Reflections

Once upon a time a dog ran into a museum where all the walls, the ceiling, the doors and even the floor were made of mirror, seeing this the dog froze in surprise in the middle of the hall. He found that a whole pack of dogs was surrounding him from all sides; from above and below, from left and right, from front and rear. Just in case, the dog bared his teeth and all the reflections responded to him in the same manner. Frightened a bit, the dog hysterically barked, the reflections imitated the bark and increased it many times with echo. The dog barked even harder and the echo was keeping up. The dog tossed from one side to another, biting in the air. His reflections also tossed around snapping their teeth.

Next day in the morning the museum security guards found the miserable dog, lifeless and surrounded by a million reflections of lifeless dogs.

There was nobody, who would make any harm to the dog. The dog died by fighting with his own reflections.

Remember! the world doesn't bring good or evil on its own. Everything that is happening around us is the reflection of our own thoughts, feelings, wishes and actions.
The World is a big mirror so while in front of it strike a fine pose.

Keeping the Roots Stronger

Once upon a time, there were two neighbors living next to each other. One of them was a retired teacher and another was an insurance agent who had a lot of interest in technology. Both of them had planted different plants in their garden. The retired teacher was giving a small amount of water to his plants and didn’t always give a full attention to them, while the other neighbor interested in technology, had given a lot of water to his plants and looked after them too well.

The retired teacher’s plants were simple but looked good. The insurance agent’s plants were much fuller and greener. One day, during the night, there was a heavy rain and a wind due to a minor storm. Next morning, both of the neighbors came out to inspect the damage to their garden. The neighbor who was an insurance agent saw that his plants came off from the roots and were totally destroyed. But, the retired teacher’s plants were not damaged at all and were standing firm.

The insurance agent neighbor was surprised to see it, he went to the retired teacher and asked, “We both grew the same plants together, I actually looked after my plants better than you did for yours, and even gave them more water. Still, my plants came off from the roots, while yours didn’t. How is that possible?”

The retired teacher smiled and said, “You gave your plants more attention and water, but because of that they didn’t need to work themselves for it.  You made it easy for them.  While I gave them just an adequate amount of water and let their roots search for more.   And, because of that, their roots went deeper and that made their position stronger.  That is why my plants survived”.

Moral:  This story is about parenting where children are like plants.  If everything is given to them, they will not understand the hard work it takes to earn those things.  They will not learn to work themselves and respect it.  Sometimes it’s best to guide them instead of giving them.   Teach them how to walk, but let them follow their path.

Honesty Pays

Honesty Pays

At the point of death a man, Tom Smith, called his children and after praying for them, 
he advised them to follow his footsteps so that they can have peace of mind in all that they do.

The youngest child, Immaculate, a female, looked at others and yelled, "Daddy, its unfortunate you are dying without a penny in your bank account, personally, I can't emulate you. Other father's that you tag as being corrupt, thieves of public funds left houses and properties for their children; even this house we live in is a rented apartment, sorry, I can't emulate you, just go, let's chart our own course, let's paddle our own canoe."

Few moments later, their father gave up the spirit.

Three years later, Immaculate went for an interview in a multinational company. The interview panel had already penciled down a candidate for the highly coveted post but wanted to complete the formality of interviewing all applicants on the list.

As soon as Immaculate sat before the interview panel, the Chairman of the committee asked, "Which Smith is yours" and Immaculate replied, "I am Immaculate Smith. My Dad Tom Smith is now late he died a poor man..."

But the Chairman cuts in, "O my God, you are Tom Smith's daughter?"

He turned to other members and said "This Smith man was the one that signed my membership form into the Institute of Chartered Administrators and his recommendation earned me where I am today. He did all these free. I didn't even know his address, he never knew me from Adam. He just did it for me."

He turned to Immaculate, I have no question for you, consider yourself as having gotten this job, resume tomorrow, your letter will be waiting for you.

Immaculate Smith became the Corporate Affairs Manager of the company with two cars, one official and one for private use, attached to the office, with a duplex and two drivers and a salary of £100,000 per month excluding allowances and other costs when she traveled outside England.

After two years of working in the company, the Group Managing Director of the company came from America to announce his intention to resign and needed a replacement. A personality with high integrity was sought after, again the company's Consultant nominated Immaculate Smith.

In an interview, she was asked the secret of her success and the sudden sky rocketing profile and in tears, she replied, my Daddy paved these ways for me. It was after he died that I knew that he was financially poor but strikingly rich in integrity, discipline and honesty. 

She was asked again, why she is weeping since she is no longer a kid as to miss her dad still after a long time. She replied, "At the point of death, I insulted my dad for being an honest man of integrity. I hope he will forgive me in his grave now. I didn't work for all these, he did it for me to just walk in.

