God's Wife

I heard a story about a young boy who lived in the inner city. He was about eight years old, and his family was extremely poor. One cold fall day, he was up at the local store looking in the window admiring a pair of tennis shoes. As he stood there, cold and barefoot, a lady came along and said, “Young man, what are you doing staring so intently in this window?”

Under his breath, and almost shyly, he said, “Well, I was just sort of praying and asking God if He’d give me a new pair of tennis shoes.”

Without hesitation, the woman took him into the store and very gently and lovingly washed his cold dirty feet. Then she put a brand-new pair of socks on him and told him to pick out three new pairs of tennis shoes. He couldn’t believe it. He was so excited. He had never owned a new pair of shoes. He’d always worn hand-me-downs.

After the woman paid for the purchases, she returned to the little boy. He looked at her in disbelief. Nobody had ever taken that kind of interest in him. With tears running down his cheeks, he said, “Lady, can I ask you a question? Are you God’s wife?”

Friend, you are never more like God than when you give, when you take time for people, when you do something good for somebody who can never repay you. Don’t get sucked into society’s narcissistic way of thinking—it’s all about me, me, me! You will never be happy catering to yourself. Real joy comes as you give your life away.

Do you really want to be a better you? Make a decision with me that you’re going to start being good to people. Pay attention to those around you—your friends, coworkers, relatives, even strangers. Listen to what they’re saying. Be sensitive and don’t miss any opportunity to do good.

Remember, true love is always backed up with actions.

Value what you have....

Value your health. Take good care of yourself because many people pray just to be healthy like you. Health is wealth.

Value your life, don't lose it. Don't even think of suicide because many people wished they had enough time to accomplish their dreams. You still have a chance to do that so why give up?

Value your freedom because so many people are willing to spend all they have to buy their freedom. If you doubt this, go to the prisons.

Value your parents irrespective of their status, whether rich or poor. If you think I'm wrong then go to orphanages and see how the kids wish they had someone they could call mother or father, no matter how bad they are.

Value your friends because they are not easy to come by. Be a good friend too. Be left alone on an island for a year and see if you will not contemplate suicide.

Value the food you eat, no matter how cheap because so many people have enough money to buy it but can't eat it because of their health.

Value your job because so many jobless people out there envy your job and wish to have it.

Value what you have because you might not have a chance to get it again. They say a bird in hand is worth 10,000 in the bush.

Value the little things you are given because they have the tendency to attract bigger ones.

Value yourself, value people and value the things around you, no matter how little. That's the best way to live and enjoy life.

Apple effect

A hunter once lost his way deep inside the jungle while chasing a deer. He used all his navigation skills but neither did he find any way out of the jungle, nor could he find any food to eat for 8 days at a stretch. 

He started feeling so damn hungry that he could eat an entire elephant at one go. Disappointed, he lost all hope. And that is exactly when an apple tree caught his sight. 😍 

He collected a dozen apples to feed him for the rest of his search.

As he ate the 1st apple, his joy knew no bounds and he just couldn't stop feeling grateful and blessed.

He thanked life. 

He thanked God. 

He could not believe his luck when he ate the 1st apple, but he was less grateful while having the 2nd apple and even lesser grateful when he had the 5th apple.

Somehow, with each passing apple, the hunger still kept on increasing and the joy kept on reducing drastically. 

He just could not enjoy the 10th apple.

*Why?* 

*He had already taken for granted the gift of having found an apple tree* in the middle of a forest after 8 long days of wandering with hunger !!

When he took the 10th apple in his hand, he was still very hungry but he just did not feel like having it any more. 

Economics calls this diminishing marginal utility...I would like to call it *diminishing gratitude*...

in simple words, taking things for granted !! Or let’s just call it *the 10th apple effect*.

The 10th apple did not lack taste, it did not lack the potential to satisfy his hunger but the only thing lacking was *his gratitude for finding food in the middle of the jungle.*

The hunter represents *us*. 

And the apple represents *the gifts that life gives us*.

The 10th apple represents our *lack of gratitude for these gifts of life* and our ‘take everything for granted’ attitude. 

As we continue receiving the gifts of life, our hunger, our greed keeps on increasing and the joy we get from these gifts diminishes.

The 10th apple is as sweet as the first apple. If the 10th apple fails to give you as much pleasure as the first one, nothing is wrong with the apple, everything is wrong with you !! 

If you get bored on a dull day, it is not because the day is dull and boring. It is because your gratitude has become dull and boring. 

Every moment is a gift that's why it is called PRESENT 

Are U suffering from the 10th Apple effect ?

Diwali cleaning...

We don’t live in bungalows, duplexes or flats. We live in our minds.
 
Yes, that’s our permanent residence. And there are no constraints of square-feet there. It’s a vast space with unlimited area. And you know what! No matter how well-organized your rooms, balconies, garages and verandas are, life is good only when things are sorted there – in your mind.

And that’s where we keep things messy – regrets piling up in one corner, expectations stuffed in a closet, secrets under the carpet, worries littered everywhere, comparisons spilt on the table, complexes leaking from an old bottle, and grudges stinking in a box.

Be aware. For this ‘real home’ of yours, you can’t outsource housekeeping. You have got to do it yourself.

Lets start with our true "Diwali cleaning".

Border

An army personnel enters an ATM cabin in Khwaja Bagh area of Baramulla. He withdraws one hundred rupees from it and places the note neatly in his wallet. Next day, he returns and withdraws the same amount from the ATM. This goes on for many more days.

The guard at the ATM notices this, but refrains from asking about the same, given the old and deep rooted fear of men in uniform.

He resists for days but on a day when there are few civilians around, he musters the courage to ask, for he believes if the army personal gets enraged over him, the civilians around will rescue him from his wrath. The guard proceeds to ask: “Sahab, Why do you withdraw only hundred rupees from the ATM? Why do you trouble yourself on daily basis when you can withdraw a hefty amount that will last for weeks?”

The army personal rubs his forehead as he looks tired; tucks his trousers properly and before he makes his way out of the cabin, tells the guard who is waiting for the answer anxiously: “The mobile number linked to my bank account is used by my wife at home. When I withdraw cash from the ATM, she gets the message on her mobile phone. This way, she comes to know that her husband is alive”.

Respect & Integrety

As an old Irish saying goes....
"Three apples fell from the tree. One for he who tells the story, one for he who reads/listens to the story and one for he who understands."

You will have one apple when you read this .....I hope you receive two!!!

JEWELS UNDER THE SADDLE

Once upon a time, what happened did happen.....or you wouldn't be hearing this story!!
A merchant on a casual jaunt through a market, came across a fine specimen of a camel for sale.
The merchant and the camel seller, both skilled negotiators, struck a hard bargain. The camel seller pleased with his skill of worming out what he felt was a very good price, parted with his camel and the merchant chuffed that he had struck a fantastic bargain, proudly walked home with the latest addition to his large livestock.

On arriving home, the merchant called to his servant to come and help him take out the camel's saddle. The unwieldy heavily padded saddle being too difficult for the servant to manage on his own.
Hidden under the saddle, the servant found a small velvet pouch which on opening he discovered to be filled with precious jewels!!

The servant was overexcited!!! "Master you bought a camel.....but see what came FREE along with it!!!"

The merchant was astonished as he looked at the jewels in his servants' palm. They were of extraordinary quality sparkling and twinkling in the sunlight. 
"I bought the camel" he said, "not the jewels. I must return them to the camel seller immediately."

The servant was aghast.....his master was really foolish. "Master.....no one will know."

But the merchant headed right back to the market and handed over the velvet pouch back to the camel seller.
The camel seller was very happy, " I had forgotten that I hid these jewels in the saddle for safe keeping."
"Here, choose one of the jewels for yourself, as a reward."
The merchant said "I paid a fair price for the camel and the camel only, so NO thank you, I do not need any reward."

