Thinking Out of the Box (Creative Thinking)

 

In a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan-shark. The loan-shark was a very old, unattractive looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter.

He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter.

Needless to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.

The loan-shark said that he would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.

The daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out a pebble. If it was black, the debt would be wiped, but the loan-shark would then marry her. If it was white, the debt would also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t have to marry the loan-shark.

Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan-shark bent over and picked up two pebbles.

Whilst he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag.

He then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.

The daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:

1. Refuse to pick a pebble from the bag.
2. Take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan-shark for cheating.
3. Pick a pebble from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her father’s freedom.

She drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped it into the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-shark;

“Oh, how clumsy of me. Never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

The pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan-shark didn’t want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white, and clear her father’s debt.

 

Moral of the story:

It’s always possible to overcome a tough situation throughout of the box thinking, and not give in to the only options you think you have to pick from.

The Elephant Rope (Belief)

 

A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he spotted that the elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains.

All that was holding them back from escaping the camp, was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs.

As the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just use their strength to break the rope and escape the camp. They could easily have done so, but instead, they didn’t try to at all.

Curious and wanting to know the answer, he asked a trainer nearby why the elephants were just standing there and never tried to escape.

The trainer replied;

 

“when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

 

The only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp was that over time they adopted the belief that it just wasn’t possible.

 

Moral of the story:

No matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most important step in actually achieving it.

Lady Gets on a Bus

 

A lady gets on a public bus. Without saying a word, she gestures to the bus driver by sticking her thumb on her nose and waving her fingers at the driver.

The driver acknowledges the lady, turns to her and uses both hands in the same type of gesture and waves all his fingers at her.

The woman holds her right arm out at the driver and chops at it a few times with her left hand.

Then the driver puts his left hand on his right bicep and jerks his right arm up in a fist at her.

The woman then cups both of her hands under her breasts and lifts gently. So the driver places both of his hands at his crotch and gently lifts up.

Then the woman frowns, runs a finger up between her derriere, and gets off the bus.

There is another woman sitting in the front row of the bus who witnessed the whole exchange.

She speaks up, “That was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen on a public bus! What the

hell were you doing?”

“Listen lady,” states the gruff bus driver, “the lady that got on the bus before was a deaf-mute.

She asked me if the bus went to 5th Street. I said no, we go to 10th Street. She asked if we make many stops. I told her that this was the express. She asked if we go by the dairy, and I told her we go by the ballpark. She said “Shit, I’m on the wrong bus!” and got off.”

The Wise Woman’s Stone

 

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me something more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.

How Big Is Your Frying Pan

Are you setting your sights too low?

I heard of a woman who fished all morning and never caught anything. But a man in the next boat was reeling in a fish every time she glanced over. Then, to make matters worse, he kept the small ones and threw the large ones back into the water!

She couldn't stand it any longer. She called over to him, "How come you're throwing the big ones back?"

He answered by holding up a little frying pan. 

We may think that is silly but, in our minds, don't we all hold up frying pans? Every time
we throw away a big idea, a magnificent dream or an exciting possibility, are we measuring it against a small frying pan?

We talk about making more money or be¬coming more successful, but I believe that this con¬cept works in other, and sometimes more important areas, as well. We can love more than we ever dreamed possible! We can be happier and live more fully than we ever thought we could! What we can do or become is limited more by the size of the frying pan in our minds than by actual circum¬stances.

Author Brian Tracy reminds us that "you are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are." Think big. Dream big. Pray big... and look for big results. It all begins with changing the size of your thinking.

What would happen if you threw away the frying pan you have been using to measure the size of your dreams, and replaced it with a larger one? What would happen if you decided that it may really be possible to have a better relationship with the one you love, or that you actually can be hap-pier and more fulfilled than you are now? What would hap¬pen if you decided never to settle for anything less than what you truly want? What if, from now on, you threw the little fish back and kept the big ones?

