Gifts From the Heart

According to legend, a young man roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious, crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet that he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey, he presented the water to the old man, who took a deep drink, smiled warmly, and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container. The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?” The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness, and nothing could be sweeter."

Moral: We understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a ceramic tray or a macaroni bracelet, the natural and proper response is appreciation and gratitude because we love the idea within the gift. But gratitude doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves (and teach our children) about the beauty of pure feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts FROM the heart are really gifts OF the heart.

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Not Worthless

One day, a fish was swimming near a river bank and heard a voice say, “How is the water?” The fish raised her head to see a monkey sitting on a tree. The fish smiled and replied,” The water is nice and warm.” The monkey felt a little jealous and wanted to make the fish feel bad. He said,” You should come out of the water and climb up this tree. The view is amazing.” The fish felt sad. She said, “I don’t know how to climb a tree, and I can’t survive without water. Seeing the fish’s sad face, the monkey made fun of the fish, telling her you are worthless if she cannot even climb a tree. After hearing this, the fish started thinking about this day and night and became depressed. She started thinking to herself, “Maybe the monkey is right. I am worthless if I cannot even climb a tree.” Another fish in the river noticed the fish looked so sad and asked her why she was so depressed. The fish told her everything the monkey said. The other fish said, If the monkey thinks you are worthless because you can’t climb a tree, then the monkey is worthless as well because it can’t swim or live underwater. Hearing this, the fish realized how gifted she was and how wrong it was for her to think of herself as worthless. A few days later, the monkey slipped and fell into the water and drowned because it didn’t know how to swim.

Moral: People tend to think of themselves based on the judgment of others. We should focus on and try to be the best at what we are capable of doing. The way to realize our true potential is to become self-aware. Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.

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My Silent Partner (July 2012)

I decided that I really needed to get away.  I was feeling a bit disconnected and overwhelmed at work.  Since everyone was gone, I had to take Duke, my dog.  No one was home to care for him.  Before I left, I thought about not taking Duke.  He is turning 13 this year, and he probably won’t be able to keep up with what I want to do.  I thought to just leave him with the woman who grooms him.  I kept thinking, if I take him, it’s going to be different. His energy will pull me. I will have to take care of him.  Keep him from chasing squirrels and other small animals.  Make sure he doesn’t leave the trail. I would not be able to hike some of the harder trails.


Then I heard my inner voice say… One day, you will be old.  You will not want to be left behind. You would want to go. Do you want a loved one to leave you behind because you can’t keep up?  That’s when I decided to take him.  As we hiked together the first day, I could see him panting and struggling a bit.  He was so tired. But he made it.  We did a nice walk after that around Ship Harbor.  I had never done it.  It was very meditative.  That night, we went to the top of Cadillac Mountain for sunset.

I could smell the air, I could feel the wind and sun, I could hear the ocean, and then I could not hear, see or smell yet I could feel all of them deep inside me all at once and I felt this huge love and compassion for everyone and everything.  When I felt that, Duke came over to me and put his head on my chest.  And I saw the bigger picture.  My decision to take him opened my heart, my love and compassion for him, and everything around me felt like love too.  My love and inner joy.  The next day we hiked another mountain and he did a little better.  We then meditated by the sea and Duke laid down next to me on the rocks and seaweed and seemed to be meditating too. On our last day, we walked 5 miles around Jordan Pond, and it was just amazing at 7 am.  So quiet and beautiful.  As we walked, I did have to be aware of how he was doing, but otherwise, he was my silent partner.  He never spoke to me.  We just wandered around together and spoke with energy, no words.  He ended up being the perfect companion for this trip.  On our way home, he slept the whole way.  I just smiled and had an enormous appreciation for my friend.  I suspect he felt the same way, not being left behind.

Moral:  Ask your heart, and you will find what you need to get from this.

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The Father, Son, and the Crow

An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old highly educated son. Suddenly, a crow perched on their window.  The Father asked his Son, “What is that?” The Son replied, “It is a crow”. After a few minutes, the Father asked his Son the 2nd time,  “What is that?” The Son said, “Father, I have just told you “It’s a crow.” After a little while, the old Father again asked his Son the 3rd time, “What is that?”

