What is hell and what is heaven?

A Japnese Emperor reached the Zen Master and asked him, “What is hell and what is heaven?”
The Zen Master looked at the Emperor and said “You son-of-a-bitch! Have you looked at your face in the mirror lately? I have never seen such a dirty-looking fellow before!”

The Emperor was enraged! He had not expected such a thing from such a great saint. You don’t know great saints! You know only small, puny saints. A real saint is not a cat, he is a tiger!
The Emperor was so enraged that he pulled his sword out of its sheath. He was going to cut the head of the Master. Just as the sword was coming closer, the Master said, “Wait! You are entering hell. This is the gate to hell.”

The way the Master said “Wait!” was so powerful that the Emperor’s hand was stopped in the middle, and he understood — “True!” He threw the sword away, fell at the feet of the Master, and the Master laughed and said, “This is the way to heaven! You have already experienced both within a single moment. The distance is not far.”

Whenever you are surrendered to existence, whenever you live in trust, love, prayer, joy, celebration, you are in heaven

Happiness is not a destination, it's a journey. (Story)

This story is about a beautiful, expensively dressed lady who complained to her psychiatrist that she felt that her whole life was empty, it had no meaning.

So, the lady went to visit a counselor to seek out happiness. The counselor called over the old lady who cleaned the office floors.The counselor then said to the rich lady "I'm going to ask Mary here to tell u how she found happiness. All I want u to do is listen to her."

So the old lady put down her broom and sat on a chair and told her story:

"Well, my husband died of malaria and three months later my only son was killed by a car. I had nobody. I had nothing left. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I never smiled at anyone, I even thought of taking my own life. Then one evening a little kitten followed me home from work. Somehow I felt sorry for that kitten. It was cold outside, so I decided to let the kitten in. I got some milk, and the kitten licked the plate clean. Then it purred and rubbed against my leg and, for the first time in months, I smiled.

Then I stopped to think, if helping a little kitten could make me smile, may be doing something for people could make me happy.

So, the next day I baked some biscuits and took them to a neighbor who was sick in bed.
Every day I tried to do something nice for someone. It made me so happy to see them happy.
Today, I don't know of anybody who sleeps and eats better than I do.

I've found happiness, by giving it to others."

When she heard this, the rich lady cried. She had everything that money could buy, but she had lost the things which money cannot buy.

"The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are; but on how happy others can be because of you..."

Happiness is not a destination, it's a journey.

Happiness is not tomorrow, it is now.

Happiness is not dependency, it is a decision.

Happiness is what you are, not what you have..

‪Forgive‬ those who have angered you.[Story]

A teacher asked her students to bring some tomatoes in a plastic bag to school. Each tomato will be given a name of the person whom that child hates. This way, the number of tomatoes will be equal to the number of persons they hate.

On a decided day, the children brought their tomatoes well addressed. Some had two, some had three and some had five, some even had 20 tomatoes in accordance with the number of people each ‪‎student‬ hate thus if a student hates 5 people, he/she will bring 5 tomatoes.

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The teacher told them they have to carry the tomatoes with them everywhere they go for two weeks. As the days passed the children started to complain about the decay and smell of the tomatoes. The students who had many tomatoes complained it was very heavy to carry and the smell was too much.

After a week, the teacher asked the students: "How did you feel this one week?"

The ‪‎Children‬ complained of awful smell & heavy weight of the tomatoes especially those who carried more tomatoes.

The ‪‎teacher‬ said, "This is very similar to what you carry in your heart when you don't like some people. Hatred makes heart unhealthy and you carry that hatred everywhere. If you can't bear the smell of spoiled tomatoes for a week, imagine the impact of bitterness on your ‪‎heart‬ as you carry it daily."

The Heart is a ‪beautiful Garden‬ that needs regular cleaning of unwanted weeds. ‪Forgive‬ those who have angered you. This makes room for storing good things.

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Get better not bitter. Must Share this story with your Kids and Students.