And what if you decided to begin today?

Most Positive Virtues for Great Life

1. Have a firm handshake. 
2. Look people in the eye. 
3. Don't expect life to be fair.
4. Remember that 80 per cent of the success in any job is based on your ability to deal with people. 
5. If in a fight, hit first and hit hard. 
6. Keep secrets. 
7. Never give up on anybody. Miracles happen everyday. 
8. Always accept an outstretched hand. 
9. Be brave. Even if you're not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference. 
10. Wave at the children on a school bus. 
11. Avoid sarcastic remarks. 
12. Choose your life's mate carefully. From this one decision will come 90 per cent of all your happiness or misery. 
13. Make it a habit to do nice things for people who will never find out. 
14. Lend only those books you never care to see again. 
15. Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all that they have. 
16. When playing games with children, let them win. 
17. Give people a second chance, but not a third. 
18. Be romantic. 
19. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know. 
20. Loosen up. Relax. Except for rare life-and-death matters, nothing is as important as it first seems. 
21. Don't allow the phone to interrupt important moments. It's there for our convenience, not the caller's. 
22. Be a good loser. 
23. Be a good winner. 
24. Think twice before burdening a friend with a secret. 
25. When someone hugs you, let them be the first to let go. 
26. Be modest. A lot was accomplished before you were born. 
27. Keep it simple. 
28. Beware of the person who has nothing to lose. 
29. Don't burn bridges. You'll be surprised how many times you have to cross the same river. 
30. Live your life so that your epitaph could read, No Regrets 
31. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did. 
32. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them. 
33. Remember no one makes it alone. Have a grateful heart and be quick to acknowledge those who helped you. 
34. Take charge of your attitude. Don't let someone else choose it for you. 
35. Visit friends and relatives when they are in hospital; you need only stay a few minutes. 
36. Begin each day with some of your favourite quotes. if you don't have, find some.
37. Once in a while, take the scenic route. 
38. Send a lot of cards. Sign them, 'Someone who thinks you're terrific.' 
39. Answer the phone with enthusiasm and energy in your voice. 
40. Keep a note pad and pencil on your bed-side table. Million-dollar ideas sometimes strike at 3 a.m. 
41. Show respect for everyone who works for a living, regardless of how trivial their job. 
42. Send your loved ones flowers. Think of a reason later. 
43. Make someone's day by paying the toll for the person in the car behind you. 
44. Become someone's hero. 
45. Marry only for love. 
46. Count your blessings. 
47. Compliment the meal when you're a guest in someone's home. 

The Dry Cleaner: First Impression On Your New Customers

Today, a story about my local dry cleaner.

(Yes, I know. Stay with me here.)

Not long after we moved to a new neighborhood about 8 months ago, we had a pile of clothes that needed to be dry cleaned.

The problem was that my previous dry cleaner was far enough away to make getting there and back on a regular basis a hassle.

And, to be honest, I was never that excited about going there anyway.

So I did a quick search on Yelp, and was a little bit surprised by what I found.

A local cleaner—only a few blocks from me—stood out from the rest of the list in a big way. Not only did they have 4.5 stars (something I’ve never seen for a business like dry cleaning… who gets that excited about pressed shirts?), but they had more than a few raving reviews!

Intrigued, I walked over there that very afternoon to drop off my clothes, and was hit with my first pleasant surprise as I walked through the front door.

“Good afternoon”, said the smiling man behind the counter. “How are you doing today?”

Not exactly the welcome I was used to.

I greeted him and put my clothes on the counter.

“I don’t recognize you,” he said, still smiling. “Is this your first time here?”

It was, I told him. I was new to the neighborhood.

“How exciting! Welcome. And thank you very much for coming by. I really appreciate it, and I’ll take good care of your clothes for you.”

Within a minute of entering the store, I was having a conversation with a guy who felt like an old friend, and who, more than simply wanting my business, wanted to make sure I was comfortably settling into my new home.

