"Inspirational stories are for everyone, not just for people that can afford them."
Depending on what time it is there, good dawn, good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good dusk. Haha, sorry, I just couldn't stop myself from saying that. I know, it's been a while since I last posted something. This time it's not my fault! I just had nothing to say. *Big grin plastered on face*
Haha, as if. My mind is filled too much with ideas and words. I just am too freaking lazy to actually type something into here. So until I get something worth rambling about that's also worth reading, I guess you'll have to settle with these inspirational stories I came across. Enjoy! Each "obscure" or "hard to understand" part will be added a "lesson" to learn at the end of it.
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A butcher watching over his shop is really surprised when he sees a dog coming inside the shop. He shoos the away. But later, the dog is back again.
So he goes over to the dog and notices that the dog has a note in its mouth. He takes the note and the note reads "Can I have 12 sausages and a leg of lamb, please? The dog has the money in his mouth."
The butcher looks inside and, lo and behold, there is a ten dollar note there. So he takes the money and puts the sausages and lamb in a bag, placing it in the dog's mouth. The butcher is so impressed and, since it's about closing time, he decides to shut up shop and follow the dog.
So off he goes. The dog is walking down the street when he comes to a level crossing.
The dog puts down the bag, jumps up and presses the button. Then he waits patiently, bag in mouth, for the lights to turn. Then they do, and he walks across the road with the butcher following him all the way.
The dog then comes to a bus stop, and starts looking at the timetable.
The butcher is in awe at this stage. The dog checks out the times, and then sits on one of the seats provided. Along comes a bus. The dog walks around to the front, looks at the number, and then goes back to his seat.
Another bus comes. Again, the dog goes and looks at the number, notices it's the right bus, and climbs on. The butcher, by now open-mouthed, follows him onto the bus.
The bus travels through the town and out into the suburbs, the dog looking at the scenery. Eventually he gets up, and moves to the front of the bus. He stands on 2 back paws and pushes the button to stop the bus. Then he gets off, his groceries still in his mouth.
Well, dog and butcher are walking along the road, and then the dog turns into a house. He walks up the path, and drops the groceries on the step.
Then he walks back down the path, takes a big run, and throws himself against the door. He goes back down the path, runs up to the door and, again, throws himself against it. There's no answer at the house, so the dog goes back down the path, jumps up on a narrow wall, and walks along the perimeter of the garden. He gets to the window, and beats his head against it several times, walks back, jumps off, and waits at the door.
The butcher watches as a big guy opens the door, and starts abusing the dog, kicking him and punching him, and swearing at him. The butcher runs up and stops the guy. "What in Heaven's name are you doing?! The dog is a genius! He could be on TV!" to which the man responds, "You call this clever? This is the second time this week that this stupid dog forgot his key!"
Lesson:
Most people will look at our faults instead of our accomplishments. Don't let these people keep you down.
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A man was invited to a dinner party. Since it wasn't anything fancy, he decided to wear simple clothes. But when he got there, no one acknowledged him. In fact, he was rudely ignored.
The man went back home and changed into some fancy clothes. He returns to the dinner party, but this time, he is greeted warmly by the people there. He went and took some food from the buffet table. As soon as he sat down, he poured the food all over his shirt.
The people there looked at him in bewilderment and then asked, "Why are you doing that?!"
He looked at them calmly and then replied, "When I was here earlier in shabby clothes, I was ignored. But when I wore some fancy clothes, I realized that you didn't invite me to this dinner party. You invited my clothes. So I fed my clothes instead."
Lesson:
Don't treat someone just by looking at what they wear. Treat them according to their principles and their values.
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Quote: Success in life is 7% knowledge and 93% attitude.
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Quote: You have two ears and one mouth. So talk less and listen more.
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When I was a teenager, I had unlimited dreams. I thought I could
change the world.
When I was an adult, I had grown more mature. I realized that the world wouldn't change. So I then limited my original dream and decided that I could just
change the country.
But, even this wasn't enough. As I reached old age, my last option was to
change my family and those that were very close to me. Unfortunately, even they I could not change.
Finally, at my death bed, I realize (perhaps for the very first time). If had only just decided to
change myself. By showing a good example, I could have been able to
change my family. Then, with their love and support, I could have gotten my goal to
change the country. And who knows? I could have maybe then been able to
change the WORLD.
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To realize the value of ONE YEAR,
Ask a student who failed the final exam.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH,
Ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK,
Ask an editor of a weekly magazine.
To realize the value of ONE DAY,
Ask a daily wage labourer who has six kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR,
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE,
Ask a person who missed a bus or train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND,
Ask the person who survived an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND,
Ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
To realize the value of LIFE,
Ask the person who is now six feet under!
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A teacher enters a classroom. There is a jar on the table.
"If I put big rocks in it, can I put anything else?" He asks the class.
"Yes," says the class.
The teacher nodded, and put in small rocks. "
Now can I put anything inside the jar?"
"No, sir," one of the pupils answered.
The teacher then poured some gravel into the jar. The gravel fit in between the cracks that was left by the rocks, both big and small. "How about
now?" The teacher asked.
"Yes, sir!" A student said.
"Very good, Bobby," the teacher smiled, and continued to put sand into the jar. The sand went and occupied the small spaces left. "I guess that nothing more can be put inside the jar, am I right?" he asked.
"No sir, nothing else can be put." The students said.
The teacher smiled, and then then open-mouthed students just looked on as he poured water into the jar, filling the jar to the brim.
Lesson:
The lesson this story is telling us is that the jar is our life, and what we put in it are our priorities. Put in the big rocks, things such as your son's baseball game, your daughter's violin recital. Your parents' birthdays. Your anniversary with your spouse. Only after that should you put in the less important things in your life, from the small rocks to the water. Things such as client meetings and job interviews. They are not the big rocks in your life.
