(WhatsApp forward)

To all the wonderful moms:

We tend to care a lot and hence want to decide everything for our family members. Sometimes it stresses us too. This mom teaches us how to overcome it.

LESSON FOR LIFE💝

My mom felt exhausted. She was irritable and grumpy, until one day, suddenly, she changed.

One day my dad said to her:  I'm going to have a few beers with friends.

My mom replied:  Okay.

My brother said to her:  I'm doing poorly in all subjects in college.

My mom replied:  Okay, you will recover, and if you don't, you repeat the semester, but you pay the tuition.

My sister said to her:  I smashed the car.

My mom replied:  Okay, take it to the car shop & get it fixed.

All of us were worried to see these reactions coming from mom. We suspected that she had gone to the doctor and was prescribed some pills called "I don't give a damn”.

We then proposed to do an "intervention" with my mother to remove her from any possible addiction she had towards some anti-tantrum medication.

But then mom gathered us around her and explained:

"It took me a long time to realize that each person is responsible for their life. It took me years to discover that my anguish, anxiety, my depression, my courage, my insomnia & my stress, does not solve your problems but aggravates mine.

I am not responsible for the actions of anyone and it’s not my job to provide happiness.

Therefore, I came to the conclusion that my duty to myself is to remain calm and let each one of you solve what corresponds to you.

I have taken courses in yoga, meditation, miracles, human development, mental hygiene, vibration and neuro linguistic programming and in all of them, I found a common denominator.

I can only control myself, you have all the necessary resources to solve your own problems despite how hard they may be. My job is to PRAY for you, LOVE you, ENCOURAGE you, but it’s up to YOU to solve them and find your happiness.

I can only give you my advice if you ask me and it depends on you to follow it or not. There are consequences, good or bad, to your decisions and YOU have to live with them.”

Everyone at home was speechless.

From that day on, the family began to function better because everyone in the house knew exactly what it is that they needed to do.

Know your worth

Author Unknown     

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a 2000 Re note. In the room of 200, he asked. "Who would like this note?"

Many hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this to one of you - but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple the note up. He then asked. "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth Rs 2000. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.”

Remember: Those who love you do not care what you do, how you do, when you do or why you do but love you for WHO YOU ARE. That is your worth.

Positives in Negatives

A woman was sitting at her dining table, worried about taxes to be paid, house-work to be done and to top it all, her family was coming over for Thanksgiving the next day. 

Worried and Tired as she was, she was not feeling very thankful at that time.

As she turned her gaze sideways, she noticed her young daughter scribbling furiously into her notebook. She asked her, “What are you writing?”

“My teacher asked us to write a paragraph on “Negative Thanksgiving” for homework today,” said the daughter. “She asked us to write down things that we are thankful for, things that make us feel not so good in the beginning, but turn out to be good after all.”

With curiosity, the mother peeked into the book. This is what her daughter had written:
“I’m thankful for Final Exams, because that means school is almost over.
I’m thankful for bad-tasting medicine, because it helps me feel better.
I’m thankful for waking up to alarm clocks, because it means I’m still alive”.

It then dawned on the mother, that she had a lot of things to be thankful for!

She thought again…
She had to pay taxes but that meant she was fortunate to be employed.

She had house-work to do but that meant she had her own home to live in.
She had to cook for her family for Thanksgiving but that meant she had a family with whom she could celebrate.

My thoughts:

Learning to stay positive in life is vital. Looking for the positives in a negative situation can completely change your perspective on the situation at hand. Not that they will allow you to be happy in life but they will no doubt give you strength to deal with any challenges in life. Accepting a situation and finding a solution and by being thankful to what you have are sure ways of looking at a negative situation with positivity. 

Humility takes you far

On the first day, as President Abraham Lincoln entered to give his inaugural address, Just in the middle, one man stood up. He was a rich aristocrat.

He said, "Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family ."

And the whole Senate laughed; they thought they had made a fool of Abraham Lincoln.

But Lincoln and that type of people are made of a totally different mettle.

Lincoln looked at the man and said, "Sir I know that my father used to make shoes in your house for your family, and there will be many others here….
But the way he made shoes; nobody else can. He was a creator. His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole soul in it.
I want to ask you, have you any complaint? Because I know how to make shoes myself.
If you have any complaint, I can make another pair of shoes.
But as far as I know, nobody has ever complained about my father's shoes.
He was a genius, a great creator and I am proud of my father."