But as much as the merchant refused, the camel seller insisted.

Finally the merchant said, sheepishly smiling, " Actually when I decided to bring the pouch back to you, I already took two of the most precious jewels and kept them for myself."

At this confession the camel seller was a bit flabbergasted and quickly emptied the pouch to count the jewels. However he was very confused.
"All my jewels are here. What jewels did you keep?

"The two most precious" said the camel seller.

"My INTEGRITY and my SELF-RESPECT."

The ability to do the right thing or choosing to do the right thing when you could get away with doing the wrong thing."

Expectations

Once in a winter time, King was roaming outside his palace. At night when he was entering his palace, he saw an old man at the entry gate of palace.

When King got close he saw that he was an old man who was wearing very thin cloths which were not even warm. King was surprised to see that how that old man was able to keep up in that cold water even in those clothes.

So he stopped near that old man and said, “Aren’t you feeling cold?”

Old man replied, “I am feeling cold but what to do?? I don’t have any warm clothes to wear. For many years i am living bearing this cold weather without warm clothes. God gives me strength to bear this and live through winter time. ”

King felt pity and said, “Don’t worry.. You wait here and i will send someone with warm clothes for you..”

Old man felt happy and thanked King for his kindness.

King entered palace.. But as soon as he entered palace, he forget about his talk with old man and got busy with his routine.

Next morning, when soldier came out, they saw cold stricken body of that old man. Beside his body was a message written on ground by that old man before dying.

Message on ground was: “Long live King.. I had been living wearing these thin clothes in such cold weather But last night your promise of giving me a warm uniform took my life..”

Moral:
Expectations from Others can become reason of Weakness if not met. Therefore, One should Learn to Live on his Own Strength, One’s real Strength is given to him by God.. God is only one who will always be there for you in life and after life..

Limiting Beliefs

Once a pregnant lion died soon after giving birth. New born cub didn’t know what to do. Cub started to roam around just when it saw a herd of sheep. Seeing that little cub, mother sheep decided to raise it as its own.

With time, that little cub grew up along with sheep and started to think and act just like a sheep. It would even eat grass like sheep.
Lion was teased by other sheep for being so different. Some of them would say, “You are so ugly. Your voice is so weird. You are disgrace to sheep family.”

Lion felt sad that he didn’t looked like them and that something was missing. Lion tired to get along with sheep herd but still it felt that he had let down the sheep community by being so different and that it was a waste of space.

One day, an older lion saw herd of sheep and decided to attack it. While attacking, it saw the young lion running away along with the other sheep.

Older lion got curious and decided to pursue younger lion. Soon it was able to pounce on young lion and then asked, “Why are you running away with sheep?”

Younger lion who had never seen lion, shaking in fear it said, “Please don’t eat me. I am just a young sheep, please let me go..!!”

Hearing this, older lion growls, “What?? You are not a sheep.. You are a lion just like me..”

Young lion just kept on saying, “I am sheep.. please let me go..”

At this point the older lion gets an idea. It drags the younger lion to a river nearby and asks it to look at its reflection. Upon looking at the reflection and then older lion, young lion realized who he really was.

Young lion learned that it was not a sheep but a lion. The young lion feels so thrilled that it let’s out a mighty roar.

Moral:
Many time we are unaware of our True Potential because of Limiting Beliefs that we inherits from our surroundings.

Allow your awareness to shine light onto all your limiting beliefs and find who you truly are.

6 inch ground...

A TV anchor once asked a tennis player, “How do you maintain your focus and manage to keep playing, even at the age of 43?"

Her suave response was, “The ball doesn’t know how old I am. 

In his excellent book, Stillpower, Sports_ _Psychologist Garret Kramer says that a key factor to performing well in sports (and in life), is your ability to control the quality and quantity of your “internal dialogue”.

Performance = Potential - internal interference

In other words, you need to stop yourself from stopping yourself.

Sports, fitness, business and indeed Life are played on a 6-inch ground … the space between our own two ears!

Someone who understands ....

A store owner was tacking a sign above his door that read "Puppies For Sale." Signs like that have a way of attracting small children, and sure enough, a little boy appeared under the store owner's sign. "How much are you going to sell the puppies for?" he asked.

The store owner replied, "Anywhere from $30 to $50."

The little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out some change. "I have $2.37," he said. "Can I please look at them?"

The store owner smiled and whistled and out of the kennel came Lady, who ran down the aisle of his store followed by five teeny, tiny balls of fur.

One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said, "What's wrong with that little dog?"

The store owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the little puppy and had discovered it didn't have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame.

The little boy became excited. "That is the puppy that I want to buy."

The store owner said, "No, you don't want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I'll just give him to you."

The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store owner's eyes, pointing his finger, and said, "I don't want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I'll pay full price. In fact, I'll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month until I have him paid for."

The store owner countered, "You really don't want to buy this little dog. He is never going to be able to run and jump and play with you like the other puppies."

To his surprise, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the store owner and softly replied, "Well, I don't run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands!"

"We ALL need someone who understands!"

Life is short.....

🌹 Rose for Mother 🌹

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.”

The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.” He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.” She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.

Moral:
Life is Short.  Spend much time as you can loving and caring people who love you.  Enjoy each moment with them before it’s too late.  There is nothing important than family.

God is everywhere

Once two men came to Sage who used to live in forest inside a small hut. They requested him to allow them to be his students.

Sage asked them to come next day.
Next day when they came, Sage was holding two birds in his hands. He asked them to hold on to birds.

Both men took one bird each in their hands. Now Sage instructed them, “Go and kill bird you are holding but there is one condition..”

Men asked, “What?”
Sage replied, “You can only kill bird at a place where no one can see you when you kill that bird..”

First man immediately went inside forest, little far from Sage’s hut and looked here and there. Man saw that there was no one around, So he went behind a tree and kill that bird and bought it back to Sage.

Another Man took that bird and went very far away to a deserted place. Then he stopped to kill bird.

Then while he was looking at bird to kill it, he thought, “When i kill this bird, It sees me and i also see it… This means two and third God is watching all this…

But Sage ordered to kill this bird when these is no one else..”

After thinking all this, that man bought that bird back alive to the Sage and said,  "I could not find any place where no one sees because God is everywhere.”

Sage replied, “You are right.. You have passed this test and have right to get knowledge… You can come to me as my student.”

Saying this Sage asked first one to leave as he was not fit to be his student.

Moral:
If we always remember that God is everywhere and he can see us even when we try to Sin hiding from everyone else.. Then we can stop ourselves from doing wrong.

Daughters are angels....

A Pregnant Woman to her husband:
What you are expecting - will it be a boy or girl?

Husband- "If we have a boy, I'll teach him maths, we will go for sports, I will teach him fishing and so on."

Wife - "Ha.. Ha.. And what if its a girl?"

Husband - If we have a girl.. I'll not have to teach her anything. Because she will be the one who will teach me all the things, again..like how to dress, how to eat, what to say, what not to say.. In short, she will be my second mom and She will consider me as her hero even if I do not do anything special, she'll always understand when I'll refuse her for something. She'll always compare her husband to be me.. No matter how old she will be, she'll always want that I should treat her like my baby doll.. She'll fight with the world for me and if someone will hurt me, she will never forgive that person.

Wife - "So you mean to say that your daughter will do all those things but your son will not?"

Husband - "No.. no! May be he will do the same but he will learn to do them. But daughters are born with it. Being the father of a daughter is the pride for any man."

Wife - "But, she will not be with us forever."

Husband - "Yes, but we will be with her, in her heart, forever. So it really doesn't make a difference where she goes."

Daughters are Angels... Born with unconditional love & care...forever.❤

Bai Fangli

In 1987, a 74-year old rickshaw puller by the name of Bai Fangli came back to his hometown planning to retire from his backbreaking job. There, he saw children working in the fields, because they were too poor to afford school fees.

