The Lion’s Tail

In a small village there lived a boy called Leo. He was a small, slim kid, and he lived forever in fear because some boys from a neighboring village would harass poor Leo and try to have fun at his expense.

One day, a young wizard was passing by the village and saw Leo being made fun of. When the other boys left, the wizard went over to Leo and gave him a beautiful lion’s tail, along with a small tie that allowed Leo to hang the lion’s tail from his belt.

-“It’s a magic tail. When the person wearing it acts bravely, he or she will turn into a ferocious lion.”

Having seen the young wizard’s powers some days earlier during his act, Leo didn’t doubt his words, and from that time on he wore the lion’s tail hanging from his belt, hoping that the horrible kids would turn up so he could teach them a good lesson.

But when the boys came along, Leo was scared and he tried to run away. However, they soon caught him up and surrounded him. The usual jokes and pushing started, then Leo felt the lion’s tail hanging from his belt. Then, summoning up all his courage, Leo tensed his body, made two fists, and looked up, fixedly into the eyes of each of the boys, and with all the calmness and ferocity in the World, he promised that if they didn’t leave him alone at that instant one of them - even if it were only one – would regret it for ever… today, tomorrow, and any other day. He kept looking them in the eye, with his hardest expression, ready to do what he had promised.

Leo felt goosebumps all over. This must be the sign that he was turning into a lion, because the looks on the boys’ faces were definitely changing. They all took a step back, looked at each other, and finally ran off. Leo wanted to take off after them and give them a good beating with his new body, but when he tried to move, he felt his legs were short and just normal, so he had to abandon the idea.

Not far off, the wizard observed, smiling. He ran over to Leo. Leo was very happy, though a bit disappointed that his new lion body had lasted only a short time, and he hadn’t managed to fight them.

-“You wouldn’t have been able to anyway,”

the wizard told him,

-“no one fights with lions, because simply from seeing them, and knowing how brave and ferocious they are, everyone runs away. Have you ever seen a lion fighting?"

It was true. Leo couldn’t remember ever having seen a lion fighting. Leo became filled with thought, looking at the lion’s tail. And he understood everything. There had been no magic, no transformation, no nothing. What happened was that a good friend had shown him that bullies and other cowardly animals never dare to confront a truly brave boy.

Moral :- A brave attitude is one of the best remedies for abuse and harassment.

The Leopard in his Tree

There was once a leopard in the jungle; and a very nocturnal leopard he was too. He could hardly sleep at night and, lying on a branch of his magnificent tree, he spent his time watching what was happening in the forest at night. This is how he came to learn that there was a thief in that forest. He would watch the thief go out every night with empty hands and return loaded up with his stolen loot. Sometimes the thief had nabbed the senior monkey’s bananas, other times he had filched the lion’s wig, or pinched the zebra’s stripes. One night he even snuck home with the big elephant’s false tusk, which the elephant had been secretly wearing for quite some time.

However, as the leopard was a very quiet sort of cat, who lived at the margin of everything, he didn’t want to say anything to anyone. He didn’t see it as his business, and, if truth were told, he rather enjoyed discovering these little secrets.

And so, thanks to the stealthy thief, quite a stir was being created in the world of the animals: the elephant felt ridiculous without his false tusk, and the zebra now looked like a white donkey, not to mention the lion who, now as bald as a lioness had lost all respect. Most of the other animals were in some similar position too. They were furious, confused or ridiculous, but the leopard lay quietly in his tree, each night enjoying the thief’s escapades.

However, one night the thief went on vacation, and after having waited a long while for him to appear, the leopard grew tired and decided to sleep for a while. When he woke up he found himself in a place very different from his usual tree, he was floating on the water of a small lake inside a cave, and around him he could see all those objects which, night after night, he had seen being stolen… the thief had cut down his tree and stolen his entire home along with the leopard himself! Well this was the last straw, so the leopard, taking advantage of the thief not being there, ran out and went straight to see the other animals to tell them where the thief had hidden all their things...

They all praised the leopard for having discovered the thief and his hideout, and allowing them to recover their possessions. In the end, the animal who lost most from all this was the leopard, who couldn’t replant his magnificent tree and had to make do with a much inferior tree located in a very boring site... and he regretted having not been concerned at the problems of the other animals, now seeing that in the long run those very problems had become his own.

Moral:- Indifference to the problems of others can allow those problems to grow until they end up being problems to ourselves.

An Allergic Wizard

Once upon a time there was a good, cheerful wizard who loved to use his magic to make everyone happy. He was also quite an unusual wizard because he was allergic to a load of different foods. He had to be very careful what he put in his mouth. He was always being invited to parties, and he would always gladly accept, because he always had new tricks and games to try out.

