The wolf you feed

An old Grandfather, whose grandson came to him with anger at a schoolmate who had done him an injustice, said, "let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."

He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way."

"But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eye and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"

The Grandfather solemnly said, "The one I feed."

Moral: The choice lies in us as to which wolf we feed!

The external world is a reflection of your inner world

There was once a King who used to wave his hands at people when he went around the city. The people also used to wave back at him. This was a daily practice.

One day the King as usual was passing through a busy road. All the people had waved at him but there was one man, who stood still, with no wishes for the king. The king was angered by his gesture and wanted to thrash him. But he cooled down and thought to himself, ‘I am the King. He is merely my citizen. Why this thought to hit him?’ So the King asked that person, ‘What work do you do?’ to which the man replied, ‘I run a shop that sells firewood.’ The king thought, ‘This guy is after all a firewood dealer. There is no possibility of my getting affected by him in any way. If he belongs to a rival country, then I can easily fight and conquer him. Or if he is a commander, I can assume he will stir up a revolution in future. What can a shopkeeper do? Why should I want to thrash him?”

The King discussed this thought with his Minister. The Minister advised the King to stay away from that route and take another route for two days. The King followed the Minister’s advice and diverted his route for two days. On the third day, when he went back to his original route, the same wood dealer waved his hand and the King waved back at him.

At the palace, the King expressed his surprise to the Minister saying, “I did not have the thought to strike the wood dealer today. I was in a normal mood; in fact, I felt very pleased with him. Why?’ The Minister replied, “Two days back, two lorry loads of sandalwood came to his shop. So when he saw you that day, he felt how good it would be if you died that day, then the whole lot of sandalwood would be purchased for your funeral rites. He saw you with negative thoughts in his mind. He nurtured the selfish thought that his sandalwood should be sold at the cost of your life. When I understood the psychological reason, I asked you not to take that route for two days. I sent our minister to that shop, purchased the entire lot of sandalwood and stored it in the palace. Immediately, he waved to you with the satisfied thought that only because of you, the sandalwood got sold. Those positive thoughts of happiness radiated and raised happy thoughts of him to you.’

Moral: The external world is a reflection Of the internal World.

Judge Yourself

Once upon a time there was a painter who had just completed his course. He took 3 days and painted beautiful scenery. He wanted people's opinion about his caliber and painting skills. He put his creation at a busy street-crossing. And just down below aboard which read -"I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. Please put a cross wherever you see a mistake."

While he came back in the evening to collect his painting he was completely shattered to see that whole canvass was filled with Xs (crosses) and some people had even written their comments on the painting. Disheartened and broken completely he ran to his master's place and burst into tears.

This young artist was breathing heavily and master heard him saying, "I'm useless and if this is what I have learnt to paint I'm not worth becoming a painter. People have rejected me completely. I feel like dying"

Master smiled and suggested "My Son, I will prove that you are a great artist and have learnt flawless painting. Do as I say without questioning it. It WILL work."

Young artist reluctantly agreed and two days later early morning he presented a replica of his earlier painting to his master. Master took that gracefully and smiled.

"Come with me." master said.

They reached the same street-square early morning and displayed the same painting exactly at the same place. Now master took out another board which read -"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. I have put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please do a favor. If you see a mistake, kindly pick up the brush and correct it."

Master and disciple walked back home. They both visited the place same evening. Young painter was surprised to see that actually there was not a single correction done so far. Next day again they visited and found painting remained untouched. They say the painting was kept there for a month for no correction came in!

Moral of the story: It is easier to criticize, but difficult to improve! So don't get carried away or judge yourself by someone else’s criticism and feel depressed. Judge yourself! You are your best judge!