Bai returned to Tianjin and went back to work as a rickshaw puller, taking a modest accommodation next to the railway station. He waited for clients 24 hours a day, ate simple food and wore discarded second-hand clothes he found. He gave all of his hard-earned earnings to support children who could not afford education.

In 2001, he drove his rickshaw to Tianjin YaoHua Middle School, to deliver his last installment of money. Nearly 90 years old, he told the students that he couldn't work any more. All of the students and teachers were moved to tears.

In total, Bai had donated a total of 350,000 yuan to help more than 300 poor students continue with their studies. In 2005, Bai passed away leaving behind an inspiring legacy.

If a rickshaw-puller who wore used clothes and had no education can support 300 children to go to school, imagine what you and I can do with the resources we have to bring about positive change in our world!

Knot

At a school's parent meeting, the principal highlighted the support parents should give their children.
She understood that although most of the parents in the community were workers, they had to find some time to spend and spend with the children.

However, the principal was surprised when one of the parents got up and explained that he did not have time to talk to his son during the week.
When he left for work it was very early and his son was still sleeping and when he returned from work it was very late and the boy was already lying down.

He also explained that he had to work that way to provide for the family's livelihood.

He also said that not having time for his son distressed him a lot and tried to replace that fault by giving him a kiss every night when he arrived at his house and so that his son knew that he had gone to see him while he slept, he made a knot in the  tip of the sheet.

When my son wakes up and sees the knot, he knows that his dad has been there and has kissed him.  The knot is the medium of communication between us.

The principal was moved by that unique story and was even more surprised when she found that the son of that man was one of the best students in the school.

This fact makes us reflect on the many ways in which people can be present and communicate with others.

That father found his form, a simple but efficient way.  And the most important thing is that his son perceived through the knot, all his father's affection.

Sometimes we worry so much about the way we say the things we forget, the main thing is communication through feeling.

Simple details such as a kiss and a knot on the tip of a sheet, meant for that son, much more than a lot of empty gifts or apologies.

It is valid that we care about people, but the most important thing is that they know and can feel our concern and affection for them.

For communication to exist, it is necessary for people to “listen” to the language of our heart, since feelings always speak louder than words.

It is for this reason that a kiss, covered with the purest affection, cures the headache, the blow of the knee or the fear of the dark.

Children may not understand the meaning of many words, but they know how to distinguish a gesture of affection and love, even if that gesture is only a knot in the sheet.  A knot full of affection, tenderness and love.

“Live in such a way that when your children think of justice, love and integrity......

They think of you”

Elephant & Dog...

An elephant and a dog became pregnant at same time. Three months down the line the dog gave birth to six puppies. Six months later the dog was pregnant again, and nine months on it gave birth to another dozen puppies. The pattern continued.

On the eighteenth month the dog approached the elephant questioning, ”Are you sure that you are pregnant? We became pregnant on the same date, I have given birth three times to a dozen puppies and they are now grown to become big dogs, yet you are still pregnant. Whats going on?”.

The elephant replied, There is something I want you to understand. What I am carrying is not a puppy but an elephant. I only give birth to one in two years. When my baby hits the ground, the earth feels it. When my baby crosses the road, human beings stop and watch in admiration, what I carry draws attention. So what I’m carrying is mighty and great.

Don’t lose faith when you see others receive answers to their prayers.

Don’t be envious of others testimony. If you haven’t received your own blessings, don’t despair. Say to yourself “My time is coming, and when it hits the surface of the earth, people shall yield in admiration.”

Play on your own strength...

It is a mistake to think time is going. Time is not going. Time is here until the world ends. It is you that is going. You don’t waste time. Time is infinite. You waste yourself. You are finite. It is you that grow old and die. Time doesn’t. So make better use of yourself before you expire. And one of the worst things to do with time is comparing yourself to others. A cow eats grass and gets fat but if dog eats grass, it will die. Never compare yourself with others. Run your own race. What works for one person may be that which will kill you. Focus on the gifts and talents God gave you and don’t be envious of the blessings He gave others.*

Both Lion and Shark are professional hunters, BUT:

A Lion cannot hunt in the Ocean and a Shark cannot hunt in the jungle.

That a Lion cannot hunt in the ocean doesn't make him useless and that a Shark cannot hunt in the jungle doesn't also make him useless both have their own territory where they can do well

If a rose smells better than tomatoes, It doesn't mean the rose can make a better stew. Don't try to compare yourself to others.

You also have your own strength, look for it and build on it.* *All animals that exist, were in Noah's ark. A snail is one of those animals. If God could wait long enough for snails to enter Noah's ark; His door of grace won't close till you reach your expected position in life. Never look down on yourself, keep looking up.

Remember that Broken crayons still colour.

Keep on pushing, you never can tell how close you are to your goal...!

Die Empty

The most beautiful book to read is "Die Empty" by Todd Henry.
The author was inspired and got this idea of writing ​​this book while attending a business meeting.
When the director asked the audience: "Where is the richest land in the world?"
One of the audience answered: "Oil-rich Gulf states."
Another added: "Diamond mines in Africa."
Then the director said: "No it is the cemetery. Yes, it is the richest land in the world, because millions of people have departed/died and they carried many valuable ideas that did not come to light nor benefit others. It is all in the cemetery where they are buried."

Inspired by this answer, Todd Henry wrote his book, "Die empty" where he did his best to motivate people to pour out their ideas and potential energies in their communities and turn them into something useful before it is too late.

The most beautiful of what he said in his book is: "Do not go to your grave and carry inside you the best that you have.
*Always choose to die empty.*

The TRUE meaning of this  expression, is to die empty of all the goodness that is within you. Deliver it to the world, before you leave.

If you have an idea perform it.
If you have knowledge give it out.
If you have a goal achieve it.
Love, share and distribute, do not keep it inside.

Let’s begin to give. Remove and spread every atom of goodness inside us.

Start the race.
       *Die Empty*

Why everyone is happy , I am not ?

A newly married couple posted some beautiful  pictures from their honeymoon.

Aman, their unmarried friend, felt envy and sad looking at his own fate.

He was getting over age but couldn't find a partner  made him even more frustrated.

Next month Aman posted a picture standing next to his brand new Black colored SUV.

He was giving a curl to his moustaches, which added to the elegance of the picture.

*The newly married couple who posted their honeymoon picture a month back, were suffering from financial crisis, they couldn't even buy a basic car to start their married life.*

Looking at Aman's picture with an expensive SUV, their heart sank deep.

*After a week, one of their common couple friend posted a picture of their new flat.*

They were going through a rough patch in marriage.

They were breathing less and fighting more.

Parents had also been involved in their disputes several times.

Life was like a hell for both of them.

But still they got the delivery of their booked flat and also had to post a picture, to seek some satisfaction in the otherwise hollow life.

Seeing their pictures, Aman who purchased a car only to overcome his insecurities of not being able to buy a house, and not being married, broke down.

*The newly married couple, seeing this picture, lost all excitement of marriage life and felt as if they were the most miserable and poor people in the entire society.*

They started fighting over petty issues.

A few other friends who were single and financially humble went in depression looking all the three pics.

Answering this question-

*How do you exactly know that everyone is happy in their lives?*

Seeing pout pictures on social media?

By meeting someone for minutes?

Professional achievements?

*Laughing & smiling faces?*

New house or vehicles?

Relationship status?

*Airport check-ins?*

Self-bragging?

Good looks?

Wrong!

If you judge this way, this is how you will emotionally go down in life.

*Life is like a deep Ocean, and you can't judge others people's life by standing on the top of a cliff and simply looking down.*

Try and jump inside and touch the bottom of any individual's life to see how happy they are.

Or don't judge!

*Every individual has a few reasons to be happy and some to be sad.*

Instead of peeping in other people's lives, appreciate the reasons you have to be happy.