In the beginning, everyone was considerate about his allergies, and they took special care to prepare food that he would be able to eat safely. But as time went on, people tired of having to prepare special foods for him. They began to forget his dietary requirements. After having enjoyed his magic, people would leave him by himself, and the parties became less enjoyable. Sometimes they didn't even bother to tell him what was in the food, and, more than once, he ended up with a black tongue, a red face, and a very itchy body.

Angry at such lack of consideration, he waved his wand and cast a huffy spell that gave everyone a special allergy. Some became allergic to birds or frogs, others to fruit or meat, some to raindrops... And so, each person had to take special care from then on. Whenever people met up to eat or have a party, they ended up having to go to the doctor.

Ending parties in this way was such a pain that, gradually, people began making an effort to learn what each other’s allergies were. Now they would prepare everything carefully, so that they could have a good time together without getting sick. Visits to the doctor decreased, and in less than a year, life in town returned to normal, filled with parties and celebrations, always attended by the wizard, who gave life and joy to the occasion. Even better, now he could stay and enjoy the whole party. No one would have suspected that, in that town, every single person was strongly allergic to something.

Some time later, without anyone knowing, the wizard waved his wand again and undid the spell. The people had learned well how to be considerate towards others, and how they could enjoy each others' company even better just by making a little effort to adapt to each and every person.

Moral :- With very little effort, and some tact, you can be considerate to, and include everyone.

Do Not Hurt Yourself

One night a snake while it was looking for food, entered a carpenter’s workshop.

The carpenter, who was a rather untidy man, had left several of his tools lying on the floor. One of them was a saw.

As the snake went round and round the shop, he climbed over the saw, which gave him a little cut.

At once, thinking that the saw was attacking him, he turned around and bit it so hard that his mouth started to bleed.

This made him very angry. He attacked again and again until the saw was covered with blood and seemed to be dead.

Dying from his own wounds, the snake decided to give one last hard bite then turned away. The next morning the carpenter was surprised to find a dead snake on his doorstep.

Lesson to Learn: Sometimes in trying to hurt others, we only hurt ourselves.

Don’t Change the World

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country.

When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather. Definitely, this would need thousands of animals’ skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.

Then one of his wise servant dared himself to tell the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money ? Why don't you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?”

The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a “shoe” for himself.

There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story: “To make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.”

Meaningless Goals....

A farmer had a dog who used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it. 

One day a neighbor asked the farmer "Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?"

The farmer replied, "That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one."

Many people in life behave like that dog who is pursuing meaningless goals. Put your time and energy behind goals that mean something to you.

This Too Shall Pass

Once a king called upon all of his wise men and asked them, ” Is there a mantra or suggestion which works in every situation, in every circumstances, in every place and in every time. In every joy, every sorrow, every defeat and every victory? One answer for all questions? Something which can help me when none of you is available to advise me? Tell me is there any mantra?”

All the wise men were puzzled by the King’s question. They thought and thought. After a lengthy discussion, an old man suggested something which appealed to all of them. They went to the king and gave him something written on paper, with a condition that the king was not to see it out of curiosity.

Only in extreme danger, when the King finds himself alone and there seems to be no way, only then he can see it. The King put the papers under his Diamond ring.

Some time later, the neighbors attacked the Kingdom. King and his army fought bravely but lost the battle. The King had to flee on his horse. The enemies were following him. getting closer and closer. Suddenly the King found himself standing at the end of the road - that road was not going anywhere. Underneath there was a rocky valley thousand feet deep. If he jumped into it, he would be finished…and he could not return because it was a small road…the sound of enemy’s horses was approaching fast. The King became restless. There seemed to be no way.

Then suddenly he saw the Diamond in his ring shining in the sun, and he remembered the message hidden in the ring. He opened the diamond and read the message. The message was - ” THIS TOO SHALL PASS”

The King read it . Again read it. Suddenly something struck him- Yes ! This too will pass. Only a few days ago, I was enjoying my kingdom. I was the mightiest of all the Kings. Yet today, the Kingdom and all his pleasure have gone. I am here trying to escape from enemies. Like those days of luxuries have gone, this day of danger too will pass. A calm came on his face. He kept standing there. The place where he was standing was full of natural beauty. He had never known that such a beautiful place was also a part of his Kingdom.

The revelation of the message had a great effect on him. He relaxed and forgot about those following him. After a few minutes he realized that the noise of the horses and the enemy coming was receding. They moved into some other part of the mountains and were near him.

