A Simple Sweet Smile

Once when I was waiting for a particular train at late night, an incident that happened amazed me. I saw a weary old father, walking cheerfully with heavy bundles on his head, holding his little daughter. He lifted the things down on a stone bench and looked very pathetic. In a few seconds I saw him smiling sincerely at someone, which made me curious to know who is at the other end. It was his elder daughter who came towards him smiling and kissing her sleepy younger sister whom she was carrying in her left arms and a bundle in her right shoulder. When the father and his daughters were exchanging their love, again I saw a little girl walking slowly towards them, with eyelids half closed in drowsiness, stumbling both the sides, dragging a small bundle. When the elder sister saw that her little sister coming towards them with drowsing heavy-eyes, she rushed to her aid, embraced her, hold her in her arms and showered her with kisses. After a few steps, it also astonished me to see, that the little bud, opened her eyes widely, hold on her elder sister's neck tightly with a smile and kissed her in turn of the warm affection that she received from her. Finally they all came together and sat down for their supper with full blooming face.

My dear sisters and brothers, this may an event in our day to day life. But it taught me some values in my life, which no one can teach in words. Though they were burdened the whole day, it was their affectionate love for one another that kept them moving on. Many times when others smile at us, it has brought some changes in our life, which we have never realized because we have taken them for granted.

An honest smile makes others to forget their hard times in life. Our smile is enough to encourage the down trodden and to let the captives free. God never asked any great things or miracles from us. He said just to love our neighbours as He loves us. Our genuine Smile of today can change the life of someone tomorrow. Our heart felt smile has the power to heal the wounds and to break the stony hearts. Look around us, where people struggle due to various reasons which we never thought of, in our lives. You and I cannot go and aid them individually. So let us just give a blessing of smile and see what happens in our life and theirs too.

A Smile costs nothing, but does many things in life. It can do miracles. So my dear friends carry the medicine SMILE with you, wherever you go and heal the wounded souls. SMILE begets SMILE.

Now SMILE please. Thanks, cos ur smile is valuable for me too.

Let your obstacles be a stepping stone in life

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

The peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition. Unless we fall down, we cannot rise up. Every fall is an opputunity to arise.A day cannot be completed without dark night.

Gratitude is the best attitude

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those

conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxi.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A

special note was attached. It read: “Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway  the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to

make it to my dying Husband’s’ bedside just before he passed away… God Bless You for helping me and unselfishly serving others.”

Sincerely,

Mrs. Nat King Cole.

Yes, Gratitude is the best attitude. Am I grateful who everyone who does miracles in my life-To my  partner, my parents, my children, my friends, my neighbours, my driver, my servant maid, my doctor, my teacher, my priests, my counsellors......and everyone whom I come across in my day today life?

Every human deserves Love

During the second month of college, a professor gave a pop quiz. Arun was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until he read the last one:

“What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was some kind of joke. He had seen the Cleaning woman several times. She was tall, Dark-haired and in her 50′s, but how would he know her name? He handed his paper, leaving the last question Blank. Just before class ended, one student asked whether the last question would count toward their quiz grade.. 'Absolutely', said the professor. “In your careers, You will meet many people. All are significant.. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'Hello'. A loving word does great wonders in others life".

This is a great lesson for everyone of us. At times we don't bother our milkman, newspaper boy, house maid, laundry boy, rickshaw man, conductor.....They too need our love and appreciation. Lets change others lives by our simple art of love.

I love me, as I am.

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection,  and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.

"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years,to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts", the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.

But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path,  but not on the other pot's side?  That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it.

I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table.

Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Yes, dear friends! Sometimes we too feel unnecessary over guilty of our weaknesses, forgetting how we are a blessing/grace in other's life. So lets love ourself and accept ourself as we are.

Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

There is a Chinese story of an old farmer who had an old horse for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and, when all the farmer's neighbours sympathised with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'

A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbours congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, 'Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?'.

Then, when the farmer's son was attempted to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'.

Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg they let him off. Now, Was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

There is nothing like Good Luck or Bad Luck. It is all our Choices and Decisions that we make, which creates our Destiny in life. It is all about the Positive and Negative ways in which we accept things in life. So it is not a matter of Luck, but a matter of our Choice.

Value of Love

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink. So all constructed boats left, except Love. Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help. Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?". Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"

"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you." "Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!". Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way.

 Realizing how much was owed the elder,Love asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who Helped me?"

"It was Time," Knowledge answered. "Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"

Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because - Only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is." 

Mother's Love

An article in National Geographic several years ago provided a penetrating picture of God's wings... After a fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. All the birds were flying for their lives. But one bird did not. Later,one ranger found a bird literally burnt into ashes. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he struck it, three tiny chicks were found under the dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast, because she was willing to die, for the little ones under her wings to live.

There is no love of any human, which can win Mother's Love.

Stop being a glass

Once an unhappy young man came to an old master and told he was very sad and asked for a solution.

The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" the Master asked. "Awful," spat the apprentice. The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the Master asked, "How does it taste?" "Good!" remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked the Master. "No," said the young man. The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said,

"The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the 'pain' depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things ..... Stop being a glass. Become a lake.

Am I a Garbage Collector?

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. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. 'How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?' thought the little monk. 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?'

This very old Chinese Zen story which reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life which irritate us. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous .. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away.We keep on carrying the baggage of the 'pretty lady' with us. We let them keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause us a lot of agony. Why? Simply because we are not willing to put down or let go of the baggage of the 'pretty lady'. We should let go off the pretty lady immediately after crossing the river. This will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over.

Why so much bothered about croaking frogs?

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, 'There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs - millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!' So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, 'Well... where are all the frogs?' The farmer said, 'I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!'

[Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.]

What is my concern?

Once a turtle family decided to go on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last!

For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.

Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years... then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, 'See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt.'

[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. And sometimes we are so concerned about what others are doing that we do not do anything ourselves.]