God knows when they may leave you.

And please get out of this fake digital social media world, use social media only to pass some time and not to pass your life.

Wake up....

I woke up today , having dreamt early morning at 4 AM . I was in the biggest DLF Mall of  India looking to buy a pair of socks and a neck tie .

As I walked in, I noticed a sweater with a price tag of RS 9000 .Next to the sweater were a pair of Jeans for Rs.10000 .The socks were Rs.8000 ! And Tie for astonishing 16,000 /-

I went looking for a salesperson and found one in the watch Dept

He was showing a man a Rs. 225/- Rolex watch . I looked in the glass case and there was a 4 carat diamond ring also on sales for Rs.95/-

Shocked I asked the salesperson "How could a Rolex watch sell for Rs.225/- ? ,and a cheap pair of socks sell for Rs. 8000/-"?

He said "Someone slid into the store last night and changed the price tag on everything ".

"Everyone is confused , people are acting like they have lost their sense of value". "They are willing to pay lots of money for things of little value ,and very little money for things of great value "

"Its like they don't know what is really valuable and what's not " . I hope we get the price tags back-on right soon ,I really pity , seeing people paying way too much for things of little value "

I woke up startled & confused and thinking since then ...

Maybe our life is like this dream.

Maybe someone slid into our lives and the changed the price on everything

Maybe  they marked up the value of  competition, position, titles,  fame , promotion,  show-off , money and power !

...And put a huge discount on the value of Happiness , Family , Relationships, Peace of mind , Contentment , Love , Knowledge , Kindness  , Friendships..

Maybe We are all living this dream...

I hope...... we wake up, well in-time.

3 Advices

A  MUST READ.

A very poor newly wedded, young couple lived in a small farm. One day the husband made the following proposal to his wife:

Honey, I will leave the house: I will travel faraway, get a job and work hard in order to come back and give you the comfortable life that you deserve. I do not know how long I will stay away, I only ask one thing, please wait for me, and while I am away, you should be faithful to me, because I will be faithful to you. His wife agreed, so the young man left. He walked many days until he found a farmer who was in need of someone to help him. The young man offered his services. He was accepted. Therefore he discussed the terms with his boss:

Let me work for as long as I want and when I think I should go home, please relieve me of my duties. I do not want to receive my salary. I ask you to save it for me, until the day I leave. The day I decide to go, please give me the money and I will go my way. They agreed on that. So, the young man worked for twenty years without holiday and without rest. After twenty years, he came to his boss and said:

Boss, I want my money, because I am returning to my home. The boss replied:

All right, after all, I made a deal with you and I will stick to it. However, before you go I want to offer you something new: I will give you all your money and send you away; or I will give you 3 pieces of advice and send you away. If I give you money, you lose the 3 pieces of advice. If I give you the 3 pieces of advice, you lose the money. Now, go to your room and think about your answer. He thought for two days. Then he went to the boss and told him:

I want the 3 pieces of advice. The boss stressed again, if I give you the 3 pieces of advice, I will not give you the money, and the man replied:

I want the 3 pieces of advice.

The boss then told him:

No. 1: Never take shortcuts in your life, shorter and unknown paths can cost your life. No. 2: Never be too curious, for curiosity towards evil can be deadly. No. 3: Never make decisions in moments of anger or pain, because when you repent, it could be too late. After giving these 3 pieces of advice, the boss said to him:
Here, you have 3 loaves of bread, 2 are for you to eat during the journey and the last is for you to eat with your wife when you get home. So, the man went his way, after twenty years away from home and from his wife, whom he loved so much. After the first day of travel, he found a man who greeted him and asked:

Where are you going?

He replied:
To a distant place which is about 20 days away if I continue walking. The man said to him:
Ol' boy, this path is too long! I know a shortcut that is very safe and you will arrive in 5 days only. The man began to follow the path suggested until he remembered the first piece of advice. Then, he returned and followed the long path. Days later he learned that the shortcut led to an ambush.
.
.
.

After a few more days of travel, he found an inn by the roadside, where he could rest. He paid for a room and after taking a bath he lay down to sleep. During the night he woke up as he heard a terrifying scream. He rose to his feet and went to the door to check what happened. As he was opening the door, he remembered the second piece of advice. Therefore he returned, lay down again and slept. At dawn, after breakfast, the owner of the lodging asked him if he had not heard the scream at night. He affirmed that he heard. Then, the host said:
Were you not curious to see what happened? And he replied:

No, I was not.

Then the host said:

You are the first guest to leave this inn alive. My neighbour is completely crazy. He usually shouts at night to call someone’s attention. When some of the guests come out, he kills them and buries their bodies in the backyard. The man continued his long journey, eager to arrive soon.
.
.
.

After many days and nights walking, he was very tired, but he finally saw his house far away. It was night. He saw some light coming out of the window of his house and was able to see the silhouette of his wife. But he also saw that she was not alone. He came closer and saw there was a man with her. She softly caressed his hair. When he saw that scene, his heart was filled with hatred and bitterness. He decided to rush at and kill them both mercilessly. However, he took a deep breath and he remembered the third piece of advice. Then he stopped, reflected and decided to sleep outside that night. He slept in the midst of the bushes, determined to make a decision the next day. At dawn, he was calmer and thought:
I will not kill my wife and her lover. I am going back to my boss to ask him to take me back. But before I go, I want to tell my wife that I have always been faithful to her.
.
.
.

He went to the front door and knocked. When his wife opened the door and recognized him, she cried and embraced him warmly. He tried to push her away, but he
was not able. Then, with tears in his eyes he told her:

I was faithful to you but you betrayed me.
She was shocked, so she replied:
How did I betray you? I have never betrayed you. I waited patiently for you for twenty good years. Then he asked:

How about the man that you were caressing yesterday?

And she said:

That man is your son. When you left, I discovered I was pregnant. Today he is twenty years old. Hearing that, the man asked her forgiveness. He met and hugged his son. Then he told them all the things he had experienced while away. Meanwhile, his wife prepared some coffee for them to eat together, the last bread given by his boss.
.
.
.

After a prayer of thanksgiving, he broke the bread. When he looked at it, he found all his money inside. In fact, there was even more than the right payment for his twenty years of dedication and hard work.
.
.
.

Friends, our God is like this boss. When he asks us to make a sacrifice, he wants to give us more than what we give Him. He wants us to have His unique wisdom as well as the
material blessings. Someone sent this piece to me and it blessed me and I shared it to you. also share with others ...

A beautiful lesson to everyone.

Not interested

One day a new employee went to the HR and said .. I'm not interested in coming to the office anymore.”

The HR responded, "But why?”

Boy: There are people who do a lot of politics and talk all negative all the time. Few do gossips all the time.

The HR replied "OK, but before you go, can you do one last thing sincerely: take a full glass of water and walk three times around the office area without spilling a drop on the floor.

"Afterwards, leave the Office if you wish for.”

The boy thought: It's a matter of minutes for him. And he walked three times around the office floor.

Then he reached HR saying that he is done with it.

And the HR asked "When you were walking around the Office floor did you see any employee speaking badly about another Employee? Any Gossips? Any disturbances?

The Employee replied “No."*
HR: "Did you see any Employee looking at other employees in wrong way?"
Boy said "No”
HR: "You know why?”
Boy: "No”
HR: You were focused on the glass, to make sure you didn't tip it and spill any water. The same goes with our life. When our focus is on our priorities, we don't have time to see the mistakes of others.”

Moral of the story.

Concentrate on your priorities and not on other's Mistakes.

Boot Camp

One of the greatest lessons I’ve ever learned about being a top performer came from boot camp.