So finally she was asked, “Will you follow your father's footsteps as he requested? 
And her simple answer was, "l now adore the man, I have a big picture of him in my living room and at the entrance of my house. He deserves whatever I have after God.

Are you like Tom Smith?

It pays to build a name, the reward doesn't come quickly but it will come however long it may take and it lasts longer.

Integrity, discipline, self control and fear of God makes man wealthy, not the fat bank account.  Leave a good heritage for your children.

Are you building a good name for your children not a fat bank account? 

Judge Others Consciously

My boss drove a luxury car everyday and it was my duty to greet him and to open the gates for him, as I worked as a watchman in his villa. But he never responded back to my greetings.

One day he saw me opening the garbage bags outside the villa in search for any leftover food. But, as usual he never even looked at me, it was like as if he never saw anything!

The very next day I saw a paper bag at the same place, but it was clean and the food inside was covered well. It was fresh and good food like someone had just brought it from the supermarket. I didn’t bother as to where it came from, I just took the paper bag and I was so happy about it.

Every day I found this paper bag at the same place with fresh vegetables and all that we needed for home. This became my daily routine. I was eating and sharing this food with my wife and kids. I was wondering who this fool could be to forget his paper bag full of fresh food every day.

One day there was a big problem in the villa and I was told that my boss has died. There were too many guests coming to the villa that day and I didn’t get any food that day, so I thought that one of the guests must have taken it. But the same thing happened the 2nd day, the 3rd day and the 4th day.

It went on like this for a few weeks and I found it difficult to provide food for my family, so I decided to ask the wife of my boss for a raise in my salary or else I would quit my job as a watchman.

After I told her, she was shocked, and asked me, how come you never complained about your salary for the last 2 years? And why is this salary not enough for you now? I gave her so many excuses but she was never convinced!

Finally in the end, I decided to tell her the truth, I told her the entire story of the bag of groceries, and as to how it was my daily provision. She then asked me as to when this stopped? I told her after the death of her husband. And then I realized that I stopped seeing the paper bag immediately after the death of my boss. Why didn’t I ever think of this before? That it was my boss who was providing this for me? I guess it was because I never thought that a person who never replied to my greetings could ever be this generous!

His wife started to cry and I told her to please stop crying and that I’m really sorry that I asked for a raise, I didn’t know that it was your husband who was providing me with the meals, I’ll remain as a watchman and be happy to provide my service.

His wife told me, I’m crying because I’ve finally found the 7th person my husband was giving this bag full of food. I knew my husband was giving 7 people every day, I had already found the 6 people, and all these days I was searching for the 7th person. And today I found out.

From that day onward, I started to receive the bag full of food again, but this time his son was bringing it to my house and giving it to my hand. But whenever I thanked him, he never replied! Just like his dad!

One day, I told him THANK YOU in a very loud voice! He replied back to me to please not be offended when he doesn’t reply, because he has a hearing problem, just like his dad!”

Oh! We have been wrong so many times judging others without knowing the true story behind their actions. Be kind and courteous in dealing with others, for everyone is fighting a hard battle. 

Shadow of God

A group of 15 Soldiers led by a Major were on their way to the post in the Himalayas where they would be deployed for the next 3 months. The batch who would be relieved waited anxiously.

It was a cold winter and intermittent snowfall made the treacherous climb more difficult.

If someone could offer a cup of tea. The Major thought, knowing it was a futile wish.

They continued for an hour before they came across a dilapidated structure, which looked like a tea shop but locked. It was late in the night. 

"No tea Boys, Bad Luck", said the Major. But he suggested all take some rest there as they have been walking for 3 hours.
"Sir, this is a tea shop and we can make tea. We will have to break the lock", suggested one Soldier. 

The Officer was in great dilemma to the unethical suggestion but the thought of a steaming cup of tea for the tired Soldiers made him to give the permission.

They were in Luck; the place had everything they needed to make tea and also packets of biscuits.

The Soldiers had tea and biscuits and were ready for the remaining Journey.

The Major thought, they had broken open lock and had Tea and biscuits without the permission of the owner. But they're not a band of thieves. 

He took out a Rs 1,000/- note from his wallet, placed it on the counter, pressed under a sugar container, so that the owner can see.

The Officer was now relieved of his guilt. 

He ordered to put the shutter down and proceed.

Three months passed, they continued to do gallantly in their works and were lucky not to lose anyone from the group in the intense insurgency situation.

It was time for another team to relieve them. .

Soon they were on their way back and stopped at the same tea shop which was open and owner was present in the shop.
The owner an old man with meager resources was very happy to greet 15 customers. 

All of them had tea and biscuits. They talked to the old man about his life and experience especially selling tea at such a remote place.

The old man had many stories to tell, replete with his faith in GOD. 

"Oh, Man, if GOD is there, why should He keep you in such poverty?", Commented one of them.