This time the son was totally irritated and yelled out, “It’s a crow, a crow”. A few minutes later, the Father asked his Son for the 4th time, “What is that?”  This time, the Son shouted at his Father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times ‘IT IS A CROW.’ Are you not able to understand this?”

A little later, the Father went to his room and came back with an old, tattered diary, which he had maintained since his Son was born. On opening a page, he asked his Son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary.

“Today, my little son, aged three, was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow was sitting on the window. My Son asked me 23 times what it was, and I told him all 23 times that it was a Crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question, again and again,  23 times. I did not at all feel irritated. I felt affection for my innocent child”.

Moral of the story:  Always remember the unconditional love that our parents gave us when we were young. With that, let’s be gentle and patient with their shortcomings and flaws. If they call you when you are busy, it means they are thinking of you. Work is important and you are always busy, but bear in mind when you leave an organization, no one probably misses your presence. But when your parents are not around anymore, you will miss them forever.

A Wise Judge’s Sentence

A farmer in ancient China had a neighbor who was a hunter and who owned ferocious and poorly trained hunting dogs. The dogs frequently jumped over the fence and chased the farmer's lambs. The farmer asked his neighbor to keep his dogs in check, but this fell on deaf ears. One day, the dogs again jumped the fence, attacked, and severely injured several of the lambs. The farmer had had enough and went to town to consult a judge who listened carefully to the story and said:

"I could punish the hunter and instruct him to keep his dogs chained or lock them up. But you would lose a friend and gain an enemy. Which would you rather have, friend or foe, for a neighbor? “The farmer replied that he preferred a friend. “All right, I will offer you a solution that keeps your lambs safe and which will keep your neighbor a friend.” Having heard the judge's solution, the farmer agreed.

Once at home, the farmer immediately tested the judge's suggestions. He took three of his best lambs and presented them to his neighbor's three small sons, who were beside themselves with joy and began to play with them. The hunter built a strong kennel for his dogs to protect his son's newly acquired playthings. Since then, the dogs have never again bothered the farmer's lambs.

Out of gratitude for the farmer's generosity toward his sons, the hunter often shared the game he had hunted with the farmer. The farmer reciprocated by sending the hunter the cheese he had made. Within a short time, the neighbors became good friends.

Moral: “One can win over and influence people with gestures of kindness and compassion.”

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The Missing Watch

There once was a farmer who discovered he had lost his watch in the barn. This was no ordinary watch.  It had sentimental value for him.  After searching high and low among the hay for a long while, he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.

He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded.

Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went through and around the entire stack of hay but still could not find the watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy came up to him and asked to be given another chance.

The farmer looked at him and thought, “Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough.”

So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed.

The boy replied, “I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction.”

Moral:  A peaceful mind can think better than a worked up mind. Allow a few minutes of silence to your mind every day, and see how it helps change your life.

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Anger Story

Once, a man named Mohan lived in a tiny village.  In this village, there was only one tailor.  His name was Mohan.  He used to stitch the villagers' clothes and earn a good income.  As days passed, he became arrogant and rude to the customers.  When some villagers told him he did not do the work right, he got angry and told them to get out of his shop.  His ego was growing way too big, but the villagers couldn’t do anything because he was the only tailor who knew how to stitch.

One day, a lady and her son came to the village for work.  She knew how to stitch, so she went to Mohan asking for a job working for him.  Mohan refused her. She thought of buying a machine to start stitching the villagers' clothes.  So she found other work saved up and bought a sewing machine. Now, she started stitching the clothes of the villagers.  She was very polite and talked to her customers all the time.  Her customers thought her work was excellent.  Now, everyone was going to that lady for stitching, and Mohan’s business almost ended.

One day, when Mohan didn’t earn a single rupee from stitching, Mohan’s wife went to meet the lady.  She said, “Since you opened your shop, no one has come to my husband’s shop. I want you to sell your shop to me.”  The lady agreed and sold her shop for fifty thousand dollars.