Don't desire to walk ,When you have Wings to Fly [ Inspirational story]

Once upon a time there lived a generous, kind-hearted king. He was fond of birds and animals had a huge bird sanctuary in his reign. He dislikes harming the animals and birds and even did not kill them for the sake of eating meat.

Owing to his generosity and kindness towards, he was gifted two beautiful falcons by his fellow businessman. Those two falcons belong to different place and lived in a different climatic condition.
The king thanked the businessman and ordered the head of the bird trainer to provide all the facilities to those beautiful falcons and make them feel comfortable in their country.
 

The head trainer took the birds and provided all essentials to help the birds adapt to the atmosphere. Gradually, the birds adapted to the country’s atmosphere. One day the king wanted to see the falcons fly as he heard that one of those falcons fly to great heights in a very high speed.
 

The king was quite surprised and rewarded the bird trainer with handful of gold coins. He enquired about the other falcon bird. The bird trainer head stated with regret that the other falcon did not move even a step from the day one and just sits in the branch. The trainer also added that he tried everything best he could do and still he failed to make this bird move.  The king consoled him and told the trainer that he would bring someone who is more experienced than him or an old man who knew about falcons.
 

Falcon bird in a branchThe king announced about his requirement to make falcon move and fly. Hearing this announcement, an old man reached King’s place and assured him that he would make the bird fly like the other one.
 

The king asked the head trainer to take the old man to the sanctuary to train the falcon and he told that he would visit them tomorrow to see if there is any change.
 

Next day, the king was very surprised to see the other falcon fly like the first one to great heights in rapid speed. The king was too happy and rewarded him handful.
 

The king asked what he has done to make the bird fly in a day. The old man simply replied, ‘I just cut down the branch of the tree where this falcon bird sits.’
 

Many of us are like this. We have wings to fly, we know how to fly, and where to fly still we sit doing nothing or doing something that makes us inferior to others.
 

Don’t try to walk when you have wings to fly !

AS LONG AS YOU ARE ALIVE, YOUR STORY IS NOT OVER

Sylvester Stallone is one of the most famous American Movie stars.. With characters like Rocky and Rambo he is a household name in the hearts of millions.

During birth, a wrong gynecological procedure caused Stallone to have one sided paralysis. At school, his middle class being and his facial paralysis became a thing for others to make fun of.

He started body-building because he wanted to frighten those who bullied him. Slowly he started thinking of a career in movies.

Around 1974, he had a pregnant wife, a dog that he loved a lot, a lot of bills to pay and no success in his movie career.

What he still had was a belief in his dream that he will make it big. Soon a time came when he went broke. He was heavily under debt. Restless, anxious, stressed and still loaded with hope that he WILL make it big.

Things got so bad that he had to sell his wife’s jewelry and ended up homeless. Sleeping at the New York Bus station for 3 days.

The cold American winter forced him to choose between electricity and his dog. He stood outside a local store and sold his dog for $25.

Two weeks later, on TV he watched a boxing match between Mohammed Ali and Chuck Wepner. That match was like a flash of divine inspiration… For the next 20 hours he sat and wrote the script of what today is a cult movie, ROCKY.

In the words of Stallone himself, “After nearly 1500 rejections”, he got a production house to offer $125,000 for the script.

Despite the poverty, pains, pregnant wife and lost dog… His dream was to STAR in the movie as the MAIN LEAD.

In an era when heroes were super handsome men and spoke fluently, a body builder with a facial paralysis that made him stammer while speaking, made Stallone the wrong choice for any role.

The studio bluntly rejected his offer… And Stallone went back home with another failure. A few weeks later,the studio offered him $250,000 for the just the script, and not him.

He refused.

Soon they offered $350,000 for the script but not him.

At that time everyone was pushing him to accept.. It would be MAD not to do so.. He was making a fortune.

He still refused.

Someone in the studio really loved his script, and as fortune favors the brave.. They finally accepted to give $35,000 for the script and have him as the lead star.

The rest as they say is history!

The movie was made for $1 million and went to make around $200 million.