"Do not say like that Sir! GOD actually is there, I got a proof 3 months ago."
"I was going through very Tough times because my only son had been severely beaten by terrorist who wanted some information from him which he did not had. 

I had closed my shop to take my son to hospital. Some medicines were to be purchased and I had no money. No one would give me loan for fear of the terrorists. There was No hope, Sir".

"And that day Sir, I prayed to GOD for help. And Sir, GOD walked into my shop that day."
"When I returned to my Shop, I found lock broken, I felt I was finished; I lost whatever little I had. But then I saw that GOD had left Rs. 1,000/- under the sugar pot. I can't tell you Sir what that money was worth that day. GOD exists Sir. He does."

The faith in his eyes was unflinching.
Fifteen pairs of eyes met the eyes of the Officer and read the order in his eyes clear and unambiguous, "Keep Quiet".

The Officer got up and paid the bill. He hugged the old man and said, "Yes Man, I know GOD does exist. Yes, the tea was wonderful."

The 15 Pairs of eyes did not miss to notice the moisture building up in the eyes of their officer, a rare sight.

The Truth is You can be shadow of GOD to Anyone.

Parenthood

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow... He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by... the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree everyday. 

One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad.” Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy.” I am no longer a kid, I don't play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them."

The tree said, "Sorry, but I don't have money... but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money." The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited.” Come and play with me,” the tree said. The boy said, "I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?" "Sorry, but I don't have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house." So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted.” Come and play with me!" the tree said. "I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” said the boy. "Use my truck to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree truck to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. "Sorry, my boy, but I don't have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you... "The tree said. "I don't have teeth to bite" the boy replied. "No more truck for you to climb on" "I am too old for that now" the boy said. "I really can't give you anything ... the only thing left is my dying roots" the tree said with tears. "I don't need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years." The boy replied. "Good! Old tree roots is the best place to lean on and rest. Come, Come sit down with me and rest." The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears...

This is a story of everyone. The tree is our parent. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad... When we grew up, we left them... only came to them when we needed something or when we were in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could to make you happy. You may think the boy is cruel to the tree but that's how all of us are treating our parent.

Remember Parents give children their ALL, all that children can give them in turn is LOVE.  

Stay Connected and Stay Blessed

Father is flying a kite. His son is watching him carefully.

After some time son says "Dad. Because of the string the kite is not able to go any further higher."

Hearing this, the father smiles and breaks the string.

The kite goes higher after breaking of the thread and then shortly after that it comes and falls on the ground.

The child is very dejected and sad.

The father sits next to him and calmly explains:

"Son, in life we reach a certain level of prosperity and then we feel that there are certain things in our life that are not letting us grow any further like Home, Family, Culture, Friendship etc. We feel we want to be free from those strings which we believe are stopping us from going higher."

"But, remember son. Going higher is easier than staying at the higher level."

"And friends, family and culture etc are the things that will help us stay stable at the high heights that we have achieved. If we try to break away from those strings our condition will be similar to the kite."

Moral

"Never go away from culture, family, friends and relationships as they help keep us stable while you are flying high."

Stop Hating

A kindergarten teacher has decided to let her class play a game.

The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates.

So the number of potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates.

So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes;

some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go (even to the toilet) for 1 week.

Days after days passed by, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes.

Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier bags. After 1 week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended....

The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for 1 week?". The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble that they had to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go.

Then the teacher said: "This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. It gets rotten, starts smelling bad and eclipse your own personality.

LIFE IS TO SHORT TO LOVE, I DON’T KNOW HOW PEOPLE MANAGE TO HATE

Selfless Love

My wife called, 'How long will you be with that newspaper? Will you come here and make your darling daughter eat her food?'

I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter Fatima looked frightened.

Tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with Curd Rice. Fatima is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age. She has just turned eight. She particularly detested Curd Rice. My mother and my wife are orthodox, and believe firmly in the 'cooling effects' of Curd Rice! I cleared my throat, and picked up the bowl.

'Fatima, darling, why don't you take a few mouthful of this Curd Rice? Just for Dad's sake, dear.

Fatima softened a bit, and wiped her tears with the back of her hands.

'OK, Dad. I will eat - not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this.

But, you should...' Fatima hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this entire curd Rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?'....

Oh sure, darling'.... 'Promise?'......... 'Promise'.

I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine, and clinched the deal.

'Ask Mom also to give a similar promise', my daughter insisted.

My wife put her hand on Fatima's, muttering 'Promise'. Now I became a bit anxious.

'Fatima dear, you shouldn't insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money right now. OK?'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'.

Slowly and painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity.

I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for forcing my child eat something that she detested. After the ordeal was through, Fatima came to me with her eyes wide with expectation.

All our attention was on her.

'Dad, I want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!' was her demand.

