Jul 28, 2017

Four Burning Candles

In a room there were four candles burning. The ambiance was so soft you could hear them talking. The first one said, “I am PEACE, however nobody can keep me lit. I believe I will go out.” It’s flame rapidly diminishes and goes out completely. The second one says, “I am FAITH. Most of all, I am no longer indispensable, so it does not make any sense that I stay lit any longer.”When it finished talking a breeze softly blew on it putting it out.

Sadly, the third candle spoke “I am LOVE. I don’t have the strength to stay lit. People put me aside and don’t understand my importance. They even forget to love those who are nearest to them.” And waiting no longer it goes out.

Suddenly a child entered the room and saw three candles not burning. “Why are you not burning you are supposed to stay lit till the end.”

Saying this the child began to cry. Then the fourth candle said, “Don’t be afraid, while I am still burning we can re-light the other candles, I am HOPE.”

With shining eyes, the child took the candle of Hope and lit the other candles.

The flame of Hope should never go out from our life so that each of us can maintain HOPE, FAITH, PEACE and LOVE. Hope never abandons you. You abandon hope. Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.

Jul 21, 2017

Learn to Appreciate!!

Once upon a time, there was a man who was very helpful, kindhearted, and generous. One day while walking on a dusty road, this man saw a purse, so he picked it up and noticed that the purse was empty. Suddenly a woman with a policeman showed up and got him arrested.

The woman kept asking where he had hidden her money but the man replied, “It was empty when I found it, Ma’am.” The woman yelled at him, “Please give it back, it’s my son’s school fees.”  The man noticed that the woman really felt sad, so he handed over all his money.  He could say that the woman was a single mother.  The man said, “Take this, sorry for the inconvenience.”  The woman left and a policeman held the man for further questioning.

The woman was very happy but when she counted her money, later on, it was lot more than she had lost, she was shocked.  One day while the woman was going to pay her son’s  fees she noticed that a skinny man was walking behind her.  She thought that he may rob her, so she approached a policeman standing nearby.  He was the same policeman, who she took along to enquire about her purse.  The woman told him about the man following her, but suddenly they saw that man collapsing.  They ran towards him and realized that he was the same man who they had arrested a few days back for stealing her purse.

He looked very weak and the woman was confused.  The policeman said to the woman, “He didn’t return your money, he gave you his money that day.  He wasn’t the thief but hearing about you son’s school fees, he felt sad and gave you his money.”  Later, they helped the man stand up, and the man told the woman, “Please go ahead and pay your son’s school fees. I saw you and followed you to be sure that no one steals your son’s school fees.”   The woman was speechless.

Life gives you strange experiences. We end up making wrong judgments in our anger, desperation and frustration. However, when you get a second chance, correct your mistakes and return the favor. Be Kind and generous...                 

Jul 14, 2017

Invisible divider...

During a research experiment a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank.

As you would expect, the shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and ate the smaller fish.
The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the tank, creating two separate partitions. She then put the shark on one side of the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other.

Again, the shark quickly attacked.  This time, however, the shark slammed into the fiberglass divider and bounced off.  Undeterred, the shark kept repeating this behavior every few minutes to no avail. Meanwhile, the bait fish swam around unharmed in the second partition.  Eventually, about an hour into the experiment, the shark gave up.

This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks.  Each time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the bait fish, until eventually the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass divider and simply stopped attacking altogether.

The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn’t attack.  The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the bait fish, so the bait fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.

Many of us, after experiencing setbacks and failures, emotionally give up and stop trying. Like the shark in the story, we believe that because we were unsuccessful in the past, we will always be unsuccessful. In other words, we continue to see a barrier in our heads, even when no ‘real’ barrier exists between where we are and where we want to go.

Jul 7, 2017

Rubber & Glass Balls

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. How?

◾Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.

◾Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

◾Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

◾Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.

◾Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

◾Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us each together.

◾Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

◾Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

◾Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.

◾Don’t forget that a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

◾Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.

◾Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.