Love and Compassion

I needed some help with the work load. I was working too much at office, sometimes overnight. I had little time for the housework. Domestic things weren't getting done. I told my husband I needed his help: "You need to do more". But husbands pretend that they don't know how to do things inside of the home :).

"You need to do more, please, I mean it." I said. He meant well - he always does."Tell me what you want dear and I'll do it”. My response: "Please see it yourself? I can’t tell you every small thing". It isn't my way to nag him; It isn't my way to grumble; My way is to do it myself. So I continued doing everything alone without complaining.

But as days passed, I saw him silently with a baby's confusion on his face struggling through the housework. Partially doing cleaning when am watching him and mostly watching TV when am not around. He would now do things without asking me; in a way he can. Things had changed.

On one of those days during the episode, when I slipped in to the couch tired and worn out, he gently rubbed my hair away from the eyes and said, “I understand dear, you had a tiring day. I wish I could do it all, but you know am bad at it. Even you need not do it if it is so exhausting. Everything can wait. Now just relax and you will be alright”, he said kissing my forehead.

Though till date I do 90% of the house work, somehow I feel relieved now. Then where was the problem?

The problem was, Sometimes we fail to understand what we actually need. We feel antsy and restless and we don't know why. We feel like we want something, but can't put finger on it. That’s the time when you have to maintain your cool and relax. Give some time for things to settle down and then think what you actually need.

Probably what I needed then, was not sharing my workload, Probably I was just turned off by feeling alone in everything I do at home. I was exhausted and frustrated with the load. What I needed was compassion and love.

With such a loving Husband who gives hope when life is low, a place when I have no-where to go, who is always next to me wiping all my tears away, being my best friend, I am sure there will never be lack of love and compassion anytime in life.

Bigger God

Two men went fishing. One was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn't. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.
The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing the man waste good fish. "Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked.
The inexperienced fisherman replied, "I only have a small frying pan."
Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throw back the big plans, big dreams, big jobs, big opportunities that God gives us. Our faith is too small.
We laugh at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan, yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith?
Whether it's a problem or a possibility, God will never give you anything bigger than you can handle. That means we can confidently walk into anything God brings our way.
Stop telling God you've got big problems.
Tell your problems you've got a BIG GOD!

Be positive

This is a story of two brothers. One was a drug addict and a drunker who frequently beat up his family. The other one was a very successful businessman who was respected in society and had a wonderful family. Some people wanted to find out why two brothers from the same parents, brought up in the same environment, could be so different.

The first one was asked, "How come you do what you do? You are a drug addict, a drunk, and you beat your family. What motivates you?" He said, "My father." They asked, "What about your father?" The reply was, "My father was a drug addict, a drunk and he beat his family. What do you expect me to be? That is what I am."

They went to the brother who was doing everything right and asked him the same question. "How come you are doing everything right? What is your source of motivation?" And guess what he said? "My father. When I was a little boy, I used to see my dad drunk and doing all the wrong things. I made up my mind that this is not what I wanted to be."

Both were deriving their strength and motivation from the same source, but one was using it positively and the other negatively. Negative motivation brings the desire to take the easier way which ends up being the tougher way.

Have a Positive Weekend!!

Copper Coin

Gandhi went from city to city, village to village collecting funds for the Charkha Sangh. During one of his tours he addressed a meeting in Orissa. After his speech a poor old woman got up. She was bent with age, her hair was grey and her clothes were in tatters. The volunteers tried to stop her, but she fought her way to the place where Gandhi was sitting. "I must see him," she insisted and going up to Gandhi touched his feet. Then from the folds of her sari she brought out a copper coin and placed it at his feet. Gandhi picked up the copper coin and put it away carefully.
The Charkha Sangh funds were under the charge of Jamnalal Bajaj. He asked Gandhi for the coin but Gandhi refused. "I keep cheque worth thousands of rupees for the Charkha Sangh," Jamnalal Bajaj said laughingly "yet you won't trust me with a copper coin." "This copper coin is worth much more than those thousands," Gandhi said.
"If a man has several lakhs and he gives away a thousand or two, it doesn't mean much. But this coin was perhaps all that the poor woman possessed. She gave me all she had. That was very generous of her. What a great sacrifice she made. That is why I value this copper coin more than a crore of rupees."

Just Go and Do It!

When we were young, we had dreams and expectations. We imagine things, we keep thinking about what we want to be, what we want to do, what makes us proud and happy and what will we become.