Gratitude unfolded

This is a true story that had happened in 1892 at Stanford University. Its moral will always be relevant. A young, 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not know­ing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea. A friend and he decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education. They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital. A deal was struck. And the boys began to work to make the concert a success. The big day arrived. Paderewski performed at Stanford. But unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total col­lection was only $1600. Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to honor the cheque soonest possible. "No." said Paderewski. "This is not acceptable." He tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two boys "Here's the $1600. Please deduct whatever expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for your fees. And just give me whatever is left". The boys were surprised, and thanked him profusely. It was a small act of kindness. But it clearly marked out Paderewski as a great human being. Why should he help two people he did not even know? We all come across situations like these in our lives. And most of us only think "If I help them, what would hap­pen to me?" The truly great people think, "If I don't help them, what will happen to them? They don't do it expecting something in return. They do it because they feel it's the right thing to do. Paderewski later went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately when the World War began, Poland was ravaged. There were over 1.5 mil­lion people starving in his country, and no money to feed them. Paderewski did not know where to turn for help. He reached out to the US Food and Relief Administration for help. The Head there was a man called Herbert Hoover - who later went on to become the US President. Hoover agreed to help and quickly shipped tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people. A calamity was averted. Paderewski was relieved. He decided to go across to meet Hoover and person­ally thank him. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly interjected and said, "You shouldn't be thanking me Mr. Prime Minister. You may not remember this, but several years ago, you helped two young students go through college in the US. I was one of them." The world is a wonderful place. What goes around comes around!

Team work can work wonders

A flock of hungry pigeons were flying across the sky in search of food. Having traveled a long distance, they felt tired and settled down on a tree. Just below the tree, they saw grains strewn all over the ground. The pigeons were happy to have found enough food to eat. All the pigeons came down from the tree and started eating the grains. As they were doing so, a huge net fell on them and trapped them all.

The pigeons were taken aback. They noticed a hunter sitting at a distance from the tree, a bow and arrow in hand. The pigeons realized it was the hunter who had attracted them by strewing the grains and it was he who had trapped them in the net. The hunter got up and began to move towards the pigeons.

The leader of the pigeons spoke, "Friends, we are in great trouble. The hunter will catch us if we do not act swiftly in a few seconds.

There is only one option available at this moment. Let all of us use our force together and fly up along with the net. If all of us use our force and fly together, we can fly carrying the net along with us. Let us start now."

All the pigeons agreed with him and flew high carrying the net along with them. After traveling sufficient distance away from the hunter, the pigeons settled on a tree and carefully came out of the net one by one and thus escaped the evil design of the hunter.

Moral from the Story :

The power of “we” is more than the power of “I” as is wisely evident by the number of letters that makes each word. Just 1 letter makes the “I” but 2 of them make “we.”

Never let others make a slave of you

Little Johnny was visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back, he saw grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved.

In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the pile of wood, only to see his sister Sally watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day, grandma said, "Sally, let’s wash the dishes". But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." Then, she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and grandma said, "I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."

Sally just smiled and said, "Well that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help." She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."

Moral: Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done....you need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He’s just wondering how long you will let the evil ways make a slave of you.

Other reads:

The Saint’s wisdom

Don’t quit, keep playing

First be a believer, then be an achiever

Never let others make a slave of you

Team work can work wonders

Gratitude unfolded

Judge Yourself

First be a believer, then be an achiever

The professor stood before his class of 30 senior molecular biology students, about to pass out the final exam. 'I have been privileged to be your instructor this semester, and I know how hard you have all worked to prepare for this test. I also know most of you are off to medical school or grad school next fall,' he said to them.

'I am well aware of how much pressure you are under to keep your marks up, and because I know you are all capable of understanding this material, I am prepared to offer an automatic 'B' to anyone who would prefer not to take the final.'

The relief was audible as a number of students jumped up to thank the professor and departed from class. The professor looked at the handful of students who remained, and offered again, 'Any other takers? This is your last opportunity. ' One more student decided to go. Seven students remained. The professor closed the door and took attendance. Then he handed out the final exam. There were two sentences typed on the paper:

'Congratulations, you have just received an 'A' in this class. Keep believing in yourself.'

Don’t quit, keep playing

Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE".

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano and whispered in the boy's ear, “Don't quit. Keep playing". Then, leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative, experience. And the audience was mesmerized.

