Story of A Lizard

 
 A story from Japan. In order to renovate the house, someone in breaks open the wall. Japanese houses normally have a hollow space between the 2 wooden walls. When tearing down the walls, he found that there was lizard stuck there because a nail from outside hammered into one of its feet. He sees this, feels pity, and at the same time curiou, as when he checked the nail, it was nailed 10 years ago when the house was first built !!

What happened?The lizard has survived in such position for 10 years!In a dark wall partition for 10 years without moving, it is impossible and mind-boggling.

Then he wondered how this lizard survived for 10 years. Without moving a single step--since its foot was nailed!

So he stopped his work and observed the lizard, what it has been doing, and what and how it has been eating.

Later, not knowing from where it came, appears another lizard, with food in its mouth. Ah! He was stunned and touched deeply. For the lizard that was stuck by nail, another lizard has been feeding it for the past 10 years...Imagine? it has been doing that untiringly for 10 long years, without giving up hope on its partner.

Think, will u do that to your partner? Imagine what a small creature can do that a creature blessed with a brilliant mind can't.

As information and communication technology advances, or access to information becomes faster and faster.

But what about the distance between human beings?

Story of a Squirrel

 A squirrel joined the service of the King of the Forest, the lion. He did whatever work was given him, quickly and well. The lion became fond of him. "I promise you a cartload of almonds as pension when you retire".

 The squirrel envied the other squirrels in the forest because of their carefree life. He longed to run up and down trees and leap from branch to branch like them. Yet in pride, he loved to move with courtly dignity and boasted about his royal career. He often kept proclaiming thus. "I cannot leave the king's side even if I wish."

 He consoled himself with the thought that at the end of his career, he would receive a cartload of almonds, a food that few squirrels got to taste in their lifetime. "They will envy me then," he would tell himself. The years passed. The squirrel became old and then it was time for him to retire.

 The king gave a grand banquet in his honour and at the end of it, presented him with a cartload of almonds as he had promised. The squirrel had waited so long for this day but when he saw the almonds, he was seized with sadness. He realised they were of no use to him now. He had lost all his teeth.

The Plan

 A pretty woman was serving a life sentence in prison. Angry and resentful about her situation, she had decided that she would rather die than to live another year in prison.

 Over the years she had become good friends with one of the prison caretakers. His job, among others, was to bury those prisoners who died in a graveyard just outside the prison walls. When a prisoner died, the caretaker rang a bell, which was heard by everyone. The caretaker then got the body and put it in a casket. Next, he entered his office to fill out the death certificate before returning to the casket to nail the lid shut. Finally, he put the casket on a wagon to take it to the graveyard and bury it.

 Knowing this routine, the woman devised an escape plan and shared it with the caretaker. The next time the bell rang, the woman would leave her cell and sneak into the dark room where the coffins were kept. She would slip into the coffin with the dead body while the caretaker was filling out the death certificate. When the care-taker returned, he would nail the lid shut and take the coffin outside the prison with the woman in the coffin along with the dead body. He would then bury the coffin. The woman knew there would be enough air for her to breathe until later in the evening when the caretaker would return to the graveyard under the cover of darkness, dig up the coffin, open it, and set her free.

 The caretaker was reluctant to go along with this plan, but since he and the woman had become good friends over the years, he agreed to do it.The woman waited several weeks before someone in the prison died. She was asleep in her cell when she heard the death bell ring.

 She got up and slowly walked down the hallway. She was nearly caught a couple of times. Her heart was beating fast. She opened the door to the darkened room where the coffins were kept. Quietly in the dark, she found the coffin that contained the dead body, carefully climbed into the coffin and pulled the lid shut to wait for the caretaker to come and nail the lid shut.

 Soon she heard footsteps and the pounding of the hammer and nails. Even though she was very uncomfortable in the coffin with the dead body, she knew that with each nail she was one step closer to freedom. The coffin was lifted onto the wagon and taken outside to the graveyard. She could feel the coffin being lowered into the ground. She didn't make a sound as the coffin hit the bottom of the grave with a thud.

 Finally she heard the dirt dropping onto the top of the wooden coffin, and she knew that it was only a matter of time until she would be free at last. After several minutes of absolute silence, she began to laugh. She was free! She was free! Feeling curious, she decided to light a match to find out the identity of the dead prisoner beside her.

To her horror, she discovered that she was lying next to the dead caretaker.

Many people believe they have life all figured out..... But sometimes it just doesn't turn out the way they planned it.

The Ego

There was once a learned scientist, who after a lot of practice and efforts developed a formula and learned the art of reproducing himself. He did it so perfectly that it was impossible to tell the reproduction from the original. One day while doing his research he realized that the Angel of Death was searching for him. In order to remain immortal, he reproduced a dozen copies of himself. The reproduction was so meticulous that all of them looked exactly like him.

