Day: 22 September 2020

A son and his father were walking on the mountains.

Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: “AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!”

To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: “AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Curious, he yells: “Who are you?”

He receives the answer: “Who are you?”

And then he screams to the mountain: “I admire you!”

The voice answers: “I admire you!”

Angered at the response, he screams: “Coward!”

He receives the answer: “Coward!”

He looks to his father and asks: “What’s going on?”

The father smiles and says: “My son, pay attention.”

Again the man screams: “You are a champion!”

The voice answers: “You are a champion!”

The boy is surprised, but does not understand.

Then the father explains: “People call this ECHO,

but really this is LIFE.”

It gives you back everything you say or do.

Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.

If you want more love in the world,

create more love in your heart.

If you want more competence in your team,

improve your competence.

This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life;

Life will give you back everything you have given to it.”

“Your life is not a coincidence. It’s a reflection of you!”

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped

off the train in Boston and walk timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University

President’s outer office.

The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at

Harvard and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge.

“We want to see the president,” the man said softly.

“He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped.

“We’ll wait,” the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged

and go away. They didn’t and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the

president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.

“Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she said to him.

He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time

to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer

office.

The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him, “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was

happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a

memorial to him, somewhere on campus.”

The president wasn’t touched…. He was shocked.

“Madam,” he said, gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and

died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly. “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to

give a building to Harvard.”

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then

exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over

seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”

For a moment the lady was silent.

The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now.

The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it

costs to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?”

Her husband nodded.

The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr.

and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to

Palo Alto, California where they established the University that

bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that

Harvard no longer cared about.

You can easily judge the character of others by how

they treat those who they think can do nothing.

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped

off the train in Boston and walk timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University

President’s outer office.

The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at

Harvard and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge.

“We want to see the president,” the man said softly.

“He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped.

“We’ll wait,” the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged

and go away. They didn’t and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the

president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.

“Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she said to him.

He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time

to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer

office.

The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him, “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was

happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a

memorial to him, somewhere on campus.”

The president wasn’t touched…. He was shocked.

“Madam,” he said, gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and

died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly. “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to

give a building to Harvard.”

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then

exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over

seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”

For a moment the lady was silent.

The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now.

The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it

costs to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?”

Her husband nodded.

The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr.

and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to

Palo Alto, California where they established the University that

bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that

Harvard no longer cared about.

You can easily judge the character of others by how

they treat those who they think can do nothing.

A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the

shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been

flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over its own pelt and strolled down

among the sheep. The Lamb that belonged to the sheep, whose skin the Wolf

was wearing, began to follow the Wolf in the Sheep’s clothing; so, leading the

Lamb a little apart, he soon made a meal off her, and for some time he

succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoying hearty meals.

Appearances are deceptive

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 big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On

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. As 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 others never understand.

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to

improve one’s condition.

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the

butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed

to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no

farther.

Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors

and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then

emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any

moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the

body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling

around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What this man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the

restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get

through the tiny opening were nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body

of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it

achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go

through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong

as what we could have been. And we could never fly…

A teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. The

father believed in encouragement. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was

always in the stands cheering. He never missed a game.

This young man was the smallest of the class when he entered high school. His father continued to

encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn’t want to.

But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best

at every practice, and perhaps he’d get to play when he became a senior. All through high school he

never missed a practice or a game, but remained a bench warmer all four years. His faithful father

was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him. When the young man went

to college, he decided to try out for the football team as a “walk-on.”

Everyone was sure he could never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him

on the roster because he always puts his heart and soul to every practice, and at the same time,

provided the other members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed. The news that he had

survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father.

His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games. This

persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to

play in the game.

It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before

the big play off game, the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and he

became deathly silent. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, “My father died this morning.

Is it all right if I miss practice today?”

The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, “Take the rest of the week off, son.

And don’t even plan to come back to the game on Saturday.” Saturday arrived, and the game was

not going well.

In the third quarter, when the team was ten points behind, a silent young man quietly slipped into

the empty locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the sidelines, the coach and his

players were astounded to see their faithful team-mate back so soon.

“Coach, please let me play. I’ve just got to play today,” said the young man.

The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted his worst player in this close

playoff game. But the young man persisted, and finally feeling sorry for the kid, the coach gave in.

“All right,” he said. “You can go in.” Before long, the coach, the players and everyone in the stands

could not believe their eyes. This little unknown, who had never played before, was doing

everything right. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed, blocked and tackled

like a star. His team began to triumph.

The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game, this kid intercepted a pass and ran all

the way for the winning touchdown. The fans broke loose. His team-mates hoisted him onto their

shoulders. Such cheering you’ve never heard!

Finally, after the stands had emptied and the team had

showered and left the locker room, the coach noticed

that the young man was sitting quietly in the corner all

alone. The coach came to him and said, “Kid, I can’t

believe it. You were fantastic!”

Tell me what got into you? How did you do it? He

looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said,

“Well, you knew my dad died, but did you know that my

dad was blind?” The young man swallowed hard and

forced a smile, “Dad came to all my games, but today

was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to

show him I could do it!”

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old

man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at

the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas

rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped, the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. “We must do something about

Grandfather,” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the

floor.” So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while

the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was

served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a

tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions

when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He

asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” Just as sweetly, the boy responded, “Oh, I am

making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.” The four-year-old

smiled and went back to work. The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then

tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be

done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family.

And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care

“Little Things Affect Little Minds”

any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the

tablecloth soiled.

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him

that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to

control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it

was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence….

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the

father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his

temper. The day passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were

gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well,

my son, but look at the holes in the fence.”

The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.

You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry,

the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Friends and loved ones are a very rare jewel, indeed.

They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.

They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they

always want to open their hearts to us. Water your

relationships with kindness… and they will grow. So be

careful little lips what you say…! And you won’t chase

friendships away.

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of

showing his son how the poor people live so he could be thankful for his wealth.

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 can be?” the father asked. “Oh yeah” said the son. “So what did you

learn 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.”

With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks dad for showing me how

poor we are.”

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated,

to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: “Daddy, may I ask you a question?”

DAD: “Yeah sure, what is it?” replied the man.

SON: “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?”

DAD: “That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

SON: “I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?”

DAD: “If you must know, I make $20 an hour.”

“Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said,

“Daddy, may I please borrow $10?”

The father was furious, “If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy

a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed.

Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even

angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was

something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn’t ask for money very often.

The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

“Are you asleep, son?” He asked. “No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It’s been a long day and

I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $10 you asked for.”

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. “Oh, thank you daddy!” He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

“Why do you want more money if you already have some?” the father grumbled.

“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.

“Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow.

I would like to have dinner with you.”

Share this story with someone you like…. But even better, share $20 worth of time with someone

you love. It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.

We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who

really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of

days.

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to

think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family. An unwise investment indeed!

So what is the moral of the story???

Don’t work too hard…and you know what’s the full word of FAMILY?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER,(I)(L)OVE (Y)OU!