Once a group of 50 people was attending a seminar. Suddenly the speaker stopped and started giving each person a balloon. Each one was asked to write his/her name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room.
Now these delegates were let in that room and asked to find the balloon which had their name written, within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for their name, pushing, colliding with each other, and there was utter chaos. At the end of 5 minutes, no one could find their own balloon.
Now each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it. Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.
The speaker began: This is exactly happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is. Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their happiness, you will get your own happiness. And this is the purpose of human life.
Once the peaceful inhabitants from the Earth asked one very powerful wizard to stop all wars and bloodshed on the planet.
“It is simple”, he said, “I will destroy all weapons on the Earth, and nobody will be able to fight more.”
“It would be fine!”, people exclaimed.
The magic wand’s wave, and this was done. There was a peace on the planet for three days, while the majority of those who were prone to fight, sought and could not find a weapon.
And when they under-stood they’ve lost it forever, they contrived spears of young trees, and started to fight again.
When the wizard heard such bad news, he said: “Do not worry. I will destroy all young trees, and these bullies will not be able to fight“.
After two or three days of fruitless searching for young trees, suitable for making spears, rebellious people started to cut giant trees, make batons from them, and the bloodshed has started again. The Wizard destroyed all big trees.
Then humans made knives and swords of metal. He destroyed all metal on the planet. People made sling and began to throw stones at each other. It was necessary to destroy the stones, too.
And then the peacekeepers sounded the alarm: “All trees have disappeared; there is no metal and stones. How to live, what to eat now? There will be no vegetation soon, and people will die without even fighting. No, this is a wrong solution of the problem.”
The Wizard became confused: “I do not know how to behave now. I would have destroyed all humanity, but, unfortunately, it is not in my power!”
Peacekeepers fell into despair; they did not know what to do. And then one clever kid turned to the Wizard:
“I know what you should do. Let people feel, how others perceive their actions. If one person hurt someone, let him to feel the same pain, and if he brings joy to someone, let him to feel the same joy. So no one will hurt each other, because he will feel pain immediately, too, and would have to stop.”
All people were inspired with the greatness of the kid’s thought, and the wizard embodied his idea exactly. He returned all trees, stones and metals, and even weapons that people had remade.
Since that day, no one on the planet tried to hurt others, because he would have to feel the same pain, too. People began to help each other, because they liked the sense of joy they felt at this moment. And they began to live in harmony and joy.
One Sunday morning, a wealthy man sat in his balcony enjoying sunshine and his coffee when a little ant caught his eye which was going from one side to the other side of the balcony carrying a big leaf several times more than its size. The man watched it for more than an hour. He saw that the ant faced many impediments during its journey, paused, took a diversion and then continued towards destination.
At one point the tiny creature came across a crack in the floor. It paused for a little while, analyzed and then laid the huge leaf over the crack, walked over the leaf, picked the leaf on the other side then continued its journey.
The man was captivated by the cleverness of the ant, one of God’s tiniest creatures. The incident left the man in awe and forced him to contemplate over the miracle of Creation. It showed the greatness of the Creator. In front of his eyes there was this tiny creature of God, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to analyze, contemplate, reason, explore, discover and overcome. Along with all these capabilities, the man also noticed that this tiny creature shared some human shortcomings.
The man saw about an hour later the creature had reached its destination – a tiny hole in the floor which was entrance to its underground dwelling. And it was at this point that the ant’s shortcoming that it shared with the man was revealed. How could the ant carry into the tiny hole the large leaf that it had managed to carefully bring to the destination? It simply couldn’t!
So the tiny creature, after all the painstaking and hard work and exercising great skills, overcoming all the difficulties along the way, just left behind the large leaf and went home empty-handed.
The ant had not thought about the end before it began its challenging journey and in the end the large leaf was nothing more than a burden to it. The creature had no option, but to leave it behind to reach its destination. The man learned a great lesson that day.
Isn’t that the truth about our lives?
We worry about our family, we worry about our job, we worry about how to earn more money, we worry about where we should live – 5 bedroom or 6 bedroom house, what kind of vehicle to buy – a Mercedes or BMW or a Porsche, what kind of dresses to wear, all sorts of things, only to abandon all these things when we reach our destination – The Grave. We don’t realize in our life’s journey that these are just burdens that we are carrying with utmost care and fear of losing them, only to find that at the end they are useless and we can’t take them with us.
Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
When in doubt, just take the next small step.
Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.
You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
Make peace with your past so it won't mess up the present.
Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
Take a deep breath every now and then. It calms the mind.
Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.
When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy clothes. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
Always choose life.
Forgive others and yourself.
What other people think of you is none of your business.
Time heals almost everything. Give time a little time.
However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
Believe in miracles.
God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.
Your children get only one childhood.
All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
Envy is waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you need.
The best is yet to come...
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
Everyone likes excitement. When people bubble with personal energy, others enjoy being around them. Business firms like to hire a staff that brings zest to the establishment.
Some national restaurant chains, for example, train their staff to form an impromptu ensemble and sing "Happy Birthday: or "Happy Anniversary" to their customers on special occasions. It produces more than noise. People keep coming back.
One restaurant, knowing how people respond to excitement, devised a special plan. When a customer ordered a steak dinner, the chef placed the meal on a hot steel plate. Then, just before the waiter left the kitchen, he would drop an ice cube on the platter.
The waiter was instructed, "Walk slowly to the table. We want everyone to hear the sound of that hot platter." It wasn't the steak that was sizzling, but the ice.
The plan worked like instant advertising. If customers were in the process of ordering, they'd hear that sound and choose a steak. The sizzle produced the sale.
Today, think creatively. Ask yourself, "How can I add some excitement to what I plan to deliver?"