There is an old story about a fellow who lived alone and went to a pet store to buy a parrot. He thought 
the bird might fill some of his lonely hours. The very next day, however, he came back to complain,
“That bird doesn’t talk.”
The store owner asked if he had a mirror in its cage, and the man said he didn’t. “Oh, parrots love mirrors,” he explained. “When he sees his reflection in the mirror, he’ll just start talking away.” So he sold him a birdcage mirror.
The bird owner was back the next day to gripe that his parrot still hadn’t said a word. “That’s very peculiar,” allowed the pet expert. “How about a swing? Birds really love these little swings, and a happy parrot is a talkative parrot.” So the man bought a swing, took it home, and installed it in the cage.
But he was back the next day with the same story. “Does he have a ladder to climb?” the salesman asked. “That just has to be the problem. Once he has a ladder, he’ll probably talk your ear off!” So the fellow bought a ladder.
The man was back at the pet store when it opened the next day. From the look on his face, the owner knew something was wrong. “Didn’t your parrot like the ladder?” he asked. His repeat customer looked up and said, “The parrot died.”
“I’m so sorry,” the stunned businessman said. “Did he ever say anything?”
“Well, yes. He finally talked just before he died. In a weak little voice, he asked me, “don’t they sell any bird seed at that pet store?’”
Some of us have mistakenly thought that happiness consists of lining our cages with toys, gadgets, and other stuff. Excessive consumption has become the hallmark of our life. “Whoever has the most toys wins” seems to be the likely candidate to be the bumper sticker for an entire culture. But is it so?
There is a spiritual hunger in the human heart that can’t be satisfied by seeing one’s own image reflected back in vanity mirrors, playing with our grown-up toys, or climbing the corporate ladder. Our hearts need real nourishment. The love of family and friends, relationships over the pursuit of more things, personal integrity, a secure connection to God –these are the things that feed the soul.
Have you chosen a life course that leads to a destination that matters?
Author: SridharRudravaram
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Elephant and Dog
An elephant and a dog became pregnant at same time. Three months down the line the dog gave birth to six puppies. Six months later the dog was pregnant again, and nine months on it gave birth to another dozen puppies. The pattern continued.
On the eighteenth month the dog approached the elephant questioning, “Are you sure that you are pregnant? We became pregnant on the same date, I have given birth three times to a dozen puppies and they are now grown to become big dogs, yet you are still pregnant. Whats going on?”. The elephant replied, “There is something I want you to understand. What I am carrying is not a puppy but an elephant. I only give birth to one in two years. When my baby hits the ground, the earth feels it. When my baby crosses the road, human beings stop and watch in admiration, what I carry draws attention. So what I’m carrying is mighty and great.”
Don’t lose faith when you see others receive answers to their prayers. Don’t be envious of others testimony. If you haven’t received your own blessings, don’t despair. Say to yourself “My time is coming, and when it hits the surface of the earth, people shall yield in admiration.”
Stay Encouraged!
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The Mouse Trap
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” The mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed this warning : “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.” The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.” The mouse turned to the cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap. . . Alone. . ..
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — the sound Of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did no see it. It was a venomous snake whose tail was caught in the trap. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. When she returned home she still had a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup. So the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient: But his wife’s sickness continued. Friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. But, alas, the farmer’s wife did not get well… She died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them for the funeral luncheon. And the mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and you think it doesn’t concern you, remember — When one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.REMEMBER – EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON’S TAPESTRY. OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.
One of the best things to hold onto In this world is a FRIEND.
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Happy and Content Farmer
There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy.One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them.
The wise man said, “If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country.” And then he went away.
That night the farmer couldn’t sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent because he was unhappy. The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went in search of diamonds.
He looked all over Africa and couldn’t find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn’t find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona River and committed suicide.
Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantel piece. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, “Is Hafiz back?” The new owner said, “No, why do you ask?” The wise man said, “Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one.”