The whole Senate was struck dumb.

They could not understand what kind of Man Abraham Lincoln was.

It is not what happens to us that hurts us. It is our response that hurts us. Do not be embarrassed of your parents and what they used to do for a living. Be proud of them. Humility and respect for your parents will take you far.

The power of Hands

Unknown Author

Grandma, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. She didn't move, just sat with her head down staring at her hands.

When her grandson sat down beside her she didn't acknowledge his presence and the longer he sat he wondered if she was OK

Finally, not really wanting to disturb her but wanting to check on her at the same time, he asked her if she was OK. She raised her head and looked at him and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking," she said in a clear voice strong.

"I didn't mean to disturb you, grandma, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK," the grandson explained to her.

"Have you ever looked at your hands," she asked.. "I mean really looked at your hands?"

He slowly opened his hands and stared down at them. He turned them over, palms up and then palms down. “No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands," said he as he tried to figure out the point she was making.

Grandma smiled and related this story:

"Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These hands, though wrinkled shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life.

"They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor.

They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child, my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots.

They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special. They held my husband and wiped my tears when he went off to war.

They wrote my letters to him and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse.

They have held my children and grandchildren, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand.

They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. And to this day when not much of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer.

"These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of life.

But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of God."

The grandson never looked at his hands the same again. But he remembers God reached out and took his grandma's hands and led her home. He too wanted to touch the face of God and feel His hands upon his face.

Grandmas hold our hearts forever. A grandmother is like an angel. She takes you under her wings, prays and watches over you and would give you anything..

The Tea-cup

Found at http://www.inspirationalarchive.com/1692/the-tea-cup/#ixzz20kxOcdOY

There was a couple who used to go England to shop in the beautiful store. This was their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially tea-cups. They said,”May we see that? We’ve never seen one quite so beautiful.”

As the lady handed it to them,suddenly the tea-cup spoke, “You don’t understand.” It said, “I have not always been a tea-cup.There was a time when I was red clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, “Let me alone,” but he only smiled, “Not yet!!”

“Then I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. ‘Stop it !! I’m getting dizzy!’ I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, ‘Not yet.’

Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook hid head, ‘Not yet’.

“Finally, the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. ‘Stop it, Stop it!!’ I cried. He only nodded, ‘Not yet!’.

Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf.

An hour later he handed me a mirror and said ‘Look at yourself.’ And I did. I said, ‘That’s not me; that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful.’

“I want you to remember, then,’ he said, ‘I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I just had left you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurts and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any colour in your life, and if I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t survive for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.” God knows what He’s doing [ for all of us ]. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mould us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will.

We are all made to fly

Author Unknown

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons. They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.

Months passed, and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.

The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly.

He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch.

Having tried everything else, the king thought to himself, “May be I need someone more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem.” So he cried out to his court, “Go and get a farmer.”

In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his court, “Bring me the doer of this miracle.”

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, “How did you make the falcon fly?”

With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, “It was very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting.”

Life brings obstacles and difficulties. They do not come to stop or hinder progress. They can strengthen and help in bringing progress with more experience. To understand this is to keep advancing. Understanding this aspect means to know that it is not always necessary to find a solution, it is enough to keep moving forward, leaving the obstacle behind.  Let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight! 

Short Stories With A Moral

A child told the mother: “Mom, you are very beautiful today.”
Asked the mother : “Why?”
The child said : “Because you did not get angry today.”

Moral of the story:
1. It is easy to possess beauty:- do not get angry.
2. Anger is temporary madness.
_______________________________________________________

A man attended an interview for a job.
Along the corridor he picked up a piece and threw it into a dustbin.
The interviewer passed by and saw it.
This man got the job.
Moral of the story:
Live with good habits and you will be recognized.
_______________________________________________________

A small boy worked as an apprentice in a bicycle shop.
A man sent a bicycle for repair.
After repairing the bicycle this boy cleaned up the bicycle and it looked like a new one.
Other apprentices laughed at him for doing redundant work.
The second day after the owner claimed the bicycle back, this boy was offered a job.
Moral of the story :
1.Go the extra mile to be successful.
2. Doing more gains more; doing less loses more.
_______________________________________________________

The owner of a farm asked his child to work every day at the farm.
His friend told him : “ You do not have to make your son work so hard. The crops would grow just as good.”
Owner of the farm replied: “ I am not cultivating my crops but my child.”
Moral of the story:
1. A simple way to groom a child is to let him experience some hardships.
_______________________________________________________

Once a Bird asked a BEE, "After a continuous hard work, you prepare the honey..........
But a man steals the honey.
Do you not feel sad?"
Then the Bee replied, "Never......
Because a man can only steal my honey, not the art of making honey...."
Moral of the story:
1. Attitude is everything
2. A good attitude can find something good in everything

The Trouble Tree

The carpenter hired by a man to help him restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start.

