Aug 27, 2016

Family

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.”

The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.” He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.” She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.

Life is Short.  Spend much time as you can loving and caring people who love you. Enjoy each moment with them before it’s too late.  There is nothing important than family.

Aug 19, 2016

Conquering your fears

One cowardly person came to a master of martial arts and asked to teach him bravery. The master looked at him and said, I will teach you only with one condition: one month you will have to live in a big city and tell every person that you meet on your way that you are a coward. You will have to say it loudly, openly and looking straight into the person’s eyes.

The person got really sad, because this task seemed very scary to him. For a couple of days he was very sad and thoughtful, but to live with his cowardice was so unbearable that he travelled to the city to accomplish his mission.

At first, when meeting the passers, he quailed, lost his speech and couldn’t contact anyone. But he needed to finish the master’s task, so he began to overcome himself. When he came up to his first passer to tell about his cowardice, it seemed to him that he would die from fear. But his voice sounded louder and more confident with every passing day. Suddenly came a moment, when the man caught himself thinking that he’s not scared anymore, and the further he continued doing the master’s task, the more convinced he was that the fear was abandoning him. That way a month had passed. 

The person came back to the master, bowed to him and said: Thank you, teacher. I finished your task. Now I’m not afraid anymore. But how did you know that this strange task will help me?

The master replied”  The thing is that cowardice is only a habit. And by doing the things that scare us, we can destroy the stereotypes and come to a conclusion that you came to. And now you know that bravery – is also a habit. And if you want to make bravery a part of yourself- you need to move forward into the fear. Then the fear will go away, and bravery will take its place!!

Aug 12, 2016

Growing Deep and Strong

One day, my mother and I were working together in the garden where we were transplanting plants for the third time. Grown from seed in a small container, the plants had been transferred to a larger container; then transplanted into the garden. Now, because I was moving, we were transplanting them once again.

Inexperienced as a gardener, I turned to my green-thumbed mother. “Isn’t this bad for them?” I asked, as we dug them up and shook the dirt from the roots. “Won’t it hurt these plants, being uprooted and transplanted so many times?”

“Oh” my mother replied. “Transplanting doesn’t hurt them. In fact, it’s good for the ones that survive. That’s how their roots grow strong. Their roots will grow deep, and they will make strong plants”.

Often, I’ve felt like those small plants – uprooted and turned upside. Sometimes I’ve endured the change willingly, sometimes reluctantly, but usually my reaction has been a combination.

Won’t this be hard on me? I ask. Wouldn’t things be better if things remained the same? That’s when I remember my mother’s words: That’s how the roots grow deep and strong.

Aug 6, 2016

Attitude Matters!

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor 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 needed 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 in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. He worked in the most distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best of his actual capability… 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.” 

Every day , we look at the situation we are in and don’t realize that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized that we would have done it differently.

Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today!!

Aug 1, 2016

Confidence & Hard work

There was an old mule. One day accidentally he fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer has evaluated the situation and thought to himself, that neither the well nor the old mule was worth the efforts to save them. Thus he decided to haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well.

So the farmer called his neighbors and together they started to shovel dirt into the well. The old mule was terrified and hysterical in the beginning. But soon one hopeful idea came to his mind – every time when a shovel of dirt landed on his back, he would shake it off and step up!

He repeated these words to himself again and again: “Shake it off and step up“. This way he could struggle the panic and encourage himself. After some time, the mule had stepped over the well‘s wall. Although terribly tired, he was the winner, he saved his own life. He decided to face his adversity positively and not to give up, and thus he won.

What seems to bury you, actually can save you , with confidence and restless efforts