It won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Direction and Best Film Editing.

Stallone was a “bankable” hero for the next 20yrs, till the late 90s… with his movies making billions of dollars.

And what did he do with the first $35,000?

He stood outside the liquor store, where he sold his dog, for 3 days. Identified the man who had bought it, and finally got him back for $15,000.

AND IN THE WORDS OF ROCKY BALBOA –

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

― Sylvester Stallone, Rocky

And today, the same Stallone who slept in the streets and sold his dog JUST BECAUSE he couldn’t even feed it anymore, is one of the GREATEST Movie Stars who ever walked the Earth!

Being broke is BAD. Really BAD. Have you ever had a dream? A wonderful dream? But You are too broke to implement it? Too tiny to do it? Too small to accomplish it?

Life is tough. Opportunities will pass you by, just because you are a NOBODY. People will want your products but NOT YOU. Its a tough world. If you ain’t already famous or rich or “connected”, you will find it rough.

Doors will be shut on you. People will steal your glory and crash your hopes. You will push and push. And yet NOTHING WILL HAPPEN.

And then your hopes will be crashed. You will be broke. Damn broke. You will do odd jobs for survival. You will be unable to feed yourself. And yes, you may end up sleeping in the streets. It happens. Yes, it does.

BUT NEVER LET THEM CRUSH THAT DREAM. Whatever happens to You, Keep Dreaming. Even when they crush your hopes, Keep Dreaming. Even when they turn you away, Keep Dreaming. Even when they shut you down, Keep Dreaming.

NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF EXCEPT YOURSELF! People will judge you by HOW you look. And by WHAT you have. But Fight on! Fight for Your place in history. Fight for your glory. NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

Even if it means selling all your clothes and sleeping with the dogs, IT’S OKAY! But AS LONG AS YOU ARE STILL ALIVE, Your Story IS NOT OVER.

A king learned a lesson [ Moral Story ]

We all know the story of the greedy king named Midas. He had a lot of gold and the more he had the more he wanted. He stored all the gold in his vaults and used to spend time every day counting it.  One day while he was counting a stranger came from nowhere and said he would grant him a wish.

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The king was delighted and said, I would like everything I touch to turn to gold.
The stranger asked the king, Are you sure?
The king replied, Yes.
 

So the stranger said, Starting tomorrow morning with the sun rays you will get the golden touch. The king thought he must be dreaming, this couldn't be true. But the next day when he woke up, he touched the bed, his clothes, and everything turned to gold. He looked out of the window and saw his daughter playing in the garden. He decided to give her a surprise and thought she would be happy. But before he went to the garden he decided to read a book. The moment he touched it, it turned into gold and he couldn't read it. Then he sat to have breakfast and the moment he touched the fruit and the glass of water, they turned to gold. He was getting hungry and he said to himself, I can't eat and drink gold. Just about that time his daughter came running and he hugged her and she turned into a gold statue. There were no more smiles left.

The king bowed his head and started crying. The stranger who gave the wish came again and asked the king if he was happy with his golden touch.

The king said he was the most miserable man.

The stranger asked, What would you rather have, your food and loving daughter or lumps of gold and her golden statue?

The king cried and asked for forgiveness. He said, I will give up all my gold. Please give me my daughter back because without her I have lost everything wo rth having.

The stranger said to the king, You have become wiser than before and he reversed the spell. He got his daughter back in his arms and the king learned a lesson that he never forget for the rest of his life.

Moral of the story.....

1. Distorted values lead to tragedy.
2. Sometimes getting what you want may be a bigger tragedy than not getting what you want.
3. Unlike the game of soccer where players can be substituted, the game of life allows no substitutions or replays. We may not get a second chance to reverse our tragedies, as the king did.

How to find solution of any problem [ Inspiring Story ]

A group of employees was working in a software company. It was a team of 30 employees. This team was young, energetic and dynamic team with keen enthusiasm and desire to learn and grow. The management decided to teach the employees about finding real solution to the problems.

