Love & Time

There was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said,
"Richness, can you take me with you?"
Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you."
"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way. Realizing how much was owed the elder,

Love asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who Helped me?"
"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"
Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."

The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk

A Mouse who lived on the land, by an unlucky chance, formed an intimate acquaintance with a Frog, who lived, for the most part, in the water. One day, the Frog was intent on mischief. He tied the foot of the Mouse tightly to his own. Thus joined together, the Frog led his friend the Mouse to the meadow where they usually searched for food.

 After this, he gradually led him towards the pond in which he lived, until reaching the banks of the water, he suddenly jumped in, dragging the Mouse with him. The Frog enjoyed the water amazingly, and swam croaking about, as if he had done a good deed.

 The unhappy Mouse was soon sputtered and drowned in the water, and his poor dead body floating about on the surface. A Hawk observed the foating Mouse from the sky, and dove down and grabbed it with his talons, carrying it back to his nest.

 The Frog, being still fastened to the leg of the Mouse, was also carried off a prisoner, and was eaten by the Hawk.

Moral: "Choose your allies carefully"

The Touchstone

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers.

 The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the "Touchstone"!

 The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

 So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

 The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

 So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away.

The Potter at Work

A potter was at making pots, he stepped on his pedal rhythmically, turning his "table" slowly. He took a lump of clay and in minutes, the lump of "clay" began to change form. His seasoned fingers shaped the clay into a "beautiful" vase (minus the colours )

On both sides of the potter were two shelves of "Finished" vases, some were long and slender, while some were short and stout, with most of them somewhere in between.

A young kid stepped out, and reached for one of the vases on left shelf. "Don't touch" shouted the potter, send the kid rearing backwards to the comforting arms of his mother.

"You can touch those on that shelf, as long you don't break it", as he pointed to the right shelf of vases.

At this point most of the "spectators" were getting their brains "fried", thinking what's the difference between the vases on the left and right shelf.

"Those have not gone through the "fire" yet" as he pointed to the vases on his left shelf. The potter explained to his audience the art of pottery. "There is more to making vases than "shaping" clay into beautiful shapes"

"If I don't use my fingers to "force" the lump of clay to "shape-up" and continued to "stretch" it and "pull" it up, this lump of "mud' will never see the daylight as a beautiful vase. "If they don't go through the "fire", they will be unable to "last".
"Those on the right shelf can be handled, because they had been "baked" in my oven at high temperatures." "The fire adds the final touch to their lasting beauty" concluded the potter.

Our life can be liken to a lump of "clay", just as it is, a lump. But no matter what, Life will definitely put her "skillful" "fingers" into work on this lump of "clay". The "Shape-up", "Stretching" and "Pull" process are kind of painful, but it is something you must go through in order to grow.

In life, I believe that we will have to go through the "Fire" (rejection, failure ). Yes, it is not going to be comfortable, it is not going to be easy, and sometimes how we wish that we could get out of that "oven" to avoid the "heat", but if we could just hold on to the view of the "Finished Vase", we will arrive there.

When Life is "Stretching", "Pulling", & "Burning" you, just bare in mind that it is transforming you, from a lump of "clay" to a beautiful "vase".

Heaven and Hell

One day while walking down the street a highly successful Human Resources Person was tragically hit by a bus and she died. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.

 "Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had a Human Resources Person make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."

 "No problem, just let me in," said the woman.

 "Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in."

 "Actually, I think I've made up my mind, I prefer to stay in Heaven", said the woman

 "Sorry, we have rules..."

 And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and it went down down down to hell.

 The doors opened and she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow

 Executives that she had worked with and they were well dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner.

 She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kind of cute) and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave.

 Everybody shook her hand and waved goodbye as she got on the elevator.

 The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her.

 "Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her.

 "So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity,"

The woman paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell."

 So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again she went down-down-down back to Hell.

 When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks.

 The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her.

 "I don't understand," stammered the woman, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."

 The Devil looked at her smiled and told...

*"Yesterday we were recruiting you, Today you are an employee.*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Character Is Not A Richman's Property

Sometimes, a series of occurrences brings out a fact or a hidden lesson. Strangely, some days are such.