 Now, when this Angel of Death came down, he was at a loss to know which of the thirteen before him was the original scientist, and confused, he left them all alone and returned back to heaven.But, not for long, for being an expert in human nature, the Angel came up with a clever idea. He said to the scientist addressing all thirteen of them, 'Sir, you must be a genius to have succeeded in making such a perfect reproductive formula of yourself. However, I have discovered a flaw in your work, just one tiny little flaw.' The scientist immediately jumped out and shouted, 'Impossible! Where is the flaw?' 'Right here!' said the Angel, as he picked up the scientist from among the reproductions and carried him off.

 The whole purpose of the scientist and his formula of reproduction failed as he could not control his pride and lost his life. While Knowledge and Skills take one to the top of the ladder and make one successful; the three letter word 'EGO' will pull one down immediately.
So, Let go - the Ego.

The Lock in Mind

 
Houdini was a master magician as well as a fabulous locksmith. He boasted that he could escape from any Jail cell in the World in less than an hour, provided he could go into the cell dressed in street clothes. Houdini became very famous.

A small town in the British Isles built a new Jail, which they were extremely proud of. They issued Houdini a challenge. "Come give us a try", they said. Houdini loved the publicity and the money attached with it, so he accepted.

The day of the challenge came. By the time Houdini arrived, excitement was at a fever pitch. Houdini rode triumphantly into the town and walked into the cell. He proudly walked into the cell and the Big Iron door was closed. Houdini took off his coat and went to work. Secreted in his belt was a flexible tough and durable ten-inch piece of steel, which he used to work on the lock. At the end of 15 minutes his confident expression had disappeared. At the end of 30 minutes he was looking confused. At the end of an hour he was drenched in perspiration.

After two hours...Houdini literally collapsed against the door - which opened...!

Yes, it had never been locked.........except in his mind..........where he viewed it was as firmly locked as if a thousand locksmiths had put their best efforts in making the lock for it. One little push and Houdini could have easily opened the door..........But he didn't.

Many times a little extra push is all you need to open your opportunity door. In the game of life you will discover, as you set your goals and unlock your mind, that the world will unlock its own treasures and rewards to you. Realistically, Most locked doors are in our minds.

Unlock your Mind...Think Great Thoughts...Do Great Things...

The Red Rose & The Cactus

 
 One beautiful spring day a red rose blossomed in a forest. Many kinds of trees and plants grew there. As the rose looked around, a pine tree nearby said, "What a beautiful flower. I wish I was that lovely."

Another tree said, "Dear pine, do not be sad, we cannot have everything."

The rose turned its head and remarked, "It seems that I am the most beautiful plant in this forest."

 A sunflower raised its yellow head and asked, "Why do you say that? In this forest there are many beautiful plants. You are just one of them." The red rose replied, "I see everyone looking at me and admiring me."

 Then the rose looked at a cactus and said, "Look at that ugly plant full of thorns!" The pine tree said, "Red rose, what kind of talk is this? Who can say what beauty is? You have thorns too."

The proud red rose looked angrily at the pine and said, "I thought you had good taste! You do not know what beauty is at all. You can not compare my thorns to that of the cactus."

"What a proud flower", thought the trees.

The rose tried to move its roots away from the cactus, but it could not move. As the days passed, the red rose would look at the cactus and say insulting things, like: This plant is useless? How sorry I am to be his neighbor."

 The cactus never got upset and he even tried to advise the rose, saying, "God did not create any form of life without a purpose."

 Spring passed, and the weather became very warm. Life became difficult in the forest, as the plants and animals needed water and no rain fell. The red rose began to wilt. One day the rose saw sparrows stick their beaks into the cactus and then fly away, refreshed.

This was puzzling, and the red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds got water from the cactus. "Does it not hurt when they make holes?" asked the rose.

"Yes, but the cactus does not like to see any birds suffer," replied the pine.

The rose opened its eyes in wonder and said, "The cactus has water?"

"Yes you can also drink from it. The sparrow can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help."

 The red rose felt too ashamed of its past words and behavior to ask for water from the cactus, but then it finally did ask the cactus for help. The cactus kindly agreed and the birds filled their beaks with water and watered the rose's roots.

Thus the rose learned a lesson and never judged anyone by their appearance again.

From Candles to Soaps

 In 1879, Procter and Gamble's best seller was candles. But the company was in trouble. Thomas Edison had invented the light bulb, and it looked as if candles would become obsolete. Their fears became reality when the market for candles plummeted since they were now sold only forspecial occasions.

 The outlook appeared to be bleak for Procter and Gamble. However, at this time, it seemed that destiny played a dramatic part in pulling the struggling company from the clutches of bankruptcy.

 A forgetful employee at a small factory in Cincinnati forgot to turn off his machine when he went to lunch. The result? A frothing mass of lather filled with air bubbles. He almost threw the stuff away but instead decided to make it into soap. The soap floated. Thus, Ivory soap was born and became the mainstay of the Procter and Gamble Company.

 Why was soap that floats such a hot item at that time? In Cincinnati, during that period, some people bathed in the Ohio River. Floating soap would never sink and consequently never got lost. So, Ivory soap became a best seller in Ohio and eventually across the country also.

 Like Procter and Gamble, never give up when things go wrong or when seemingly unsurmountable problems arise. Creativity put to work can change a problem and turn it into a gold mine.