The team was called to play a game in a banquet hall. The group was quite surprised as they were called for playing game. All reached the venue holding various thoughts. As they enter the hall, they found the hall decorated beautifully with colourfully with decorative papers and balloons all over the place. It was more like a kid’s play area, than a corporate meeting hall.
 

Everyone was surprised and gazed at each other. Also, there were huge box of balloons placed in a box at the centre of the hall. The team leader asked everyone to pick a balloon from the box and asked them to blow it. Every one happily picked a balloon and blew it.
 

Then the team leader asked them to write their names on their balloon, carefully so that the balloons don’t blow up. All tried to write their name on the balloon, but not everyone was successful. A few balloons blew up due to pressure and they were given another chance to use another balloon.

Those who fail to mark their name even after the second chance are ruled out of the game. After second chance, 25 employees were qualified for the next level. All the balloons were collected and then put into a room.

The team leader announced the employees to go to the room and pick the balloon that has their name on it. Also, he told them that no balloon should blow and warned them to be very careful!


All 25 employees reached the room, where the balloons carrying their name were thrown here and there. They were searching for the respective balloons carrying their name. While they were in a rush to find the respective balloons, they tried not to burst the balloons. It was almost 15 minutes and no one was able to find the balloon carrying their name.

The team called the second level of the game was over.

Here comes the third and final level. They asked the employees to pick any balloon in the room and give it to the person who is named in the balloon. Within a couple of minutes all balloons reached the hands of the respective employee and everyone reached the hall.

The team leader announced, this is called real solutions to the problems. Everyone is frantically hunting for solutions to the problems without understanding the ideal ways. Many times, sharing and helping others give you real solutions to all problems.

Help out each other to ease things.

How to Improve Self Confidence [ Inspiring Story]

When Henry Ward Beecher was a young boy in school, he learned a lesson in self confidence which he never forgot.

He was called upon to recite in front of the class. He had hardly begun when the teacher interrupted with an emphatic, “No!” He started over and again the teacher thundered, “No!” Humiliated, Henry sat down.

The next boy rose to recite and had just begun when the teacher shouted, “No!” This student, however, kept on with the recitation until he completed it. As he sat down, the teacher replied, “Very good!”

Henry was irritated. ”I recited just as he did,” he complained to the teacher.

But the instructor replied, “It is not enough to know your lesson, you must be sure. When you allowed me to stop you, it meant that you were uncertain. If the world says, ‘No!’ it is your business to say, ‘Yes!’ and prove it.

‘No! You can’t do that.’
‘No! You are wrong.’
‘No! You are too old.’
‘No! You are too young.’
‘No! You are too weak.’
‘No! It will never work.’
‘No! You don’t have the education.’
‘No! You don’t have the background.’
‘No! You don’t have the money.’
‘No! It can’t be done.’

And each ‘No!’ you hear has the potential to erode your confidence bit by bit until you quit all together.

Though the world says, ‘No!’ to you today, you should be determined to say, ‘Yes!’ and prove it! ”

Author: Steve Goodier

Knowing where to make an effort is Important [ Inspiring Story]

A giant ship engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.

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Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young.

He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do.
After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something.

Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!
A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!”

So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.”

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer ....... $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap ........ $ 9,998.00

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference !
Keep studying hard. Don’t give up !

Mother's LOVE [ STORY]

The Vietnam War broke out. Followed the heart, the young husband joined the military and sacrificed his life leaving behind his wife and kids.

Life postwar was very hard, often with not enough food to eat. Still young and beautiful, the wife refused to remarry and dedicated her entire life to raise her kids with the best possible care and education.

An opportunity came, the first born son immigrated to America, studied hard and became a NASA Engineer having a good life.

The son sent home letters often, together with much money for mom to spend, however, Christmas after Christmas, New Year after New Year, with the many excuses, the son stubbornly refused to travel home to visit mom.

When the mother died, the son returned and organized a big funeral but people did not see him shredding tear.