Mohan was so angry at the other woman for taking his customers that he burned her shop. When Mohan’s wife saw this, she came running over to Mohan and said, “You fool! The lady just sold this shop to us for fifty thousand dollars. You just burned down your own shop!”  Mohan, after listening to this, sat down, put his hands on his head, and said nothing.

Moral:  Anger doesn’t solve anything, but it can destroy everything.

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You Can't Please Everyone

An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along, they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Then, later, they passed some people who remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." So they then decided they'd both walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey. Now they passed some people who shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey.

The boy and man figured they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story? If you try to please everyone, you might as well... Kiss your “donkey" goodbye! And even this ending won’t please everyone.

MEsponsible

MEsponsible

My mom did not sleep. She felt exhausted. She was irritable, grumpy, and bitter. She was always sick until one day, suddenly, she changed. One day my dad said to her: “I’ve been looking for a job for three months and I haven’t found anything, I’m going to have a few beers with friends.”

My mom replied: “It’s okay.”

My brother said to her: “Mom, I’m doing poorly in all subjects at the University.”

My mom replied: “Okay, you will do better and if you don’t, you will repeat the semester, and you will pay the tuition.”

My sister said to her: “Mom, I smashed the car.”

My mom replied: “Okay, take it to the car shop & find how much it will cost, and while they fix it, get around by bus or subway.”

Her daughter-in-law said to her: “Mom, I came to spend a few months with you.”

My mom replied: “Okay, settle in the living room on the couch, look for some blankets and pillows in the closet.”

All of us gathered worried to see these reactions coming from Mom. We suspected that she had gone to the doctor and that she was prescribed some pills and was overdosing on them!

We then proposed to do an “intervention to remove her from any possible addiction.

But then … she gathered us around and explained: “It took me a long time to realize that each person is responsible for their life. It took me years to discover that my anguish, anxiety, my depression, my courage, my insomnia & my stress, does not solve your problems but aggravate mine.

I am not responsible for the actions of anyone & it’s not my job to provide happiness but I am responsible for my reactions . Therefore, I concluded that my duty to myself is to remain calm and let each one of you solve your own problems.

I have taken courses in yoga, meditation, miracles, and human development, and in all of them, I found a common denominator: I can only control myself, you have all the necessary resources to solve your own problems despite how hard they may be. My job is to pray for you, love you, and encourage you but it’s up to YOU to solve them & find your happiness.

I can only give you my advice if you ask me & it depends on you to follow it or not. There are consequences, good or bad, to your decisions and YOU must live with them.

So from now on, I cease to be the receptacle of your responsibilities, the sack of your guilt, the laundress of your remorse, the advocate of your faults, the wall of your lamentations, the depositary of your duties, who should solve your problems.

Everyone at my mom’s house was speechless. From that day on, the family began to function better because everyone in the house knew exactly what it is that they needed to do.

For some of us this is hard because we’ve grown up being the caregivers feeling responsible for others. We want everyone to be happy and thriving. The sooner we take that responsibility off of our shoulders & can create healthy boundaries, the better we are preparing them to be MEsponsible. . So stop putting pressure on yourself. We are not here on earth to be everything to everyone.

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Never Judge Others By Their NO

Once a bird was searching for a home to lay her eggs and get shelter in the coming rainy season. In her search, she saw two trees and went to ask for shelter.  When she asked the first tree, he refused to give her shelter.  

With disappointment, she went to the second tree.  The second tree agreed.  So, she made her home and lay her eggs. Then the rainy season arrived.

The rain was so heavy that the first tree fell and was carried away by the flood.  The bird saw this and in a taunting way said: ” See, this is your karma, you didn’t offer me shelter, now God has punished you.

The tree smiled and said:” I knew I was not going to survive this rainy season, that’s why I refused you. I didn’t want to risk the lives of you and your children. “The bird got tears in her eyes. Now that she knew the reason, she felt respect for the tree.