Full disclosure, I was a young actor at the time and cast as a heroic soldier, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with my platoon during the Vietnam War (let’s just say it wasn’t a rom-com).  During the rehearsal process, our director decided it would help us understand the psychological conditions these soldiers faced if we were to go through boot camp. I know what you might be thinking, and no, this wasn’t “boot camp light” for actors, or your local health club’s “boot camp” fitness class – this was full on legit army boot camp.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure (or horror) of participating in an army boot camp, let me break it down for you. Basically, the conditions are designed to push you to the outermost edges of your physical and psychological limits. Think of it like a pressure cooker for the human spirit. The ultimate goal being to re-program your brain’s wiring so that when faced with perceived danger, extreme fear or fatigue, your determination stays strong, and you don’t default to your amygdala’s natural instinct to fight, flee or freeze.

To help with this cognitive reprogramming, there was one simple rule – no matter how exhausted, how starving, how defeated, or how helpless you felt, there was ABSOLUTELY NO LEANING. You can imagine that after 24 hours of sleep deprivation, malnutrition and physical exhaustion, there was nothing more tempting than the relief of a single moment’s rest by giving your weight over to gravity, or a nearby wall.

Although this felt like a special kind of torture at the time, there is actually cognitive method to this madness. Stay with me for a moment… when you lean, you are sending a clear physical message to your brain reinforcing the thought, “I can no longer support myself”. The more times you reinforce this thought by leaning, the more neurological cement you are laying between the bricks of this self-limiting belief. It’s like they say, “neurons that fire together, wire together”, and a belief is just a thought you keep repeating. We used to think that our brains were fully developed after adolescence, but we now know that our brains are incredibly malleable and constantly changing depending on our environment (referred to as neuroplasticity). Therefore, you can rewire the brain by having the desire to lean, not reinforcing it physically, and telling yourself a new thought, such as, “I can do this, I am strong”.  Eventually, your default thought becomes one of resilience – not weakness. This reprogramming was so impactful for me that to this day, I will still have the instinct to lean but immediately (like Pavlov’s dogs) a new thought emerges that I am strong, and my body responds with strength. This goes to show you how powerful these neural pathways are when they are still shaping my behaviour nearly 20 years later.

What does all of this have to do with being a top performer? After almost 1500 hours of professional coaching and seeing the difference between those who managed to achieve their goals, and those who struggle to move the needle in meaningful ways, one thing has become crystal clear to me - COMPLAINING is the mental version of LEANING.

Why Complaining is a Silent Killer.

Complaining seems to have become a cultural epidemic. Research shows that a third of all employees will spend an average of 20 hours a month complaining – or listening to others complain.  Perhaps more shocking, recent studies have shown that for some of us, a complaint is made every minute during casual conversations. Why should we be concerned? Every time you complain (much like leaning in my boot camp example), you are reinforcing the internal belief that you are not at the center of control in your experience and success. Complaining also reinforces a victim mindset in which the self-limiting belief starts to form that you are uniquely disadvantaged. If failure wasn’t reason enough to put the mental breaks on complaining, researchers from Stanford University have proven that compulsive complaining diminishes your problem-solving abilities. There is also the immediate consequence of increased cortisol levels (stress hormone) that if chronic, leads to a weakened immune system, increased odds of diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol. Wowza! And here we just thought it was a bummer to be around a Debbie Downer.

How to Stop the Habit.

The challenge with complaining is that it feels so good, and can become addictive. But much like any unhealthy habit, it’s just that – a habit. Here are a few simple but powerful techniques to help stop this disempowering habit dead in its tracks.

Gratitude – The minute you notice the initial complaint forming in your head, take a deep breath and consider what you’re grateful for in the situation. Focusing your neurological energy on what’s going well and what the potential gift of this situation might be will go miles towards reprogramming the brain’s default instinct to complain.

Grant me the wisdom to know the difference – There are certain things we can control and there are certain things we can’t. If we have the wisdom to know the difference, we don’t waste vital life energy complaining about those things that we have no control over. Focusing on what is out of our control leads to disempowerment, lack of creative problem solving, and ultimately, frustration (and thus more complaining). Ask yourself, “What about this situation is in my control?” or “what do I have power over in this situation?”

Wish behind the complaint – Behind every complaint is a secret wish or desire. Think about it, if you’re complaining about your lack of free time, on the flip side is the hidden desire to find more balance in your life. Or, if you’re complaining about your manager’s inefficiencies, there is a veiled wish for more support. The only useful part of a complaint is that it will point you towards what you most want to create more of in your life. Your energy is best spent focused on manifesting the underlying desire – and not focusing on the complaint itself.

Get loud about it- If you’re a chronic complainer, I would challenge you to tell a trusted group of people around you (from both your personal and professional life) that you are working on becoming more positive and that you invite them to kindly point out to you when you have defaulted back into your old pattern of complaining.

Birds of a feather – Identify and acknowledge who in your life is depleting your energy by complaining – they are like secondhand smoke and will eventually negatively impact you. Next, when the sad trombone starts to play and the flood gates open on their complaints, instead of indulging them with a sympathetic head nod, you can support them by asking, “how would you like this to be?” or “how could you see this in a more positive light?”

Talk TO, not ABOUT people – This golden nugget came to me from Brené Brown who pointed out how much productivity is wasted by gossiping about other people and commiseration - and we do love a good drama! Gossiping is a communal form of complaining and can lead to a culture that is bankrupt in trust. A great way to shift a complaining culture to an empowered one is to make the commitment that from this moment forward, we will only talk TO, and not ABOUT people.

Sneaky Buggers.

Even the most positive among us can find ways to complain without even realizing it. As a coach, I am passionate about the power of language and always try to align my words with my intention (to ensure that the right neurons are wiring together). Here are some subtle ways that we complain and recommendations on more empowering language:

“I GET to go to work today” (instead of) “I HAVE to go to work today”

“I’m facing a lot of opportunity right now” (instead of) “I’m SO busy”

“I’m open to more support” (instead of) “I DON’T get the support I need”

No Leaning.

In short, how you perceive the world around you and the thoughts you choose to empower in any situation will determine whether you are fusing together a neurological netting of growth mindset, or the life-depleting mesh of a fixed mindset. One thing is certain; complaining will buy you a one-way ticket to unhappiness. At first gradually, but then seemingly suddenly, one disempowered thought after another, success becomes increasingly elusive and you end up wondering how you can never seem to get ahead while others around you flourish. 

In the spirit of boot camp, the next time a complaint enters your head, do 20 pushups and remember, “NO LEANING”.

New Clothes

There was Pundit in the village. He was well-versed in all Scriptures. He knew everything, but, he was poor. He did not have a house. He used to get his meals also with great difficulties. Even his clothes were very much worn out.

So, the Pundit used to beg for his meals. He went from House-to-House begging. “Please give me alms”. On seeing his old clothes many people were thinking that he is mad. So, saying “Go Away” they shut the door. For many days he did not even eat.

Once somehow he obtained new clothes. A rich man gave those clothes to the Pundit. Wearing those new clothes he went for begging as before. To the very first house he went, the householder said, “Sir, please come in. Please have your food in our house”. Saying thus, with great respect, he took the Pundit inside for food.

The Pundit sat down to eat. Varieties of soups, Sweet meals, Vedas, and Sweet foods were served for eating.

Having prayed first, the Pundit took a sweetmeat with his hand and began to feed his new clothes saying, “Eat, eat!”

On seeing that all the householders were surprised and were not able to understand. So, they asked thus, “The clothes do not eat right? The why O, Great Pundit, do you offer food to the clothes?”

Then that Pundit answered thus, “Indeed because of this new clothes you offered me food today. Yesterday itself in this very house you asked me to go away. Since I obtained food due to these clothes, I am grateful to them. This is why I am feeding them.” The householders were a little ashamed.

Moral: never judge anyone by their outlook.

Cookies

Imagine you're in a Airport. While you're waiting for your flight, you notice a kiosk selling shortbread cookies.

