Gift of Love

"Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked.

When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred. When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks.

He blurted out the tragedy. "A boy, a big boy ... called me a freak."

He grew up, handsome for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. "But you might mingle with other young people," his mother reproved him, but felt a kindness in her heart.

The boy's father had a session with the family physician. Could nothing be done? "I believe I could graft on a pair of outer ears, if they could be procured," the doctor decided.

Whereupon the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man. Two years went by.

Then, "You are going to the hospital, Son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it's a secret," said the father.

The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person emerged. His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of triumphs. Later he married and entered the diplomatic service.

"But I must know!" He urged his father, "Who gave so much for me? I could never do enough for him."

"I do not believe you could," said the father, "but the agreement was that you are not to know ... not yet."

The years kept their profound secret, but the day did come ... one of the darkest days that a son must endure. He stood with his father over his mother's casket.

Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish-brown hair to reveal that the mother had no outer ears.

"Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut," he whispered gently,

"and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they?"

Real beauty lies not in the physical appearance, but in the heart. Real treasure lies not in what that can be seen, but what that cannot be seen. Real love lies not in what is done and known, but in what that is done but not known

Comfort Zone

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons from Arabia. They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.

Months passed and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.

The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch. Having tried everything else,

the king thought to himself, "May be I need someone more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem." So he cried out to his court, "Go and get a farmer."

In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his court, "Bring me the doer of this miracle."

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?"

With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, " It was very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting."

We are all made to fly -- to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable, the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.

So let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight

A wrong move ...maybe

I was always successful, be it in my education or career life. I have never thought that I will fail even once in both aspects, for I know I am capable and know my stuff. Little did I know, a wrong move in my career will end me in deep trouble.

I was happily working in a company when a golden opportunity struck. I got head hunted! So, I moved on and worked in the new company. Yes, truthfully, the pay attracted me.

Days passed. My workload was light and I was earning more than I used to get. I thought maybe, I should continue this for a year then decide on what I want to move on as. I was planning to get a masters degree too. However, the regional recession took me by surprise.

The company retrenched me. Hey, there were so many lazy bums in the company and I wasn't one of them. Why me? Well, I know. It is because I am not in the group of the decision maker.

I accepted the fate rather gracefully and picked up my emotions. I started looking for jobs immediately. In front of the interviewers, I am confident and know what I want. Yet no one knows I am feeling sad and worried.

A month has passed. I do have a few job offers but there is no news from the company with the ideal job that I went to interview for and hope to get. For the past weeks, it seems like a real test and a real challenge.

It was my discontentment that brought me to this state. I regretted being too greedy and money minded. But, the past is past. I was blessed to have a smooth path in my career. Life is not a bed of roses always. This is a time for me to prove my worth.

I know I am worthy for everything in the world. I won't give up, for I know I will get what I want, even if the company with the ideal job rejected me. I will move on and get what I want. No matter how tough the journey will take, I am determined to continue and fulfill my goals and dreams.

You too, it is a blessing that we are living right now at this moment. With failures, we grow. Somehow, I feel that my life has just started. It is not the destination that matters, it is the journey. Though my journey, for this round, is full of thorns and hindrances, I will definitely enjoy the trip and learn the lessons within.

My Friend

I just wanted to write a quick note about my friend ‘Inspiration’. When I look for him he’s not there but when he comes around he leaves me feeling like a king. I noticed one thing about inspiration, if you do not mix motivation with inspiration, you wind up with neither and get no further towards your goals.

Here is a rule to follow…when inspiration visits make sure you answer the door, write down the idea, set it into a plan of action and include a time line to make it a destination. Sometimes when we think of Goals we make them into things we won’t achieve. Lets skip that by making a road map to your destination instead of setting goals set real times to achieve real tasks. If you are reading this it may be fate has reminded you of this. Use great resources to keep you motivated towards the destination. I am writing of goals, motivation and destinations to remind myself to stay on track. I have set a destination to be self sufficient on the internet with in a year and have hit a few stumbling blocks.