We grew up, and things seemed like having its own way. We accept our success or failures and we move on. The rapid change, the need to do the urgent things, the works, the pressures and the failures, all kill part of our visions.

Things have changed, but they cannot really take away the dreams. We still have to dream on, to visualize our desires, our wants, our vision of our future, even when we are considered too old for such things.

Cornel Sanders started his business when he was sixty, and started the whole successful KFC business. The main thing is not the age - whether being too old, or too young, but it is the desire to dream on, and the courage to realize it.

Vivid visualization, taking it to sleep, thinking constantly about it, talking about it, planning it, adding all the spices to our dreams will make us a bit closer to the realization of our dreams.

Entrepreneurship starts with a dream, a simple wish of tiny restaurant operation, or a huge business of real-estate development, or a modest training center for English education, or just any other self-employed money learning fun.

The ability to dream on is one of the fine quality of human race that other species do not possess. So dream on, and put a deadline: make it a giant dream, a tiny one, an old everlasting one, a newfound one, a hobby related one, a change of life one, a religious one, a stupid one, a stroke-of-genius one, or just whatever...... just continue to dream on........ Then, Just Go and Do It!

What needed to change

A few years ago, British Rail had a real fall-off in business. Looking for marketing answers, they went searching for a new ad agency - one that could deliver an ad campaign that would bring their customers back.

When the British Rail executives went to the offices of a prominent London ad agency to discuss their needs, they were met by a very rude receptionist, who insisted that they wait.
Finally, an unkempt person led them to a conference room - a dirty, scruffy room cluttered with plates of stale food. The executives were again, left to wait. A few agency people drifted in and out of the room, basically ignoring the executives who grew impatient by the minute. When the execs tried to ask what was going on, the agency people brushed them off and went about their work.

Eventually, the execs had enough. As they angrily started to get up, completely disgusted with the way they'd been treated, one of the agency people finally showed up.
"Gentlemen," he said, "your treatment here at our Agency is not typical of how we treat our clients - in fact, we've gone out of our way to stage this meeting for you. We've behaved this way to point out to you what it's like to be a customer of British Rail. Your real problem at British Rail isn't your advertising, it's your people. We suggest you let us address your employee attitude problem before we attempt to change your advertising."

The British Rail executives were shocked - but the agency got the account! The agency had the remarkable conviction to point out the problem because it knew exactly what needed to change.

As Yogi Berra once said."Before we build a better mousetrap, we need to find out if there are any mice out there."

(Source-Unknown)

Zen Master in Jail

A Zen master (Zen Master is a title given to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhism to others) had been put into jail several times. Now, it is one thing to forgive a thief, it is one thing not to think that he is bad, it is another thing to go to jail oneself. And not once, many times – for stealing small things from his neighbours. And the neighbours knew, and they were puzzled: Why does this man steal? and such small things. But the moment he would be out of prison he would steal again, and he would go back. Even the judges were worried. But they had to send him to jail, because he would confess.
He would never say, ’I have not stolen.’
Finally the neighbours gathered together, and they said, ’Sir, don’t steal any more. You are getting old, and we are ready to provide you with all that you need – all your necessities, whatsoever it is. You stop this! We are very much worried, and we are very sad. Why do you go on doing this?
And the old man laughed. And he said, ’I steal in order to get in with the prisoners, and bring them the inner message. Who will help them? Outside, for you prisoners, there are many masters. But inside the jail there is no master. Who will help them, you tell me? This is my way to get in and help those people. So when my punishment is over and I am thrown out, I have to steal something and go back again. I am going to continue this. And I have found there in jail such beautiful souls, such innocent souls – sometimes far MORE innocent....’
Once it happened, one of my friends became a governor of a state in India, and he allowed me to go into jails all over his state. And I went for years, and I was surprised. The people who are in jails are far more innocent than the politicians in New Delhi, than the rich people, than the so-called saints. I know almost all the saints of this country.

They are more cunning. I have found in the criminals such innocent souls.... I can understand this old Zen master’s idea – of stealing, of getting caught, and bringing the message to them. ’I steal in order to get in with the prisoners and bring them the inner message.’