Moral of the Story:  We should not always consider a “NO” as someone being mean or angry. You don’t know the full picture. Without even trying to understand the motive or the reason, we make our own judgments. we should never judge others by their No if we don’t know the whole story.

Group of Frogs

Group of Frogs

 As a group of frogs were traveling through the woods, two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs crowded around the pit and saw how deep it was, they told the two frogs that there was no hope left for them.

However, the two frogs decided to ignore what the others were saying and they proceeded to try and jump out of the pit. Despite their efforts, the group of frogs at the top of the pit were still saying that they should just give up. That they would never make it out.

Eventually, one of the frogs took heed to what the others were saying and he gave up, falling down to his death. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die.

He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?”

The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

Moral of the story: People’s words can have a big effect on others’ lives. Think about what you say before it comes out of your mouth.

The Problem with Dandelions

One morning, a man who took great pride in his lawn noticed dandelions had taken over part of his lawn. He tried everything he knew to get rid of them but they kept growing back. This made him really annoyed, so he went out and immediately pulled them all out with his hands. But they just grew right back. So after a few weeks of frustration and anger with this situation, he went to the store and bought some weed killer.  He sprayed it all over the place and it worked for a while, but it also damaged the lawn. And then after it rained, the dandelions grew back again. So frustrated, he decided the problem must be the type of soil they were growing in. So he pulled up the entire lawn, put down new soil turf.

This time he thought, I've got this licked. But within a few days, dandelions were growing up through the new grass. Now he was getting really frustrated and stressed. He concluded that the dandelions must be coming from the neighbor's yard.  So he went on a secret campaign to kill all the neighbor’s dandelions in the whole neighborhood. He weeded, he sweated, he sprayed, he snuck around in the night. But a year later, after totally exhausting himself, he still had dandelions growing up through his lawn. Finally, he called a person at the Department of Agriculture. He explained that he tried everything to get rid of those dandelions.  They were ruining the look of his lawn and he was frustrated because they just kept growing back.  He asked, "What should I do to get rid of those dandelions?"

The man said, "I suggest you learn to love them. They're beautiful in their own way, and they will always be a part of your lawn, whether you like it or not.”

Moral:  There are things that arise in life that we just can't control no matter how much we try. And as they arise, it's best to remember that we do have a choice in how we handle the situation. We can resist it, or we can accept it. We can make ourselves miserable and agitated about what's happening or we can learn to find peace and even joy amongst the dandelions of our lives. So if we can set aside our ideas of how we think life should or shouldn't be, and be flexible in accepting things as they are, we will find greater degrees of peace and joy in our lives.

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The Most Beautiful Flower

As I walked through the park, I noticed an empty park bench. I sat down to read beneath the long, straggly branches of an old willow tree. I have been disillusioned by life with good reason to frown, It felt like the world was intent on dragging me down.

And if that weren’t enough to ruin my day, a young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play. He stood right before me with his head tilted down and said with great excitement, “Look what I found!”

In his hand was a flower, and what a pitiful sight, with its petals all worn – not enough rain, or too little light. Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play, I faked a small smile and then shifted away.

But instead of retreating he sat by my side and placed the flower to his nose and declared with surprise, “It sure smells pretty and it’s beautiful, too. That’s why I picked it; here, it’s for you.”

The weed before me was dying or dead. Not vibrant of colors, orange, yellow or red. But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave. So, I reached for the flower, and replied, “Just what I need.”

But instead of him placing the flower in my hand, He held it mid-air without reason or plan. It was then that I noticed for the very first time That weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind.

I heard my voice quiver, tears shone like the sun As I thanked him for picking the very best one. “You’re welcome,” he smiled, and then ran off to play, Unaware of the impact he’d had on my day.

I sat there and wondered how he managed to see a self-pitying person beneath an old willow tree. How did he know of my self-indulged plight? Perhaps from his heart, he’d been blessed with true sight.

Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see the problem was not with the world; the problem was me. And for all of those times I myself had been blind, I vowed to see beauty, and appreciate every second that’s mine.

And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose and breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose and smiled as that young boy, another weed in his hand, was about to change the life of an unsuspecting old man.

