Value....

Michael Jordan was born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York.

He had four  siblings and his father's earnings were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.

He grew up in a poor neighbourhood. Exposed to mindless violence and heavy discrimination in the slums, he saw for himself only a hopeless future.

His father saw in Michael, a lost soul and decided to do something.

He gave Michael, who was 13 years old, a piece of used clothing and asked: "What do you think the value of this outfit would be?"

Jordan replied,"Maybe one dollar."

His father asked, "Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help to your family."

Jordan nodded his head, "I'll try, but no guarantee that I'll be successful."

Jordan carefully washed the cloth clean. Because they didn't have an iron, to smoothen the cloth, he levelled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the clothes to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours. Jordan finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two dollar bill and ran home.

After that, everyday he looked for used clothing, washed and ironed it, and sold it in the crowd.

More than ten days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, "Can you think of a way you can sell this for 20 bucks?"

Aghast, Jordan said, "How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most."

His father replied, "Why don't you try it first? There might be a way."

After breaking his head for a few hours, finally, Jordan got an idea.

He asked for cousin's helpto paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in the school where the children of the rich study.

Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought that outfit for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years. He loved it so much and he gave a five dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount for Jordan, the equivalent of a month's salary of his father.

When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing, "Are you able to resell it at a price of 200 dollars?" Jordan's eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the clothes without the slightest doubt. Two months later a popular movie actress from the movie "Charlie's Angels", Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph, she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, "This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!" He auctioned off the clothes, to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!

Upon returning home, his father broke into TEARS and said, "I am amazed that you did it My child! You're really great! "

That night, Jordan slept alongside his father. His father said, "Son, in your experience selling these three pieces of clothing, what did you learn about success?"

Jordan replied, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

His father nodded his head, then shook his head, "What you say is not entirely wrong! But that was not my intention. I just wanted to show you that a piece of used clothing which is worth only a dollar can also be increased in value, Then how about us - living & thinking humans? We may be darker and poorer, but what if we CAN increase our VALUE."

This thought enlightened young Jordan. Even a piece of used clothing could be made dignified, then why not me? There is absolutely no reason to underestimate myself.

From then on, Michael Jordan felt that his future would be beautiful and full of hope.

He went on to become the greatest basketball player of all times.

How can I increase my own value? I am finding it a very interesting thought.

Be innovative

An old man was selling watermelons. His pricelist reads 1 for $3 and 3 for $10.

A young man stopped by and bought 3 watermelons one by one paying $3 for each.

As the young man was walking away, he turned around and said, "Hey Old Man, do you realize I just bought 3 watermelons foe $9 instead of $10? May be business is not your thing."

The old man smiled and mumbled to himself, "People are funny. Everytime they buy three watermelons instead of one, yet they keep trying to teach me how to do business."

"Think Big, Grow More, Be Innovative".

Rise above criticism

One day, a school teacher wrote on the board the following:

*9×1=7*

*9×2=18*

*9×3=27*

*9×4=36*

*9×5=45*

*9×6=54*

*9×7=63*

*9×8=72*

*9×9=81*

*9×10=90*

When He was done, he looked back at the students and they were all laughing at him  because of the first equation which was wrong.

Then the teacher said the following:

I wrote the first equation wrong on purpose, because I wanted you to learn Something important.

This was for you to know how the world out there will TREAT you!

You can see that I wrote the RIGHT thing nine times, but none of you congratulated me for it.

But you all laughed and criticized me because of one wrong thing I did.

The lesson is:

The world will never appreciate the good you do a million times, but will criticize the one wrong thing you do. So don't Get Discouraged!

8 minute movie

A movie theater announced that an 8-minute movie won the title of Best Short Film in the World ...

So, it was decided to show this movie in the cinema hall for free, so that a large number of people could watch it.

 

The movie began with a snapshot of a room ceiling that was devoid of any decoration. Just a white ceiling ...

3 minutes passed without the camera moving and it did not move to any other scene, or any other part of the room.

Another 3 minutes passed without the camera moving and without changing the scene 

After 6 boring minutes, the viewers started grumbling;  Some of them were about to leave the theater hall;  And some of them objected to the officials of the house because they wasted their time watching a ceiling ...

