Your Daily Dose Of Motivation & Inspiring Stories

The Candy

2006-12-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

This story was narrated by Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas K. Gandhi.......

"When I was six years old, we were invited to visit grandfather on an ashram he founded where people live together in nonviolence,” said Arun. “A young couple lived there with their 6-year-old boy. This boy had a tremendous sweet tooth—if he did not get any candy he would take spoonfuls of sugar. The parents took the boy to the doctor as he was getting sick from the sugar. The doctor said no more sugar; no more sweets for you and no arguments. The parents still ate sweet chocolate and candy every day and the boy would take the sweets when no one was looking.”

Taking their son to Gandhi in desperation, the parents of the boy with the sweet tooth were told to bring him back in 15 days. They left, wondering why he could not speak to their son right away.

“They went away and came back and grandfather spoke to the boy for less than one minute,” said Arun, “after which time he promised to give up sweets. His parents were aghast. They asked grandfather what miracle he performed. He said, ‘It wasn’t a miracle. I had to ask him to give up sweets so I told him I have given up sweets and I will not eat anything until you give up sweets—will you give up sweets?’ The boy kept his vow and I learned that when parents care so much, to make that kind of sacrifice, children do not need force.”

So, it comes back to the old saying... Practice first before you preach!

The Donkey in the Well

2006-12-01T23:31:00.000-08:00

This is a story about an old donkey, who while walking fell into a dry well. He started shouting expecting that someone will pull him out of the well.

There were few passersby, who looked into the well and found the old donkey in a bad shape. They had no toools or ropes to pull him out. Also there was no help available around. They decided that the donkey should die rather than suffer and in any case the donkey didn't stand a chance of survival.

So they collected the mud lying around and started throwing into the well, to bury the donkey. Everytime the mud was thrown at him, the donkey shook the mud off his body and stepped on it. By the time the mud completely filled the well, the donkey climbed the mud and came out of the well.

Next time if someone throws mud at you, just shake it off yourself and get over it soon. Keep focus on your goal and don't be distracted by what others believe.

Have a nice day!

The Paradigm

2006-11-25T03:52:00.000-08:00

A lady, waiting at airport for a flight, felt very hungry. She went to a restaurant at the airport and bought a pack of cookies. She found a table in the restaurant & when she was about to open the pack of cookies, she thought of rechecking the flight time.

After checking, when she came back to her table, she saw something she couldn't have ever imagined.

A decent looking man was already sitting there & eating cookies out of the pack. She felt very angry, wondered how he could do this. She sat on the other side and frowned at him. The man similed back and offered her a cookie from the pack. She was really hungry, so she ate the cookie but also upset with the behavior of the person. This was against decency and unacceptable to her.

This went on for sometime, she kept eating from the same pack, rightfully so. But she also kept cursing this man and continued giving him an angry look. When only last cookie was left, the man broke it in two and gave one piece to her. Thereafter he smiled at the lady and left the restaurant.

The lady kept thinking about the incidence and even thought of letting her anger out on the man, if she ever saw him again.

When the flight was announced, she opened her handbag to take out the ticket. What she saw this time, left her in a state of shock.

The pack of cookies was lying inside the bag. Before she went for checking the flight time, she had kept the pack in her bag. And she thought that she had left the pack on the table and the man was eating out of her pack. Unknowingly, the man had also bought the same pack and sat on the same table.

Does it happens to us, once in a while? We always see the realty through our own filters of paradigm. Looking the same pack & table, the lady immediately reached at a conclusion that was based on her paradigm. She never bothered to challenge her point of view because she thought that she was right and the man was wrong.

Next time, before you get angry on someone, challenge your paradigm.

The Management Story

2006-10-31T04:32:00.000-08:00

This is a bit sarcastic & nasty one...

A big corporation hired several cannibals. "You are all part of our team now," said the HR manager during the welcome briefing. "You get all the usual benefits and you can go to the cafeteria for something to eat, but please don't eat any of the other employees." The cannibals promised they would not.

A few weeks later the cannibals' boss remarked, "You're all working very hard, and I'm satisfied with you. However, one of our shipping clerk has disappeared. This has affected our sales badly, since no material could move out. Do any of you know what happened to her?" The cannibals all shook their heads, "No," they said.

After the boss left, the leader of the cannibals said to the others angrily, "Right, which one of you idiots ate the shipping clerk?"

A hand rose hesitantly in admission. "You fool!" said the leader, "For weeks we've been eating managers and no one noticed anything, but you had to go and eat someone so important for the business!..."

Moral: Your importance is governed by contribution you make & not by your level.

