
He told the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs." 
The rancher said, "Okay , but don't go in that field over there.....", as he pointed out the location.

The DEA officer verbally exploded saying, " Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me !" 
Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removed his badge and proudly displayed it to the rancher. 
"See this badge?! This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish.... On any land !! 
No questions asked or answers given!! Have I made myself clear......do you understand ?!!"
The rancher nodded politely, apologized, and went about his chores.

A short time later, the old rancher heard loud screams, looked up, and saw the DEA officer running for his life, being chased by the rancher's big Santa Gertrudis bull......

With every step the bull was gaining ground on the officer, and it seemed likely that he'd sure enough get gored before he reached safety. 
The officer was clearly terrified. 

The rancher threw down his tools, ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs..... 

(I just love this part........) "Your badge, show him your BADGE........ ! !"

Friday Story Night: The mouse trap

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open 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 the 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 - like 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 was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with 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, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many! people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

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 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. Each of us is a vital thread in another person's tapestry.

Source (Story and pic): Click here

Story of The Marble Floor & The Marble Statue

This is the story I shared with my 2 girls on our Friday Story Night. We had a long discussion on the learning from this story. Hope you will enjoy the story as much as my girls did. 

In a nice museum, there is a beautiful marble statue that people from around the world come to see and praise. The statue is placed on a marble flooring.

One day the marble flooring asks the statue, “How come you came out to be so beautiful? We are both picked from the same location in the world. We came through the same process and yet look at me. People walk over me all day just to come see you and praise you. Even though I am marble too but I am of no value to anybody. Its just fate. I have some very bad luck while you have all the good luck.”

The statue replies, “My friend. Its more than just luck. Its a good lesson to remember the time when the sculptor wanted to break you. Hurt you. At the time you said no. You didn’t allow him to touch you. You were reluctant and you had pride at the time and didn’t want to get broken. 

I, on the other hand allowed him to work on me. Look what he has made me into. While you remain the marble floor that every other marble piece who did the same is as well. I got the opportunity to be different and more importantly, unique.”

Learning from this story:

Unless we tread that difficult path. Unless we try new things. Unless we are willing to try something different. There wouldn’t be any progress.

There is always a price to pay for anything. You either pay now and play later, or play now and pay later.

No pain, no gain!

Sources:

http://www.umarpirzada.com/blog/2009/02/23/motivational-mondays-the-marble-floor-the-marble-statue/

http://caktal.blogspot.sg/2009/12/floors-and-story-marble-statue.html

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~ecsbexa/story18.html

http://netsyscon4hr.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/inspirational-story/

Houdini and the locked safe- Beliefs/Mindsets

This was the story I shared with my girls during our Friday Story Night (last night). Hope you will enjoy the story and lessons...

Houdini and the locked safe- Beliefs/Mindsets

Harry Houdini, the famous American escapologist, had become so accomplished in his art, that he started to issue challenges to people to find him the strongest box, or cage or water barrel, and the most secure or complex systems of chains and locks, so that he could show off his prowess.

A bank in England had made a safe that they claimed was impenetrable, and they contacted Houdini to dare him to try and break out of it.

Houdini could not resist the challenge. He went to England to prove the safe-makers wrong.

After he was bound and locked in the safe, Houdini went through his normal routine. He had developed the process to such a fine art over the years that he was supremely calm and confident that he could pick the lock of the door.

But after the first hour, Houdini was not feeling quite so calm. He had used up all his normal manoeuvres without success. With sweat now pouring off him, he began to struggle and pull at the locks. But no matter what he tried, the lock would not budge.

After two hours, Houdini was totally exhausted. He fell against the huge door of the safe… which moved and swung open. The door had never been locked in the first place!

But in Houdini's mind that door was more secure than it ever could have been if it had been locked.

LESSONS/ MORAL OF STORY

Henry Ford said:

If you think you can, or you think you cannot- you're absolutely right!

If something is true for us then it's true, no matter what other people might tell us. If you want to change your behaviour, start first with changing your beliefs.

Mental models are very powerful. Your behaviors and actions are determined by what your mind tells you. So, all change and improvements begins with changing what you think. What you think has a profound effect on what you do and how you do it. You can only achieve anything if you believe in it! If you don't think you can do it, you never will.

I'll end this week's blog with another short sharing by Paul Vivek quoted in "The Best Advice I Ever Got," Fortune, March 21, 2005, p. 100.

"The best advice I ever got was from an elephant trainer in the jungle outside Bangalore. I was doing a hike through the jungle as a tourist. I saw these large elephants tethered to a small stake. I asked him, 'How can you keep such a large elephant tied to such a small stake?' He said, 'When the elephants are small, they try to pull out the stake, and they fail. When they grow large, they never try to pull out the stake again.' That parable reminds me that we have to go for what we think we're fully capable of, not limit ourselves by what we've been in the past."