The man said, no, that’s just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I’ll show you. There are many more.” They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.What is the moral of this story? There are five morals:
- When our attitude is right, we realize that we are all walking on acres and acres of diamonds. Opportunity is always under our feet. We don’t have to go anywhere. All we need to do is recognize it.
- The grass on the other side always looks greener.
- While we are dyeing the grass on the other side, there are others who are dyeing the grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us.
- When people don’t know how to recognize opportunity, they complain of noise when it knocks.
- The same opportunity never knocks twice. The next one may be better or worse, but it isnever the same one.
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The Peaceful Picture
Once upon a time, a king offered a wonderful prize to the artist who could paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried and the king received thousands of paintings. He studied each one very carefully and finally decided upon two that he really liked. He now had to choose between the two.
The first was a painting of a beautiful, calm lake, with crystal-clear water, surrounded by green, leafy forests and majestic mountains towering in the background. Overhead, the sky was a brilliant blue with scattered, fluffy, white clouds. All the king’s advisers agreed that this painting clearly showed a place of perfect peace.
The other painting had mountains too, but these were rugged and bare. Above them, was an angry sky from which heavy rain fell and lightning danced. A foaming waterfall tumbled down one side of the mountain. At first glance, the painting did not seem peaceful at all. However, when the king looked more closely, he noticed a tiny bush growing behind the waterfall. There, in the small bush, a mother bird had built her nest. In the midst of the rush of angry water, in the wind and the noise and the cold and the damp, the mother bird sat perfectly still on her nest – in perfect peace.
The king chose this painting as the one showing peace. When asked why, he replied: “Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, discomfort, trouble or hard work. Peace means to be in the middle of all of these things and yet, to find calm and quiet and gentleness in your heart and to carry on with your life – this is the real meaning of peace.”
Moral: We can find peace inside us even when everything around us seems to be chaotic. -
It All Comes Back to You
A woman had the practice of baking bread for members of her family. She also made an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra bread on the window-sill, for whosoever would take it away….
Everyday, a hunchback 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. Everyday, 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 hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?”
One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this hunchback,” she said. So what did she do? She added poison to the bread she prepared for him! However, as she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said to herself.
Immediately, she threw the bread into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill. As usual, the hunchback came, picked up the bread and muttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you! The good you do, comes back to you!” The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman.
Now this woman had a son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For many months, she 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 famished that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough to give me his 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. 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!”
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Our actions and words are born from our thoughts. When we think thoughts of harming others, it is like tossing a dagger at the sky. Sooner or later it falls back on us. When we think kind and loving thoughts it is like tossing fragrant flowers at the sky. Sooner or later they return to adorn us!
A simple way to treat negative thinking is by considering such thoughts like a shepherd treats his wandering sheep. Firmly, but lovingly he brings the sheep back into the flock. We can use the word “Cancel” in our mind every time our thoughts wander to subjects we do not wish to dwell on. It is a simple but effective remedy!“The evil you do, remains with you! The good you do, comes back to you!”
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Beauty of Plants
A little girl was enjoying the beauty of the garden in her home. Her father had a good collection of rare and exotic plants. He grew them with tender care.
The girl was fascinated by a plant full of fine and fragrant flowers. She went near the plant and enjoyed its beauty and the fragrance of its fine flowers. Suddenly she noted that the plant was growing in a heap of filth. She could not tolerate the presence of dirt at the bottom of the plant with such fantastic flowers.She conceived a plan to clean the plant. She pulled the plant with all her might and uprooted it. She then carried it to the tap and washed the shoot and roots in running tap-water till all traces of dirt were washed away. She then placed the plant on a clean stone and went away, thinking that she had done a great deed indeed. Later her father came to the garden and saw the uprooted plant. Its flowers and leaves had wilted and the plant had almost died in the scorching sun. His little daughter ran to him to exhibit her achievement. ‘I have cleaned it, Daddy, she reported innocently. It was placed in dirty soil. Now it is clean.
The father showed her how her treatment had almost killed the plant. He told her that he had collected the filthy soil and placed it to cover the plant’s roots as it was the best medium to grow that plant. It could grow up healthily and produce fine flowers only if grown in filthy soil. She was sad that the plant had suffered and withered by her cleaning.