The King was very brave. He reorganized his army and fought again. He defeated the enemy and regained his empire. When he returned to his empire after victory, he was received with much fanfare. The whole capital was rejoicing in the victory.

Everyone was in a festive mood. Flowers were being showered on King from every house, from every corner. People were dancing and singing. For a moment King said to himself,” I am one of the bravest and greatest King. It is not easy to defeat me. With all the reception and celebration he saw an ego emerging in him.

Suddenly the Diamond of his ring flashed in the sunlight and reminded him of the message. He open it and read it again: “THIS TOO SHALL PASS”.

He became silent. His face went through a total change - from the egoist he moved to a state of utter humbleness. If this too is going to pass, it is not yours. The defeat was not yours, the victory is not yours. You are just a watcher. Everything passes by. We are witnesses of all this. We are the perceivers. Life comes and goes. Happiness comes and goes. Sorrow comes and goes.

Now as you have read this story, just sit silently and evaluate your own life. This too will pass. Think of the moments of joy and victory in your life. Think of the moment of Sorrow and defeat. Are they permanent ? They all come and pass away.

Life just passes away. There is nothing permanent in this world. Every thing changes except the law of change. Think over it from your own perspective. You have seen all the changes. You have survived all setbacks, all defeats and all sorrows. All have passed away. The problems in the present, they too will pass away. Because nothing remains forever. Joy and sorrow are the two faces of the same coin. They both will pass away.

You are just a witness of change. Experience it, understand it, and enjoy the present moment - this too shall pass!

We Walk By Faith, Not Sight !!!!

We Walk By Faith, Not Sight. Do You Believe ?? 

One day a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The teacher was going to explain evolution to the children.

The teacher asked a little boy: “Tommy do you see the tree outside?”
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.
TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.
TEACHER: Did you see God?
TOMMY: No.
TEACHER: That’s my point. We can’t see God because he isn’t there. He doesn’t exist.

A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions. The teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy: “Tommy, do you see the tree outside?”

TOMMY: Yes.
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yessssss (getting tired of the questions by this time).
LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?
TOMMY: Yessssss
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?
TOMMY: Yes
LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?
TOMMY: No
LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today in school, she must not have one!

“FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT”

Sand and Pebbles

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks right to the top, rocks about 2" diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. The students laughed.

He asked his students again if the jar was full. They agreed that yes, it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, you would be nearly destroyed.

The pebbles are the other things in life that matter, but on a smaller scale. The pebbles represent things like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.

If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, material things, you will never have room for the
things that are truly most important.

Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life.
Play with your children.
Take your partner out dancing.
There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.
Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter.

Set your priorities. The rest is just sand and pebbles.

Meeting God.....

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a Twinkie. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again she smiled at him. The boy was delighted ! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?" She replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." But before her son responded, she added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Five Grains Of Rice

A rich man has four sons. As he grows old, he decides to give his property to the son who would value the wealth he had earned. He calls his four sons and gives them each five grains of rice. He tells them that he shall ask for these grains at the end of 5 years & he would give his property to the son who would value these grains the most.

The first son throws away the grains. He decides to show his father some other grains when he would ask for them after 5 yrs, in anticipation that his father would not be able to see the difference between the two sets of grains.

The second son eats the grains. He too decides to show his father some other grains when he would ask for them after 5 yrs, in anticipation that his father would not be able to see the difference between the two sets of grains.

The third son preserves these grains in a silver box and keeps the silver box in the 'puja sthaan' at home, and offers prayers to the box while offering his prayers to God for 5 yrs.

The fourth son sows these grains and cultivates them in the backyard of his house. They grow into crops during the harvest season. He keeps re sowing the grains from these crops. In due course, he has a vast plot of land cultivated with rice.

As apparent from the above mentioned, at the end of 5 yrs, the father gives his property to his fourth son, as he was the most deserving among his four sons.

Moral of the Story: -

When you have anything little in your hands, look at opportunity to grow it. Don't feel sad if you have less money today, know that you have it and you can grow it.

God's Cup of Coffee

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. 

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress."

"Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink."

"What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups."

"Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

God brews the coffee, not the cups... Enjoy your coffee!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

The Monkey Trap !!!

Monkey-hunters in India use a box with an opening at the top, big enough for the monkey to slide its hand in. Inside the box are nuts. 

The monkey grabs the nuts and now its hand becomes a fist. The monkey tries to get its hand out but the opening is big enough for the hand to slide in, but too small for the first to come out.