I am Reminding myself that there are factors which will solve these problems:
It has been my past experience that I have accomplished every goal I set,
I do not give up,
I view goals as destinations,
I stick to the idea.

If you run into what some may call failure remind yourself that most successful people were at the brink of disaster when they made it.

Success is said to be on the other side of failure, because most of the time there will be multiple failures before success.

Do you remember learning how to ride a bike?

Blade of Grass

They say that life will pass you bye if you're not careful. That there's no point in taking the time to notice something if you don't take the time to appreciate it!

Something easier said than done in this fast track age we live in. It's just amazing how fast time goes by; only one more year and I'll be a 22-century man. But what a day to be outside for once, just lying flat out on this small forbidden lush green carpet.

I wonder if this lone blade of grass I stare at only appears to be unusual because of my perceived thoughts at this time, maybe due to the cause and effects of my interests, or maybe my illusions of the future or my imaginations of the past, or maybe it's just from the position I've simple chosen to look at it.

Maybe it's the sun's ray's skipping across this last small patch of crisp foliage. Everything so magnificently magnified from my excellent vantage point, everything somehow strange, …..Different…Wonderful.

If I could only push my face a little further into the soft thickets, or maybe dig a small hole to lower my head and obtain an even better perspective. I'm sure this bold blade of grass would appear even more majestic, even more fearless, this noble prince that stands a little straighter, a little stronger, a little more determined than his forgotten brothers for the affections of their sun goddess.

Amazing how something so small and insignificant can prove to be so alive, so vital. One of the something's I would never of noticed, maybe never have appreciated.

Just magnificent!

Who owns the backyard ?

Vicki Huffman, in Plus Living , tells about a man who loved to hunt and bought two pedigreed dogs that he trained to be fine bird dogs. He kept them in a large, fenced pen in his backyard.

One morning he observed a little bulldog trotting down the alley behind his home. It saw the two dogs and squeezed under the fence. The man thought he should perhaps lock up the dogs so they wouldn't hurt the little dog, but

changed his mind.

Maybe they would 'teach that bulldog a lesson,' he reasoned. As he predicted, fur began to fly, and all of it was bulldog fur. The feisty intruder soon had enough and squeezed back under the fence to get away.

To the man's surprise, the visitor returned again the next morning. He crawled under the fence and once again took on the tag-team of dogs. And like the day before, he soon quit and squeezed out of the pen.

The incident was repeated the following day, with the same results.

The man left early the next morning on a business trip and returned after several weeks. He asked his wife what finally became of the bulldog.

'You won't believe it,' she replied. 'At the same time every day that little dog came to the backyard and fought with our dogs. He never missed a day! It has come to the point now that when our dogs simply hear him snorting down

the alley, they start whining and run down into the basement.

Then the little bulldog struts around our backyard as if he owns it.'

How do you manage those problems you encounter daily? I don't mean that we must fight with them, but do you persistently take them on until you persevere?

Dale Carnegie made this observation: 'Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.'

In the end, it's the persistent bulldog that will own the backyard.  

Green colour

There was a millionaire who was bothered by severe eye pain. He consulted so many physicians and was getting his treatment done. He did not stop consulting galaxy of medical experts; he consumed heavy loads of drugs and underwent hundreds of injections.

But the ache persisted with great vigour than before. At last a monk who has supposed to be an expert in treating such patients was called for by the millionaire. The monk understood his problem and said that for sometime he should concentrate only on green colours and not to fall his eyes on any other colours.

The millionaire got together a group of painters and purchased barrels of green color and directed that every object his eye was likely to fall to be painted in green colour just as the monk had directed.

When the monk came to visit him after few days, the millionaire' s servants ran with buckets of green paints and poured on him since he was in red dress, lest their master not see any other colour and his eye ache would come back.

Hearing this monk laughed and said "If only you had purchased a pair of green spectacles, worth just a few rupees, you could have saved these walls and trees and pots and all other articles and also could have saved a large share of his fortune.

You cannot paint the world green." Let us change our vision and the world will appear accordingly. It is foolish to shape the world, let us shape ourselves first.

Growing Up

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, "Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?" I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she gave me a giant squeeze.

"Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked.

She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel."

"No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and share a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know."

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began: "We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only few secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. "You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dean and don't even know it!"

"There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change."

"Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."

She concluded her speech by courageously singing The Rose. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the years end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Remember : GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY, GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.

Happiness is something you decide

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud mother-in-law of my best friend, 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 today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

Maurine Jones is the most lovely, gracious, dignified woman that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. While I have never aspired to attain her depth of wisdom, I do pray that I will learn from her vast experience.

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, I 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. 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."

 

Carrot , Egg & Coffee Beans

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her 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 fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first pot, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out

and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft. She then asked her to take the egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to smell and sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she smelled and tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What's the point, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity- boiling water-but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, 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?" she asked her daughter. "When trials and adversity knock on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg,or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a passive heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside, am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or,

am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you become better and change the situation around you.

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Like the CARROT, the EGG, OR the COFFEE BEAN?

The Doll & White Rose.

I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. I would be in here forever and I just had so much to do. Christmas was beginning to become such a drag. I kind of wished that I could just sleep through Christmas but I hurried the best I could through all the people to the toy department.

Once again I kind of mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys and wondered if the grandkids would even play with them. I found myself in the doll aisle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a little boy about age 5 holding a lovely doll. He kept touching her hair and he held her so gently. I could not seem to help myself.

I just kept looking over at the little boy and wondered whom the doll was for. I watched him turn to a woman and he called his aunt by name said, "Are you sure I don't have enough money?"

She replied a bit impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for it."

The aunt told the little boy not to go anywhere, that she had to go get some other things and would be back in a few minutes and then she left the aisle. The boy continued to hold the doll.

After a bit I asked the boy whom the doll was for. He said,"It is the doll my sister wanted so badly for Christmas. She just knew that Santa would bring it."

I told him that maybe Santa was going to bring it.

He said "No, Santa can't go where my sister is...I have to give the doll to my Mamma to take to her."  I asked him where his sister was. He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, "She has gone to be with God. My Daddy says that Mama is going to have to go be with her."

My heart nearly stopped beating. Then the boy looked at me again and said,

"I told my Daddy to tell Mama not to go yet. I told him to tell her to wait till I got back from the store."

Then he asked me if I wanted to see his picture. I told him I would love to. He pulled out some pictures he'd had taken at the front of the store. He said,

"I want my Mamma to take this with her so she don't ever forget me. I love my Mama so very much and I wish she did not have to leave me. But Daddy says she will need to be with my sister."

I saw that the little boy had lowered his head and had grown so very quiet.

While he was not looking I reached into my purse and pulled out a handful of bills. I asked the little boy, "Shall we count that money one more time?"

He grew excited and said, "Yes, I just know it has to be enough."

So I slipped my money in with his and we began to count it. Of course it was plenty for the doll. He softly said, "Thank you God for giving me enough money."

Then the boy said, "I just asked God to give me enough money to buy this doll so Mama can take it with her to give to my sister. And he heard my prayer. I wanted to ask him for enough to buy my Mama a white rose, but I didn't ask him, but he gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose for my Mama. She loves white roses so very, very much."

In a few minutes the aunt came back and I wheeled my cart away. I could not keep from thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally different spirit than when I had started.

I kept remembering a story I had seen in the newspaper several days earlier about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little girl and the mother was in serious condition. The family was deciding on whether to remove the life support. Now surely this little boy did not belong with that story.

Two days later I read in the paper where the family had disconnected the life support and the young woman had died. I could not forget the little boy and just kept wondering if the two were somehow connected.

Later that day, I could not help myself and I went out and bought some white roses and took them to the funeral home where the young woman was. And there she was holding a lovely white rose, the beautiful doll, and the picture of the little boy in the store.

I left there in tears, my life changed forever. The love that little boy had for his little sister and his mother was overwhelming. In a split second a drunk driver had ripped the life of that little boy to pieces.

Cut the rope

This story might strengthen our faith!