Soon after, he printed my receipt and handed it to me, pointing to a line toward the bottom showing a 10% discount.

“To thank you for being a new customer. See you soon.”

The Power Of A Magical First Impression

When I walked out of that dry cleaner that day, I was sold.

I was going to be a loyal, long-term customer.

Now, of course the work had to be good. And it was.

But I don’t have the knowledge or expertise to know if their dry cleaning is any better than the work done by the dozen other cleaners in my neighborhood.

And, I suspect, neither do most of their customers.

But the way that they made me feel on that first visit—like they genuinely cared about me and my clothes—is what is going to keep me coming back.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

I’ve since learned that these dry cleaners are not the cheapest in the area. Nor are they necessarily the most convenient for me (there’s another less than two blocks away from my house).

But I’m still a loyal and happy customer.

And a lot of it has to do with that first impression.

The Missing Goat

It all started one lazy Sunday afternoon in a small town near Toronto in Canada.

Two school-going friends had a crazy idea.

They rounded up three goats from the neighborhood and painted the number 1, 2 and 4 on their sides.

That night they let the goats loose inside their school building. 

The next morning, when the authorities entered the school, they could smell something was wrong.

They soon saw goat droppings on the stairs and near the entrance and realized that some goats had entered the building.

A search was immediately launched and very soon, the three goats were found.

But the authorities were worried, where was goat No. 3?

They spent the rest of the day looking for goat No.3.

Gradually there was panic and frustration.

The school declared classes off for the students for the rest of the day.

The teachers, helpers, guards, canteen staffs, boys were all busy looking for the goat No. 3, which, of course, was never found.

Simply because it did not exist.

Those among us who inspite of having a good life are always feeling a "lack of fulfilment" are actually looking for the elusive, missing, non-existent goat No.3.

Whatever the area of complaint or search or dissatisfaction may be - relationship, job-satisfaction, materialistic achievement...... 

An absence of something is always larger than  the presence of many other things.

Stop worrying about goat No.3 and have worry-free days.....

The Maid and Pizza

A lady to her husband: Avoid giving too many clothes for laundry.

Husband: What happened?Wife: The maid won’t be coming for work for a couple of days.

Husband: Why?
Wife: She’s going to see her granddaughter over to her daughters place over the holidays.

Husband: Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.
Wife: Before I forget, how about we offer her a festive bonus? Rs. 500?

Husband: But why? Diwali is around the corner, why don’t we just give her the money then?
Wife: Oh, no… She’s a poor lady, works as a domestic help. She’s going to see her daughter. With her meagre income, how would she be able to enjoy a good holiday? Poor thing!

Husband: There you go! Getting overly sentimental again!
Wife: Don’t worry about the money; let’s cancel our plan for pizza for dinner tonight. No point wasting money over eight slices of stale bread.

Husband: Great! So now we have to give up on our pizza night so the maid can get a bonus?!
Three days later, when the maid is back at work, the lady’s husband asked her.

Husband: So, how was your holiday?
Maid: It was wonderful, sir. Didi had given me 500 as a festive bonus that added to the joy.

Husband: I heard you went over to your daughters place. Met your granddaughter?
Maid: Yes, sir. I had such a great time. We spent 500, all of it in just two days.

Husband: What did you buy with that money?
Maid: I bought my granddaughter a shirt for Rs. 150 and a doll for Rs. 40, sweets for my daughter and to offer at the temple for Rs. 50, each, spent Rs. 60 on the rent, bought my daughter bangles for Rs. 25, and a nice belt for my son in law for Rs. 50. We spent the rest of the money buying notebooks and stationery for my granddaughter.