Hope you will find this week's sharing useful. Jim

About Stories

From personal and professional experiences, I know that stories are very powerful because,

    1.    they are entertaining and can build rapport and connect with your target audience;

    2.    they can make it memorable and meaningful which will help in learning (assuming you are a good storyteller); and

    3.    they can help to bypass conscious resistance (sounds very technical leh!) – meaning, people will be less defensive and open to your sharing;

I use stories to communicate key messages in my work almost everyday. At home, I will try to spend time sharing a story with my girls before they go to bed on Friday nights. I use stories to impart values to my girls besides modelling the way. I find this extremely effective and fun. It’s my way of bonding with my two girls.

Both my girls enjoy my stories very much and sometimes when I am too tired to share my stories, they would remind me or drag me out of bed just to tell them a story before they go to sleep. I must confess that sometimes I do miss my Friday story night with them when I’m too tired mentally. Nevertheless, I strive to share my stories with my two princesses at least once a week.

Below is a story I shared with my girls two weeks back. I hope you will enjoy this story and the key lessons as well. If you want some inspiration for stories, please checkout my stories section in my blog or click on the link below.

http://jimlearningandinspirationalmoments.blogspot.sg/search/label/Stories

HELP TO CRY

The little girl was late coming home. Her mother had sent her to the shop to buy something. She should have been back half an hour ago.

The door opened and in came the girl. Her mother asked, “Where have you been? You should have been back 30 minutes ago.”

“Sorry, mother,” she said.

“As I was coming back, I saw Lucy next door. She was crying. Her doll had fallen, and was broken. So I stopped to help her.”

Her mother was very puzzled. How could her little girl help Lucy with a broken doll?

“What did you do to help her?”

“I sat down next to her, and cried with her,” the little girl said.

We can learn at least three things from this story.

First, when someone is late or did not get a job done, don’t simply start shouting and scolding and showing your anger. Ask him for the reason. Give him a chance to explain. Ask questions. Things may not be what you imagine. Don’t jump to conclusions. Be willing to understand.

Second, always be willing to help someone else in whatever way you can. It will give you a new dose of happiness. Happiness is something you can give to someone else, and at the same time you still have it after you give it away.

The third point is the most important of all. We can always help. It is not a matter of money. It is not a matter of skills. It is a matter of willingness. It is our attitude towards other people. It is a matter of the heart, not just of the mind. Think of the little girl. Did she help Lucy? In fact she did not do anything to repair the doll. The doll was still broken. But she did something much more valuable. She showed her friend she really cared. When her friend was sad, she was sad also. So she helped her friend by helping her to cry.

Key Message:

Show that you care for your parents, your children, your friends, your office colleagues. Help them solve their problems if you can. But if you can’t do anything to solve their problems, show that you care about the conditions they are in.

If people are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, be sad with them. People call this showing empathy for others. “Empathy” is too big a word. Keep it simple. Show others you care for them. Help them in whatever way you can, even if it is no more than joining them in their weeping and crying.

Story source: http://www.challenge.gov.sg/magazines/archive/a_line/200409.html

Hakuin and the baby

A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter's accusation, he simply replied

"Is that so?"

When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility.

"Is that so?" Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.

For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened.

"Is that so?" Hakuin said as he handed them the child.


Lessons:

"The master taught the village that perception is a relative phenomenon and that reality simply is what it is despite how people label it."

"Public criticism is a means for those who do not know themselves well. But for well self-understanding people, it means nothing."

People saying something does not make it true... Knowing yourself is the most importent thing.

No matter what your reputation is, no matter how much your virtue is praised, because it depends on the opinions of others, it does not reflect the Real You.

The master has achieved complete acceptance of every person, situation and emotion. He has no fear of being unjustly labeled. He receives the child and gives up the child with the same peace of mind. He is both a detached observer and a complete participant.

“Is that so?” reflects the acceptance of what the moment brings. Acceptance in the sense that one responds appropriately to the situation with a calm mind and spirit. There are no calls of fairness or unfairness, of being experienced in the task or not, of complaining about a lost reputation, of wishing that it were different. The needs of present are simply addressed.

More than the physical situation, it is the spirit of the monk’s mind at the initial instant that the situation arises that makes his actions so compelling. It is not passive acceptance; there is direct action here. The calm mind allows effort to be fully directed to the situation without dispersal of energy.


This lesson is for the reader, not a story about a monk. The situation may be one at work, home, or with a friend that brings the same apparent unfairness and inconvenience to an individual at the moment.

Responding with a calm or turbulent mind makes all the difference.

The calm spirit is within the potential of all humans.