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Lightning & The Bus

A bus full of passengers were traveling for a while when suddenly the weather changed and there was a huge downpour and lightening all around.  They could see that the lightning would appear to come towards the bus and then go elsewhere.  After 2 or 3 horrible instances of being saved from lightening, the driver stopped the bus about fifty feet away from a tree and said -

"We have somebody in the bus whose death is a certainty today.”  Now listen carefully what I am saying .  I want each person to come out of bus one by one and touch the tree trunk and come back.  Whom ever’s death is certain will get hit by the lightening and will die & everybody else will be saved".

They had to force the 1st person to go and touch the tree and come back.  He reluctantly got down from the bus and went and touched the tree.  His heart leaped with joy when nothing happened and he was still alive.  This continued for rest of the passengers who were all relieved when they touched the tree and nothing happened.  When the last passenger's turn came, everybody looked at him with accusing eyes.  That passenger was very afraid and reluctant since he was the only one left.  Everybody forced him to get down and go and touch the tree.  With a 100% fear of death in mind, the last passenger walked to the tree and touched it.

There was a huge sound of thunder and the lightening came down and hit the bus - yes the lightening hit the bus, and killed each and every passenger inside the bus.  It was because of the presence of this last passenger that, earlier, the entire bus was safe and the lightening could not strike the bus.

Moral:    At times, we try to take credit for our present achievements, but this could also be because of a person right next to us.  Look around you - Probably someone is there around you, in the form of your parents, your spouse, your children, your siblings, your friends, etc, who are saving you from harm..!  Think About it..You will surely find that Person!

Beautiful Lines

''Alone I can 'Say' but

together we can 'talk'.

'Alone I can 'Enjoy' but

together we can

'Celebrate'.

'Alone I can 'Smile' but

together we can 'Laugh'.

That's the BEAUTY of Human Relations.

We are nothing without each other

Stay Connected !

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Honesty

My friend and proud father was taking his two little boys to play miniature golf. He walked up to the fellow at the ticket counter and said, "How much is it to get in?"

The young man replied, "$3.00 for you and free for any kid who is 6 or younger. How old are they?"

The father replied, "Billy is three and Charlie is seven, so I guess I owe you $6.00."

The man at the ticket counter said, "Hey, Mister, you could have saved yourself three bucks. You could have told me that the older one was six; I wouldn't have known the difference." The father replied, "Yes, that may be true, but the kids would have known the difference."

Moral: As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Who you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying." In challenging times when ethics are more important than ever before, make sure you set a good example for everyone.

17 Camels

Long ago, there lived an old man with his three sons in a deserted village, located in the desert. He had 17 camels, and they were the main source of his income. He used to rent out camels as a means of shipping goods. One day, he passed away. He had left a will, leaving his assets for his three sons.  After the funeral and the other obligations were over, the three sons read the will. While their father had divided all the property he had into three equal parts, he had divided the 17 camels in a different way. They were not shared equally among the three as 17 is an odd number that cannot be divided by 3.

The old man had stated that the eldest son will own half of the 17 camels, the middle one will get one-third of the 17 camels, and the youngest one will get his share of camels as one-ninth!  All of them were stunned and questioned each other on how to divide the 17 camels. It is not possible to divide 17 camels and give half of the 17 camels to the eldest one. It is not possible also to divide the camels for the other two sons.  They spent several days thinking of ways to divide the camels as mentioned in the will, but none could find the answer.

They finally took the issue to the wise man in their village. The wise man heard the problem and instantly found a solution. He asked them to bring all the 17 camels to him.  After the sons brought the camels to the wise man, the wise man added one of his own camels and made the total number of camels 18.

Per the will, the eldest son got half the camels, which was 9 camels! That left 9 more camels.

The second son was assigned 1 / 3 of the total camels, so he got 6 camels.  1/3 of 18 = 6

The third son was assigned  1/9th of the total number of camels, which was 2 camels – 18 / 9 = 2

In total, there were 9 + 6 + 2 camels shared by the brothers, which counted to 17 camels.

