Jun 30, 2017

Heavy Glass...

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: ”How heavy is this glass of water?”

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” 

She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.”

It’s important to remember to let go of your stress. As early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night. Remember to put the glass down!

Jun 23, 2017

The Retired Teacher...

Once upon a time, there were two neighbors living next to each other. One of them was a retired teacher and another was an insurance agent who had a lot of interest in technology. Both of them had planted different plants in their garden. The retired teacher was giving a small amount of water to his plants and didn’t always give a full attention to them, while the other neighbor interested in technology, had given a lot of water to his plants and looked after them too well.

The retired teacher’s plants were simple but looked good. The insurance agent’s plants were much fuller and greener. One day, during the night, there was a heavy rain and a wind due to a minor storm. Next morning, both of the neighbors came out to inspect the damage to their garden. The neighbor who was an insurance agent saw that his plants came off from the roots and were totally destroyed. But, the retired teacher’s plants were not damaged at all and were standing firm.

The insurance agent neighbor was surprised to see it, he went to the retired teacher and asked, “We both grew the same plants together, I actually looked after my plants better than you did for yours, and even gave them more water. Still, my plants came off from the roots, while yours didn’t. How is that possible?”

The retired teacher smiled and said, “You gave your plants more attention and water, but because of that they didn’t need to work themselves for it.  You made it easy for them.  While I gave them just an adequate amount of water and let their roots search for more and  because of that, their roots went deeper and that made their position stronger.  That is why my plants survived”.

The only time that you grow strong and sound is when you are in  an uncomfortable phase in life. Don’t settle for anything that’s easy .Keep growing through hard times  and you will find your roots stronger .

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Jun 16, 2017

Chopsticks...

Wishing to encourage her young son’s progress on the piano, a mother took the small boy to a concert of the famous pianist, Paderewski. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked “No Admittance.”

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that her son was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and the spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway piano on stage.

In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard. Innocently, he then began to play "Chopsticks".  The crowd reacted with anger, "Take the boy away!", "Who has brought this little boy to the concert?!".

When Paderewski heard the uproar backstage, he grabbed his coat and rushed to the stage. Realizing what was going on, he went to the piano, Reaching around the little boy from behind, the master began to improvise a counter melody to “chopsticks.” As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy's ear, “Keep going. Don't quit, son... don't stop... don't stop.”

Together, the old master and the little boy transformed an embarrassing situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.

There will always be a way to you turn your feeble attempts into true masterpieces. Next time when you feel that you aren’t inching towards your goals , when you feel your effort doesn’t get you through, when you feel that you shouldn’t have started doing what you are into ,remember  “Keep going. Don't quit, ... don't stop... don't stop.”  

Jun 9, 2017

Live to the fullest

An old man was walking down a lonely street. He could barely walk and he was struggling. So as he was walking, he ended up falling. The man still kept walking with great struggle.

A Stranger watching all this - a young man in his thirties went over to help him. The Old man was grateful for the unexpected aid .Both the men got into a casual  conversation. Once they reached the old man’s destination ,he waved a good bye and thanked the stranger enough for his help .

As the Old man was walking away , the stranger told him "You should stay inside where it is safe. It's dangerous walking down these streets". He turned around and replied, " I love walking and I love walking way more than I am afraid of falling". Perplexed, the young man asked ,"Well, what about your safety? Don't you want to live long enough?"

The Old Man replied,"Living means doing what you love to do. If I have to fall here and there to do what I want to do in life, then so be it."

“The Cost of not following your heart to do things that you want to do, is spending rest of your life wishing you had” and the Old man is abundantly right.

Living means doing what you love to do !!!

Stay alive and live life to the fullest!!

Jun 2, 2017

Be your own Judge...

Once upon a time there was a painter who had just completed his course under a great master. This young artist decided to assess his skills to give his best stroke on the canvas. He took 3 days and painted beautiful scenery.

Based on his masters advice he decided to display it on a busy street-square of the small town he was resident of. He wanted people's opinion about his caliber and painting skills.

He put his creation at a busy street-crossing with a board below the painting which read-"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes, please put a cross wherever you spot a mistake in the painting…

When he came back in the evening to collect his painting he was completely shattered to see that whole canvas was filled with cross marks and some people had even written their comments on the painting.

Disheartened and heartbroken he ran to his masters place and burst into tears. Sobbing inconsolably he told his master about what happened and showed the pathetic state of his creation which was filled with marks everywhere. Such was the state of the painting that even the colors were not visible, one could only see cross marks and correction remarks.

This young artist felt rejected and was disheartened.

The Master smiled and suggested "My Son, I will prove that you are a great artist and have learnt to paint flawlessly.

Just paint exactly similar painting once again and give it to me.

Will you do that for your master?.."

Young artist reluctantly agreed and two days later he presented an exact replica of his earlier painting to his master. The Master took that gracefully and smiled.

They reached the same street-square and displayed the same painting exactly where the artist had placed it a few days earlier. Now master took out another board which read -"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes - I have put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please do me a favor. If you see a mistake, kindly pick up the brush and correct it."

The Master and the disciple walked back home. They both visited the place same evening. The Young painter was surprised to see that there was not a single correction done so far. But master wasn't satisfied and he told his disciple "May be one day was too little a time for people to come up with ideas and take out time out of their busy schedules to correct it so let us keep it here for one more day. Tomorrow is Sunday, so we can expect some corrections coming in."

Next day again they visited and found painting remained untouched.. They kept the painting there for a week and still no correction came in!

The Master finally said,” It just takes a stroke of a paint brush to make a cross mark in a painting but a great deal of knowledge to evaluate and correct it “

" If you take the world to be your judge, you would always be disappointed. People tend to make judgments, pass remarks on others without any authenticity and seriousness. Be your own judge and trade your virtues with the world for an equitable and fair consideration. You can be assured that you would never be disappointed with yourself or your work."