While the man drove him home, the carpenter sat in stony silence. Obviously he was troubled by the events of the day. On arriving, he invited him in to meet the family.

As they walked toward the front door, the carpenter paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

After opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His face was wreathed in smiles, and he hugged his two small children and then gave his wife a kiss.

Afterward, he walked the man to his car. They passed the tree, our man's curiosity got the better of him. He asked the carpenter about what he had seen him do earlier.

“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning, I pick them up again.”

“Funny thing is,” he smiled and continued, “when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

The unshakable Faith

Author: Unknown

A very tired traveller came to the banks of a river.

There was no bridge by which he could cross. It was winter, and the surface of

the river was covered with ice.

It was getting dark, and he wanted to reach the other side while there was enough light to see. He debated about whether or not the ice would bear his weight.

Finally, after much hesitation and fear, he got down on his knees and began very cautiously to creep across the surface of the ice. He hoped that by distributing the weight of his body, the ice would be less apt to break under the load.

After he made his slow and painful journey about halfway across the river, he suddenly heard the sound of singing behind him. Out of the dusk, there came a 4-horse load of coal driven by a man singing merrily as he went his carefree way.

Here was the traveler, fearfully inching his way on his hands and knees.

And there, as if whisked along by the winter's wind, went the driver, his horses, his sled, and the heavy load of coal over the same river merrily!

This is how many of us go through life.

Some stand on the bank of decisions unable to make up our minds about the course to take.

Others stand on the banks trying to muster enough courage to cross over to the other side of the task or problem encountered.

And some individuals crawl and creep through life for fear of thin ice. Their faith is not strong enough to hold them up.

Still there are those who whisk along whistling as they go. Their faith is UNSHAKABLE.

When we face the river of difficulties, we need not have to fear, nor do we have to creep through life. Trust in Him and with His help we can merrily make our way to the other side safely.

Take risks to enjoy the fruits

Two monkeys, a father and his young son, were sitting in a large tree together.

The son turned to his dad and said, “I’m hungry, can you get me some leaves to eat?”

The father looked at his son and smiled, “Well, then you had better get some yourself.”

“But I don’t know how.” the son protested.

“You have a choice,” responded the dad. ”You can pick the dry, unpalatable leaves that are found near the trunk or you can go to the edge of the limbs and choose the freshest, most delectable leaves.”

“That’s not fair, why can’t the nicest leaves be found where everyone can get to them easily?”

“That’s just the point. If everyone could get to them, they wouldn’t be so fresh.”

“But it’s risky to go out on the smaller branches. They could break or I could lose my grip and fall!”

“Son, listen closely. If you remember this, you’ll be successful in everything that you do and will always have the nicest leaves to eat. When you take a risk and go out on a limb, the fall isn’t nearly as bad as it looks.”

“But why doesn’t every monkey go and get the fresh leaves?” asked the son.

“Because fear of perceived danger is a powerful motivator and too many monkeys would rather eat rubbish and complain about it than take a risk and go for what they really want. The challenges are out there son, go face them!”

Thank God for the trials & tribulations

Source: Unknown

A renowned Tennis Player, was stricken by HIV from a contaminated blood transfusion which he received during his heart bypass surgery.

He was a legendary player. People from all over the world were very sad to hear the news. He received millions of get well soon letters and cards from his fans all over the world.

One of the letters read: "It is very sad to know about your illness. Why did God let this happen to you?"

The Tennis Player wrote a reply to this fan saying: "Millions of children start playing tennis. Hundreds of thousands of them learn to play proper Tennis.
Tens of Thousands of them learn professional Tennis.
Thousands of them go to Tennis tournaments around the world. Some 5 thousand make it to Grand Slam and around 100 make it to Wimbledon.
Just 4 make it to Semi Finals and two to finals and only ONE wins. And I was that ONE out of millions of people around the world. 