Source: " Zen: The Path of Paradox, Vol 2 " - Osho

Determination

Once, a big fat Mouse and a lively little Mouse were hopping along together, when they had the misfortune of jumping into a pail of fresh milk. They swam for hours and hours hoping to get out somehow; but the sides of the pail were steep and slippery and death seemed to be certain.
When the big Mouse was exhausted he lost courage. There seemed no hope of rescue. 'Why keep struggling against the inevitable? I cannot swim any longer.' He moaned.
'Keep on! Keep on!' urged the little Mouse, who was still circling the pail. So they went on for a while. But the big Mouse decided it was no use.
'Little brother, We may as well give up' he gasped. 'I am going to quit struggling. ‘Now only the little Mouse was left. He thought to himself. 'Well, to give up is to be dead, so I will keep swimming.'
Two more hours passed and the tiny legs of the determined little Mouse were almost paralyzed with exhaustion. It seemed as if he could not keep moving for another minute. But he thought of his dead friend, and intoxicated with determination, the little Mouse kept on swimming around and around the pail, chopping the milk into white waves. After a while, just as he felt completely numb and thought he was about to drown, he suddenly felt something solid under him.
To his astonishment, he saw that he was resting on a lump of butter which he had churned by constant paddling! And so the successful little Mouse leaped out of the milk pail to freedom.

A Rat Story

For centuries rats have been one of the most hated species on the face of the planet. In fact most people are more concerned with the eradication of rat altogether than learning anything about them. I was one in the above list till recently.
I chose to use my bike instead of my car for sometime. I parked my car in front of my house. This time along, I hadn’t started my car even once in that month. After a month when I decided to use the car, I noticed that a rat had a cozy bed in the bonnet of my car. I ignored it and thought I will clean it up some other day. Finally that some other day came a bit too late; probably after a month more. That day, I cleaned up the whole mess.
One day after that as I drove to my office, my car broke down. I left the car in the service station. When I went back to take the car, I realized what the rat had done in anger. He had blown off the fuse by damaging few wires.
All those days, when I had allowed him to be in the car, I used to drive the car. It had not done any damage till then. Once I decided to clear his mess and make no room for his comfort, he had decided to take revenge.
I should have thought about the consequences before acting. If I had thought of the consequences, I would have got rid of the smell in the bonnet, before cleaning up the rat’s home. Rats identify their setup by smell.
Also, I underestimated my tiny enemy. Underestimating is like letting a wolf in your farm. Never underestimate and definitely don’t be too overconfident for you will be arrogant and ignorant. When we view ourselves too highly and others too lightly, destruction occurs. Many huge companies ignored many small companies and eventually the roles have switched.

The lesson from this small incident was; never underestimate and never act without thinking of the consequences.

(Thanks to Raffi for sharing this incident)

Power of Belief

A businessman was deep in debt and could see no way out.Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy. Suddenly an old man appeared before him. "I can see that something is troubling you," he said. After listening to the executive's woes, the old man said, "I believe I can help you." He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying, "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time." Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world! "I can erase my money worries in an instant!" he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the un-cashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought. With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the un-cashed check. At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man."I'm so glad I caught him!" she cried. "I hope he hasn't been bothering you. He's always escaping from the rest home and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller”. And she led the old man away by the arm. The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he'd been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him. Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around.

It was his newfound CONFIDENCE that gave him power to achieve anything he went after.

(Thanks to Santi for sharing this)

Stone Cutter

There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life. One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant. To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined. Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!" Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair.

He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!" Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers.

But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!" Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone.

But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!" Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him.

But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock. "How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!" Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth.

But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought.

He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.

(Thanks to Ramadurai for sharing this.)

Clay Balls

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves, he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls, with their hidden treasure, into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us.

Looking for the Gold

As a young Scot boy, Andrew Carnegie came to America and started doing odd jobs. He ended up as one of the largest steel manufacturers in the US. At one time, he had 43 millionaires working for him. Several decades ago, a million dollars used to be a lot of money. Even today, it is a lot of money. Someone asked Mr. Carnegie how he dealt with people? Andrew Carnegie replied, “Dealing with people is like digging gold. When you go digging for an ounce of gold, you have to move tons of dirt to get an ounce of gold. But when you go digging, you don’t go looking for the dirt, you go looking for the gold.”

So, what is your focus? Become a digger of gold. If you are looking for what is wrong with people or with things, you will find many. What are you looking for? Andrew Carnegie’s reply has a very important message. There is something positive in every person and every situation. Sometimes we have to dig deep to look for the positive because it may not be apparent. Besides, we are so used to looking for what is wrong with other people and situations, we forget to see what is right. Someone once said that even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Remember, when you go looking for gold, you have to move tons of dirt to get an ounce of gold. But when you go looking, you don’t go looking for the dirt, you go looking for the gold.

