You will love these short inspiring
stories ...
" Page III "
Worth of Life
A well known
speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the
room of 200, he asked:
"Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said:
"I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do
this."
He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked: "Who
still wants it?"
Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "what if I
do this?"
And 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 $20.
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 has happened or what will happen, you will never lose
your value. To those who love you, you are
priceless.
The worth of our lives come not in what we do or who we know but by who
we are!
back to top
Big Stones of life
One day, an old
professor of the national School of administration (ENA-France) was asked to
give a training-course on the effective economic planning of one's
time to a group of about fifteen leaders of big companies from North -
America.
This course constituted one of 5 workshops of their day of training.
So, the old Prof. only had one hour to spend on this subject.
Standing in front of this group of elite who was ready to note everything
that the expert was going to teach, the old
Prof. looked at them one by one, slowly, then said to them:
"We are going to make an experiment".
From under the table which separated him from his pupils, the old Prof. took
out an immense jar Mason of a gallon
(glass jar of more than 4 liters) which he directly put in front of him.
Then, he took out about a dozen pebbles roughly as big as tennis balls and
placed them delicately, one by one, in the
big jar. When the jar was filled up to the brim, and when it was impossible
to add anything to it, he raised slowly his eyes towards the pupils, and
asked them: "Is this jar full?"
Everybody answered: "Yes".
He waited for a few seconds and added: "Really?"
Then, he bent again and took out from under the table a pot filled with
little stones. With accuracy, he poured these little pebbles on the big
stones, then moved softly the jar.
The fragments of little pebbles went between the stones down to the
bottom of the jar. The old Prof. raised his eyes again towards his audience
and asked:
"Is this jar full?".
This time, his brilliant pupils began to understand the whole process. One
of them answered:
"Probably not!"
"Well!" answered the old Prof..
He bent again and this time, took out from under the table a bucket of sand.
With attention, he poured the sand into the jar. The sand went to fill the
spaces between the big big stones and the little pebbles. Once again, he
asked:
"Is this jar full?". This time, without hesitation, and in a choir, the
brilliant pupils answered:
"No!".
"Well!" answered the old Prof. And, as expected by the brilliant pupils, he
took the jug of water which was on the table and filled the jar up to the
brim. Then, the old Prof. raised his eyes towards his group and asked:
"Which big truth does this experiment show to us?" .
Being no fool, the most audacious of the pupils, thinking about the topic of
this course, answered:
"It shows that even when one believes that our diary is completely filled,
if one wants really wants it, one can add
more meetings to it, more things to be made".
The old Prof. answered. "It is not that".
"The big truth that this experiment shows to us is the following one:
- "If one does not put the big stones first in the jar, one will never be
able to make all of them go in, then".
There was a profound silence, each becoming aware of the evidence of these
comments.
Then, the old Prof. Told them: "Which are the big stones in your life?"
"Your health?"
"Your family?"
"Your friends?"
"To make your dreams come true?"
"Learning?"
"To do what you enjoy?"
"To relax?"
"To fight for a cause?"
"To take time for yourself?"
"Or any other thing?"
"What it is necessary to
remember is the importance to put one's BIG STONES in first in one's life,
otherwise one encounters the risks not succeed in one's life.
If one gives priority to peccadilloes (the little pebbles, the sand), one
will fill one's life with peccadilloes and one will have no more enough
precious time to dedicate to the important elements of one's life".
Then do not forget to ask to yourself this question:
"Which are the BIG STONES IN MY LIFE? Then, put them in, first"
With a friendly gesture of the hand, the old professor greeted his audience
and slowly left the room.
What are the BIG STONES in your life ...... ?
back to top
Feelings
Once upon
a time, there was an island where all the
feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge and all of the
others, including Love…
One day, it was announced to the feelings that the
island would sink, so all repaired their boats and left.
Love was the only one who stayed.
Love wanted to persevere until the last possible moment.
When the island was almost sinking, Love decided to
ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a great boat.
Love said:
"Richness, can you take me with you?"
Richness answered:
"No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat.
There is no place here for you."
Love decided to ask Vanity, who was also passing by in
a beautiful vessel:
"Vanity, please help me!"’
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might
damage my boat," Vanity answered.
Sadness was close by, so Love asked for help:
"Sadness, let me go with you."
"Oh...Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"
Happiness passed by Love too, but she was so happy
that she did not even hear when Love called her! Suddenly,
there was a voice:
"Come Love, I will take you." It was an elder.
Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that he even forgot
to ask the elder her name.
When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way.
Love realizing how much he owed the elder asked
Knowledge, another elder:
"Who helped me?"
"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"
Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered:
"Because only Time is capable of understanding
how great Love is."
back to top
Wish Granting Tree
There
was once a weary traveler who sat down to rest in the shade of a tree. He
did not know that the tree he rested upon was a magic tree. It is called " The
Wish-Granting Tree." Seated on the hard ground, he thought how pleasant it would
be if he can sleep in a soft bed. Instantly, a bed appeared before him.
Astonished, the man immediately climbed onto the bed. Then, he thought that it
would be nice if there would be a beautiful young girl beside him who would
massage his sore legs. At that moment, a young girl appeared before him and
began massaging him. "I'm so hungry," the man said to himself. "Having something
to eat now would be a great pleasure." Instantly, a table appeared with
delicious foods. The man rejoiced and began eating and drinking to his heart's
content. His head spun a little and his eyelids grew heavy as the wine took
effect. He stretched himself and was thinking about the wonderful events that
took place on that extraordinary day. "I'll sleep for an hour or two," he
thought. "The worst that could happen would be if a tiger wandered by while I'm
asleep." Instantly a tiger appeared and devoured the poor man. You have a magic
tree inside you, waiting to grant your wishes. But be careful! The same tree can
also make your negative thoughts and fears come true. At the very least it will
be influenced by your negative thoughts, so that the good things you wish for do
not happen. That's what worrying can do. I wish with all my heart that you live
a life free of worry, negative thoughts and fear, in the shade and comfort of
your personal Wish-Granting Tree.
