The Peaceful Picture

 

Once upon a time, a king offered a wonderful prize to the artist who could paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried and the king received thousands of paintings. He studied each one very carefully and finally decided upon two that he really liked. He now had to choose between the two.

 

The first was a painting of a beautiful, calm lake, with crystal-clear water, surrounded by green, leafy forests and majestic mountains towering in the background. Overhead, the sky was a brilliant blue with scattered, fluffy, white clouds. All the king’s advisers agreed that this painting clearly showed a place of perfect peace.

 

The other painting had mountains too, but these were rugged and bare. Above them, was an angry sky from which heavy rain fell and lightning danced. A foaming waterfall tumbled down one side of the mountain. At first glance, the painting did not seem peaceful at all.

 

However, when the king looked more closely, he noticed a tiny bush growing behind the waterfall. There, in the small bush, a mother bird had built her nest. In the midst of the rush of angry water, in the wind and the noise and the cold and the damp, the mother bird sat perfectly still on her nest – in perfect peace.

 

The king chose this painting as the one showing peace. When asked why, he replied: “Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, discomfort, trouble or hard work. Peace means to be in the middle of all of these things and yet, to find calm and quiet and gentleness in your heart and to carry on with your life – this is the real meaning of peace.”

 

Moral:  We can find peace inside us even when everything around us seems to be chaotic.

 

Self-Appraisal

A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits (phone numbers).  The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation.

Boy: ‘Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?

Woman: (at the other end of the phone line): ‘I already have someone to cut my lawn.’

Boy: ‘Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now.’

Woman: I’m very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.

Boy: (with more perseverance) : ‘Lady, I’ll even sweep your curb and your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all   of Palm beach , Florida.’

Woman: No, thank you.

With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store-owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy.

Store Owner: ‘Son… I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job.’

Boy: ‘No thanks.’

Store Owner: But you were really pleading for one.

Boy: No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the Job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!

Moral: This is what we call ‘Self Appraisal’.  Every time if we don’t get ahead of others, we blame others for it.  We should look to our self and compare, find own weaknesses and work hard to throw away weaknesses.  Always Work Hard, Honest and with full Dedication.  It will always pay up.

Wealth, Love and Success

A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat." "Is the man of the house in home?” they asked. “No", she replied. "He's out." "Then we cannot come in", they replied. In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened.

"Go tell them I am in home and invite them in!" The woman went out and invited the men in.

"We do not go into a House together," they replied. "Why is that?" she asked.

One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home?"

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!” he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!"

His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?"

Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!" "Let us hear our daughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his wife.

"Go out and invite Love to be our guest."

The woman went out and asked the three old men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest."

Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two old men also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: "I only invited Love, Why are you all coming in?"

The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him.”

Moral: Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!! So try to love every one and lead happy life.

“A small story about relationship”

In order to renovate a house, a person in Japan is breaking the wall. Japanese houses normally have a hollow space between the wooden walls. When tearing down the walls, he found that there was a lizard stuck there because a nail from outside hammered into one of its feet. He sees this, feels pity, and at the same time curious, as when he checked the nail, it was nailed 5 years ago when the house was first built!!!

What happened? The lizard has survived in such position for 5 years! In a dark wall partition for 5 years without moving, it is impossible and mind-boggling. Then he wondered how this lizard survived for 5 years, without moving a single step–since its foot was nailed! So he stopped his work and observed the lizard, what it has been doing, and what and how it has been eating. Later, not knowing from where it came appears another lizard, with food in its mouth.

Ah! He was stunned and touched deeply. For the lizard that was stuck by nail, another lizard has been feeding it for the past 5 years… Imagine? It has been doing that untiringly for 5 long years, without giving up hope on its partner. Since a small creature can do, why not for a creature blessed with a brilliant mind can’t.!

So please never abandon your loved ones. Never Say you are Busy When They Really Need You. You May Have The Entire World At Your Feet. But You Might Be The Only World To Them.

Moral : A Moment of negligence might break the very heart which loves you throw all odds… Before you say something just remember… it takes a moment to Break but an entire lifetime to make…!!!!

True Wealth is Qualitative not Quantitative

Once upon a time, there lived a poor lady in a city.  That poor lady had only one cow but she was very clever and simple. In the same city, there was another lady, her neighbor, who was very lavish. She had eight cows. Their income was only by selling milk and it’s by product. The lavish lady always got ghee from the poor lady but she never paid for it. So the poor lady took the case to her Panchayat head. The Panchayat head called both the women and heard both sides of argument.

The poor lady complained that everyday her neighbor gets ghee from her but never paid for it. Her neighbor cornered her by saying “I have eight cows but she has only one cow, then why should I get ghee from her?”  After hearing this, the head asked them to go home and come for the hearing the next day. The next morning, the head ordered his servant to make a muddy place and to keep two mugs of water of same size. The ladies were asked to cross the mud and to wash their feet with the water kept aside. First, the poor lady crossed the mud; she washed her feet and left some water in the mug. But her neighbor emptied the full mug and asked for some more water.

After witnessing this incident, the head gave the judgment, he asked the neighbor to give the money she owes from the poor lady. He explained that both have done the same activity, the poor lady has saved some water, but the neighbor has spent lavish without care. "So definitely with one cow she would have saved more ghee than you with eight cows", he told the lavish lady.

Moral: True wealth is not accomplished by possession of property. Prudence and thrift can only make a person king or beggar.

I can sleep when the Wind blows

Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work  on farms along  the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the ocean, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the little man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired man's sleeping quarters. Farmer shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away.

The farmer then understood what his hired man meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired man in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.

MORAL: Prevention is better than cure . Be proactive not reactive.

WHO PACKED YOUR PARACHUTE?

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience!

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor." Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory - he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

MORAL:

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.