Story

Thinking “Out of the Box”

Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.

What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.

Moral of the Story :

Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way.

Story

How can we be HAPPY? (Can be done as activity)

Once a group of 50 people was attending a seminar.

Suddenly the speaker stopped and decided to do a group activity. He started giving each one a balloon. Each one was asked to write his/her name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room.

Now these delegates were let in that room and asked to find the balloon which had their name written, within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for their name, colliding with each other, pushing around others and there was utter chaos.

At the end of 5 minutes no one could find their own balloon.

Now each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it.

Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

The speaker began— Exactly this is happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is.

Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their happiness, you will get your own happiness.

And this is the purpose of human life.

Discuss do we need God?

Story

God, we don’t need you anymore

God was sitting in heaven one day when a scientist said to Him, “God, we don’t need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing – in other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning.

“Oh, is that so? Tell Me…” replies God.

“Well,” says the scientist, “we can take soil and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, thus creating man.”

“Well, that’s very interesting…show Me.”

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil into the shape of a man.

“No, no, no…” interrupts God, “Get your own soil.”

Story

Meaningless Goals

A farmer had a dog who used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it. One day a neighbor asked the farmer “Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?” The farmer replied, “That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one.”

Moral of the Story

“Many people in life behave like that dog who is pursuing meaningless goals.”

“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”

Activity

• Children can write the goals they want to achieve and also how they will achieve.

Story

Coffee

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.

Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer”, he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.

He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

In life, things happen around us and things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.

Story

What is the most Important part of the body

My mother used to ask me :

“ What is the most Important part of the body….???? ”

Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct Answer.

When I was younger, I thought Sound was very important to us as humans, so I said, ” My ears, Mommy.’

She said : ” No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon….”

Several years passed before she asked me again.

Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer.

So this time I told her, ” Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes…..”

She looked at me and told me :

“You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind…. ”

Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years, Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was : ” NO….”

But you are getting smarter every year, my Child…..”

Then one year, my grandfather died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was crying. Even my father cried.

I remember that especially because it was only the second time I saw him cry.

My Mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to my Grandfather.

She asked me :

“Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear….????? ”

I was shocked when she asked me this now. I always thought this was a game between her and me.

She saw the confusion on my face and told me :

“This question is very Important. It shows that you have really lived in your life. For Every Body Part you gave me in the past, I have told you were wrong and I have given you an example why.

But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson……”

She looked down at me as only a mother can. I saw her eyes well up with tears. She said :

“ My Dear, The Most Important Body Part Is Your Shoulder……”

I asked : ” Is it because it holds up My Head…..????? ”

She replied :

“NO, It Is Because It Can Hold The Head Of A Friend Or A Loved One When They Cry. Everybody Needs A Shoulder To Cry On. Sometime In Life, My Dear, I Only Hope That You Have Enough Love And Friends That You Will Always Have A Shoulder To Cry On When You Need It….”

Then and there I knew the most Important body part is not a Selfish One. It is made for others and not for yourself. It is sympathetic to the pain of others.

People will forget what you said.

People will forget what you did.

BUT, People Will NEVER Forget How You Made Them FEEL.

Good friends Are like Stars……You don’t Always See Them,

But you always Know They Are There.

Story

Building Bridges

Once upon a time two brothers who lived on adjoining farms fell into conflict. It was the first serious rift in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed without a hitch.

Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.

One morning there was a knock on the older brother’s door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter’s toolbox. “I’m looking for a few days work,” he said.

“Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there. Could I help you?”

“Yes,” said the older brother. “I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm. That’s my neighbor, in fact, it’s my younger brother. Last week there was a meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I’ll go him one better. See that pile of lumber curing by the barn? I want you to build me a fence – an 8-foot fence – so I won’t need to see his place anymore. Cool him down, anyhow.”

The carpenter said, “I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails and the post-hole digger and I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you.”

The older brother had to go to town for supplies, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day.

The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing.

About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped.

There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge… a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work handrails and all – and the neighbor, his younger brother, was coming across, his hand outstretched.

“You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I’ve said and done.”

The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hand. They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder. “No, wait! Stay a few days. I’ve a lot of other projects for you,” said the older brother.

“I’d love to stay on,” the carpenter said, “but, I have many more bridges to build.

Story

The story of a woodcutter

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.

The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”

Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

“ I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

“ When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.

“ Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”

Reflection:

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever.

Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to get close to our Creator, giving more time for our family, taking time to read etc.

We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

Story

God’s gift

One day a construction supervisor from 6th floor of building was calling a worker working on the ground floor. Because of construction noise, the worker on ground floor did not hear his supervisor calling.

Then, to draw the attention of worker, the supervisor threw a 10 rupee note from up which fell right around in front of the worker.

The worker picked up the 10 rupee note, put it in his pocket & continued with his work.

Again to draw the attention of worker, the supervisor now threw 500 rupee note & the worker did the same, picked 500 rupee note, put it in his pocket & started doing his job.

Now to draw attention of the worker, the supervisor picked a small stone & threw on worker. The stone hit exactly the worker head. This time the worker looked up & the supervisor communicated with the worker.

This story is same as of our life. Lord from up wants to communicate with us, but we are busy doing our worldly jobs. Then God give us small gifts & we just keep it without seeing from where we got it.

Then God gives us amounts (gifts) & we are the same. Just keep the gifts without seeing from where it come & without thanking God. We just say we are LUCKY.

Then when we are hit with a small stone, which we call problems, then we look up & we communicate with God.

So every time we get gift, we should thank God immediately, and not wait till we are hit by a small stone, and then we should communicate with God…

Story

Once Buddha was traveling with a few of his followers.

While they were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from the lake.”

The disciple walked up to the lake.

At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake.

As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid.

The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?”

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

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

to the lake.

The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy.

He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

This time, the disciple found the mud had settled down, and the water was clean and clear.

So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he 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, and you have clear water.”

Your mind is like that too ! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own.

You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down.

It will happen. It is effortless.”

Having ‘Peace of Mind’ is not a strenuous job, it is an effortless process so keep ur mind cool and have a great life ahead…