Stop being a glass. Become a lake

(Parable)

Once a lady was disturbed, feeling insulted and finding it difficult to cope up with her difficult situations in life. She had heard of a great old man who is the best teacher. She decided to go to him and ask him to teach her how to manage life. 

After hearing her problems, the old man instructed the unhappy lady to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. 

"How does it taste?" he asked. 

"Very bad and salty," replied the lady.

Then the old man asked the lady to walk with him to a nearby lake. Then he asked her to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. When the lady swirled handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, "Now go get a glass of water from the lake and drink it"

After she drank the lake water the old man asked, "How does it taste?" 

"Good!" replied the lady. 

"Did you taste the salt?" asked the Master. 

"No, not at all " said the lady.

The Old man said, "The problems, and the pain you feel are just like handful of pure salt, no more, no less. The amount of pain and problems in life remains exactly the same. But the amount we learn to tolerate the 'pain' depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to accept it with patience and learn to solve the problems. Stop being a glass. Become a lake!"

Gratitude can change destiny

Shared from a Facebook post of a friend

There was a small bird living in a desert.

With no sign of greenery the bird had to hop around on the hot sand through the day.

An angel, while on his way to God, saw the little bird and felt pity.

He went and asked, “O little bird! What are you doing in this hot desert? Can I do something for you?”

The little bird said, “I am very pleased with my life, but this heat is unbearable. Both my feet are getting burnt. Only if there was a tree here, I’d be delighted”.

Angel said, “Growing a tree in the middle of desert is beyond my scope. I am going to meet God, let me speak to Him and ask if He could fulfill your desire”.

Angel asked God, if he could help the bird. God said, “I could grow a tree, but her destiny doesn’t allow it and I can’t change that. However, you can give her my message, which will help her survive the heat. Ask her to hop with one foot at a time. That way she can rest the other one for a while and change foot often. This way only one of her feet will have to bear the heat and other one will be able to rest and recover. Also tell her to remember all the good things that have happened in her life and be thankful to God for that."

Angel came back to where the bird was and gave her this message from God.

The bird was delighted by the idea and thanked him for the effort he made to make her comfortable.

After a few days......

Angel was crossing the same desert and thought of checking on the little bird.

He saw the bird sitting on big green tree, right in the middle of the desert. Angel was happy to see the bird in comfort but was very disappointed with God who suggested that there was no tree in this bird’s destiny.

He went to meet God and told Him the whole story.

God replied, “I never lied to you. There was no tree in the bird’s destiny. However, after you gave her my message, which asked her to be grateful to God for the kind things, she did put those words to action. She remembered every possible thing from her life and thanked God with a pure heart. I was moved with her feeling of gratitude and that’s what made me change her destiny”.

Angel was pleased with the answer.

A small gratitude can bring so much in our lives. Always thank God & Stay blessed

God's Family

By Steve Goodier www.LifeSupportSystem.com

An old story is told of two men who went fishing in a small boat. The day was uneventful until one of them hooked a huge fish, which, in the struggle, pulled him overboard. He couldn't swim and began to panic.

"Help!" he yelled. "Save me!"

The friend reached over and grabbed the man by the hair to pull him closer to the boat. But when he tugged, the man's toupee came off and he slipped down under the water again.

He came up shouting, "Hey, help me! I can't swim!"

So the friend reached down again and this time latched onto the struggling man's arm. But when he pulled, the arm came off! It was an artificial limb.

The drowning man continued to kick and thrash around and his friend reached out a third time. This time he grabbed a leg and pulled. You guessed it -- a wooden leg.

The man continued splashing and sputtering and calling out, "Help me!" until his friend finally called back in disgust, "How can I help you if you won't stick together?"

And that is a metaphor for each of us.

How can people in marriages and families stand a chance when they won't stick together?
How can religious communities, civic groups, schools and businesses get anywhere when they won't stick together?
And how can a nation or even our global village function well when it won't stick together?

Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it this way:
“We are made for goodness.
We are made for love.
We are made for friendliness.
We are made for togetherness.
We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know.
We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders.
All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow,
rich, poor, educated, not educated,
male, female, all, all, all.
We all belong to this family, this human family, God's family.”

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.

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.

Lessons from pencil

source: “Like the Flowing River” by Paulo Coelho

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked: ‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson, "I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up."

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special. ‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’

‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.’

‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.’

‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.’

‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.’

‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. in just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action’

Everyone is Important

The lion king was busy appointing various animals at different posts.

The cheetah had been made the army commander because he was quick to think and the fastest runner. 

The wise elephant had been made the prime minister. 

The fox was made adviser to the King.

Time passed by and other animals also got their posts. 

In the end only the rabbit, the tortoise and the donkey were left.

At this, the animals started laughing. The zebra said, "The rabbit gets scared easily and the tortoise takes hours to move an inch. The donkey is a fool. They cannot get any post in the royal court."

But the lion king said, "No friends! Please don't tease them. All animals have different and unique qualities. The rabbit will be our messenger because he runs fast. The tortoise can hide and spy on the border posts. The loud voice of the donkey can be used as a bugle call. We must learn to respect everyone. "

Thus all the animals of the forest learnt a new lesson that day.

Heaven and Hell are within you

When we get angry with others, we lose our balance, our blood pressure rises and limbs tremble. By being angry, irrespective of the situation around us, punishment is meted out to us in the form of anger. We are responsible for our state.

Once a samurai warrior went to a monastery and asked a monk, “Can you tell me about heaven and hell?”

The monk answered, “I cannot tell you about heaven and hell. You are much too stupid.”

The warrior's face became contorted with rage. 

“Besides that,” continued the monk, “you are very ugly.”

The warrior gave a scream and raised his sword to strike the monk. 

“That,” said the monk unflinchingly, “is hell.”

The samurai slowly lowered his sword and bowed his head.

“And that,” said the monk, “is heaven.”

Lessons from His Creations

Lesson 1 (Lesson from hedgehogs)

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. 

The hedgehogs, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. 

This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

Lesson 2 (Lesson from the Geese)

Whenever the geese migrate during winter, they always fly forming a ‘V’ formation. But little do we realize the lesson they are teaching us by this act.

1. By flying this way forming a ‘V’ formation, the birds add 71% more flying range than if each bird flies on its own range.
Lesson learnt? If we share a common direction and sense of community, we can get where we are going more quickly and easily, because we are travelling on the thrust of one another.

2. When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly comes back to the V formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.
Lesson learnt? We should stay with those who are headed the same way as we are.

3. When the head goose gets tired, it swaps position with another goose which takes the lead.
Lesson learnt?Its sensible to delegate jobs with people in the group when required, rather than becoming a bad leader.

4. Geese honk from behind to encourage those upfront to keep up speed.
Lesson learnt? When we honk at others let’s do so for encouraging them and not to discourage.

5. When a goose in the group gets sick, and falls out of formation, two other geese follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it gets well or dies. Only then do they start flying on their own or join another V formation group to catch up with their own.
Lesson learnt? We are here to help each other in times of difficulties.