The lesson: Whatever be your situation in life and history, however outrageous, however desperate you may be God is whispering deep within our beings, "Don't quit. Keep playing".

The Saint’s wisdom

Kandagupta was a famous saint. He lived in the outskirts of Maninagar which was the capital of Manipur Kingdom. There were very few who did not know about the wisdom of Kandagupta. He was also known for his fortune telling. Maniraj who was the king of Manipur came to know of the feats of Kandagupta. He wanted to pay respect to this great saint. So, he invited Kandagupta to his palace.

When Kandagupta arrived, Maniraj welcomed him and offered him a seat. Then, the king asked the saint to tell something about his feature from his horoscope. After a keen observation into the king’s horoscope, Kandagupta started telling the future boons to be blessed upon the king. The king was so happy. He kept on rewarding the saint with gold and silver for every boon told by Kandagupta.

Now, came the time to say the future misfortunes. The whole outlook of Maniraj started to change. At one point he shouted, “Stop! You filthy soul! How dare you say such nonsense! I order you to say me the time of your death".

Kandagupta replied in a small voice, "My lord! According to my calculations, my death will take place just an hour before thy death". The king was stunned. He felt his error. He begged pardon from Kandagupta and sent him off with furthermore wealth.

Other reads:

The Saint’s wisdom

Don’t quit, keep playing

First be a believer, then be an achiever

Never let others make a slave of you

Team work can work wonders

Gratitude unfolded

Judge Yourself

Some Family Posts

I had posted some of the stories in the past, was just going through them and thought to put together a quick list. So here is what I did, some are listed down here. Please let me know if you know of any good family stories / articles and I would like to add them here.

Touching Story of a Mother
The burnt biscuit
Good you do comes back to you
Seven wonders of world
Always help the needy

Facebook Datacenter

Here I came across an article on Facebook data center:

http://scobleizer.com/2011/04/16/photo-tour-of-facebooks-new-datacenter/trackback/

I always get fascinated by the way big things are organized. So many small small units are brought together to form a giant structure, giant scheme. Facebook, holds enormous data, we all know that fact. But how does it store all the data, knowing that is big fun in its own way.

Touching story of a Mother

Ravi’s mom had one eye. He hated her. She collected little weeds and such to sell... she was such an embarrassment for him. There was this one day during elementary school, and his mom came. He threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school his friends teased "Your mom has only one eye?".

He wished that his mom would just disappear from this world so he said to my mom, "Mom, why don't you have the other eye?! You're only going to make me a laughing stock. Why don't you just die?" Mom did not respond.

That night...Ravi woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. His mom was crying there, so quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wake him. He told himself that he would grow up and become successful, because he hated his one-eyed mom and their desperate poverty.
Then he left mom and studied really hard. He got accepted in the Seoul University, then got married, bought a house of his own and had kids, too. He was living happily as a successful man.

This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, when someone unexpected came to see him "What?! Who's this?!"... It was his mother...Still with her one eye. His little girl ran away, scared of the mom's eye.
And he asked her, "Who are you? I don't know you!!!" . He screamed at her "How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter! Get out here now!" And to this, his mother quietly answered, "oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared.

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to his house. He went down to the old shack, that he used to call a house...just out of curiosity there, he found his mother fallen on the cold ground. But he did not shed a single tear. She had a piece of paper in her hand.... it was a letter to him.

She wrote...My Son,
I think my life has been long enough now. Would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I miss you so much. And I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I decided not to go to the school.... For you... I'm sorry that I only have one eye.

You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye... so I gave you mine... I was so proud that my son could see a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did. The times that you were angry with me. I thought to myself, 'it's because you love me.' I miss the times when you were still young around me.

Managing Anger

Marshall Goldsmith tells us a good story in his book about a young farmer who was going upstream in his boat through a river to deliver his produce to the village. The young farmer was in a hurry. It was a hot day and he wanted to make his delivery and get home before dark. As he looked ahead, he spotted another boat, heading rapidly downstream towards his boat. This boat seemed to be making every effort to hit him. He rowed furiously to get out of the way, but it didn't seem to help.