Thanks to Ramadurai for sharing this.

Encourage

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the famous 19th-century poet and artist, was once approached by an elderly man. The old fellow had some sketches and drawings that he wanted Rossetti to look at and tell him if they were any good, or if they at least showed potential talent.
Rossetti looked them over carefully. After the first few, he knew that they were worthless, showing not the least sign of artistic talent. But Rossetti was a kind man, and he told the elderly man as gently as possible that the pictures were without much value and showed little talent. He was sorry, but he could not lie to the man. The visitor was disappointed, but seemed to expect Rossetti's judgment.
He then apologized for taking up Rossetti's time, but would he just look at a few more drawings - these done by a young art student? Rossetti looked over the second batch of sketches and immediately became enthusiastic over the talent they revealed. "These," he said, "oh, these are good. This young student has great talent. He should be given every help and encouragement in his career as an artist. He has a great future if he will work hard and stick to it."
Rossetti could see that the old fellow was deeply moved. "Who is this fine young artist?" he asked. "Your son?" "No," said the old man sadly. "It is me - 40 years ago.

If only I had heard your praise then! For you see, I got discouraged and gave up - too soon."

Science

Sir CV Raman is a Nobel Laureate in Physics who discovered the Raman Effect. Raman gives the view that the color of sky is blue due to molecular diffraction, which determines the observed luminosity, and in great measures also its color. This led to the birth of the Raman Effect. Raman was in the first batch of BHARAT RATNA Award winners. The award ceremony was to take place in the last week of January, soon after the Republic Day celebrations of 1954. The then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad wrote to Raman inviting him to be the personal guest in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Dr. Rajendra Prasad asked Raman to come to Delhi for the award ceremony. Sir CV Raman wrote a polite letter, regretting his inability to go. Raman had a noble reason for his inability to attend the investiture ceremony. He explained to the President that he was guiding a Ph.D. student and that thesis was positively due by the last day of January. The student was valiantly trying to wrap it all up and Raman felt, he had to be by the side of the research student, see that the thesis was finished, sign the thesis as the guide and then have it submitted. Here was a scientist who gave up the pomp of a glittering ceremony associated with the highest honour, because he felt that his duty required him to be by the side of the student.

It is this unique trait of giving value to science that builds science.

Ordinary Man

Walking on the road, you pass so many people. Some look confident, purposeful, well-dressed, well-maintained. But the majorities appear so ordinary, wear ill-fitting clothes, unfashionable footwear, have too much fat or too little, nothing remarkable about them, nothing attractive.

But yet someone somewhere eagerly waits for this unimpressive man to come home every evening.

Someone's entire world turns around the strength of this frail-looking woman.
Someone's very purpose in life hinges on this brash youngster cutting through traffic.
Someone knows only the shelter of these old arms each time their world begins to crumble.
Someone will count hours, minutes, and weep like a child when this pock-marked face alights from a long-distance train.
Someone will cave in, crack up, and never be the same again if this one person disappears from the face of the world.

There are no ordinary people. Each one is special to someone....

A Cockroach Story

Three women met. Yeah you can guess; exchange of news, views and loads of information! One particular part of their discussions caught my attention. One of the ladies, with a lot interest, was sharing some interesting facts about cockroach. With a lot of amazement she was telling how a cockroach can run three miles in an hour and can change directions 25 times in a second. A cockroach could live a long time, perhaps a week without its head. There was non-stop excitement in her voice as she continued saying, “a cockroach has amazing adaptability. It can survive in any climate, in any house condition, inside any crack, etc. Its antennae, which rivals NASA’s Global Positioning System, helps it to locate other cockroaches with state of the art precision. Cockroaches could be used to place surveillance devices in military installations. In fact a cockroach can survive even an atomic explosion.”

Suddenly, a cockroach flew from nowhere and sat on her. I wondered if this was the cockroach’s response to all the glory that was spoken about it! She started screaming out of fear. With panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started doing stationary jumping , with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group got cranky to what was happening. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach to another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed and threw it out with his fingers.

Sipping my coffee and watching in amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, “was the cockroach responsible for their histrionics? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed? He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos. It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.”