Mother left behind a chest that she always placed at the top of her bed. During the funeral, the son opened the chest and suddenly bursted into tears, sobbed, embraced his mother’s coffin and screamed hysterically, “Mom! Mom!”

Everyone looked at each other and looked at the chest. It was full of $100 dollar bills and a piece of paper.

In it read, “Son, I don’t spend too much money. I miss you a lot. Every time I hear a motorcycle passing by, I run out the door but it wasn’t my son. I saved this money for you in case when you get sick.”

Author Michael Luong
A real-life story in Vietnam

Look around you [Story]

A bus full of passengers was traveling while suddenly the weather changed and there was a huge downpour and lightening all around.

They could see that the lightening would appear to come towards the bus and then go elsewhere.

After 2 or 3 horrible instances of being saved from lightening, the driver stopped the bus about fifty feet away from a tree and said - "We have somebody in the bus whose death is a certainty today."

Because of that person everybody else will also get killed today.

Now listen carefully what I am saying ...

I want each person to come out of bus one by one and touch the tree trunk and come back.

Whom so ever death is certain will get caught up by the lightening and will die & everybody else will be saved".

They had to force the 1st person to go and touch the tree and come back.

He reluctantly got down from the bus and went and touched the tree.

His heart leaped with joy when nothing happened and he was still alive.

This continued for rest of the passengers who were all relieved when they touched the tree and nothing happened.

When the last passenger's turn came, everybody looked at him with accusing eyes.

That passenger was very afraid and reluctant since he was the only one left.

Everybody forced him to get down and go and touch the tree.

With a 100% fear of death in mind, the last passenger walked to the tree and touched it. There was a huge sound of thunder and the lightening came down and hit the bus - yes the lightening hit the bus, and killed each and every passenger inside the bus.

It was because of the presence of this last passenger that,earlier,the entire bus was safe and the lightening could not strike the bus.

LIFE LEARNING from this...

At times, we try to take credit for our present achievements, but this could also be because of a person right next to us.

Look around you - Probably someone is there around you, in the form of Your Parents, Your Spouse,

Your Children, Your Siblings, Your friends, etc, who are saving you from harm!

Sometimes we need to look at the problem from the other person’s view [Story]

When I was in elementary school, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class. I have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson I learned that day.

I was convinced that “I” was right and “he” was wrong – and he was just as convinced that “I” was wrong and “he” was right. The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson.

She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. “White,” he answered.

I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the color of the object.

The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, “White.”

It was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side it was black. Sometimes we need to look at the problem from the other person’s view in order to truly understand his/her perspective.

Daddy - What are you going to get me for my birthday ? [ Story]

One day an 11 year old girl asked her daddy, “What are you going to get me for my 15th birthday?” The father replied, “There is much time left.”

When the girl was 14 she fainted and was rushed to the hospital.

The doctor came out and told her dad she had a bad heart& she is probably gonna die When she was lying in the hospital bed she said “Daddy, have they told you i am going to die ?”

The father replied no you will live as he left weeping.

She said “How can you be sure.”

He turned around from the door and said “I know.”
.
She turns 15 when she is recovering and comes home to find a letter on her bed. It says ; “My Dearest Daughter, if you are reading this it means all went well as I told you. One day you asked me what I was giving you for your 15th birthday, I didn’t know then but now my gift to you is MY HEART.”

Her father donated his heart ♥

Love your parents… they sacrifice a lot to make us happy, without letting children realize….Many a times we are so busy growing up that we forget that they are also growing old…spend Quality time with them, treat your parents with loving care, for you will know their value, when you see their empty chair….