Now the monkey has a choice, either to let go off the nuts and be free forever or hang on to the nuts and get caught. Guess what it picks every time? You guessed it. He hangs on to the nuts and gets caught.

We are no different from monkeys. We all hang on to some nuts that keep us from going forward in life. We keep rationalizing by saying, "I cannot do this because..." and whatever comes after "because" are the nuts that we are hanging on to which are holding us back.

Successful people don't rationalize. Two things determine if a person will be a success: Reasons and Results. Reasons don't count while results do!

Life Is A Do It Yourself Project

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer - of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. 

He would miss the paycheck, but he wanted to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. This is your house, he said, my gift to you.

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. If we build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized that we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely.

It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity.

The plaque on the wall says, Life is a do-it-yourself project.

Your attitudes and the choices you make today will be your life tomorrow, build it wisely.

Power of Positive Words

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around and said they would never get out. 

The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the unfortunate
frogs to stop jumping out. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead.

Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and simply gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog however continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and suffering and just die. But to the surprise of one and all, he jumped even harder and finally did come out.

When he got out, the other frogs asked him, "Why did you continue jumping? Didn't you hear us?" It was shocking for them to know that the frog was deaf and all the time he actually thought they were all encouraging him to get out. He did not want to disappoint them and therefore did not give him up till the end.

This story teaches two lessons:
There is the power of life & death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words... it is sometimes hard to understand. An encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times.

Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another. Be special to others!

God Will Save Me

A flood was threatening a small town and everyone was leaving for safety except one man who said, "God will save me. I have faith." 

As the water level rose a jeep came to rescue him, the man refused, saying "God will save me. I have faith." As the water level rose further, he went up to the second storey, and a boat came to help him.

Again he refused to go, replying, "God will save me. I have faith." The water kept rising and the man climbed on to the roof. A helicopter came to rescue him, but he said, "God will save me. I have faith." Well, finally he drowned.

When he reached his Maker he angrily questioned, "I had complete faith in you. Why did you ignore my prayers and let me drown?" The Lord replied, "Who do you think sent you the jeep, the boat, and the helicopter?"

The only way to overcome the fatalistic attitude is to accept responsibility and believe in the law of cause and effect rather than luck.

It takes action, preparation and planning rather than waiting, wondering or wishing, to accomplish anything in life.

The Noisy Frogs

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs!

The farmer replied, There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs - millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy! So the restaurant Owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, Well... where are all the frogs. The farmer said, I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!

Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark.

Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking. Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

" NEVER JUDGE ANYONE BY APPEARANCE "

One beautiful spring day a red rose blossomed in a forest. Many kinds of trees and plants grew there. As the rose looked around, a pine tree nearby said, "What a beautiful flower. I wish I was that lovely." 

Another tree said, "Dear pine, do not be sad, we can not have everything."

The rose turned its head and remarked, "It seems that I am the most beautiful plant in this forest." A sunflower raised its yellow head and asked, "Why do you say that? In this forest there are many beautiful plants. You are just one of them." 

The red rose replied, "I see everyone looking at me and admiring me." Then the rose looked at a cactus and said, "Look at that ugly plant full of thorns!" The pine tree said, "Red rose, what kind of talk is this? Who can say what beauty is you have thorns too."

The proud red rose looked angrily at the pine and said, "I thought you had good taste! You do not know what beauty is at all. You can not compare my thorns to that of the cactus."

What a proud flower, thought the trees.

The rose tried to move its roots away from the cactus, but it could not move. As the days passed, the red rose would look at the cactus and say insulting things, like "This plant is useless. How sorry I am to be his neighbor."

The cactus never got upset and he even tried to advise the rose, saying, "God did not create any form of life without a purpose."

Spring passed, and the weather became very warm. Life became difficult in the forest, as the plants and animals needed water and no rain fell. The red rose began to wilt. One day the rose saw sparrows stick their beaks into the cactus and then fly away, refreshed. 

This was puzzling, and the red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that "the birds got water from the cactus." "Does it not hurt when they make holes?" asked the rose.

"Yes, but the cactus does not like to see any birds suffer," replied the pine.

The rose opened its eyes in wonder and said, "The cactus has water." "Yes you can also drink from it. The sparrow can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help."

The red rose felt too ashamed of its past words and behavior to ask for water from the cactus, but then it finally did ask the cactus for help. The cactus kindly agreed and the birds filled their beaks with water and watered the rose's roots. 

Thus the rose learned a lesson and never judged anyone by their appearance again.