I realized even in my case then , it is not the shouting of my father or my boss that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me. More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that hurts me.

Lessons learnt from the story:
I understood, “I should not react in life. I should always respond. ” The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded. Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always intellectual.

Who Packed Your Parachute?

As a leader, do you honor and appreciate the power of WE? Do you stop to thank and recognize the members of your team? Do you consistently show an attitude of gratitude?

I recently read a great story about Captain Charles Plumb, a graduate from the Naval Academy, whose plane, after 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam, was shot down. He parachuted to safety, but was captured, tortured and spent 2,103 days in a small box-like cell.

After surviving the ordeal, Captain Plumb received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit and two Purple Hearts, and returned to America and spoke to many groups about his experience and how it compared to the challenges of every day life.

Shortly after coming home, Charlie and his wife were sitting in a restaurant. A man rose from a nearby table, walked over and said, “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!”

Surprised that he was recognized, Charlie responded, “How in the world did you know that?” The man replied, “I packed your parachute.” Charlie looked up with surprise. The man pumped his hand, gave a thumbs-up, and said, “I guess it worked!”

Charlie stood to shake the man’s hand, and assured him, “It most certainly did work. If it had not worked, I would not be here today.”

Charlie could not sleep that night, thinking about the man. He wondered if he might have seen him and not even said, “Good morning, how are you?” He thought of the many hours the sailor had spent bending over a long wooden table in the bottom of the ship, carefully folding the silks and weaving the shrouds of each chute, each time holding in his hands the fate of someone he didn’t know.

Plumb then began to realize that along with the physical parachute, he needed mental, emotional and spiritual parachutes. He had called on all these supports during his long and painful ordeal.

As a leader, how many times a day, a week, a month, do we pass up the opportunity to thank those people in our organization who are “packing our parachutes

Burden

One morning I wasted nearly an hour watching a tiny ant carry a huge feather cross my back terrace. Several times it was confronted by obstacles in its path and after a momentary pause it would make the necessary detour.
At one point the ant had to negotiate a crack in the concrete about 10mm wide. After brief contemplation the ant laid the feather over the crack, walked across it and picked up the feather on the other side then continued on its way.
I was fascinated by the ingenuity of this ant, one of god's smallest creatures. It served to reinforce the miracle of creation. Here was a minute insect, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to reason, explore, discover and overcome. But this ant, like the two-legged co-residents of this planet, also shares human failings.
After some time the ant finally reached its destination - a flower bed at the end of the terrace and a small hole that was the entrance to its underground home. And it was here that the ant finally met its match. How could that large feather possibly fit down small hole?
Of course it couldn't. So the ant, after all this trouble and exercising great ingenuity, overcoming problems all along the way, just abandoned the feather and went home.
The ant had not thought the problem through before it began its epic journey and in the end the feather was nothing more than a burden.

Isn't our life like that?

We worry about money or the lack of it, we worry about work, about where we live, about all sorts of things. These are all burdens - the things we pick up along life's path and lug them around the obstacles and over the crevasses that life will bring, only to find that at the FINAL DESTINATION they are useless and we can't take them with us any further…

Butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

We could never fly

Happiness

This story is about a beautiful, expensively dressed lady who complained to her psychiatrist that she felt that her whole life was empty; it had no meaning.
So the counsellor called over the old lady who cleaned the office floors, and then said to the rich lady, "I'm going to ask Mary here to tell you how she found happiness. All I want you to do is listen."
So the old lady put down her broom and sat on a chair and told her story: "Well, my husband died of malaria and three months later my only son was killed by a car. I had nobody... I had nothing left. I could'nt sleep; I couldn't eat; I never smiled at anyone, I even thought of taking my own life. Then one evening a little kitten followed me home from work. Somehow I felt sorry for that kitten. It was cold outside, so I decided to let the kitten in. I got it some milk, and it licked the plate clean. Then it purred and rubbed against my leg, and for the first time in months, I smiled. Then I stopped to think; if helping a little kitten could make me smile, maybe doing something for people could make me happy. So the next day I baked some biscuits and took them to a neighbour who was sick in bed. Every day I tried to do something nice for someone. It made me so happy to see them happy. Today, I don't know of anybody who sleeps and eats better than I do. I've found happiness, by giving it to others."
When she heard that, the rich lady cried. She had everything that money could buy, but she had lost the things which money cannot buy.