'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'A girl child having her head shaved off? Impossible!' 'Never in our family!' my mother rasped.

Fatima darling, why don't you ask for something else? We will be sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head.'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything else', Fatima said with finality.

'Please, Fatima, why don't you try to understand our feelings?' 

I tried to plead with her.

'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice'.

Fatima was in tears. 'And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for.

Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told me the story of an ancient King, and its moral that we should honour our promises no matter what?'

It was time for me to call the shots. 'Our promise must be kept.'

'Are you out your mind?' chorused my mother and wife.

'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour her own.

Fatima, your wish will be fulfilled.'

With her head clean-shaven, Fatima had a round-face, and her eyes looked big and beautiful.

On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to watch my hairless Fatima walking towards her classroom. She turned around and waved. I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and shouted, 'Fatima, please wait for me!'

What struck me was the hairless head of that boy.

'May be, that is the in-stuff', I thought. 'Sir, your daughter Fatima is great indeed!' Without introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued, ' that boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Ahmed. He is suffering from... ... leukaemia.' She paused to muffle her sobs.

Ahmed could not attend the school for the whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the schoolmates.

'Fatima visited him last week, and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue.

But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son! Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your daughter.'

I stood transfixed. And then, I wept. 'My little Angel, you are teaching me how self-less real love is!'

The happiest people on this planet are not those who live on their own terms but are those who change their terms for the ones whom they love.
Love Touch And Inspire your FRIENDS "The life is short, the vanities of world are transient but they alone live who live for others; the rest are more dead than alive”

The Crow and the Peacock

A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied with his life as he had ample food, beautiful trees to nest upon and loving birds all around who would stand with him whenever in need. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.”

He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot while flying over plains of south east Asia. It had two colours and a lovely red necklace around his neck. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock dancing in a zoo. I have only two colours, but the peacock has multiple colours and while dancing it looks as if rainbow has fallen down from sky.”

The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.”

The peacock replied, “I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. So for past few days I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.”

We make unnecessary comparison with others and become sad. We don’t value what God has given us.  This all leads to the vicious cycle of unhappiness.  Learn to be happy in what you have instead of looking at what you don’t have.   There will always be someone who will have more or less than you have.  Person who is satisfied with what he/she has, is the happiest person in the world.

Life is Struggle

A daughter, fed up of her miserable life complained to her father about her miseries and said she was unable to comprehend how she was going to make it. She was sick and tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed as if endless problems are lined up and as soon as one problem was resolved, another one pops up.

Her father, a chef in a five star hotel, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on on the burner over a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes the father turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a plate. He then poured the coffee out it in a cup.

Turning to her daughter, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer”, he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

In life, things happen around us and things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.

The Pearls

Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl.

One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl necklace priced at $2.50. How she wanted that necklace and when she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said, "Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. I'll tell you what. I'll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we can make up a list of chores that you can do to pay for the necklace. And don't forget that for your birthday Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too. Okay?"

Jenny agreed, and her mother bought the pearl necklace for her. Jenny worked on her chores very hard every day, and sure enough, her Grandma gave her a brand new dollar bill for her birthday. Soon Jenny had paid off the pearls.

How Jenny loved those pearls. She wore them everywhere to kindergarten, bed, and when she went out with her mother to run errands. The only time she didn't wear them was in the shower - her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green. Now Jenny had a very loving daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would get up from his favorite chair every night and read Jenny her favorite story. One night when he finished the story, he said, "Jenny, do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you," the little girl said.

"Well, then, give me your pearls."

"Oh! Daddy, not my pearls!" Jenny said. "But you can have Rosie, my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And you can have her tea party outfit, too. Okay?"

"Oh no, darling, that's okay." Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss. "Good night, little one."   A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story, "Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you."

"Well, then, give me your pearls."

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls! But you can have Ribbons, my toy horse. Do you remember her? She's my favorite. Her hair is so soft, and you can play with it and braid it and everything. You can have Ribbons if you want her, Daddy," the little girl said to her father. "No, that's okay," her father said and brushed her cheek again with a kiss. "God bless you, little one. Sweet dreams."

Several days later, when Jenny's father came in to read her a story, Jenny was sitting on her bed and her lip was trembling. "Here, Daddy," she said, and held out her hand. She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was inside. She let it slip into her father's hand. With one hand her father held the plastic pearls and with the other he pulled out of his pocket a blue velvet box.

Inside of the box were real, genuine, beautiful pearls.

He had them all along. He was waiting for Jenny to give up the cheap stuff so he could give her the real thing! 

REFLECTION

So it is with God. HE is waiting for us to give up the petty things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.

Are we holding onto things which God wants us to let go of?

Are we holding onto harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities which we have become so attached to that it seems impossible to let go?

Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand we should believe in one thing.................

God will never take away something without giving us something better in its place!!