You buy a box, put them in your travelling bag and then you patiently search for an available seat so you can sit down and enjoy your cookies.

Finally you find a seat next to a gentleman. You reach down into your travelling bag and pull out your box of shortbread cookies.

As you do so, you notice that the gentleman starts watching you intensely.
He stares as you open the box and his eyes follow your hand as you pick up the cookie and bring it to your mouth. Just then he reaches over and takes one of your cookies from the box, and eats it! You're more than a little surprised at this.

Actually, you're at a loss for words. Not only does he take one cookie, but he alternates with you. For every one cookie you take, he takes one.

Now, what's your immediate impression of this guy? Crazy? Greedy? He's got some nerve!

Can you imagine the words you might use to describe this man to your associates back at the office?

Meanwhile, you both continue eating the cookies until there's just one left. To your surprise, the man reaches over and takes it.

But then he does something unexpected. He breaks it in half, and gives half to you.
After he's finished with his half he gets up, and without a word, he leaves.

You think to yourself, "Did this really happen?" You're left sitting there dumbfounded and still hungry. So you go back to the kiosk and buy another box of cookies.

You then return to your seat and begin opening your new box of cookies when suddenly you glance down into your travelling bag. Sitting there in your bag is your original box of cookies still unopened.

Only then do you realize that when you reached down earlier, you had reached into the other man's bag, and grabbed his box of cookies by mistake.

Now what do you think of the man? Generous? Tolerant? You've just experienced a profound paradigm shift. You're seeing things from a new point of view.

Is it time to change your point of view? Now, think of this story as it relates to your life.

Seeing things from a new point of view can be very enlightening. Things may not be what they seem. Be open to suggestions.

Every Point has THREE Sides;
Your Side,
My Side and
The Right Side.

To understand either the Other's Side or the Right Side, one needs to leave His Side.

Who pushed me ?

'I heard about a wealthy man who was known for being very eccentric, far out. One night he was having a big party at his house. In his backyard, his swimming pool was filled with sharks and alligators. He announced to all the guests, “Anyone who will swim across my pool, I will give you anything that you want.”

In a few minutes there was a big splash. He looked over, and this man was swimming ninety to nothing, dodging the alligators, maneuvering his way around the sharks, as frantic as could be. He made it to the other side just in the nick of time and jumped out totally panicked.

The wealthy man came over and said, “I can’t believe it. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. Now, what do you want me to give you?”
The man looked around the pool and answered, “What I want more than anything else is the name of the person who just pushed me in!”

Here’s my point: Sometimes in life it feels as though we got pushed in. We weren’t expecting it. A bad medical report. The relationship didn’t make it. A business goes down. It may be a surprise to us, but it is not a surprise to God. If you get pushed in, don’t sit around nursing your wounds. Do as this man did and just go for it. Just keep being your best. Keep honoring God. Keep doing what you know you’re supposed to do. God has already given you the strength, the wisdom, the favor, and the determination not only to make it through, but to come out better than you were before.

Remember, that difficulty is not going to defeat you. It’s going to promote you. You can handle it. Take hold of this strength. Get up every morning and remind yourself, “I’m ready for and equal to anything that comes my way. I am strong.” If you will do this, God promises He will infuse strength into you. You will overcome every obstacle, defeat every enemy, and live the victorious life that belongs to you.'

Saint & Scorpion

One day a saint went to a river to bathe. There he noticed a scorpion struggling in the water near him. Scorpions cannot swim and the saint knew that if he did not save the scorpion, it would drown.

Therefore, the saint carefully picked up the struggling scorpion trying to rescue it out from the water. But as he was just about to set it on  land, the scorpion stung his finger.

The sharp pain from the sting made the saint instinctively flung his hand and the scorpion went flying back into the water. As soon as the saint gained his composure from the pain, the saint attempted to rescue the troubled creature again. But, as earlier the scorpion stung him again before he could safely keep it on the land.  The affair repeated for several times as the saint continued his attempt to save the scorpion while the creature attacked its savior every time.

The saint’s disciples who were watching the event for  a while and were worried for the saint who was now staggering from the pain. The disciple requested the saint to leave the vicious creature on its own. The saint ignored the request from his disciples and continued his attempt to save the scorpion until he finally succeeded.

The disciples carried the reeling saint to his hut, treated him for his wounds and waited for the saint to  get well. After the saint regained his consciousness, one of the disciples asked him why the saint lets the scorpion attack him several times  and continued to help it.

The saint replied, “My dear child, the scorpion did not sting me out of malice or evil intent. Just as it is the water’s nature to make things wet and fire’s nature to burn,  it is in the scorpion’s nature to sting. The ignorant creature kept stinging me because its comprehension is not great enough to realize that I was trying to help him. But, just as it is the scorpion’s nature to sting, so it is my nature to save. Just as he did not leave his nature, why should I leave my nature? It is my duty to help any soul in need. I should not let the stings from a scorpion rob me from performing my duty as a savior. ”

In our lives, we will encounter people who may harm us intentionally or unintentionally. We should never let our actions, thoughts and words to be affected by the negativity in others. We should continue to perform our duty with love and honesty, even if others do not reciprocate our righteous actions.

The darkness in others heart should not be allowed to penetrate into the lightness of our hearts.

what type you are, caring or consulting..

I was in a consultation with a middle age couple.They started fighting right in front of me.  The upset husband said- See doc....I 'care' so much for her & this is what I get in return..To which the fuming wife replied- He doesn't care...he just 'controls'...!

The "care" from one person was perceived as "control" by another !

Made me think...what is care and what is control?? How to identify them??

Soon I received the answer.

I had an argument with my teenage daughter over a trivial disciplinary issue...Harsh words were exchanged leaving both of us upset...

After sometime, as our emotions settled down , we said sorry to each other...
My daughter hugged me and said-Papa ,you know why you got upset?  You were not upset because I did wrong..but u were upset because I didn't follow your instructions....there is a big difference !

I was stunned with her mature thinking pattern. ..I received my answer too... I was trying to control her under the disguise of care...that caused the conflict ....

If I really 'care' from someone , I will not get upset or angry with that person...I will keep searching different ways to help him..

If I am struggling in any relationship...I need to closely observe if there is any subtle  control hidden behind my apparent care...because :

Care is an expression of love while control is an expression of ego...

Control cuts...Care connects ...

Control hurts...Care heals...

Keep caring for people but don't try to control them ... because

Often people are not wrong...they are just 'different'...

Keep caring...!!

Why some poeole have all the luck...

Why do some people get all the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve?
A psychologist says he has discovered the answer.

Ten years ago (around 1999), I set out to examine luck. I wanted to know why some people are always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experience ill fortune. I placed advertisements in national newspapers asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me.

Hundreds of extraordinary men & women volunteered for my research & over the years, I have interviewed them, monitored their lives & had
them take part in experiments.

I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities. I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it & tell me how many photographs were inside. I had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying : "Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $50."

This message took up half of the page & was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it & the lucky people tended to spot it.

Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected.
As a result, they miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties'; intent on finding their perfect partner & so miss opportunities to make good friends.
They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements & miss other types of jobs.

Lucky people are more relaxed & open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. My research eventually revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four principles. They are skilled at creating & noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

Here are Professor Wiseman's four top tips for becoming lucky:
1) Listen to your gut instincts - they are normally right
2) Be open to new experiences and breaking Ur normal routine
3) Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well
4) Visualize Urself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call.
Have a Lucky day and work for it...

"The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect."

" There is a great difference  between "worry"  &  "concern",
A worried person only sees the problem & a concerned person solves the problem..!

May luck be on your side!!!

Handling failures. ...