Now, the one camel added by the wise man was taken back and the problem was solved.  The wise man solved this problem with his intelligence.

Moral of the Story:  Intelligence is nothing but finding a common ground to solve an issue. In short, every problem has a solution.

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The Four Candles

Four candles were burning in a dark room. Their ambiance was so soft, you could hear them speak. The first candle said “I am Peace, but these days there is violence, hatred and catastrophes everywhere. It seems like the world doesn’t want me anymore. Therefore, I can’t stay here, and with that the candle of Peace went out.

The Second candle said, “I am trust and today there are lies and deceit and greed everywhere. I don’t think I am needed anymore. Therefore, I can’t stay here, and with that the candle of Trust went out.

The Third candle sadly said, “I am love, I have the power to keep burning, but today, everyone is so busy, no one has time for me. People have even forgotten to love their loved ones. I cannot bear this, therefore I am also going from this world, and with that, the candle of Love went out.

Just then, an innocent boy entered the room and seeing the extinguished candles, he said, “why didn’t you candles burn until the end? The Fourth candle said to the boy, “Dear child, don’t be sad. I am hope, and while I am burning, you can light the rest of the candles again.” Hearing this, the child took the candle of Hope and relit the candles of Peace, Faith and Love

Moral: When everything looks bad and there is darkness all around, don’t give up Hope because it has so much that it can give back to you when you feel everything is lost. Keep you candle of hope lit because if it keeps on burning, it can keep your candles of Peace, Trust and Love burning bright.

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Live and Work

Father was a hardworking man who delivered bread as a living to support his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work attending classes, hoping to improve himself so that he could one day find a better-paying job. Except for Sundays, Father hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted to provide his family with the best money could buy.

Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed, and with distinctions too! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor which paid handsomely.

Like a dream come true, Father could now afford to provide his family with life’s little luxuries like nice clothing, fine food, and vacation abroad.

However, the family still did not get to see father for most of the week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to manager. In fact, to make himself a worthy candidate for the promotion, he enrolled in another course at the open university.

Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

Father’s hard work paid off and he was promoted. Jubilantly, he decided to hire a maid to relieve his wife from her domestic tasks. He also felt that their three-room flat was no longer big enough, it would be nice for his family to be able to enjoy the facilities and comfort of a condominium. Having experienced the rewards of his hard work many times before, Father resolved to further his studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see much of him. In fact, sometimes Father had to work on Sundays entertaining clients. Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

As expected, Father’s hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful condominium overlooking the coast of Singapore. On the first Sunday evening at their new home, Father declared to his family that he decided not to take any more courses or pursue any more promotions. From then on he was going to devote more time to his family.  The next day, Father did not wake up.

Moral:  Does the situation sound a little too familiar?  Do we work so hard that we forget to live? Do we sometimes lose sight of the big picture?  This story is a good reminder that there is always an end to this life but we never know when it will come.

One Who Reads The Future

A man who lived a long time ago believed that he could read the future in the stars. He called himself an Astrologer and spent his time at night gazing at the sky. He was always busy focused on the future and villagers often came to him, hoping to know what their future holds.

One evening he was walking along the open road outside the village, His eyes fixed on the stars. He thought he saw that the end of the world was at near. Lost in his thoughts about the future, he kept walking without looking down. Suddenly, he fell into a ditch full of mud and water.

He was sinking in the muddy water, and madly trying to claw his way out.  Realizing he was unable to crawl out and fearing for his life, he started screaming for help. His cries for help soon brought the villagers running.

As they pulled him out of the mud, a woman said, “You pretend to read the future in the stars, and yet you fail to see what is at your feet! This may teach you to pay more attention to what is right in front of you, and let the future take care of itself.”

Another man said, “What use is it to read the stars in the sky, when you can’t see what’s right here on the earth?”

Moral: We all want our future to be bright and happy, but time doesn’t stop for anyone. Each tomorrow turns into today, your present is also a part your future. There is always a tomorrow to look forward to and improve, but you can’t go back to yesterday. So, stay in the present moment while you work for a better tomorrow.

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