 One day, a lady heard a fruit seller calling from the road “Golden Mangoes, fresh and ripe.” She went outside, leaving her house work, to see an old man pushing a cart laden with mangoes of an excellent variety. In India, the mango is considered to be the king of fruits and in the beginning of the season it is quite expensive too. She asked him, “What rate, would you charge?” He said, “Rs.40/- per kg”, She asked him to give her 10 kg.

 He took out a small rusted weighing scale and put a 1 kg measuring stone on one side, “She said, don’t you have a 5 kg stone? It will take so long, to weigh 10 kg with this!” He said, “No ma’am, but I’ll do it quickly.” She said, “I have an electronic weighing machine inside, why don’t you give me 10 kg approximately and I’ll weigh them inside.” He put the mangoes into two polythene bags and handed them over to her. She turned to go in and said, “Won’t you come in and see the weight for yourself, lest I cheat you!”

 He said, “What if you do, I would be poorer by a couple of Rupees, but you would become a cheat! You go ahead, I’ll wait here.”

 When the lady narrated the incident to her husband he remarked, “Usually, this clan of road side vendors are cheats! They charge you for 10 kg and give you nine and a half or even less. But surely this man had character.”

 That afternoon, the woman took her daughter to the stationer, to buy her a pencil box. The shopkeeper showed her an array of pencil boxes, simple ones and magnetic ones, cloth pouches and magic boxes! They selected a simple box, because mother explained to her daughter that the fancy ones would get spoilt sooner or later. As she was about to make the payment, she noticed a small bulge in the pocket of her daughter’s skirt. She asked her, “What’s there in your pocket, Nandini?” “Oh! Nothing Mom, just some candies,” The look on the child’s face told her mother something else. She put her hand into her daughter’s pocket and drew out a fancy-looking pencil sharpener. She went red with embarrassment. She noticed that the side shelf over the counter was full of fancy erasers and sharpeners. She asked, “Why did you, steal, Nandini?” “Because, you never buy me fancy stuff!” sobbed the little girl. The mother put the sharpener back on the shelf and said, “I’m sorry, for my daughter’s conduct, I’m glad I noticed it before I left the shop”. The shopkeeper said, “Its okay lady, I noticed what your daughter did, but I chose to keep quiet. You look like a respectable lady and I thought that I should not put you to embarrassment.” That hit her even harder. By now the little girl was a wreck. The kind shopkeeper handed out a candy to her and said, “Don’t cry child, here take this. Next time you want something, you must tell Mama.”

 The lady put the candy pack on the counter and said softly, “Please do not give this to her. Let not my child feel, that there can be a reward for stealing. I’m really very sorry about this.” They drove home in silence. The mother was very upset.

 After dinner, they decided to go out for ice cream. Father stopped the car near a road side vendor. All of them took ice-creams of their choice. The bill was Rs.115/-. Father handed over his wallet to his wife and she drew a Rs.500/- note to hand over to the young ice-cream seller. He said, “Madam, I do not have change, please give me the right amount.” She rummaged through the wallet and was able to find only Rs.55/-. What should be done? Finally she said, “Our home is in next lane, we’ll just go home and get you the money. How long are you here?” The man said, “Madam I am here till midnight. You can come before that.” “By the way what’s your name?” “My name is Hrudaya!” replied the ice-cream seller. So they sped off towards home to get the money. In a couple of minutes they were back. Mother handed over the balance amount of Rs.60/- to him. He said, “Madam you paid me Rs.50/- earlier, you owe me Rs.65/-” She said, “No, I paid you Rs.55/- earlier.” He kept quiet. She was very sure that she had paid him right, but she did not want that there should be any doubt in the young man’s mind.

 She gave him another fiver, “Here,” she said, “take this, may be I was wrong.”

 He hesitated and said, “Suppose you have already given it to me. I don’t want to take any extra payment. I just want what is due to me.” She pressed the money into his hand and said, “Its okay brother, don’t think about it.”

 They moved away from the spot. But she knew that “Hrudaya” had a heart of gold and so did the man who sold the golden mangoes.

 Character comes not by being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Character is attained by self control, honesty and most of all by loving God and living in the constant awareness of Him.

God doesn't exist.

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.

As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation.

They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."

" Why do you say that?"asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. 

Tell me, if God exists,would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine loving a God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.

The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and un-kept.

The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

" How can you say that?"asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber.And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me."

"Exactly !"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."