They tell the story of a mountain climber, desperate to conquer the highest mountain in the world, initiated his climb after years of preparation. But he wanted the glory to himself; therefore, he went up alone. He started climbing and it was becoming later and later. He did not prepare for camping but decided to keep on going. Soon it got dark . . .

Night fell with heaviness at such high altitude and there was zero visibility. Everything was black, no moon,and the stars covered by clouds.

As he was climbing a ridge at about 100 meters from the top, he slipped and fell. Falling rapidly he could only see blotches of darkness that passed in the same darkness and a terrible sensation of being suctioned by gravity. He kept falling and in those anguishing moments’ good and bad memories passed through his mind. He thought he would die. Nevertheless, he felt a jolt that almost tore him in half. Like any good mountain climber he had staked himself with a long rope tied to his waist.

In those moments of stillness, suspended in the air he had no other choice but to shout, "HELP ME GOD", "HELP ME!"

All of a sudden he heard a deep voice from heaven. "What do you want me to do?”

"SAVE ME" said the climber

"Do you REALLY think that I can save you?"

"OF COURSE, MY GOD" said the climber

"Then cut the rope that is holding you up."

There was another moment of silence and stillness. The man held tighter to the rope. The rescue team says that the next day they found, a frozen mountain climber hanging strongly to a rope TWO FEET off the ground . . .

What about you? How trusting are you in that rope? Why don't you let it go? I tell you, God has great and marvellous things for you.

CUT THE ROPE AND SIMPLY TRUST IN HIM.

Clay Balls

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves, he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.

They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.

Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls, with their hidden treasure, into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.

We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

The Ducks

Early one morning this past week, my dog and I went for our daily walk down by the town pool and lake. After my dog fulfilled his daily "duty" we strolled in front of the pool so he could scoop out the scents of the bushes.

To my surprise, fenced inside the pool was a female mallard duck. It seems her landing was misjudged and she got herself into a pickle, and was now trapped inside the pool's fence, not able to figure out quite yet how to get out.

On the outside of the fence was her "mate." Totally frantic at the fact that he could not get to her. Around and around this poor male waddled around the fence. Making his mate so nervous. Distracting her from allowing her dignity in letting her solve her own problem. To figure out on her own....how to get out of this predicament.

Now my first instinct, being codependent, was to try to figure out "how to rescue" this female and bring her back to her mate so they could "swim happily ever after."

Maybe I'll call the wild life patrol. Should I call the police? Then it came to me............Gina? The good Lord put her there........he'll help her to figure out how to get out. Mind your OWN business.

So......I looked down, my dog totally puzzled why we were there so long. Gave me a tug on the leash and we went home.

The next morning we returned. Of course I headed right to the pool. my dog and I walked around and around....no ducks! :)

We strolled the path by the lake and what did I see but my 2 feathered friends happily swimming side by side!

I was overjoyed seeing them......my dog really couldn't care less as he once again was fulfilling his morning "duty."

As we walked back home I thought about those mallards. How many times have we tried to interfere in someone's struggles? How many sleepless nights have we spent trying to figure out someone else's problems? How to get them out of it? Someone that we usually love?

I would like to believe that the male mallard finally exhausted himself and said to her" Listen! You got yourself into this mess! Figure out how to get out of it! I have got to take care of myself. I'm hungry! I'm going to the Mosquito Diner. Meet me there when you figure it out."

I would like to believe that the female sat down and said to herself "I have got to get myself out of this. I'm trapped inside this fence. I've got to figure it out how to get myself out." She did................. :)

Sometimes it so much easier to focus on another's problem than our own. Sometimes by focusing on others struggles it makes us not take a look at "our own" and what we can do to fix our OWN life and take care of our own problems that we need to solve.

The next time I even think about solving another's struggles that they can and should do on their own....I will think about what I can do to change a problem of my own.

3 Dolls

A sage presented a prince with a set of three small dolls. The prince was not amused.

"Am I a girl that you give me dolls?" he asked.

"This is a gift for a future king," said the man. "If you look carefully, you'll see a hole in the ear of each doll."

"So?"

The sage handed him a piece of string.

"Pass it through each doll," he said.

Intrigued, the prince picked up the first doll and put the string into the ear.

