O Stories

THE country schoolhouse was heated by an old-  fashioned coal stove. An eight-year-old boy had  the job of coming to school early each day to start  the fire and warm the room before everybody arrived.  One morning they arrived to find the schoolhouse in flames.  They dragged the unconscious boy out of the flaming building.  He had major burns over the lower half of his body and was  taken to a nearby hospital. From his bed the dreadfully burned,  semi-conscious boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his  mother that her son would surely die – which was for the best, really –  for the fire had devastated the lower half of his body.  But the brave boy made up his mind that he would survive.  Somehow, to the amazement of doctors, he did survive.  Again the doctor told his mother that since the fire had almost destroyed the lower part of his body, he was doomed to  be a lifetime cripple with no us...

I love my husband for his steady nature.  Three years of courtship and now, two years into marriage,  I would have to admit, that I am getting tired of it.  The reasons of me loving him before,  has now transformed into the cause of all my restlessness.  I am a sentimental woman. I yearn for the romantic moments.  My husband is my complete opposite, his lack of sensitivity,  and the inability of bringing romantic moments into our  marriage has disheartened me about love.  One day, I finally decided to tell him my decision,  that I wanted a divorce. “Why?” he asked, shocked.  “I am tired; there are no reasons for everything  in the world!” I answered. He kept silent the whole night.  And finally he asked me: “What can I do to change your mind?”  Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered :  “Here is the question, if you can answer and convince my heart, I will change my mind, Let’s say, I wa...

Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl.  One day when she and her mother were checking  out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl  necklace priced at $2.50. How she wanted that necklace,  and when she asked her mother if she would buy it for her,  her mother said, “Well, it is a pretty necklace,  but it costs an awful lot of money. I’ll tell you what.  I’ll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we  can make up a list of chore that you can do to pay  for the necklace. And don’t forget that for your birthday  Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too.  Okay?” Jenny agreed, and her mother bought the  pearl necklace for her. Jenny worked on her chores  hard every day,  and sure enough, her grandma gave  her a brand new  dollar bill for her birthday. Soon Jenny had paid off  the pearls. How Jenny loved those pearls. She  wore them everywhere...

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me. He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wasu, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.' Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Wasu's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.' I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink....

A merchant sent his son to learn the Secret of Life from  the wisest of men. The young man wandered through  the desert for forty days until he reached a beautiful  castle at the top of a mountain.  There lived the sage that  the young man was looking for.  The wise man welcomed our hero with a smile.  With considerable patience, he listened attentively to the  reason for the boy's visit,  but told him that unfortunately,  at that moment, he did  not have the time to explain to him  the Secret of Life.  He suggested that the young man take  a stroll around  his palace and come back in two hours' time. "However, I want to ask you a favor," the wise man added,  handing the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops  of oil.  "While you walk, carry this spoon and don't let the  oil spill."  The young man began to climb up and down the  palace staircase...

A theology professor was teaching about anger,  he asked his students, "why do we shout in anger?  Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?" The students thought for a while. One of them answered, because we lose our calm, we shout for that. 'But why shout when the other person is just next to you?' Asked the professor . "Isn't it possible to speak to him or  her with a soft voice? Why do we shout when you are angry? " The students gave some answers but none satisfied the Proffessor. Finally he explained, "when two people are angry at each other ,  their hearts psychologically distance themselves.  To cover the distance they must shout to hear each other t hrough that great distance." Then the Proffessor asked, "what happens when two people love each other ? They don't shout at eachother but talk softly, why?  because their hearts are psychologically close.  The distance between them is...

A clever lesson in Self worth. Teacher: Who would like this 500 note? Each and every student raised their hands. Teacher: Okay, I will give this to one of you but,  first let me crush this note. Teacher: And now, who still wants it? Now again, students raised their hands. Teacher: What if I crush this under my shoe? Teacher: Now who wants it? Again, students raised their hands. Teacher: My dear students, I have just showed  you a very important lesson. No matter  what I did with this money, you still wanted it  because it never lost its worth. It's still a ₹500 note. Well, there are many times in our lives when we  feel like life has crumpled us up and grounded  us into the dirt. We make some bad decisions or we have to deal with some poor circumstances  and sometimes our lives can make us feel worthless but no matter what has happened or what will happen, never lose...

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes  along and shoves you or shakes your arm, making you  spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee? "Well because someone bumped into me, of course!" Wrong answer. You spilled the coffee because coffee was in the cup. If tea had been in it, you would have spilled tea. Whatever is inside the cup is what will come out. Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you  (which will happen), whatever is inside of you will  come out. It's easy to fake it until you get rattled. So we have to ask ourselves....what's in my cup? When life gets tough, what spills over? Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? Or anger, bitterness, harsh words and actions? You choose! Today let's work towards filling our cups with  gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation to yourself and others.

In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sell sword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two.  ‘Do it,’ says the king, ‘for I am your lawful ruler.’  ‘Do it,’ says the priest, ‘for I command you in the names of the gods.’  ‘Do it,’ says the rich man, ‘and all this gold shall be yours.’  So tell me – who lives and who dies?”  When one first saw/heard this quote his or her mind instantly would raced to the  one thing the person itself want, it  seems like more of a reflection of own biases and own time of one being than anything else. The way one can also see it, it's that man of common birth who holds all the power in that situation. If he does not listen to the priest, or the king or the banker, then no one will die. And if no one else listens to them either, what power do they really have? People...

There were two monks.They were travelling across countries to gain knowledge. On their way, there was a river with no bridge. They have to cross the river through walk. So they have decided to walk across the river. At the same time, there was a young beautiful lady at the river side who also needed to cross the river. She asked for help to the monks. So the elder one between the two, carried her on his back and helped her cross the river. The girl thanked the monk and left.  The monks walked a mile in silence and the younger monk told the elder “A monk should not behave like this. He won't hold a girl like you.”  The Elder monk said, “I have dropped the girl a mile away. But you are holding her still”. This is the saddest truth in our life.  We are not utilizing the present moment. We used to carry around past hurts, holding onto resentments ruining the precious life given by god.