When I was holding the Wimbledon Championship Trophy I never asked God "Why Me?" So I have no right to ask God "why me?" during my times of hardship."

Isn't it true that whenever a human being achieves something in his life he attributes it to himself, his hard work and support from his family and friends and forgets to thank God.

But what does the same person do when he is afflicted by a misfortune? The person who takes credit for every achievement of his now starts blaming God for his misfortune.

Lets not forget God in our good times. And if we are going through bad times, lets thank Him even more as the times could have been worse because God keeps reminding us of His existence by giving us trials and afflictions.

Understanding others' sufferings

Unknown Author

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?"

The youth answered, "none".

The director asked, "Was it your father who paid for your school fees?"

The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.”

The director asked, "Where did your mother work?"

The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner.”

The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, "Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?"

The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.”

The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.”

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: "Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes.”

The Director asked, "Please tell me your feelings."

The youth said, 

“1.I know now what appreciation is. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today.
2. By working together and helping my mother, only now I realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done.
3. I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.”

The director said, "This is what I am looking for in my manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.”

A lesson from Giraffe

Baby giraffes never go to school. But they learn a very important lesson rather early in life. A lesson that all of us would do well to remember. The birth of a baby giraffe is quite an earth-shaking event. The baby falls from its mother's womb, some eight feet above the ground. It shrivels up and lies still, too weak to move. 

The mother giraffe lovingly lowers her neck to smooch the baby giraffe. And then something unbelievable happens. She lifts her long leg and kicks the baby giraffe, sending it flying up in the air and tumbling down on the ground. As the baby lies curled up, the mother kicks the baby again and again until the baby giraffe, still trembling and tired, pushes its limbs and for the first time learns to stand on its feet. 

Happy to see the baby standing on its own feet, the mother giraffe comes over and gives it yet another kick. The baby giraffe falls one more time, but now quickly recovers and stands up.

Mama Giraffe is delighted. She knows that her baby has learnt an important lesson: Never mind how hard you fall, always remember to pick yourself up and get back on your feet.

Why does the mother giraffe do this? She knows that lions and leopards love giraffe meat. So unless the baby giraffe quickly learns to stand and run with the pack it will have no chance of survival.

Most of us though are not quite as lucky as baby giraffes.

No one teaches us to stand up every time we fall. When we fail, when we are down, we just give up. No one kicks us out of our comfort zone to remind us that to survive and succeed, we need to learn to get back on our feet.

Life is a reality, accept it

In a mother's womb were two babies. 

One asked the other: "Do you believe in life after delivery?" 

The other replies, "why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later." 

"Nonsense," says the other. "There is no life after delivery. What would that life be?" 

"I don't know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths." 

 "This is absurd! Walking is impossible. And eat with our mouths? Ridiculous. The umbilical cord supplies nutrition. Life after delivery is to be excluded. The umbilical cord is too short." 

"I think there is something and maybe it's different than it is here," the other replies.

 "No one has ever come back from there. Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery it is nothing but darkness and anxiety and it takes us nowhere." 

"Well, I don't know," says the other, "but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us." 

"Mother??" You believe in mother? Where is she now?" 

"She is all around us. It is in her that we live. Without her there would not be this world." 

"I don't see her, so it's only logical that she doesn't exist." 

To which the other replied, "sometimes when you're in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her. I believe there is a reality after delivery and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality."

Joy & Sorrow

I have in my hands two boxes
Which God gave me to hold He said,
"Put all your sorrows in the black,
And all your joys in the gold."

I asked, "God, why give me the boxes,
Why the gold, and the black with the hole?"
"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,
The black is for you to let go."

I heeded his words, and in the two boxes
Both my joys and sorrows I store
But though the gold became heavier each day
The black was as light as before.

With curiosity, I opened the black
I wanted to find out why
And I saw, in the base of the box,
A hole which my sorrows had fallen out by.

I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be."
He smiled a gentle smile at me.
"My child, they're all here with me."

Do not quit

Unknown

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–

You may succeed with another blow,
Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

The Clay pot

Author Unknown 

 
The Master was searching for a vessel to use;
On the shelf there were many - which one would He choose?

"Take me", cried the gold one, "I'm shiny and bright,
I'm of great value and I do things just right.
My beauty and luster will outshine the rest
And for someone like You, Master, gold would be the best!"