It came out from the other ear.

"This is one type of person," said the man. "Whatever you tell him, comes out from the other ear. He doesn't retain anything."

The prince put the string into the second doll. It came out from the mouth.

"This is the second type of person," said the man. "Whatever you tell him, he tells everybody else."

The prince picked up the third doll and repeated the process. The string did not reappear from anywhere else.

"This is the third type of person," said the man. "Whatever you tell him is locked up within him. It never comes out."

"What is the best type of person?" asked the prince.

The man handed him a fourth doll, in answer.

When the prince put the string into the doll, it came out from the other ear.

"Do it again," said the sage. The prince repeated the process. This time the string came out from the mouth. When he put the string in a third time, it did not come out at all.

"This is the best type of person," said the sage. "To be trustworthy, a man must know when not to listen, when to remain silent and when to speak out."

Leadership Lesson

Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum, Philadelphia, March 22, 2008)

Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India 's "Rohini" satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were

not in order.

My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal . It was a big failure.

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India ].

Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed.

Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, "You conduct the press conference today."

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.

Colour of Friendship

Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel. All claimed that they were the best. The most important. The most useful. The favorite.

Green said:
"Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority."

Blue interrupted:
"You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing."

Yellow chuckled:
"You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no

fun."

Orange started next to blow her trumpet:
"I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and papayas. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you."

Red could stand it no longer he shouted out:
"I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."

Purple rose up to his full height:
He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: "I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me! They listen and obey."

Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination:

"Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."

And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.

In the midst of the clamor, rain began to speak:

"You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."

Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands.

The rain continued:

"From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow."

And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a Rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another.

Gold & Diamond

Long times ago, in Egypt lived a famous mystical person name Zun-Nun. A young man came to visit him and asked "Teacher, I do not understand why people like you dress in such a way and very simple,isn't in this era was necessary to dress neatly, not only for performance but also for other reasons?

The mystical only smiled and took his ring from one of his fingers, and said "Young friend, I will answer your question, but first do one thing for me, take this ring and go to the market across this street, can you sell this for one chip of gold?

Having looked at Zun-Nun's dirty ring, the young man became doubtful. "One chip of gold, I am not sure this ring could be sold at that price."

"Try first, young man, who knows you did it." The Young man went to the market quickly. He offered the ring to the textile, vegetable, meat, fish traders, and the others. The fact was that no body was willing to pay for a chip of Gold.

He went back to Zun-Nun residence and reported "Teacher, no body was brave to offer more than one chip of silver."

With a wise smile Zun-Nun said, "Now go to the Gold Shop at the back of this street. Show this to the owner or to the gold trader. Don't give your price just listen how much he will pay for this ring."

The young man went to the shop mentioned and returned with a different expression from his face. He then reported "Teacher, the traders in the market really do not know the value of this ring, the gold trader offer this ring for one thousand of gold, And the value of this ring was one thousands times from what the traders in the market offer.

Zun-Nun just smiled subtly and spoke softly, "That was the answer of your questions my friend, "Someone cannot be valued only from his dress "The traders in the market" give value like that. But not for "The gold trader" The gold and Diamond inside someone only could be seen and valued if you could look at the inner soul. It needs heart to see, and it needs a process.

We cannot see it from the words or attitude that only seen for a while. Many time what we think is a gold, is only a brass but a brass is a gold.

I will carry it for you !!!

Brenda was a young woman that wanted to learn to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death she went with a group and they faced this tremendous cliff of rock. It was practically perpendicular. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear and she took a hold of the rope and she started up the face of that rock.

Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, whoever was holding the rope up at the top of the cliff made a mistake and snapped the rope against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. You know how tiny contact lenses are and how almost impossible to find.

Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with who know how many hundreds of feet behind and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping that she would be able to find that contact lens. Here she was, very far from home. Her sight was now blurry. She was very upset by the fact that she wouldn't be anywhere near a place where she could get a new contact lens. And she prayed that the Lord would help her to find it.

Well, her last hope was that perhaps when she got to the top of the cliff, one of the girls that was up there on the top might be able to find her contact lens in the corner of her eye. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye.