He yelled at the other boat, " Change direction, you idiot! You are going to hit me. The river is wide. Be careful!" His screaming was to no avail. The other boat hit his boat and he was enraged as he stood up and cried out to the other boat, " You moron! How could you manage to hit my boat in the middle of this wide river? What is wrong with you? "

As he looked at the other boat, he realized that there was no one in the other boat. He was screaming at an empty boat which was going downstream with the current!

The lesson is simple- There is never anyone in the other boat. When we are angry, we are screaming at an empty boat! All of us have people in our lives who drive us crazy, whom we hate with a passion. The best course of action for dealing with people like this is not let them make us angry. Getting angry doesn't improve the situation and life's too short to waste on feeling bad. It can only help us to lose our reputation as a person who always gets angry.

So next time when you start to speak out of anger, better you look in the mirror. In every case you find that the root of your rage is not "out there" but "in here", you are no more a human bomb who carries anger- the deadly weapon which is the biggest obstacle to our personal and professional success .

Keep smiling and welcome to the " Anger free world " !

Creative thinking

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” At an Interview at Reputed Business School, The Interviewer said, "I shall either ask you ten easy questions or one really difficult question.""Think well before you make up your mind!"The boy thought for a while and said, "my choice is one really difficult question."

"Well, good luck to you, you have made your own choice! Now tell me this. What comes first, Day or Night?"

The boy was jolted into reality as his admission depends on the correctness of his answer, but he thought for a while and said, "It's the DAY sir!"

"How?" the interviewer asked. "Sorry sir, you promised me that you will not ask me a SECOND difficult question!"

He was selected for the course!

Moral of the story

Technical Skill is the mastery of complexity, while Creativity is the mastery of Presence of Mind. Most often, we are faced with tough situations. It’s up to us to choose the light and right solutions to make things better.

Other reads:

The Saint’s wisdom

Don’t quit, keep playing

First be a believer, then be an achiever

Never let others make a slave of you

Team work can work wonders

Gratitude unfolded

Judge Yourself

The Burning Desire

A young man asked Socrates the secret to success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. They met. Socrates asked the young man to walk with him toward the river. When the water got up to their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and ducked him into the water. The boy struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until the boy started turning blue. Socrates pulled his head out of the water and the first thing the young man did was to gasp and take a deep breath of air. Socrates asked, 'What did you want the most when you were there?" The boy replied, "Air." Socrates said, "That is the secret to success. When you want success as badly as you wanted the air, then you will get it." There is no other secret.

Moral of the story:-

A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishment. Just like a small fire cannot give much heat, a weak desire cannot produce great results.

The Next CEO

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together. He said, ‘It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO.

I have decided to choose one of you.’ The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. ‘I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you.

I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.’ One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room.

When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him! When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back.

‘My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,’ said the CEO.’ Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!’ All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, ‘The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!’ When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed – Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, ‘Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!’ Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed. ‘How could he be the new CEO?’ the others said.

Then the CEO said, ‘One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another Seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it.

Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!’

Moral

· If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

· If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

· If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

· If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

· If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

· If you plant hard work, you will reap success

· If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

The burnt biscuit

Mom liked to make dinner with extra care. And I remember one night in particular when she had made it after a long, hard day at work. That evening, mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed.

All dad did was reach for his biscuit, smiled at mom and asked me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and ate every bite.

When I got up from the table, I remember hearing mom apologize to dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: Honey, I love burned biscuits.

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"

You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else.

What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each others' faults - and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

Because in the end, you are the master of your own life, to be happy or unhappy, to be positive or negative.

We could extend this to any relationship. In fact, understanding is the base of any relationship , be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship.

Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket - keep it in your own.

So please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burnt one will do just fine...

Moral of the story – No one is perfect in this world. To build and maintain a relation it is important to appreciate the positives and ignore the negatives.