The Last Moments

2006-10-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

This is a story about a shopkeeper who worked day & night and made lot of money during his lifetime. He was now almost on the deathbed.

He was surrounded by his two sons, wife and the servant. They were all waiting for his last breath and then this man opens his eyes with great difficulty.

He calls his elder son who eagerly rushes close to his face, hoping that his father will pass on entire inheritance to him. He then calls the younger son, who also does the same again hoping that he will get a part of his inheritance. He calls the servant as well, who hopes that the man will reward him before he dies and sits close to him.

The man gathers lot of energy and yells at everybody, " You fools! If all of you are sitting around, what will happen to my shop."

It is a fact that when closer to death, we remember things that impacted our lives the most. If we just spend our lives chasing our greed & desires, we will die dissatisfied like the shopkeeper. He couldn't think of anything else in his last moments but to be worried about his shop because that’s what he did all his life.

Please take out few but satisfying & peaceful moments in your daily life, which you can recall in your last moments. These moments can be spiritual, for social cause or good time spent with your family and friends.

Strive or Perish

2006-10-23T02:09:00.000-07:00

This not a story but a real case.

There was a company, once very profitable & successful, started under performing. The management couldn't figured out why was it so, because the market was growing and attracting new players.

The company hired a very high profile(also the high cost) consultant to figure out the problem. The consultant came out with series of recommendations, half of which were not accepted and the other half never implemented.

Then the company resorted to series of training programmes for their middle & senior management, but without any result.

One day an old accountant, during a review with management, showed the company financials and asked if they saw any problem. Everyone looked at the top numbers & said it looked fantastic. Then he started showing the details, numbers sliced down to geography & business and repeated the question. The group felt uncomfortable with those details and kept quiet. In the next step, the accountant compared the numbers with those of competitors and repeated the question. The group had no option but to accept in suppressed voice that there were problems in the way business was managed.

The accountant asked the group what they thought the problems were. Everybody pointed out the problems they saw in each others' area.

The CEO got the message & understood the root cause of the problem. The problem was with attitude. The managers had become complacent & lost touch with details. Also, everyone thought that the problem was in other area and didn't do anything to improve his own area.

The solution was simple but the company had lost time & business. It doesn't exisit any more.
The rule for survival is simple either Strive or Perish.

Whatever Happens, It Happens for Good

2006-10-20T01:43:00.000-07:00

This story is about a king who was fond of hunting and was always accompanied with a minister who was very close to him. This minister had a habit of saying to everyone, "Whatever happens, it happens for good" and this annoyed other ministers in the court.

During one of the hunting excursions, the king's toe finger was chopped off and as per his habit the minister couldn't stop himself from saying, "Whatever happens, it happens for good". Since the king was the victim this time, he got very annoyed with the minister and put him in jail.

In an another hunting trip, the king was captured by Cannibals and was about to be killed, when they noticed one of his toe finger missing. As per their tradition, they were not allowed to kill a person whose any body part was missing. So, they set him free.

The king recalled the words of his minister and realised how true were his words. He went to the minister in jail and apologised for his mistake. However, the minister said that it was good that he was jailed. Otherwise, he would have accompanied the king for the hunting trip & eaten by cannibals.

Many times we are taken aback by the short term impact of an event and don't realise that each of these events has a design for shaping our long term future. It is nature's way of controlling our lives.

Carrot, Egg or Coffee

2006-10-12T05:17:00.000-07:00

If given an option between Carrot, Egg or Coffee, what would you choose to be?

Strange question, isn't it? But the answer can make as much difference as between success & failure.

There was a successful business man who had three sons. Their family had a great name in the town & they were all proud of this fact. The sons lived off their father's name & wealth. Once the man made a huge loss in business & had to sell off his house & other valuables and had to live like a common man. The three sons had a tough time inadjusting to a different lifestyle.

The first son couldn't face the people & started sulking. He rarely moved out of the house. The second son was not willing to give up his old lifestyle & started borrowing money and accumulated huge debt. The third son didn't want to be like his elder brothers & approached father for his advice.

The man called all the sons and filled three pots with water.

In the first pot, he placed carrots.
In the second pot, he placed eggs.
In the third pot, he placed coffee beans.

He then boiled all the three pots for half an hour. Turning to them he asked, "What do you see in pots?"

"Carrots, eggs & coffee", they replied. "Now, feel & smell all the three", asked the man to his sons.

The sons didn't see any message because everything was normal to them. The man then explained,

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid center. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its insides had become hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water...they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" he asked his sons. "When adversity knocks on yourdoor, how do you respond? Are you a carrot , an egg, or a coffee bean?"