Make haste in doing good deeds [ Story]

There was once a brahmin couple in Savatthi, who had only one outer garment between the two of them. Because of this they were also known as Ekasataka. As they had only one outer garment, both of them could not go out at the same time. So, the wife would go to listen to the discourse given by the Buddha during the day and the husband would go at night. One night, as the brahmin listened to the Buddha, his whole body came to be suffused with delightful satisfaction and he felt a strong desire to offer the outer garment he was wearing to the Buddha. But he realized that if he were to give away the only outer garment he had, there would be none left for him and his wife. So he wavered and hesitated. Thus, the first and the second watches of the night passed. Came the third watch and he said to himself, "If I am so miserly and hesitant, I will not be able to avoid falling to the four Lower Worlds (apayas); I shall now offer my outer garment to the Buddha." So saying, he placed the piece of cloth at the feet of the Buddha and cried out "I have won" three times.

King Pasenadi of Kosala, who was among the audience, heard those words and ordered a courtier to investigate. Learning about the brahmin's offering to the Buddha, the king commented that the brahmin had done something which was not easy to do and so should be rewarded. The king ordered his men to give the brahmin a piece of cloth as a reward for his faith and generosity. The brahmin offered that piece of cloth also to the Buddha and he was rewarded by the king with two pieces of cloth. Again, the brahmin offered the two pieces of cloth to the Buddha and he was rewarded with four. Thus, he offered to the Buddha whatever was given him by the king, and each time the king doubled his reward. When finally, the reward came up to thirty-two pieces of cloth, the brahmin kept one piece for himself and another for his wife, and offered the remaining thirty pieces to the Buddha.

Then, thinking again commented that the brahmin had truly performed a very difficult task and so must be rewarded fittingly. The king sent a messenger to the palace to bring two pieces of velvet cloth, each of which was worth one hundred thousand, and gave them to the brahmin. The brahmin made those two pieces of valuable cloth into two canopies and kept one in the Perfumed Chamber where the Buddha slept and the other in his own house above the place where a bhikkhu was regularly offered alms-food. When the king next went to Jatavana monastery to pay homage to the Buddha, he saw the velvet canopy and recognized it as the offering made by the brahmin and he was very pleased. This time he made a reward of seven kinds in fours (sabbacatukka), viz., four elephants, four horses, four female slaves, four male slaves, four errand boys, four villages and four thousands in cash.

When the bhikkhus heard about this, they asked the Buddha, "How is it that, in the case of this brahmin, a good deed done at present bears fruit immediately?" To them the Buddha replied "If the brahmin had offered his outer garment in the first watch of the night, he would have been rewarded with sixteen of each kind; if he had made his offering during the middle watch, he would have been rewarded with eight of each kind; since he had made his offering only during the last watch of the night, he was rewarded with only four of each kind." So, when one wants to give in charity, one should do so quickly; if one procrastinates, the reward comes slowly and only sparingly. Also, if one is too slow in doing good deeds, one may not be able to do it at all, for the mind tends to take delight in doing evil.

 -- Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 116: One should make haste in doing good deeds; one should restrain one's mind from evil; for the mind of one who is slow in doing good tends to take delight in doing evil.

One can Make a Difference [ Story ]

As a man walked a desolate beach one cold, gray morning he began to see another figure, far in the distance. Slowly the two approached each other, and he could make out a local native who kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he hurled things into the ocean.

As the distance between them continued to narrow, the man could see that the native was picking up starfish that had been washed upon the beach and, one at a time, was throwing them back into the water.Puzzled, the man approached the native and asked what he was doing. “I’m throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it’s low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don’t throw them back into the sea, they’ll die up here from lack of oxygen.”

“But there must be thousands of starfish on this beach,” the man replied. “You can’t possibly get to all of them. There are just too many. And this same thing is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can’t you see that you can’t possibly make a difference?”

The local native smiled, bent down and picked up another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea he replied, “Made a difference to that one!”

Author Unknown

How to Master Your Mind [ Inspiring Story ]

After having won many archery competitions, the town champion sought out the Zen master.

“I am the best of all,” he said. “I did not learn religion, I did not look for help from the monks, and I have been considered the best archer in the whole region. I heard that some time ago you were the best archer in the area, so I ask you: did you have to become a monk to learn to shoot arrows?

“No,” answered the Zen master.

