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."

SCATTERED PAPER

Once upon a time an old man spread rumours that his neighbour was a thief. As a result, the young man was arrested. Days later the young man was proven innocent. After been released he sued the old man for wrongly accusing him.

In court the old man told the Judge: "They were just comments, didn't harm anyone."

The judge, before passing sentence on the case, told the old man: "Write all the things you said about him on a piece of paper. Cut them up and on the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to hear the sentence."

The next day, the judge told the old man: "Before receiving the sentence, you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper that you threw out yesterday."

The old man said: "I can't do that! The wind spread them and I won't know where to find them."

The judge then replied: "The same way, simple comments may destroy the honor of a man to such an extent that one is not able to fix it. If you can't speak well of someone, rather don't say anything.

Moral : "Let's all be masters of our mouths, so that we won't be slaves of our words."

The seed of honesty

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!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
If you plant humanity, you will reap greatness
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest.

Moral : Honesty Pays You Back.

The Perfectionist Sculptor

A gentleman once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God.

Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, “Do you need two statues of the same idol?”

“No,” said the sculptor without looking up, “We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage.”

The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. “Where is the damage?” he asked.

“There is a scratch on the nose of the idol.” said the sculptor, still busy with his work.

“Where are you going to install the idol?”

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high.

“If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?” the gentleman asked.

The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said,

“I know it !”

Moral – The desire to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not. Excellence is a drive from inside, not outside. Excel at a task today – not necessarily for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction.

Think Big!

A man was caught and thrown into a pit of about "40 feet" deep, just because he was a stranger. He struggled trying to get out of the pit, but the more he tried, the weaker his muscles became. He said to himself, "I don't know how to get myself out of this. Maybe I should just die instead of enduring these miserable struggles and pains."

Just then, he heard a voice screaming, "Help! Help!! Help!!!" The shouts were coming from another pit, which was "10 feet" deeper than the one he was in. He thought to himself, "Wow, so there is somebody else like me trapped here too."

Listening carefully, he heard some cracking and sand dropping from the wall of the pit of the other victim. Immediately he summed up his courage and with his last bit of strength, started crawling little by little until he made it out of his pit.

Moral of the Story

That pain you think you are passing through, there are people worst off than you. Always say something sweet to yourself. Always smile at your pains. Let them be; they are just there for a while and also to challenge you. Today may be your darkest hour, but your joy will come in the morning.

Try to encourage yourself.  Always try to face your worst fear because nothing GOOD comes easy. You must be UNCOMFORTABLE to get to your COMFORT ZONE.

The Story Of Challenges

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the water close to Japan has not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring the fish. If the return trip took more time, the fish were not fresh. To solve this problem, fish companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer.

However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen fish. And they did not like the taste of frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. So, fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, they were tired, dull, and lost their fresh-fish taste. The fishing industry faced an impending crisis! But today, they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan. How did they manage? To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks but with a small shark. The fish are challenged and hence are constantly on the move.

The challenge they face keeps them alive and fresh! Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired and dull? Basically in our lives, sharks are new challenges to keep us active. If you are steadily conquering challenges, you are happy. Your challenges keep you energized.

Moral :Don't create success and revel in it in a state of inertia. You have the resources, skills and abilities to make a difference. Put a shark in your tank and see how far you can really go.

Proactive Leadership

 There was once a grasshopper who loved life. He spent his time lazing in the sun, eating when he wanted to, sleeping when he wanted to, generally enjoying himself all the time. He lived like he did not have a care in the world. One day as he was sun-bathing, he saw an ant pushing a bread crumb across the ground. The grasshopper asked, "Hey brother! What are you doing?" The ant replied, "I am gathering food for the winter while the weather is still warm. Once winter sets in, I am going to stay home and just eat  from my stock of food."
The grasshopper made fun of the ant's dull life and went on sun bathing saying, "There's enough time for such boring work. You should take time to have fun like me." Soon the summer passed and the winter started to set in. As the weather became colder, it became harder for the grasshopper to get out. However, he soon started to feel hungry. He decided to brave the weather and find himself some food. When he stepped out, everything was covered with snow and he could not find anything to eat. He continued to search for food every day. He did not find anything. Finally, he grew weak and died of hunger.

The ant being proactive knew himself, potentials and strengths: that he was tiny; that with the help of his teammates, there was nothing he could not achieve - it did not matter how big the morsel of food was. He knew the event that was coming on him: the winter and its severity. He knew the resources at his disposal: his teammates and time available to him in the summer.

Grasshopper being non- proactive he did not know himself, potentials or strengths. He thought he was bigger than the ant and so nothing could happen to him. He was big enough to carry his food singlehandedly. He did not know the severity of the event that was going to visit him -the winter. He did not know the 'limitedness' of the resources at his disposal. He had no teammates and before he could say 'Jack Robinson' the summer had passed.

Moral:Proactive leadership is knowing your limetedness,potentials and strengths and planning in advance incase of adversities.The ant being proactive reaped the benifits of its hard work.

Birbal caught the Thief

Once a rich merchant’s house was robbed. The merchant suspected that the thief was one of his servants. So he went to Birbal and mentioned the incident. Birbal went to his house and assembled all of his servants and asked that who stole the merchant’s things. Everybody denied.

Birbal thought for a moment, then gave a stick of equal length to all the servants of the merchant and said to them that the stick of the real thief will be longer by two inches tomorrow. All the servants should be present here again tomorrow with heir sticks.
 All the servants went to their homes and gathered again at the same place the next day. Birbal asked them to show him their sticks. One of the servants had his stick shorter by two inches. Birbal said, “This is your thief, merchant.”

                                                                                      

Later the merchant asked Birbal, “How did you catch him?” Birbal said, “The thief had already cut his stick short by two inches in the night fearing that his stick will be longer by two inches by morning.”

Moral:
Truth will always Prevail.