Husband: All that for Rs. 500?
In a shocked state he started thinking and seeing pizza in his head.
Each piece of the pizza started buzzing in his head. He started comparing the pizza’s price with the maid’s festive expenses over her family.
He started imagining each piece of the pizza as different things she bought for her family like kids dress, sweets, rent, the bangles she bought, the belt she bought for her son in law, the books and pencil she bought.
He had only imagined the delicious part of the pizza, he had never thought of the other plain and dry part of it and today because of his maid he could understand the other part of the coin or the pizza. A simple 8 pieced pizza taught some reality of life.

This incident made him realize the meaning of “Spending to live not live to spend”.

The Costly Jaguar

A young and successful

executive was traveling down a neighborhood street,

going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar.. He was

watching for kids darting out from between parked

cars and slowed down when he thought he saw

something. 

As his car passed, no children appeared.

Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door!

He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to

the spot where the brick had been thrown. 

The angry

driver then jumped out of the

car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up

against a parked car shouting, 

'What was that all about and who are you? Just what

the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that

brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why

did you do it?' The young boy was apologetic.

'Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't

know what else to do,' He pleaded. 'I threw the

brick because no one else would stop....' With tears

dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth

pointed to a spot just around a parked car.. 'It's my

brother, 'he said 'He rolled off the curb and fell

out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him

up.' 

Now sobbing, the boy

asked the stunned executive, 'Would you please help

me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and

he's too heavy for me.' 

Moved beyond words,

the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling

lump in his throat... He hurriedly lifted the

handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took

out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh

scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything

was going to be okay. 'Thank you and may God bless

you,' the grateful child told the stranger. Too

shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy!

push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk

toward their home.. 

It was a long, slow

walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very

noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair

the dented side door. 

He kept the dent there to

remind him of this message: 'Don't go through life

so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to

get your attention!' God whispers in our souls and

speaks to our hearts Sometimes when we don't have

time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's

our choice to listen or 

not. 

God didn't promise
days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun
without rain, but He did promise strength for the
day, comfort for the tears, and light for the
way. 

If God brings you to
it, He will bring you through
it. 

The Farmer's Wife

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 the 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 goat and told him "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"  The goat sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it. "

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. But wish you well; be assured you are in my prayers "

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 -- like the sound  of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was  caught.   In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.  The snake bit the farmer's wife. 

The farmer rushed her to the hospital  and she returned home with 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, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her  around the clock. To feed them, the farmer  butchered the goat.  The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. 

So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat  for all of them. 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 think it doesn't concern you, Remember that 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 because directly or indirectly we might have to suffer!!!

Put Mind at Ease

One day, Buddha was walking from one town to another with a few of his followers.

While they were traveling, they happened to pass by a lake. They stopped to rest there and Buddha asked one of his disciples to get him some water from the lake.

A disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake.

As a result, the water became very muddy. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!”

So he came back and told Buddha, ”The water in the lake is very muddy. I don’t think it is suitable to drink.”

After a while, Buddha again asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water.

The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the mud had settled down and the water was clean so he collected some in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water then looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be and the mud settled down on its own. It is also the same with your mind. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time and it will settle down on its own.”

The Talking Bird

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?

A pretty Chinese lady

Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river.

There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river.

The big monk offered to carry her across the river on his back to which the lady accepted.

The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk and was thinking "How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?" But he kept quiet.

The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her.

All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder.

But he still kept quiet. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation.

Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. "How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty?"

All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite.

The big monk looked surprised and said, "I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?"

Moral: This very old Chinese Zen story reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us angry. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away. 

There is no point in remaining hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over. Learn to move on in life...

The Dog in the Well

In old times, there was a village having only one well for drinking water.

One day a dog fell down in the well and died. The water became filthy and undrinkable. 

The worried villagers went to the old wise man for advice.

They were told to take 100 buckets of water from the well so that clean water come to the surface of the well.

The villagers took 100 buckets but water status was same. They went to the wise man again. He suggested to take another 100 buckets.

The villagers did the same but to no avail. They villagers tried third time to take another 100 buckets as per the advice from the wise man but water was still impure.