All of us face adversities in our lives. We become either a soft carrot & sulk or become defensive & hard like an egg.

If we are like the coffee bean, when things are at their worst, we get better and change the situation around us instead of letting it change us.

Have a nice day!

The Diamond Mine

2006-10-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

This story is about an African Farmer, who heard about others making millions by discovering diamond mines. So he did what others were doing, sold off his successful farm & traveled across the continent looking for diamond mines.

After two years of unsucessful search, he lost all his money & became bankrupt. He lost everything he had earned in his life.

Meanwhile, the man who bought the farm from this farmer, while tilling the land found coloured rock stones. When he showed the coloured stones to the experts, he discovered those were raw diamonds. He actually had a diamond mine in the farm.

The farmer who sold the farm didn't know how the raw diamonds looked like & ignored the wealth he was sitting on. Does it happen to us as well? There are so many opportunities around us which we keep ignoring, be it in our jobs, family or society. We keep running after greener pasteurs & lose golden opportunities so close to us.

From today onwards, find atleast one such opportunity around you, everyday. Who knows, you might be sitting on a diamond mine!

Have a nice day!

The Child's Mind

2006-10-10T06:27:00.000-07:00

She was the inventor’s three-year-old daughter. Dr. Edwin H. Land tells it this way: “I recall a sunny day in Sante Fe when my little daughter asked why she could not see at once the picture I had just taken of her. As I walked around the charming town, I undertook the Task of solving the puzzle she had set (sounds more like a challenge) for me. Within an hour, the camera, the film, And the physical chemistry became so clear to me.” And so Dr. Ed Land, founded the polaroid corporation in 1937 And headed it till 1982.

Health, Energy, Muscles, Tonics, Power, Proteins, Fitness

As we grow, we lose our ability to question the basics and take things for granted. It's important to have a child's mind, if we want to be creative & innovative. We all are born with same level of creativity but most of us lose it on way in our journey of life.

A Stone ........

2006-10-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

A young and successful executive was driving down a country side, going a bit too fast in his new car.

As his car passed, a big stone smashed into the car's side door! He applied the brakes and drove the car back to the spot where the stone had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, caught the man and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? That's a new car and that stone you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"

The young man was apologetic. "Please sir... please, I'm sorry... I didn't know what else to do," he pleaded. "I threw the stone because no one else would stop...". "It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Now sobbing, the man asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped man back into the wheelchair, then took out his fancy handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts.

"Thank God and may God bless you," the grateful man told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the man push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

The damage to car was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a stone at you to get your attention!
Energy Pills, muscle builder, proteins, Health, Mental Health, Mind Power

Think Before You Blame

2006-10-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

There were two brothers, who grew up together in a family. First one was a successful school principal, very disciplined and organized. He was respected by students & teachers alike. When asked about the reason for his success, he replied, " It's all because of my father. He was a disciplinarian & never tolerated breaking of any rules. I worked out my own ways to ensure that I don't give him any reason to complain. I owe my success to him."

The other brother turned out to be a ruffian who didn't have any job & ended up in jail many times. When asked about the reason for this behaviour, he replied, " It's all because of my father. He was a great tyrant & authoritarian & never tolerated any of my mistake. One day I couldn't take it any more, rebeled & left my house. He is responsible for destroying my life."

Our life is made of 10% what happens to us, over which we have no control and 90% how we react to it. However, normally we blame our circumstances (which is just 10%) for all our problems.

We have no control over traffic jams, delay in aircraft arrival or other such events. However, we have an option of cursing the situation, people & getting stressed OR read a book, listen to music while waiting. None of these things can change the situation but can definitely make a big difference to our lives.

Have a nice day!

Story of Two Frogs

2006-10-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

A group of frogs were travelling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the unfortunate frogs they would never Get out.

The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and simply gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and suffering and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. The reason why the other frog kept jumping despite a negative message from the crowd was because he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

You can help someone overcome problems or failures by your positive words of encouragement. Similarly, your negative words can also destroy morale.

Have a nice day!

Be What You Are

2006-10-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

Once there was a saint sitting besides a river. He noticed a scorpion drowning in water. He put his hand below the scorpion to save it from drowning. While taking it out water, he got stung by scorpion. His hand shook & the scorpion was back into the water.

The saint got stung many times while trying to save the scorpion from drowning. There was another man who noticed this incident & couldn't help asking the saint the reason for saving the scorpion who was so ungreatful.

The saint replied, "I was doing my job and so was the scorpion".

Most of times our actions & response towards others gets decided by what response we got or expect to get from others. That is when we do injustice to ourselves & our purpose for existence. Our actions should be led by our goals, irrespective of what treatment we get in return.