“The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

A woman baked chapatti (roti) for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra chapatti on the window sill, for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunchback came and took away the chapatti. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and uttered the words:

“The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” The woman felt irritated. “Not a word of gratitude,” she said to herself… “Everyday this hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?” One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this hunchback,” she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the chapatti she prepared for him!

As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said. Immediately, she threw the chapatti into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill. As usual, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and muttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman. Every day, as the woman placed the chapatti on the window sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For many months, she had no news of him.. She prayed for his safe return.

That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway. He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother, he said, “Mom, it’s a miracle I’m here. While I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole chapatti. As he gave it to me, he said, “This is what I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!”

” As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned chapatti that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life!

It was then that she realized the significance of the words: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” Do good and Don’t ever stop doing good, even if it is not appreciated at that time. If you like this, share it with others and I bet so many lives would be touched.

The Big Rocks of Life

One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz?”, and he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him.

He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?”.

Everyone in the class yelled, Yes! The time management expert replied, “Really?”. He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.

He then asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not”, one of them answered. Good! he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.

Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. Once again he said, Good! Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.

He looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?” One eager student raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!”.

“No”, the speaker replied, that’s not the point. “The truth is, this illustration teaches us that if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”

“What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life, time with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others. Remember to put these ‘big rocks’ in first or you’ll never get them in at all.”

So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question - What are the ‘big rocks’ in my life Then, put those in your jar first.

"Don’t Change the World"

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country.

When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather. Definitely, this would need thousands of animal’ skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.

Then one of his wise servant dared himself to tell the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money ? Why don’t you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?”

The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a “shoe” for himself.

There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story: “To make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.”

"The Sands of Forgiveness"

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”

The other friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.

" 10 Principles for Peace of Mind "

1. Do Not Interfere In Others’ Business Unless Asked:

Most of us create our own problems by interfering too often in others’ affairs. We do so because somehow we have convinced ourselves that our way is the best way, our logic is the perfect logic and those who do not conform to our thinking must be criticized and steered to the right direction, our direction. This thinking denies the existence of individuality and consequently the existence of God.. God has created each one of us in a unique way. No two human beings can think or act in exactly the same way. All men or women act the way they do because God within them prompts them that way. Mind your own business and you will keep your peace.

2. Forgive And Forget:

This is the most powerful aid to peace of mind. We often develop ill feelings inside our heart for the person who insults us or harms us. We nurture grievances. This in turn results in loss of sleep, development of stomach ulcers, and high blood pressure. This insult or injury was done once, but nourishing of grievance goes on forever by constantly remembering it. Get over this bad habit. Life is too short to waste in such trifles. Forgive,20Forget, and march on. Love flourishes in giving and forgiving.

3. Do Not Crave For Recognition:

This world is full of selfish people. They seldom praise anybody without selfish motives. They may praise you today because you are in power, but no sooner than you are powerless, they will forget your achievement and will start finding faults in you. Why do you wish to kill yours if in striving for their recognition? Their recognition is not worth the aggravation. Do your duties ethically and sincerely.

4. Do Not Be Jealous:

We all have experienced how jealousy can disturb our peace of mind. You know that you work harder than your colleagues in the office, but sometimes they get promotions; you do not. You started a business several years ago, but you are not as successful as your neighbor whose business is only one year old. There are several examples like these in everyday life. Should you be jealous? No. Remember everybody’s life is shaped by his/her destiny, which has now become his/her reality. If you are destined to be rich, nothing in the world can stop you. If you are not so destined, no one can help you either. Nothing will be gained by blaming others for your misfortune. Jealousy will not get you anywhere; it will only take away your peace of mind.

5. Change Yourself According To The Environment:

If you try to change the environment single-handedly, the chances are you will fail. Instead, change yourself to suit your environment. As you do this, even the environment, which has been unfriendly to you, will mysteriously change and seem congenial and harmonious.

6. Endure What Cannot Be Cured:

This is the best way to turn a disadvantage into an advantage. Every day we face numerous inconveniences, ailments, irritations, and accidents that are beyond our control. If we cannot control them or change them, we must learn to put up with these things. We must learn to endure them cheerfully. Believe in yourself and you will gain in terms of patience, inner strength and will power.

7. Do Not Bite Off More Than You Can Chew:

This maxim needs to be remembered constantly. We often tend to take more responsibilities than we are capable of carrying out. This is done to satisfy our ego. Know your limitations. . Why take on additional loads that may create more worries? You cannot gain peace of mind by expanding your external activities. Reduce your material engagements and spend time in prayer, introspection and meditation. This will reduce those thoughts in your mind that make you restless. Uncluttered mind will produce greater peace of mind.