The wise said, How come the whole well is polluted even removing this much considerable amount of water. Did you remove the dog body prior to taking 300 buckets of water?

The villagers said, "no sir, you only advised us to take water out, not the dog body !!!"

Reflection:

Several times in life we try to resolve our problems without considering the root cause of the problems. We believe that we are resolving the problem whereas in actual we are working on the side effects of problem not the problem itself.

We don't see the big picture to understand the root of the issue.  We take advice from our well wishers but do not use our brain to think logically to analyze the advice and then decide, instead, we start acting blindly on the solutions suggested by others.

It's All Good

I heard the story told recently about a king in Africa who had a close friend that he grew up with. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!". To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right" he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "this is good!"

"What do you mean, 'this is good'! How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year."

"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."

The Family Goes to Village

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the village with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

“Oh yeah,” said the son.

“So, tell me, what you learned from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered:
“I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.

Appreciate every single thing you have God has blessed you with, especially your sincere friends!


“Life is too short and friends are too few.”

Try Something Different

Most people are stuck right where they are. The reason they're stuck,
however, isn't usually due to circumstances, incompetence, or lack of
opportunity, but a simple unwillingness to change, to try new things.
   
We can make smaller, inner changes on a day-to-day, moment to moment
basis - changes in our attitude, reactions, and expectations. I'm talking
about being willing to take new risks, and face old fears.

Over and over again I hear people saying things like "I've always done
things that way" or "That's just the type of person I am." These things are
said as if they are carved in stone. It is amazing what you can learn by
simply opening your mind and trying new things.

 Starting today, tell yourself that you are going to do something, however
small, a little differently. Perhaps you can be more friendly to the people
you work with. Maybe it's not too late to overcome your fear of asking
others to help you, or for their advice whoever you are, whatever you do,
there is always something you can do a little differently.

 You may find that you love the tiny changes you make and that you can open
exciting new doors by making relatively small adjustments. If you're okay
with the changes, you might want to try some other changes as well.

9 self-created rules in order to stray positive and live a stress free life

1-      I must develop the power of not looking back in the past to read the old chapters of life again and again because I cannot go back to my past to fix things. Whatever has happened has happened. Now is the time to review the lessons learnt once and then focus on to improve my present and future.  

2-      I have to stay away from negative souls which means I have to avoid spending time with people doing backbiting, criticizing, cursing, complaining, conspiring, corrupting and complicating.

3-      I have to stop judging others for their actions. I must mind my own business instead of interpreting their actions and commenting in negative way. Thinking and speaking about others pollutes my thoughts and steals my peace of mind.
4-      I must develop the habit of gratitude. Which means that at the end of each day I must refresh the fact that I am better than billions of the people of the world. Being healthy, not in debt, sleeping on the bed, eating 3 times a day and using internet are the great blessings billions of people don’t enjoy. People possessing high level of gratitude strengthen positive powerful thoughts.  
5-      I must spend time in reading good books, visiting websites on positivity, liking Facebook pages containing quotes and reading inspirational stories on daily basis. This will help remove negative impurities from my personality and empower my positive personality trait.

 

6-      I must stop being explosive and reactive to people and situations. I must stay positive about other’s feelings and respect their opinions because every soul is unique in thinking so I should avoid imposing my thoughts to others. I must confess the fact that I can be wrong at times so understanding other’s perspective be being empathic is very important for me to avoid building stress reducing my self-positivity-index.

7-      I must be positive about my circumstances even if they are not so good. I have to understand the fact that time does not stop so I have to start taking the necessary actions to expedite the change process. One thousand plans cannot be equal to the power of one great step taken right now!!!
8-      I must of focus on spiritual awakening acts such as a) frequent attacks of smiling, loss of ability in conflicts, loss of ability to judging others, ability to react to things as they happen instead of living in fears and so on.  

 

9-      I must focus on improving the quality of my thoughts because quality of thoughts determine the level of peace of mind.