Moral: A great gardener mixes the right soil for each of his plant. In the same way God provides each of us with the best environment required for optimum growth though it might appear unpleasant at times.
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Positives in Negatives
A young woman was sitting at her dining table, worried about taxes to be paid, house-work to be done and to top it all, her family was coming over for Thanks giving the next day. She was not feeling very thankful at that time.
As she turned her gaze sideways, she noticed her young daughter scribbling furiously into her notebook.
My teacher asked us to write a paragraph on “Negative Thanks giving” for homework today, said the daughter.
She asked us to write down things that we are thankful for, things that make us feel not so good in the beginning, but turn out to be good after all.
With curiosity, the mother peeked into the book. This is what her daughter wrote:
1. I’m thankful for Final Exams, because that means school is almost over.
2. I’m thankful for bad-tasting medicine, because it helps me feel better.
3. I’m thankful for waking up to alarm clocks, because it means I’m still alive.
It then dawned on the mother, that she had a lot of things to be thankful for!
She thought again….
She had to pay taxes but that meant she was fortunate to be employed. She had house-work to do but that meant she had her own home to live in. She had to cook for her family for
Thanks giving but that meant she had a family with whom she could celebrate.Moral: We generally complain about the negative things in life but we fail to look at the positive side of it.
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Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar…
I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.
He handed me a laminated card and said: ‘I’m Wasu, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.’
Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Wasu’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.
This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.‘
I said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.‘
Wasu smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.‘
Almost stuttering, I said, ‘I’ll take a Lassi.‘
Handing me my drink, Wasu said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The Hindu, Times of India, ET and India Today.‘
As they were pulling away, Wasu handed me another laminated card, ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.‘
And as if that weren’t enough, Wasu told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.
Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he’d be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.
‘Tell me, Wasu,’ I was amazed and asked him, ‘have you always served customers like this?‘
Wasu smiled into the rear view mirror. ‘No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about power of choice one day.‘
‘Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.’
‘If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining!’
‘Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.‘‘That hit me right,‘ said Wasu.
‘It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.‘
‘I take it that has paid off for you,‘ I said.
‘It sure has,‘ Wasu replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.‘
Wasu made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
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Gratitude can Change Destiny
There was a small bird living in a desert. With no sign of greenery the bird used to hop around on the hot sand through the day.
He went and asked “O little bird! What are you doing in this hot desert? Can I do something for you?”
The little bird said, “I am very pleased with my life, but this heat is unbearable. Both my feet are getting burnt. Only if there was a tree here, I’d be delighted”.
The Angel said, “Growing a tree in the middle of a desert is beyond my scope. I am to going meet God, let me speak to him and ask if he could fulfill your desire”.
The Angel asked God, if he could help the bird. God said, “I could grow a tree, but her destiny doesn’t allow it. And I can’t change that. However, you can give her my message, which will help her survive the heat. Ask her to hop with one foot at a time. That way she can rest the other one for a while and change foot often. This way only one of her foot will have to bear the heat and other one will be able to rest and recover. Also tell her to remember all the good things that have happened in her life and be thankful to God for that.
The Angel came back to where the bird was and gave her this message from God.
The bird was delighted by the idea and thanked him for the effort he made to make her comfortable.After a few days, the Angel was crossing the same desert and thought of checking on the little bird.
He saw the bird sitting on a big green tree, right in the middle of the desert.
The Angel was happy to see the bird in comfort but was very disappointed with God who suggested that there was no tree in the bird’s destiny.
He went to meet God and told him the whole story.
And God replied, “I never lied to you. There was no tree in the bird’s destiny. However, after you gave her my message, which asked her to be grateful to God for the kind things, she did put those words to action. She remembered every possible thing from her life and thanked God with a pure heart. I was moved with her feeling of gratitude and that’s what made me change her destiny. The Angel was pleased with the answer.
A small bit of gratitude for all that we have in our lives can bring so much more into it.
