Month: September 2020

A group of frogs were hopping contentedly through the woods, going about their froggy business,

when two of them fell into a deep pit. All of the other frogs gathered around the pit to see what

could be done to help their companions. When they saw how deep the pit was, the rest of the

dismayed group agreed that it was hopeless and told the two frogs in the pit that they should

prepare themselves for their fate, because they were as good as dead.

Unwilling to accept this terrible fate, the two frogs began to jump with all of their might. Some of

the frogs shouted into the pit that it was hopeless, and that the two frogs wouldn’t be in that

situation if they had been more careful, more obedient to the froggy rules, and more responsible.

The other frogs continued sorrowfully shouting that they should save their energy and give up,

since they were already as good as dead. The two frogs continued jumping as hard as they could,

and after several hours of desperate effort were quite weary.

Finally, one of the frogs took heed to the calls of his fellows. Spent and disheartened, he quietly

resolved himself to his fate, lay down at the bottom of the pit, and died as the others looked on in

helpless grief. The other frog continued to jump with every ounce of energy he had, although his

body was wracked with pain and he was completely exhausted.

His companions began a new, yelling for him to accept his fate, stop the pain and just die.

The weary frog jumped harder and harder and – wonder of wonders! Finally leapt so high that he

sprang from the pit. Amazed, the other frogs celebrated his

miraculous freedom and then gathering around him asked,

“Why did you continue jumping when we told you it was

impossible?” Reading their lips, the astonished frog

explained to them that he was deaf, and that when he saw

their gestures and shouting, he thought they were cheering

him on. What he had perceived as encouragement inspired

him to try harder and to succeed against all odds.

This simple story contains a powerful lesson. Your encouraging words can lift someone up and help

him or her make it through the day. Your destructive words can cause deep wounds; they may be

the weapons that destroy someone’s desire to continue trying – or even their life. Your destructive,

careless word can diminish someone in the eyes of others, destroy their influence and have a lasting

impact on the way others respond to them.

WEAKNESS OR STRENGTH?

Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of

one 10-year-old boy who decided to study Judo despite the fact that he

had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese Judo Master Sensei.

The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three

months of training the master had taught him only one move.

“Sensei,” the boy finally said, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”

“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,”

the Sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the Sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy

easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time,

his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match.

Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared

to be over matched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out.

He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

“No,” the Sensei insisted, “Let him continue.”

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard.

Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament.

He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and Sensei reviewed every move in each and every match.

Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

“Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”

“You won for two reasons,” the Sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most

difficult throws in all of Judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your

opponent to grab your left arm.”

The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

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.