The Suitcase

A man died, when he realized it, he saw God coming closer with a suitcase in His hand.

God said: “Alright son it’s time to go.”

Surprised the man responded: “Now? So soon? I had a lot of plans...”

“I'm sorry but it’s time to go.”

“What do You have in that suitcase?” the man asked.

God answered: “Your belongings.”

“My belongings? You mean my things, my clothes, my money?”

God answered: “Those things were not yours, they belonged to the earth.”

“Is it my memories?” the man asked.

God answered: “Those never belonged to you they belonged to Time”

“Is it my talents?”

God answered: “Those were never yours, they belonged to the circumstances.”

“Is it then my friends and family?”

God answered: “I'm sorry they were never yours they belonged to the path.”

“Is it at least my wife and son?”

God answered: “They were never yours, they belonged to your heart.”

“Is it my body?”

God answered: “That was never yours, it belonged to the dust.”

“Is it my soul?”

God answered: “No that is Mine.”

Full of fear, the man took the suitcase from God and opened it just to find out the suitcase was empty.

With a tear coming down his cheek the man said: “I never had anything???

God answered: “That is correct, every moment you lived were only yours.”

Life is just a moment.

A moment that belongs to you.

For this reason enjoy this time while you have it.

Don't let anything that you think you own stop you from doing so.

Live Now.

Live your life.

Don't forget to be happy, that is the only thing that matters.

Material things and everything else that you fought for stay here.

You can take only you and the time you lived.

Short Stories

1. LOOKING BACK

I interviewed my grandmother for part of a research paper I was working on for my psychology class. When I asked her to define success in her own words, she said, "Success is when you look back at your life, and the memories make you smile".

2. LOVE CONQUERS PAIN

After I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side of the road, holding him and crying. But just before he died, he licked the tears off my face.

3. TOGETHERNESS

As my father, my three brothers, and two sisters stood around my mother's hospital bed, my mother uttered her last coherent words before she died. She simply said, "I feel so loved right now. We should have gotten together like this more often.”

4. AFFECTION

I kissed my dad on the forehead as he passed away in a small hospital bed. About 5 seconds after he passed, I realized it was the first time I had kissed him since I was a little boy.

5. JOY

When I witnessed a 27-year-old cancer patient laughing hysterically at her 2-year-old daughter's antics, I suddenly realized that I needed to stop complaining about my life and start celebrating it again.

6. KINDNESS

A boy in a wheelchair saw me desperately struggling on crutches with my broken leg and offered to carry my backpack and books for me. He helped me all the way across campus to my class, and as he was leaving, he said, "I hope you feel better soon.”

7. SHARING

I was travelling in Kenya, and I met a refugee from Zimbabwe. He said he hadn't eaten anything in over three days and looked extremely skinny and unhealthy. Then, my friend offered him the rest of his sandwich. The man first said, "We can share this.”

Life is short! Live every minute to the fullest and celebrate it every day.

Value

A man went to God and asked, “What’s the value of life?”

God gave him one stone and said, “Find out the value of this stone, but don’t sell it.”

The man took the stone to an Orange Seller and asked him what it’s cost would be.

The Orange Seller saw the shiny stone and said, “You can take 12 oranges and give me the stone.”

The man apologized and said that the God has asked him not to sell it.

He went ahead and found a vegetable seller. “What could be the value of this stone?” he asked the vegetable seller. The seller saw the shiny stone and said, “Take one sack of potatoes and give me the stone.”

The man again apologized and said he can’t sell it.

Further ahead, he went into a jewellery shop and asked the value of the stone.

The jeweller saw the stone under a lens and said, “I’ll give you 50 Lakhs for this stone.” When the man shook his head, the jeweller said, “Alright, alright, take 2 crores, but give me the stone.”

The man explained that he can’t sell the stone. Further ahead, the man saw a precious stone’s shop and asked the seller the value of this stone.

When the precious stone’s seller saw the big ruby, he lay down a red cloth and put the ruby on it. Then he walked in circles around the ruby and bent down and touched his head in front of the ruby.

“From where did you bring this priceless ruby from?” he asked. “Even if I sell the whole world, and my life, I won’t be able to purchase this priceless stone.

Stunned and confused, the man returned to the God and told him what had happened. “Now tell me what is the value of life, God?

God said, “The answers you got from the Orange Seller, the Vegetable Seller, the Jeweller & the Precious Stone’s Seller explain the value of our life… You may be a precious stone, even priceless, but people may value you based on their level of information, their belief in you, their motive behind entertaining you, their ambition, and their risk taking ability. But don’t fear, you will surely find someone who will discern your true value.”

In the eyes of God you are very very precious.

Respect yourself. You are Unique. No one can Replace you!

Respect yourself..  Don’t undermine yourself.

You are Unique……._.No one can Replace you.

Chips on the Sugar bowl

When I was a young boy, so many years ago, the thing I loved to do more than anything was to stay with my granny…. It was a time of listening to stories & learning of old ways & exploring. She didn't have a TV or phone. There was no internet then, no texting or cell phone distractions, no computers, & nobody around. But there was the creek bank, cane poles, the woods, cow paths across pastures that meandered forever, & forts to build in hay lofts. I loved it.

One day I was sitting at her old wooden, kitchen  table while granny was preparing breakfast. In front of me was an old sugar bowl & I noticed there was a chip on its' rim. I pointed out to Grandma that it was damaged. 

Her answer was wonderful. She said just because something gets a chip or scratch you don't throw it out or set it aside, because life beats it up a little. She said you patch your coat, put new soles on your boots & keep on going. Even at that young age I thought about what she said. I looked around the room. There was a patch on the screen door sown in with fishing line, chips in the enamel on the old water bucket, the quilt on the bed was made from worn out clothes, each piece had its' own story.

Well that's what started it. People ask why I like to tell stories & I say because of the chip on the sugar bowl. I started looking at things, life differently. Every chip, scratch, or dent on a piece of furniture, the wall, the door frame had a story, whether inside the house or out in the barnyard. What caused that, how long had it been there.

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Just like the dents and chips in the story above I think we also gather dents and chips as we go through the highs and lows of life. We need to embrace our flaws and learn to love and value them. They are part of our history and each tells a story - often of survival and growth.