8. Meditate Regularly:

Meditation calms the mind and gets rid of disturbing thoughts. This is the highest state of peace of mind. Try and experience it yourself. If you meditate earnestly for half an hour everyday, your mind will tend to become peaceful during the remaining twenty-three and half-hours. Your mind will not be easily disturbed as it was before. You would benefit by gradually increasing the period of daily meditation. You may think that this will interfere with your daily work. On the contrary, this will increase your efficiency and you will be able to produce better results in less time.

9. Never Leave The Mind Vacant:

An empty mind is the devil’s workshop. All evil actions start in the vacant mind. Keep your mind occupied in something positive, something worthwhile. Actively follow a hobby. Do something that holds your interest. You must decide what you value more: money or peace of mind. Your hobby, like social work or religious work, may not always earn you more money, but you will have a sense of fulfillment and achievement. Even when you are resting physically, occupy yourself in healthy reading or mental chanting of God’s name.

10. Do Not Procrastinate And Never Regret:

Do not waste time in protracted wondering ” Should I or shouldn’t I?” Days, weeks, months, and years may be wasted in that futile mental debating. You can never plan enough because you can never anticipate all future happenings. Value your time and do the things that need to be done. It does not matter if you fail the first time. You can learn from your mistakes and succeed the next time. Sitting back and worrying will lead to nothing. Learn from your mistakes, but do not brood over the past. DO NOT REGRET. Whatever happened was destined to happen only that way. Why cry over split milk?

Do Not Compare Your Work !!!!

A mechanic was removing the cylinder heads from the motor of a car when he spotted the famous heart surgeon in his shop, who was standing off to the side, waiting for the service manager to come to take a look at his car.

The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hello Doctor! Please come over here for a minute."

The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked argumentatively, "So doctor, look at this. I also open hearts, take valves out, grind 'em, put in new parts, and when I finish this will work as a new one. So how come you get the big money, when you and me is doing basically the same work."

The doctor leaned over and whispered to the mechanic, "Try to do it when the engine is running."

The Unfriendly River

Once upon a time there was a river. This river was rather unfriendly and lonesome. The river could not remember how long ago he had decided that he no longer wanted to put up with anything or anyone. He lived alone, refusing to share his water with any fish, plant or animal.

And so his life went on, sadly and filled with loneliness, for many centuries.
One day, a little girl with a goldfish bowl came to the bank of this river. In the bowl lived Scamp, her favourite little fish. The girl was about to move to another country, and she wouldn't be able to take Scamp with her. So she had decided to give Scamp his freedom.

When Scamp fell into the river, he immediately felt the river's loneliness. Scamp tried talking to the river, but the river told Scamp to go away. Now, Scamp was a very happy little fish, and he wasn't going to give up so easily. He asked and asked, swam and swam, and finally he started jumping in and out of the water.
The river, feeling all the jumping and splashing, started to laugh. It tickled!

After a while, this put the river in such a good mood that he started talking to Scamp. Almost without knowing it, by the end of that day, Scamp and the river had become very good friends.

The river spent that night thinking about how much fun it was to have friends, and how much he had missed by not having them. He asked himself why he had never had them, but he couldn't remember.

The next morning, Scamp woke the river with a few playful splashes... and that was when the river remembered why he had decided to be such an unfriendly river:

He remembered that he was very ticklish, and that he wouldn't have been able to stand it! Now he remembered perfectly how he had told everyone to scoot, that he wasn't going to put up with all that tickling.

But, remembering how sad and lonely he had felt for so many years, the river realised that although it may sometimes be a bit inconvenient or uncomfortable, it was always better to have friends and to try to be happy.

It’s always better to have friends and be happy - even though it may bring discomfort - than isolate yourself from people in order to avoid problems.

The Last Thousand Dragons

There are many legends dealing with the extinction of dragons, but only one of them involves a certain Sir Emile, a brave knight who finished off the last thousand dragons. Like many others, Sir Emile spent years studying the cruel and wicked behaviour of the dragons of his time. However, his own particular conclusions were unique and unusual: dragons lived in a constant state of anger, which created the fire that came from their mouths.

So, when he decided to finish the dragons off, he swapped the normal weapons and armour of a knight for something rather unusual: a joke and a cart full of ice creams. When the first dragon came to eat him, Sir Emile shouted his joke at it. It was such a good joke that even the dragon had to laugh. Just as the brave knight had expected, this blew the dragon's fire out. Just as the dragon was laughing, Sir Emile offered it an ice cream...