But the champion was not satisfied: he took out an arrow, placed it in his bow, fired, and hit a cherry at a considerable distance. He smiled, as if to say: “You could have saved your time and just dedicated yourself to technique.” And he said:

“I doubt if you can do the same.”

Without demonstrating the least concern, the master took his bow and began to walk towards a nearby mountain. On the way there was an abyss that could only be crossed by an old rotting rope bridge that was almost falling down: with the utmost calm, the Zen master went to the middle of the bridge, took his bow, placed an arrow, aimed at a tree on the other side of the gulch, and hit the target.

“Now it’s your turn,” he said gently to the young man as he walked back to safe ground.

In trepidation, looking at the abyss below him, the young man went to the indicated spot and fired an arrow, but it landed very far from the target.

“That’s what one gets from discipline and practicing meditation,” concluded the master when the young man re-appeared at his side. “You can be very skilled with the instrument you have chosen to earn a living, but it’s all useless if you can’t manage to master the mind that uses the instrument.”

Youth Voice against Racism [ Story ]

A 50- something year old white woman arrived at her seat on a crowded flight and immediately didn’t want the seat. The seat was next to a black man. Disgusted, the woman immediately summoned the flight attendant and demanded a new seat. The woman said “I cannot sit here next to this black man.”

The fight attendant said “Let me see if I can find another seat.” After checking, the flight attendant returned and stated “Ma’am, there are no more seats in economy, but I will check with the captain and see if there is something in first class.”

About 10 minutes went by and the flight attendant returned and stated

“The captain has confirmed that there are no more seats in economy, but there is one in first class. It is our company policy to never move a person from economy to first class, but being that it would be some sort of scandal to force a person to sit next to an UNPLEASANT person, the captain agreed to make the switch to first class.”

Before the woman could say anything, the attendant gestured to the black man and said, “Therefore sir, if you would so kindly retrieve your personal items, we would like to move you to the comfort of first class as the captain doesn’t want you to sit next to an unpleasant person.”

Passengers in the seats nearby began to applause while some gave a standing ovation.

What a lesson to people who discriminate by color of skin……

If you are against racism, share this.

Everything You Hear and Read will affect your Actions - Always Think Positive !!

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.

The race began…

Honestly, No one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. crowd yelled statements such as: “Oh, WAY too difficult!!!” “They will NEVER make it to the top.” “Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”

The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one. Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher. The crowd continued to yell, “It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!” More tiny frogs got tired and gave up.

But ONE continued higher and higher and higher. This one wouldn’t give up!

At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top! THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal? It turned out. That the winner was DEAF!!!

Moral of the Story :

Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic. because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you — the ones you have in your heart!

Always think of the power words have. Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions! Therefore, ALWAYS BE POSITIVE!

How To Turn Your Weakness Into Strength [ Story]

This is a story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move. 

“Sensei,” the boy finally said, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”

“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the Sensei replied. Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the Sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match.

Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the Sensei intervened. “No,” the Sensei insisted, “Let him continue.”

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament.

He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and Sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. “Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”

“You won for two reasons,” the Sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”

The boy’s greatest weakness had become his greatest strength.

Author : Unknown

The Day I decided to Quit [ Story ]

I quit my job,
my relationship,
my spirituality…
I wanted to quit my life.
 
I went to the woods to have one last talk with god

“God”, I asked,

“Can you give me one good reason not to quit?”.
His answer surprised me…

“Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo ?

“Yes”, I replied.

“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.

I gave them light. I gave them water.The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor.Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

He said, “In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.But I would not quit.
In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit.” He said.

“Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant…But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.

I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.”
He asked me. “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots”.

“I would not quit on the bamboo.I will never quit on you.”

“Don’t compare yourself to others.” He said.

”The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful.”

"Your time will come”, God said to me.

“You will rise high”.

“How high should I rise?” I asked.

 “How high will the bamboo rise?” He asked in return.

“As high as it can?” I questioned.

”Yes.” He said, “Give Me glory by rising as high as you can.”

I left the forest and brought back this story.

Never, Never, Never, Give up!!