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A couple, whom we shall call John and Mary, had a nice home and two lovely children, a boy and a girl. John had a good job and had just been asked to go on a business trip to another city and would be gone for several days. It was decided that Mary needed an outing and would go along too. They hired a reliable woman to care for the children and made the trip, returning home a little earlier than they had planned.
As they drove into their home town feeling glad to be back, they noticed smoke, and they went off their usual route to see what it was. They found a home in flames. Mary said, "Oh well it isn't our fire, let's go home."
But John drove closer and exclaimed, "That home belongs to Fred Jones who works at the plant. He wouldn't be off work yet, maybe there is something we could do." "It has nothing to do with us." Protested Mary. "You have your good clothes on lets not get any closer."
But John drove up and stopped and they were both horror stricken to see the whole house in flames. A woman on the lawn was in hysterics screaming, "The children! Get the children!" John grabbed her by the shoulder saying, "Get a hold of yourself and tell us where the children are!" "In the basement," sobbed the woman, "down the hall and to the left."
In spite of Mary's protests John grabbed the water hose and soaked his clothes, put his wet handkerchief on his head and bolted for the basement which was full of smoke and scorching hot. He found the door and grabbed two children, holding one under each arm like the football player he was. As he left he could hear some more whimpering. He delivered the two badly frightened and nearly suffocated children into waiting arms and filled his lungs with fresh air and started back asking how many more children were down there. They told him two more and Mary grabbed his arm and screamed, "John! Don't go back! It's suicide! That house will cave in any second!"
But he shook her off and went back by feeling his way down the smoke filled hallway and into the room. It seemed an eternity before he found both children and started back. They were all three coughing and he stooped low to get what available air he could. As he stumbled up the endless steps the thought went through his mind that there was something strangely familiar about the little bodies clinging to him, and at last when they came out into the sunlight and fresh air, he found that he had just rescued his own children.
The baby-sitter had left them at this home while she did some shopping.
Lesson:
You should care for everyone, not just people that are important to you. By doing that, you'll end up helping not only the people that you care about, but yourself as well.
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I was in New York the other day and rode with a friend in a taxi. When we got out, my friend said to the driver, “Thank you for the ride. You did a superb job of driving.”
The taxi driver was stunned for a second. Then he said, “Are you a wise guy or something?”
“No, my dear man, and I'm not putting you on. I admire the way you keep cool in heavy traffic.”
“Yeah,” the driver said and drove off.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“I am trying to bring love back to New York," he said. "I believe it's the only thing that can save the city.”
“How can one man save New York?”
“It's not only one man. I believe I have made that taxi driver's day. Suppose he has 20 fares. He's going to be nice to those 20 fares because someone was nice to him. Those fares in turn will be kinder to their employees or shopkeepers or waiters or even their own families. Eventually the goodwill could spread to at least 1,000 people. Now that isn't bad, is it?”
“But you're depending on that taxi driver to pass your goodwill to others.”
“I'm not depending on it,” my friend said. “I'm aware that the system isn't foolproof so I might deal with ten different people today. If out of ten I can make three happy, then eventually I can indirectly influence the attitudes of 3,000 more.”
“It sounds good on paper,” I admitted, “but I'm not sure it works in practice.”
“Nothing is lost if it doesn't. It didn't take any of my time to tell that man he was doing a good job. He neither received a larger tip nor a smaller tip. If it fell on deaf ears, so what? Tomorrow there will be another taxi driver I can try to make happy.”
“You're some kind of a nut,” I said.
“That shows how cynical you have become. I have made a study of this. The thing that seems to be lacking, besides the money of course, for our postal employees, is that no one tells people who work for the post office what a good job they're doing.”
“But they're not doing a good job.”
“They're not doing a good job because they feel no one cares if they do or not. Why shouldn't someone say a kind word to them?”
We were walking past a structure in the process of being built and passed five workmen eating lunch. My friend stopped. “That's a magnificent job you men have done. It must have been difficult and dangerous work.”
The workmen eyed my friend suspiciously.
“When will it be finished?”
“June,” a man grunted.
“Ah. That's very impressive. You must all be very proud.”
We walked away. I said to him, “I haven't seen anyone like you since The Man From La Mancha.”
“When those men digest my words, they will feel better for it. Somehow the city will benefit from their happiness.”
“But you can't do this alone!" I protested. "You're just one man.
“The most important thing is not to get discouraged. Making people in the city become kind is not an easy job, but if I enlist other people in my campaign...”
“You just winked at a very plain-looking woman,” I said.
“Yes, I know," he replied. "And if she's a schoolteacher, her class will be in for a fantastic day.”
Lesson: A little bit of kindness can change the world.
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A teacher walked into a classroo
m carrying a glass. He walked in front and then lifted the glass.
"Is the glass heavy?" He asked.
The students looked at each other confused and then answered, "No, teacher."
"If I hold it for a few minutes, will it get any heavier?" He asked.
"No, teacher," was the response.
"What will happen if I hold it for a few hours?" He asked.
"Your hand would start hurting," a student said.
"Very good!" He added, "Now how about if I hold it for one night?"
"Your arm would probably fall off!" The class said.
"What should I do, then?"
"Put down the glass!" The class shouted.
Lesson:
Life's problems are like that. They're small, but if we dwell on them too long and too much, they will hurt us much more painfully than if we had just thought about them for a few minutes. So when life gives you troubles, don't dwell on them too long. You'll only be hurting yourself if you do.
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Okay, I think that's enough for now.
Till next time,
~Josh the Joshster~