There was no contact lens to be found.

She sat down with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to come up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every single stone and leaf that's on those mountains and You know exactly where my contact lens is."

Finally, the time came when it was time to go down. They walked down the trail to the bottom. Just as they got there, there was a new party of rock climbers coming along. As one of them started up the face of the cliff, she shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, wouldn't it? She had found the contact lens! But you know why she saw it? An ant was carrying that contact lens so that it was moving slowly across the face of the rock. What does that tell you about the God of the universe? Is He in charge of the tiniest things? Do ants matter to Him? Of course they do. He made them. He designed them.

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him this incredible story, he drew a picture of that ant lugging that contact lens (as you see in the comics with a balloon with words in it over his head) with the words: "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You." If God is in charge of the ants, don't you think He cares about you and me?

I guess Solomon was right. One could learn a valuable lesson from that ant -- trust in God. We could probably all say a little more often, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. Still, if you want me to, I'll carry it for You."

Puzzles

"You look puzzled!" she said.

"It's more than a look, my life is a puzzle," I replied.

My favorite writer is Og Mandino. He passed away and I was left empty. The truth is, when I visit the local bookstore, I visit his books. I run my fingers across the bindings and whisper "Hello, Og!"

Now, having my own book there, it makes the visit a little easier. In Barnes and Noble, in the Christian book section, I am only one shelf down from him. Mandino...Perks.

But I've always looked up to Og, anyway.

I mention him because I still communicate with his wonderful wife, Bette. It was through her that I learned a little behind- the-scenes stuff about Og.

She would walk into his office and he'd be staring at this huge blank wall. "It freaked me out sometimes, but that is how he saw his stories. Played out, written out on the wall. Kind of like putting together a puzzle."

In remembering that recently I thought about life. The pieces of the puzzle that I have struggled with and, as years go by, I hope I always have a lot of pieces left. I wouldn't want to think that I'd be standing there with one last piece and hearing God calling, "Go ahead, Bob. You're finished."

Here is what I believe. Life is like a puzzle and God provides all the pieces. Although we struggle sometimes trying to find them, He places most of them right in front of us. The only one's that might be hidden are those pieces shaped like people.

The "people pieces" are the important ones. He makes us work for them. We are taught from the beginning to love one another. In order to do that we must be more open to sharing, caring and working beside those who may be different than we are, but may very well be an essential part of our own happiness and success. Without them we feel incomplete.

Some people think that "things" are all they need to be happy. They surround themselves with stuff but still feel empty. That's because things can never take the place of people. When we accept that, when we realize that we can't do it alone, we begin to see the cup as half full rather than half empty.

Here's how I know that life is really a puzzle.

If tomorrow you weren't here, there would be a "You" shaped space in this world, a hole left empty because of your absence. And me? I'd be standing there with this puzzled look on my face.

You are a piece of my life puzzle...I need you!

Bird Feeder

Last fall I hung outside my window a bird feeder. Now not knowing the first thing about wild birds, I assumed that as soon as I hung this bird feeder outside, a multitude of beautiful birds would be swooping to my new addition. Days, weeks and months went by; NO BIRDS.

I asked so many people what to do? What was I doing wrong? "Nothing" most of them replied. "Just wait." So I waited and waited and waited trying everything possible, to attract these birds.

I cleaned off the deck, I changed the feed, I washed the feeders, I even made the cat go out the other door! But nothing seemed to work. So......I waited, "with patience and hope."

Two (2) months later, on a Saturday afternoon, I FROZE! What to my eyes had appeared on the bird feeder but the most beautiful bird I have ever seen in my life! All of a sudden HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS OF BIRDS WERE APPEARING FROM EVERYWHERE!

What a beautiful lesson I learned from this little creature. "Patience and hope" and "things" will attract the beautiful things in life. I never realized how much patience I really do have and how much I do rely upon "hope" to sort out the questions in my heart.

So I keep hoping and waiting, waiting and hoping. I will try to use this "little lesson" with so many other things in my life. I guess "patience is a virtue" after all.