The good you do, comes back to you

A woman baked bread for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra bread on the window-sill, for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunch-back came and took away the bread. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way: "The evil you do remains with you: the good you do, comes back to you!" This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunch-back came, picked up the bread and uttered the words: "The evil you do, remains with you: the good you do, comes back to you!" The woman felt irritated. "Not a word of gratitude", she said to herself... "Everyday this hunch-back utters this jingle! What does he mean?"

One day, out of desperation, she decided to do away with him. "I shall get rid of this hunch-back", she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the bread she prepared for him! As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled. "What is this I am doing?", She said. Immediately she threw the bread into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window-sill. As usual, the hunch-back came, picked up the bread and muttered his usual jingle. The hunch-back proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman. Every day, as the woman placed the bread on the window-sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had no news of him. She prayed for his safe return.

That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway. He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother, he said, "Mom, it's a miracle I'm here. While I was but a mile away, I was so hungry that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunch-back passed by. I begged of him for a small part of his food, and was kind enough to give me whole bread. "As he gave it to me, he said, "This is what I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!" As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale and red. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned bread that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life! It was then that she realized the significance of the words: "The evil you do, remains with you: the good you do, comes back to you!"

Moral: Do good and don't stop doing good, even if it's not appreciated at that time.

The Seven wonders of the world

Once in a school a group of students was asked to list what they thought were the present Seven Wonders of the World.

Though there was some disagreement, the following marvels got the most votes-

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids

2. Taj Mahal

3. Grand Canyon

4. Panama Canal

5. Empire State Building

6. St. Peter's Basilica

7. China's Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one quiet student hadn't turned in her paper yet.

So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."

The teacher said, 'Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."

The girl hesitated and then read, “I think the Seven Wonders of the World are - 1. To touch; 2. To taste; 3. To see; 4. To hear." She hesitated a little, and then added, "5. To feel; 6. To laugh; 7. And to love."

The room was so full of silence you could have heard a pin drop. Those things we overlook as simple and 'ordinary' are truly the real wonders of our life and of course of this world.

Let’s spread these wonders across to all those we cherish the most in our lives.

Why walk when you can fly

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons from Arabia. 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."

We are all made to fly -- to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable, the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.

So let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight.

Other reads:

The Saint’s wisdom

Don’t quit, keep playing

First be a believer, then be an achiever

Never let others make a slave of you

Team work can work wonders

Gratitude unfolded

Judge Yourself

Always help the needy

John and Mary had a nice home and two lovely children. John had been asked to go on a business trip to another city and it was decided that Mary needed an outing and would go along. They hired a reliable woman to care for the children and set off. As they drove into their home town feeling glad to be back, they noticed smoke, and they went off their usual route to see what it was. A house was in flames. Mary said, "Oh well, it isn't our fire, let's go home." But John drove closer and exclaimed, "That home belongs to Fred Jones who works at the plant. He wouldn't be off work yet, maybe there is something we could do." "It has nothing to do with us," protested Mary. "You have your good clothes on; let's not get any closer." But John drove up and stopped. A woman on the lawn was screaming, "Get the children!" John grabbed her by the shoulder: "Where are the children?" "In the basement," sobbed the woman, "down the hall and to the left."

Despite Mary's protests, John grabbed the water hose and soaked his clothes, put his wet handkerchief on his head and bolted for the basement which was full of smoke and scorching hot. He found the door and grabbed two children, holding one under each arm like the football player he was. As he left he could hear some more whimpering. He delivered the two badly frightened and nearly suffocating children into waiting arms and filled his lungs with fresh air and started back asking how many more children were down there. They told him two more and Mary grabbed his arm and screamed, "John! Don't go back! It's suicide! That house will cave in any second." But he shook her off and went back by feeling his way down the smoke-filled hallway and into the room. It seemed an eternity before he found both children and started back. As he stumbled up the endless steps the thought went through his mind that there was something strangely familiar about the little bodies clinging to him, and at last when they came out into the sunlight and fresh air, he found that he had just rescued his own children. The baby-sitter had left them at this home while she did some shopping.