This is an important lesson to most of us especially the younsters. Failure and success are both sides of the same coin. It is important to know both. Failure is never final and is not fatal. Success never lasts and sooner or later there is failure around the corner
There was a very brilliant boy,

He always scored 100% in Science.
Got Selected for IIT Madras and scored excellent in IIT.
Went to the University of California for MBA.
Got a high paying job in America and settled there.
Married a Beautiful Tamil Girl.
Bought a 5 room big house and luxury cars.
He had everything that makes him successful but a few years ago he committed suicide after shooting his wife and children.

So, WHAT WENT WRONG?

California Institute of Clinical Psychology Studied his case and found “what went wrong?”

The researcher met the boy’s friends and family and found that he lost his job due to America’s economic crisis and he has to sit without a job for a long time. After even reducing his previous salary amount, he didn't get any job. Then his house installment broke and he and his family lost the home. they survived a few months with low money and then he and his wife together decided to commit suicide. He first shot his wife and children and then shot himself.

The case concluded that the man was Programmed for successes but he was not trained for handling failures.

now lets come to the actual question, What are the habits of highly successful people?

First of all, there are many people who will say you about success habits but today I am saying you even you had achieved everything then there is a chance to lose everything, nobody knows when the next economic crisis will hit the world. The best success habit according to me is getting trained for handling failures.

I also request every parent, please not only program your child to be successful but teach them how to handle failures and also teach them proper lessons about life. Learning high-level science and maths will help them to clear competitive exams but A knowledge about Life will help them to face every problem. Teach them about how money works instead of teaching them to work for money. Help them in finding their passion because these degrees will not help them in the next economic crisis and we don’t know when the next crisis will hit the world.

Branch of our life

Once a king received two magnificent peregrine falcons as a gift from one of his vassal state. They were the most beautiful birds he has ever seen. Though the Falcons were still quite young at the time, they were beautiful specimens groomed for keeping in his court specifically. The king called the head falconer and handed the two beautiful birds to be trained.

The falconer trained the birds for months. But one day the falconer informed the king that one of the falcons was flying and soaring high in the sky while the other has not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.

“I’ve never come across a bird as stubborn as this before,” the trainer complained to the king. He went on to describe how the creature ignored, refused and stubbornly lashed out at his every attempt. “May be there is something wrong with this bird.  It just won’t fly.”said the trainer. The falconer was one of the best in the land, his talents widely lauded by all who knew him. So, the king decided to give the trainer some more time to make the bird fly.

Months passed but the falcon never moved from the branch. The kings summoned all healers, sorcerers and other trainers from all the land to make the falcon fly. But none of them succeeded and the bird did not move from its perch.

One day a farmer was passing by the palace and heard about the stubborn falcon who wouldn’t fly. He thought he would give a try to make the bird fly.

Having tried everything else, the king was desperate to make the bird fly, so he allowed the farmer attempt to make the bird fly.

The next morning while the king was thrilled to see the two magnificent birds soaring high in the sky from his balcony.

The king did not  witness the feat himself, so he had the farmer brought before him to answer to his questions.

“I would like to know your secret,” the King said. “Tell me, how did you, achieve what the most highly trained, intuitive and wise men  could not? How did you make the falcon fly?”

The farmer peered up from beneath his brow. “It was actually quite simple, your highness. I just cut the branch on which the bird was perched.”

We all are made to fly. But at times we we sit on to our branches, clinging to the things familiar to us and never attempting for a change. The possibilities in the world are endless, but most of it remains undiscovered because we never attempt to go beyond our comfort zone. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable, and the mundane. We need to go outside of our comfort zone, destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight!

Travellers

Two young men were traveling in company along when one of them picked up a good looking purse with valuables.

“Oh, what a lucky day for me!” he said. “I have found the purse filled with gems and gold.”

“Do not say ‘I’ have found a purse,’” said his companion. “ Rather say  ‘we’ have found a purse and ‘how lucky we are.’ Travelers are ought to share alike the fortunes or misfortunes of the road.”

“No, no,” disagreed the other angrily. “I found and picked the purse so it is only me who is going to keep it.”

As the two men were discussing the ownership of the fortune, they heard a shout “Stop, thief! Catch the thief”. When the men looked behind they saw a  mob of people armed with clubs angrily coming down the road.

The man with the purse fell into a panic.

“We are in trouble if they find the purse with us,” he cried.

“No, no,” replied the other, “You did not say ‘we’ before when you had to share your fortune, so now stick to your ‘I’. Say ‘I am in trouble.’ Don’t try to share your misfortune now, when you were not ready to share your fortune  earlier.

Moral of the story: We cannot expect anyone to share our misfortunes unless we are willing to share our fortune also.

Dog

Once a highly successful businessman, running a health insurance company was getting ready to go to his office. When he reached into his car and opened a door, a stray dog sleeping under his car suddenly came out and bit on his leg! The businessman got very angry and quickly picked up a few rocks and threw at the dog but none hit the dog. The dog ran away.

Upon reaching his office, the businessman calls a meeting of his managers and during the meeting he puts the anger of dog on them. The managers also get upset by the anger of their boss and they put their anger to the employees working under them. The chain of this reaction keeps going till the lower level of employees and finally, the anger reaches to the office peon.

Now, there was no one working under the peon! So, after the office time is over, he reaches his home, and wife opens the door. She asked him, “Why are you so late today?” The peon upset due to anger threw at him by the staff, gives one slap to his wife! And says, “I didn’t go to the office to play football, I went to work so don’t irritate me with your stupid questions!”

So, now the wife got upset that she got a scolding plus a slap for no reason. She puts her anger on his son who was watching tv and give him a slap, “This is all you do, you have no interest in studying! Turn off the TV now!”

The son gets upset now! He walks out of his house and sees a dog passing by looking at him. He picks up a rock and hits the dog in his anger and frustration. The dog, getting hit by a rock, runs away barking in pain.

This was the same dog that bit the businessman early morning.

Moral: This was bound to happen. Reap as one has sown. This is how the life works. While we all worry about hell and heaven based on our deeds, we should concentrate more on how we are living and behaving. Do good, Good will come, Do Wrong, Wrong will come.

Sister

After I got married, I lived in the city. Many times my husband invited my parents to come and live with us, but they didn’t want. They said once they left the village, they wouldn’t know what to do. My brother agreed with them. He said, “Sis, you just take care of your parents-in-law. I will take care of Mom and Dad here.”

My husband became the directors of his factory. We asked my brother to accept the offer of being the manager in the maintenance department. But my brother rejected the offer. He insisted on working as a repairman instead for a start.

One day, my brother was on the top of a ladder repairing a cable, when he got electrocuted, and was sent to the hospital. My husband and I visited him at the hospital. Looking at the plaster cast on his leg, I grumbled, “Why did you reject the offer of being a manager? Managers won’t do something dangerous like that. Now look at you – you are suffering a serious injury. Why didn’t you just listen to us?”

With a serious expression on his face, he defended his decision, “Think of your brother-in-law, he just became the director. If I, being uneducated, would become a manager, what kind of rumors would fly around?” My husband’s eyes filled up with tears, and then I said, “But you lack in education only because of me!”

“Why do you talk about the past?” he said and then he held my hand. That year, he was 26 years old and I was 29 years old. My brother was 30 years old when he married a farmer girl from the village. During the wedding reception, the master of ceremonies asked him, “Who is the one person you respect and love the most?”

Without even taking a time to think, he answered, “My sister.” He continued by telling a story I could not even remember. “When I was in primary school, the school was in a different village. Everyday, my sister and I would walk for 2 hours to school and back home. One day, I lost one of my gloves. My sister gave me one of hers. She wore only one glove and she had to walk far. When we got home, her hands were trembling because of the cold weather. She could not even hold her chopsticks. From that day on, I swore that as long as I lived, I would take care of my sister and would always be good to her.”

Applause filled up the room. All guests turned their attention to me. I found it hard to speak, “In my whole life, the one I would like to thank most is my brother,” And in this happy occasion, in front of the crowd, tears were rolling down my face again.