How refreshed and pleasant the dragon now felt, after years of having had a fiery throat! Taking advantage of the dragon having calmed down for a moment, Sir Emile offered it a piece of fruit, and to the dragon this tasted heavenly.

Dragons didn't normally eat fruit or vegetables, because the fire of their mouths burned such food and left it without any taste. So they preferred to eat cows or people, which, even though left a bit singed, at least tasted of something. However, when the dragon tasted fresh fruit for the first time, it felt so happy and joyful that even its terrible appearance began to change. It had looked so bad because of its awful diet, but after only a few days of this new, healthier, life, the dragon disappeared one night. All that remained of it was a beautiful butterfly with large colourful wings...

And so it was, that Sir Emile, using only some good jokes and a cart full of ice cream and fruit, made the last thousand dragons disappear and take up new life in the form of beautiful butterflies.

You can change people’s lives by bringing them a little joy and good health.

The Little Stone Bird

Once upon a time, there was a bird made of stone. She was a beautiful creature, and she was also magic. She lived near the entrance to a picturesque forest between two mountains. The bird was so heavy that she had to walk along the ground.

Despite this, though, she enjoyed looking up at the trees every day, dreaming of one day being able to fly and enjoy viewing the beautiful countryside from up high.

But that dream disappeared after the great fire.

All that was left of the trees were charred stumps, and any plants and animals that lived there had gone. The stone bird was the only form of life able to survive the fire, but when she saw what had become of the forest, she was overcome with sadness, and couldn't stop crying. She cried and cried for hours, then days. She cried with such feeling that her tears were wearing away her stone body. Finally the body was completely worn away and the bird had turned into a puddle of water.

But when the sun came out, that puddle of tears evaporated into the sky and became a happy little cloud which could fly over the trees and see everything below.

Since then, the little cloud has travelled all over the world, enjoying the views of all the forests and beautiful countryside. And remembering what destruction fire brought to its own forest, the cloud is now very careful to pour its rain down on any tree it sees burning.

A story to develop sensitivity and love of nature

The Burger who didn’t want to be junk food

Once upon a time there was a burger who had many lives. Each day she would wake up in the burger bar, and patiently wait her turn to be cooked by the chefs, before being served to the customers. While being eaten, she would do everything possible to make herself really delicious, and with the customer’s final bite she would feel like the lights had gone out and she had simply fallen asleep. The next day the whole process would repeat itself.

The little burger could have continued quietly living this way for many years if it hadn’t been for the fact that, one day, while she was waiting her turn at the cooking range, she heard one of the customers referring to her as “junk food”. And, boy, did this make her angry! She was so furious that she almost spontaneously combusted.

From then on she realised that many people used that term about her and her sisters. And after listening closely to any radio or television program about junk food or healthy food, she arrived at a horrifying conclusion: it was true, she was “junk food”.

Now she understood why most of her favourite customers were now much fatter than they had been when she first met them, and why those who came most often didn’t look too well. The burger felt terrible; all this was her fault! So she tried to find some solution, some way they could shake off that terrible name.

And then she hit on it. Whenever she saw one of the kids who visited almost daily, she would choose the best place to be chosen, and would wait to be served. Once he was with the child, and the important moment wasn’t far off – the first bite - the burger would concentrate as much as she could and... nothing happened. The child sank their teeth into the burger and chewed the mouthful just as usual. Then along came another bite, with the burger concentrating as before, but everything happened just as before…

Several more bites and the burger was about to give up, when she heard the child’s voice:

-"Blimey, how strange! This burger doesn't taste of anything."

That was just the start of what turned out to be a perfect plan. The burger convinced all her sisters not to have any flavour whenever they were with a customer that visited too often, in return for being even more tasty when the customer came only rarely.

In this way they began to see fewer chubby, unhealthy-looking faces in the restaurant, and many of their old familiar friends started looking much better, while getting to eat much tastier burgers.

And these burgers became much more popular from then on, because, everywhere, it's more enjoyable to taste something after a while of not having had it.

Teaching how to eat “junk food” sparingly, and not abuse it.

Thomas Crum and his Drum

Thomas Crum was a boy made from blue and orange plasticine, and he lived in a school. Even though he had many good qualities, he had started to lack respect for others. When his Aunt Agatha, a big multi-coloured ball of plasticine, gave him a drum for his birthday, he was a nightmare. It didn't matter to him if everyone asked him to play the drum a little quieter, or to go and play somewhere else: Thomas went all round the classroom beating his drum, and the fact that he was annoying others didn't affect him in the least.