Have a nice day!
Pick of the day http://www.inspirationalstories.com

Don't be ashamed of your Weakness

2006-09-28T06:04:00.000-07:00

Once a man, used carry daily two pots of water, one on each side to his home. One of the pot was perfect but the other pot had a crack. By the time man reached home, the cracked pot used to be half empty.

It went on for many days. The perfect pot was proud of its achievement & ridiculed the cracked pot. Once the cracked pot spoke to his master, " I am really ashamed of myself. Beacuse of my flaw, your effort is wasted."

"What are you ashamed of?" asked the man. "Did you notice beautiful flowers on your side of path, which I take to carry water? These have not grown on its own. I used the water leaking from your crack to grow these flowers. Now I sell these flowers make additional money."

Each one us is a cracked pot, having one or many flaws. It is up to us how we convert our flaws into opportunity . Trust in God & the way He has made you. Don't be ashamed of your weakness or failures.

:-) 3M saw an opportunity in a weak glue that didn't stick permanantly. Result: Postit slips.

Pickof the day http://www.inspirationalstories.com/

Be Greatful to your Pains & Struggles

2006-09-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

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 further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. 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 the 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 God'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 lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us.

We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

Winning or Losing - Its all in Mind

2006-09-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

Imagine that you have been nominated to participate in Olympics and days before event you lose your hand.

Thats what happenned to Karoly Takacs, top shooter of Hungarian Army. He was expected to win Gold in 1940 Olympics at Tokyo. Few months before the event, in a training camp he lost his right hand in explosion. Any person, at that stage would quit & regret all life.

Takacs was different. He focused on what he had to be a winner i.e. will power and not what he had lost. He decided to practice shooting with left hand. Within months he was competing with other shooters.

Though Olympics were cancelled due to world war, but he became Gold Medalist at the age of 38. Not satisfied, he realized his dream of Olympic championship in 1952 at Helsinki.

It is not circumstances or events in our life but our response to these events, that decide our fate. We may decide to give up or bounce back and be a winner. Its all in our mind.

Have a nice day.
Pick of the day :http://www.angelfire.com

Don't Underestimate Your Worth

2006-09-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

Value

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.

He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special - Don't ever forget it!

Its All Programed In Mind

2006-09-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

Don't Act Like An Elephant!
Strange statement, isn't it?
Let me explain...
You might know that in India elephants are used for manual labor. But what to do with them when they are not working? How to restrain them? Their handlers came up with the idea to "program" them while they are still very young - by setting self-imposed limits into their thinking. How does it work?

When the elephants are still small, weighing around 150 pounds, they get tied up with a very heavy rope. All day long, the elephants try to get rid of it, whine, tug at it and some of them even try to chew it. But they can't break free. Finally, the elephants give up and the fight is over. And now it's getting interesting...
From this moment on, they strongly believe that there is absolutely no chance to get rid of the rope. They accept the "fact" that the rope limits them.

And with this imprinted belief in place, their handlers are able to tie them with extremely small ropes!
And even as adults, weighing 8,000 pounds and more, they never attempt to break free because they "know" they have no chance at all!

As you can see, the elephants limits are not real, but exist only in their mind.

And also we are programmed with built-in-boundaries. They are also not real but exist only in our minds.
But with these imprinted belief systems, with these inner boundaries, we are unable...
-to live our lives to the fullest

-to be successful as we could be

-to set and reach higher goals

- to make 10 times more money as we do now

- to build a successful business

- to get the promotion and pay increase we always dreamed of

- to fulfill our true dreams and desires etc.

But it hasn't to stay this way. Our negative belief systems don't have to limit us for good. If you truly want to become successful and are not kidding yourself, you can change your inner belief system, your attitude, and your inner boundaries.

You always have the inner strength; the personal power to change everything in your life for the better. Just try!
So, never give up! Never act like an elephant!

Have a nice day.

Pick of the day: http://motivational-inspirational-corner.com

Motivation Story - Help Thy Neighbours

2006-09-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

The Award Winning CORN

There was a farmer who grew superior quality and award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won honour and prizes. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learnt something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbours.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours grow good corn."

The farmer gave a superb insight into the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbour's corn also improves. So it is in other dimensions! Those who choose to be at harmony must help their neighbours and colleagues to be at peace, those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

If we are to grow good quality corn, we must help our neighbours grow good quality corn too....
Only way to grow in an Organisation is - to grow along with others and not grow at the cost of others!

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the limits of the impossible.

Have a nice day.

Recommended Site for the day:http://getmotivation.com