Moral: Love and care for the one you love every single day of your life. You may think what you did is just a small deed, but to that someone, it may mean a lot. Some relations are made to be last longer but they still need to be nurtured with love and care.

2 Apples

A Father and his Daughter were playing in the park.  His young daughter spotted an apple vendor.  She asked her father to buy her an apple.  Father didn’t bring much money with him, but it was enough to purchase two apple.  So, he bought two apples and gave his daughter.

His daughter held one apple each in her two hands.  Then a father asked her if she can share one apple with him.  Upon hearing this, his daughter quickly took a bite from one apple.  And before her father could speak, she also took a bite from the second apple.

A Father was surprised.  He wondered what mistake he made raising her daughter that she acted in such a greedy way.  His mind was lost in thoughts, that perhaps he is just thinking too much, his daughter is too young to understand about sharing and giving.  A smile had disappeared from his face.

And suddenly his daughter with an apple in her one hand  said, “Father have this one, this one is much juiciest and sweeter”.  Her father was speechless.  He felt bad about reaching to the judgement so quickly about a small child.  But, his smile came back now knowing why his daughter quickly took a bite from each apple.

Moral:  Don’t Judge anything too quickly or reach a conclusion.  Always spare a time to understand things better.

House on fire

A man who has gone out of his town comes back and finds that his house is on fire. It was one of the most beautiful houses in the town, and the man loved the house the most! Many were ready to give a double price for the house, but he had never agreed for any price and now it is just burning before his eyes. And thousands of people have gathered, but nothing can be done, the fire has spread so far that even if you try to put it out, nothing will be saved. So he became very sad.

His son comes running and whispers something in his ear, “Don’t be worried. I sold it yesterday and at a very good price. The offer was so good, I could not wait for you. Forgive me.”

The Father said, “thank God, it’s not ours now!” Then he became relaxed and stood as a silent watcher, just like 1000s of other watchers.

Then the second son comes running, and he says to the father, “What are you doing? the house is on fire and you are only watching it burn?” The father said, “Don’t you know, your brother has sold it.”

He said, “we have taken only advance amount, not settled fully. I doubt now that the man is going to purchase it now.”

Tears which had disappeared came back to the father’s eyes, his heart started to beat fast. And then the third son comes, and he says, “That man is a man of his word. I have just come from him.” He said, “It doesn’t matter whether the house is burnt or not, it is mine. And I am going to pay the price that I have settled for. Neither you knew, nor I knew that the house would catch on fire.”

Then all just stood and watched the house burn without a worry.

Moral:  This is a very complicated human nature to describe. Even though person here loved his house which he lost, became relaxed knowing it was not his anymore. He never wanted to give it away till it was beautiful but, as soon as it started to lose its beauty, he didn’t mind letting it go for a profit.   Sorrow and Happiness followed after each son came with their advice. But, most important thing to understand is, how his feeling changed.  How the ratio of loss and profit changed his feelings towards a house, which he loved the most.  This is how in present time we have come to give a priority to our relations and friendship – based on loss or profit ratio.  Everyone should understand this story and put their own moral.

100 Gold Coins

The wisdom of Birbal was unparalleled during the reign of Emperor Akbar. But Akbar’s brother in law was extremely jealous of him. He asked the Emperor to dispense with Birbal’s services and appoint him in his place. He gave ample assurance that he would prove to be more efficient and capable than Birbal. Before Akbar could take a decision on this matter, this news reached Birbal.

Birbal resigned and left. Akbar’s brother in law was made the minister in place of Birbal. Akbar decided to test the new minister. He gave three hundred gold coins to him and said, “Spend these gold coins such that, I get a hundred gold coins here in this life; a hundred gold coins in the other world and another hundred gold coins neither here nor there.”

The minister found the entire situation to be a maze of confusion and hopelessness. He spent sleepless nights worrying how he would get himself out of this mess. Thinking in circles was making him go crazy. Eventually, on the advice of his wife, he sought Birbals help. Birbal said, “Just give me the gold coins. I shall handle the rest.”

Birbal walked the streets of the city holding the bag of gold coins in his hand. He noticed a rich merchant celebrating his son’s wedding. Birbal gave a hundred gold coins to him and bowed courteously saying, “Emperor Akbar sends you his good wishes and blessings for the wedding of your son. Please accept the gift he has sent.” The merchant felt honored that the king had sent a special messenger with such a precious gift. He honored Birbal and gave him a large number of expensive gifts and a bag of gold coins as a return gift for the king.

Next, Birbal went to the area of the city where the poor people lived. There he bought food and clothing in exchange for a hundred gold coins and distributed them in the name of the Emperor.

When he came back to town he organized a concert of music and dance. He spent a hundred gold coins on it.

The next day Birbal entered Akbar’s darbar and announced that he had done all that the king had asked his brother-in-law to do. The Emperor wanted to know how he had done it. Birbal repeated the sequences of all the events and then said, “The money I gave to the merchant for the wedding of his son – you have got back while on this earth. The money I spent on buying food and clothing for the poor – you will get it in the other world. The money I spent on the musical concert – you will get neither here nor there.” Akbar’s brother in law understood his mistake and resigned. Birbal got his place back.

Moral: The money you spend on friends is returned or reciprocated in some form or the other. The money spent on charity gets converted into blessings from God which will be your eternal property. The money spent on pleasures is just frittered away. So when you spend your money, think a little, if not a lot.

Finding peace

The proprietor of a coffee shop had been busy all day. Being Saturday, it was very crowded and the customers were just unending. He had been on his toes since morning.

Towards the evening he felt a splitting headache surfacing. As the clock ticked away, his headache worsened. Unable to bear it, he stepped out of the shop leaving his staff to look after the sales.

He walked across the street to the Chemist, to buy himself a painkiller to relieve his headache. He swallowed the pill and felt relieved. He knew that in a few minutes he would feel better.

As he strolled out of the shop, he casually asked the salesgirl, "Where is Mr Bhatwadekar (the Chemist)? He's not at the cash counter today!" The girl replied, "Sir, Mr. Bhatwadekar had a splitting headache and said he was going across to the coffee shop. He said a cup of hot coffee would relieve him of his headache."

The man's mouth went dry and he mumbled, "Oh! I see."

*This is a typical case of looking outside ourselves for something that we have within us*.

How strange but true!

The chemist relieves his headache by drinking coffee and the coffee shop owner finds relief in a pain relieving pill!

A man hunts across the lengths and breadths of the universe to find peace.

Eventually he finds it in his himself and realizes that peace is really a state of mind.

MOST OF THE RESOURCES ARE WITHIN OURSELVES

Collecting Pieces

I was walking in the supermarket and suddenly I heard a noise of things breaking. I turned down an aisle and saw a group of people staring at an older lady who had hit a shelf containing plates and glasses with her cart. Many had fallen to the ground and broken.

Kneeling on the floor embarrassed, the lady was frantically picking up the shattered pieces, while her husband peeled off each bar code saying: "We have to pay for all this."

What a sad scene. Someone has a mishap, and all eyes were on her. When I knelt beside her to help a man also knelt beside us and said, "Leave it, we will pick this up. Let’s get your information, so you can go to the hospital and have that wound in your hand looked at."

The lady looked at him and said, "But I have to pay for this."

The man said, "No ma'am, I'm the Manager & we have insurance for this. You don't have to pay anything. Let's get you taken care of."

For you who have read this far, I'd like you to close your eyes and imagine God doing the same for you. Collecting the pieces of your broken heart from all the misteps and blows that life has thrown at you.

God will heal your wounds and your sins and mistakes will be forgiven.

This is the warranty called grace, that when you accept God as your only savior, the manager of the existence of the universe (GOD) will tell you: "Everything is already paid for ... go on your way!"