His classmates stopped wanting to play with him. They suffered so much from his noisy drum that even Coco Wiseman, a very intelligent figure made of lego, invented some special earplugs which allowed you to hear normal sounds, but blocked out the annoying ones. On seeing that the others were ignoring him, and not even being annoyed any more, Thomas got very angry with Coco Wiseman. After a big fight, the inventor ended up falling to the floor all the way from the height of the table. On impact, the blocks he was made of broke up and separated.

Even though it was an accident, everyone was angry with Thomas. No one wanted anything more to do with him, although that didn't bother him a great deal. Everything would have stayed like that if it hadn't have been for the fact that a few days later, a lovely cuckoo clock was put in the classroom, just next to the shelf Thomas slept on. The cuckoo clock was constantly making noise.

-"Tick tock, tick tock,"

and to top it all, every hour the cuckoo came out to do its

-"cuckoo cuckoo!"

Thomas couldn't get any rest at all. However, the others, with their special earplugs, were fine.

Then Thomas started to realise just how much he had annoyed everyone with his drum, and how stupid it had been to fight with Coco Wiseman. Coco was the only one who would be able to help him now. Determined to rectify the situation, and so everyone would eventually see he was becoming the best-behaved, most respectful boy, he spent all his time reconstructing Coco Wiseman in secret. He spent many days and nights working on him, and he finally finished the job just when he could hardly have gone on any longer, what with hardly getting any sleep because of the cuckoo clock.

When Coco was built and came back to life, everyone got a huge surprise, and they enthusiastically congratulated and thanked Thomas for all his work. Thomas, in return, asked them to forgive him for his lack of consideration. And so, although Coco Wiseman was a bit angry at him, Thomas managed to convince him to make a pair of earplugs for him too.

Finally Thomas could get some sleep, and never again was he as inconsiderate as he had been before.

Respect and consideration for others are fundamental for living in groups, because there will always be something which annoys people.

A Spider in the Museum

Once upon a time, there was a painting spider, one of those artistic species of spider, that live in the basements of museums and galleries. They live there alongside paintings left and forgotten for years; certainly a suitable place to spin the most impressive of webs. Our spider spun the best webs in the whole museum, and his house was really spectacular. All his efforts went into looking after the web, which he considered to be the most valuable in the world.

However, as time went on, the museum set about reorganising its paintings, and it started making space upstairs to put some of the basement paintings on display. Many of the basement spiders realised what was happening, and were cautious about it, but our spider paid it no mind:

-"Doesn't matter,"

he would say,

-"it'll just be a few paintings."

More and more paintings were removed from the basement, but the spider carried on reinforcing his web,

-"Where am I going to find a better place than this?"

he would say.

That was, until early one morning when, too quick for him to react, they took his own painting, along with the spider and his web. The spider realised that just for not having wanted to lose his web, he was now going to end up in the exhibition room.

In an act of strength and decisiveness, he chose to abandon his magnificent web, the web he had worked his whole life to build up. And it's a good job he did so, because that way he saved himself from the insect killer they were spraying on the paintings up in the exhibition room.

In his escape, after overcoming many difficulties, the spider ended up in a secluded little garden, where he found such a quiet corner that there he was able to spin an even better web, and became a much happier spider.

Things change, and we have to adapt to this and make the most of the new opportunities this brings; even when that means renouncing what we already have.

SLOWCOACH SUNFLOWER (a story about patience and obedience)

There was once a teacher who gave his pupils some seeds so they could plant, and look after, their very own sunflower. One boy in the class, who loved sunflower seeds, was so excited that he planted the seed and looked after it with great care for many days.

When the first shoot finally appeared, the boy, filled with impatience, went to see his teacher.

-"Can I uproot it yet?"

he asked, anxiously. The teacher answered that he would still have to tend the plant for quite some time before he would be able to collect many seeds from just one sunflower. The boy was disappointed, but he kept on looking after his sunflower.

However, he grew increasingly impatient, and did little else but pester his teacher about wanting to take out the plant. Despite the teacher asking him to be patient, as soon as the boy saw the sunflower's first seeds, he cut the plant so he could eat them. But the plant was still green, the seeds were not ripe, and of course they couldn't be eaten.

The boy was devastated: He had put so much effort into caring for the sunflower, but in the end he had squandered it all for a simple lack of patience. And he was even angrier when he saw how enormous his classmates' sunflowers grew. Ultimately, he resolved not to be so impatient in the future, and to listen to his teacher. Fortunately, he wasn't completely out of luck, and his friends were good enough to share their delicious sunflower seeds with him.

Moral  : When patience is necessary, impatience can drive us to make bad decisions.