The Master passed on with no word at all;
He looked at a silver urn, narrow and tall;
"I'll serve You, dear Master, I'll pour out Your drink, and
I'll be at Your table whenever You dine,
My lines are so graceful, my carvings so true,
And my silver will always compliment You."

Unheeding the Master passed on to the brass,
It was wide mouthed and shallow, and polished like glass.
"Here! Here!" cried the vessel, "I know I will do,
Place me on Your table for all men to view."
"Look at me", called the goblet of crystal so clear,
"My transparency shows my contents so dear,
Though fragile am I, I will serve You with pride,
And I'm sure I'll be happy in Your house to abide."

The Master came next to a vessel of wood,
Polished and carved, it solidly stood.
"You may use me, dear Master", the wooden bowl said,
"But I'd rather You used me for fruit, not for Bread!"
Then the Master looked down and saw a vessel of clay.
Empty and broken it helplessly lay.
No hope had the vessel that the Master might choose,
To cleanse and make whole, to fill and to use.

"Ah! This is the vessel I've been hoping to find,
I will mend and use it and make it all Mine."
"I need not the vessel with pride of its self;
Nor the one who is narrow to sit on the shelf;
Nor the one who is big mouthed and shallow and loud;
Nor one who displays his contents so proud;
Not the one who thinks he can do all things just right;
But this plain earthy vessel filled with My power and might."

Then gently He lifted the vessel of clay.
Mended and cleansed it and filled it that day.
Spoke to it kindly. "There's work you must do,
Just pour out to others as I pour into you."

The true sight

Author Unknown

The Park bench was deserted as the lady sat down. She was disillusioned with life. “The world is intent on dragging me down,” she thought.

If that weren't enough to ruin her day, a young boy approached her. He was breathless, all tired from play.

He stood right before her with his head tilted down and said with great excitement, "Look what I found!"

There was a flower in his hand, with its petals all worn out. It was a dead flower. Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play, she faked a small smile and then pretended to look away.

But instead of retreating he sat next to her side and placed the flower to his nose and declared with overacted surprise, "It sure smells pretty and it's beautiful, too. That's why I picked it; here, it's for you."

She knew she must take it, or he might never leave. So she reached for the flower, and replied, "Just what I need."

But instead of him placing the flower in her hand, he held it mid-air.

It was then that she noticed for the very first time that weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind.

Her voice quivered; tears rolled down as she thanked him for picking the very best one.

"You're welcome," he smiled, and then ran off to play, unaware of the impact he'd had on her day.

She sat there and wondered how he managed to see a self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree. “How did he know of my self-indulged plight? Perhaps from his heart, he'd been blessed with true sight,” she wondered.

Through the eyes of a blind child, at last she could see that the problem was not with the world; the problem was with her. And for all of those times she herself had been blind.

She vowed to see the beauty in life, and appreciate every second that's hers. And then she held that wilted flower up to her nose and breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose.

She smiled as she watched that young boy, with another weed in his hand, about to change the life of an unsuspecting old man.

Face the world Head-on

An eight-year-old boy went to his grandfather and proudly announced, “I am going to be very successful when I grow up. Can you give me any tips on how to get there?”

The grandfather nodded, and without saying a word, took the boy by the hand and walked him to a nearby plant nursery.

There, the two of them chose and purchased two small saplings.

They returned home and planted one of them in the back yard.

The other sapling was placed in a pot and kept indoors.

“Which one do you think will be the most successful in the future?” asked the grandfather.

The boy thought for a moment and said, “The indoor tree. It’s protected and safe while the outdoor one has to cope with the elements.”

The grandfather shrugged his shoulders and said, “We’ll see.”

The grandfather carefully tended to both plants and in a few years, the boy, now a teenager came to visit again.

“You never really answered my question from when I was a young boy. How can I become successful when I grow up?” he asked.

The old man showed the teenager the indoor tree and then took him outside to have a look at the towering tree outside.

“Which one is greater?” the grandfather asked.

“The outside one. But that doesn’t make sense, it has to cope with many more challenges than the inside one.”

The grandfather smiled, “Yes, but the risk of dealing with challenges is worth it as it has the freedom to spread its roots wider and its leaves towards the heavens. Boy, remember this and you be successful in whatever you do; If you choose the safe option all of your life you will never grow and be all that you can be, but if you are willing to face the world head-on with all of its dangers and challenges, the sky’s the limit.”

The young man looked up at the tall tree, took a deep breath and nodded his head, knowing that his wise grandfather was right.