Remember.... Happiness is in Giving.....

Blame

Few days back, I was talking to my friend who was a bit upset. He had a strained relationship with his dear friend. Obviously he was disturbed. I called him to talk to him and if possible share few good words with him just to make him feel better. We had a long conversation. Something unusual about the conversation was; I noticed, never, not even once did my friend speak a word against his dear friend. He never blamed her for what went wrong. In turn he told me “she is not to be blamed. I wanted things to go my way. But it didn’t. Why should I blame her? "

Though those were very simple words, I shall never forget them.

Don’t we all find ourselves getting angry and worked up? Don’t we all immediately start casting about in our mind to identify someone to blame for the problem?

Don’t we all blame others just because things didn’t go our way???

Like, blaming a boss who made us work late, blaming a maid who came in late.
I don’t know what difference my words made on my friend. But his wonderful words of wisdom had a great impact on me. I learnt that the easiest thing to do is to find fault. But if we make that one effort to feel compassion instead of blame, the heart opens again and shows us a new way.

Blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him/her, it will not change YOU. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty by blaming him. But you won't succeed in changing something that is about YOU which is making you unhappy.

Stop blaming others and take ownership of your life.

Thanks to my friend who shared such wisdom.

Taste Of Life

One day a young girl went out to dinner with her parents.
As usual she ordered her favorite Spaghetti and waited eagerly for it. Her dad ordered few other dishes which included Tofu and Cashew Fried Rice. The young girl hated this dish which her dad ordered. But her dad would always ask her to have it. The young girl watched as her dad completed placing the order. Now she knew her dad would again ask her to have the Tofu and Cashew Fried Rice.

She contemplated in her mind that this time she will gobble up the fried rice without making much fuss before she touches her all time favorite spaghetti. She wanted to enjoy every bit of spaghetti and didn’t want to get back home with the bad taste of fried rice in her mouth. As her mind was engrossed in these thoughts, dishes arrived at the table.

Her dad quickly asked her, “Dear which dish would you like to taste first? The one you Love or the one you hate?”

Without taking a moment’s time, she answered, “I will eat the dish which I hate first. I can complete it and enjoy my favorite dish for a long time later”.

Then her dad explained to her something which made a significant difference to her way of thinking. After a long time later now, she fondly remembers this incident which can be called as, "Balanced life theory".

Her dad said, “See dear, if you eat what you like first, there are chances that you may be full before you even start eating your favorite dish, or the chances are that you are not there to enjoy your dish at all.
At the same time, if you first eat what you love the most, there are chances that you end up eating it all up and you might not have anything left for the future. Later you may end up eating what you hate for the rest of your life. So you should always strike a balance. The balance between what you like and what you do not. Balance between good and bad”.

This applies to everything in life. Life’s dish has its share of good and bad, the taste which you like and the taste which you hate. You should know how to balance it. Or you may end up blaming LIFE for having tasted BAD always.

Learn to Give

The other day, I boarded a luxury AC Volvo bus en route to my office. As I plugged in the headphone and relaxed, I watched an old lady boarding the bus, hobbling with her walking stick, frowning slightly and then smiling. In appearance she looked tiny with a heavily wrinkled face and a bent back. She looked like a woman worn out with years of hard work and suffering. When she finally saw a seat, her face lit up with happiness. The overwhelming sense of relief was evident on her tired face as she thoroughly enjoyed the luxury of the AC bus. Her joy was to end very soon. She was unaware that luxury costs more. When the ticket collector told her that AC bus ticket costs her 5 bucks more than the normal non-AC bus ticket, her face filled with disappointment. Unable to pay the extra cost, she decided to leave. As I watched her getting down, I felt very sorry for the old lady.

Sooner a gnawing sense of Guilt bothered me. I asked myself, “Why did I allow her to leave?”, “Why didn’t I pay those 5 bucks to help the lady, when 5 bucks is not a big deal for me?”, “Why didn’t I help somebody instead of just being a mute spectator?”.

Guilt need not always be the result of doing something inconsiderate or immoral, often it is just NOT doing what you think you should. It was same in my case. The guilt of not doing what I could have easily done haunted me. They say ‘there is no religion higher than human service’. Obviously, we can't all be Mother Teresa or Baba Amte, but we can all live in that spirit. In helping others, we can at least help ourselves. Help ourselves out of guilt.

In our own ways, we should all learn to give