Suddenly, before the majority could leave, the camera lens slowly moved on a wall without any details as well until it reached down towards the floor, there a child appeared on a bed, who seems to be totally handicapped due to the spinal cord defect in his little body ...

The camera slowly moved to the side of the bed, showing a wheelchair.

The camera moved to the ceiling again;  

Then a message appeared: 

"We showed you only 8 minutes of this child's daily activity, only 8 minutes from the scene that this handicapped child watches all hours of his life, and you complained and weren’t patient for only six minutes.

You couldn't bear to watch it ..!

   

So know the value of every second of your life that you spend in wellness, and thank your God for every Blessing Bestowed on you.

The Lockdown has forced us to have the time to think about our lives and the many privileges that we have.

We thank God for the Blessing of the freedom of movement to go out of the house to see life, breathe the air, and experience 

LIFE in its various colors ...

Appreciate LIFE  ❤️

Can you sleep when wind blows ??

The following story is a superb metaphorical exposition of the level of preparedness.

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.

He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic.

They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. 'Are you a good farm hand?' the farmer asked him.

'Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,' answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore.

Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, 'Get up! A storm is coming!

Tie things down before they blow away!' The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, 'No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.'

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.

The above story goes on to talk about trials and tribulations in life and if we do our best to understand, accept, and implement the principles learnt by us we will experience a deep sense of security, peace, and joy from within.

We will then be able to 'sleep when the wind blows.

10 year old

"Amma, I am going to the Mall along with my wife and daughter.  Please take care of the house."

"OK son.  You go ahead.  Already my legs are aching.  I am not interested in coming to the mall. You go ahead."

"Grandma, you should also come" insisted the grand daughter ...

"Grandma cannot climb all those steps in the mall.  She does not know how to use the escalator.  As there are no temples there, Grandma will not be interested. She is interested only in going to temples," said the daughter in law.

Though Grandma nodded in agreement the grand daughter was adamant. She refused to come to the mall if Grandma was not coming.  Though Grandma repeated that she was not interested, she could not stand her ground against her dear ten year old granddaughter.  She agreed to accompany them.

The granddaughter was very happy.  Father asked everyone to get dressed up.  Before her parents could get ready, the oldest and the youngest were ready.  The youngster took her grandma to the front room. She drew two parallel lines, a foot apart. She told her grandmother that it was a game and the old lady had to pretend that she was a crane (the bird).

She had to keep one leg within the lines and raise the other leg by three inches.  

" What is this my dear?"  asked Grandma...

" This is the Crane game Grandma.  I will show you how to play."                              Both of them played a few times before the father could bring the car....Grandma became adept in the game.

They reached the mall and when they reached the escalator, the father and mother were wondering how the elderly lady would master that. The granddaughter took Grandma near the escalator and asked her to play the Crane game.  Grandma raised her right foot and kept it on one of the moving steps and raised her left leg by three inches and could easily reach the next moving step. This way, she effortlessly used the escalator to reach the higher level, to the wonder of her son and daughter in law.  With her successful debut, Grandma and the grand daughter moved up and down several times on the escalator and were enjoying the fun.  

They then went to the theatre to see a movie.  As it was cold inside, granddaughter took out a shawl from her bag and covered the old lady, with a mischievous smile.  She had come prepared for this!  After the movie, they went to a restaurant.  When the son asked his mother what to order, his daughter took away the menu and thrust it in the hands of Grandma.     

"You know how to read; better go through the menu and order whatever you want."  Grandma decided the items to be eaten. 

Before leaving for home, Grandma went to use the toilet.  Using that occasion, the father asked his daughter how she knew so much about his mother which as a son, he was not aware of.

Prompt came the response: "Dad, when a young child is brought out of the home, you make so many preparations  - milk bottles, diapers, wipes etc. Your  mother would have done all these things for you.  Why not show the same consideration for your mother? Why did you presume that the elderly would be interested only in temples.   They also have normal desires like going out and enjoying all the fun. Since they do not openly express it, we have to coax them to speak up."

The father was speechless. However he was happy to learn a new lesson from his ten year old daughter...

Be someone to help....

# THE_STRANDED_OLD_LADY_AND_BRYAN

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was those chills which only fear can put in you.

He said, “I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.”

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, “And think of me.”

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: “You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.”

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard….

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.”

Moral: What Goes around Comes Around. You do good, You will get good in return. Always be Helpful.