KRACK-TRACK-KRACK-TRACK

In a village there was a well, where the water was drawn by a bull that was tied to a huge iron wheel. As the bull would run on a circular path around the well, the wheel would move and water would be drawn up.Through out the period when the bull was at work and the water was flowing out, there was a krack-track- krack-track noise coming from the rickety old wheel.

Some women filled water in pots to carry home for kitchen use. There were others who sat nearby, washing clothes. Everything seemed to be going on in perfect harmony to the music of Krack-track-krack-track playing in the
background. A king came galloping by that way. His horse was thirsty. He called out to a villager who was sitting close by. "My horse is thirsty. I need some water." The peasant nudged the bull and as the bull started moving on its circular track, the water started flowing along with the sound of krack-track- krack-track. The peasant said, "The water is flowing now, come bring your horse this way and let it quench its thirst." The king led the horse to the stream of water, but the horse shied away due to the cracking sound. The king tried a couple of times, but it seemed that the horse was scared of the sound. The king said, "Stop that noise, my horse is scared of it." The peasant said, "If I have to stop that noise, I will have to stop the bull, the noise shall stop but so shall the flow of water. If the horse wants to have the water, it shall have to have it along with the noise. There is nothing I can do to give you water without the noise!"

So, the horse after much coaxing had to brave the situation and have the water along with the tune of krack-track-krack-track.

Are we also behaving like the horse? Are we also offering excuses for not doing this or that? Are we waiting for a phase of life to get over before we start doing certain things? Are we waiting for the children's exams to
get over before we start going for a walk? Are we waiting to earn a certain amount, before we start donating for the lesser fortunate?

Moral : Time and tide waits for no one. If you really want to do something, start doing it now. Do it while you can, for who knows whether you may be able to do it later or not.

The Dancer

Melanie wanted to be a dancer from the very beginning. She was a gifted artist. She could dance for hours on music. Seeing this, her parents decided to make her a ballet dancer. Those days there was a big dance troupe in town. Her parents took her to the chief of the ballet group and requested him to train her. He asked her to perform. She did that. Instead of paying any attention, he didn’t even bother to look at her. He was busy with his own work. After her performance, he admonished her, saying that she neither had the talent nor the inclination. It would be better if she gave up the idea of pursuing a career in that field and should opt for another career.

Melanie was heart- broken. She felt her world coming to an end. She followed the dance master’s advice and gave up dancing—her only passion. She joined as a teacher in a school. She had been working there for five years now. Once it so happened that the dance master was away for a while. Melanie was asked to supervise the children. She was teaching them dancing when suddenly the dance teacher reached there. She was stunned to see her talent. She encouraged her and praised her immensely. She told her that she danced superbly. Melanie was stunned to hear that. She couldn’t believe her ears. She was taken to the dance teacher and the world then witnessed one of its most exotic dancers in her.

So, we see how one pessimistic, negative minded teacher could curb Melanie’s talent for 15 years, whereas the other one shaped her into a true artist.

Moral : Do not let others to demolish your aspirations, hopes and dreams . Take in the appreciation and ignore the jibes. Just strive to better yourself in every aspect .Never discourage other people talents  or pull them down.

Looking at Mirror

One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on the door on which it was written: “Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym”.  In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself.

The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought: “Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he died!”  One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless.  They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself.

There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: “There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is YOU.” You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success. You are the only person who can help yourself.  Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your partner changes, when your company changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life. “The most important relationship you can have is the one you have with yourself” .

Moral: The world is like a mirror: it gives back to anyone the reflection of the thoughts in which one has strongly believed. The world and your reality are like mirrors lying in a coffin, which show to any individual the death of his divine capability to imagine and create his happiness and his success. It’s the way you face Life that makes the difference.
 

ACRES OF DIAMONDS

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 mantle 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 foranalysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.

MORAL: 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.

Never Give Up

In 1867, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told John Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.
John Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington Roebling, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington Roebling was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

"We told them so. Crazy men and their crazy dreams. It's foolish to chase wild visions."

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the John Roebling were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington Roebling was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

Washington Roebling tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife Emily.

Washington Roebling touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington Roebling tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed in 1883. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realized with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

Moral: Even the most distant dream can be realized with persistence and determination.

The Touchstone

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers.
The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”!



The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.

He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold – throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about midafternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity.

Moral:Unless we are vigilant, it’s asy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.

The Trench-Digger

An elderly couple retired to the countryside - to a small isolated cottage overlooking some rugged and rocky heathland.

One early morning the woman saw from her window a young man dressed in working clothes walking on the heath, about a hundred yards away. He was carrying a spade and a small case, and he disappeared from view behind a copse of trees.

The woman thought no more about it but around the same time the next day she saw the man again, carrying his spade and a small case, and again he disappeared behind the copse.

The woman mentioned this to her husband, who said he was probably a farmer or gamekeeper setting traps, or performing some other country practice that would be perfectly normal, and so not to worry.

However after several more sightings of the young man with the spade over the next two weeks the woman persuaded her husband to take a stroll - early, before the man tended to arrive - to the copse of trees to investigate what he was doing.

There they found a surprisingly long and deep trench, rough and uneven at one end, becoming much neater and tidier towards the other end.

"How strange," the old lady said, "Why dig a trench here - and in such difficult rocky ground?" and her husband agreed.

Just then the young man appeared - earlier than his usual time.

"You're early," said the old woman, making light of their obvious curiosity, "We wondered what you were doing - and we also wondered what was in the case."

"I'm digging a trench," said the man, who continued, realising a bigger explanation was appropriate, "I'm actually learning how to dig a good trench, because the job I'm being interviewed for later today says that experience is essential - so I'm getting the experience. And the case - it's got my lunch in it."

He got the job.

Moral : "Intiation and self development makes things happen towards career advancement."