THE FARMER AND THE STORK

Finding that cranes were destroying his newly sown corn, a farmer

one evening set a net in his field to catch the destructive birds.

When he went to examine the net next morning he found

a number of cranes and also a stork.

“Release me, I beseech you,” cried the stork, “for I have eaten none of

your corn, nor have I done you any harm. I am a poor innocent stork,

as you may see - a most dutiful bird, I honor my father and mother.

I...”

But the farmer cut him short. “All this may be true enough, I dare say,

but I have caught you with those were destroying my crops, and you

must suffer with the company in which you are found.”

People are judged by the company they keep.

Sometimes Just let it be

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Please get me some water from that lake there”.
The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing the lake right at the edge of it. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?!” So he came back and told the Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink”.
So, the Buddha said, let us take a little rest here by the tree. After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to the Buddha.
The Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See, You let the water be and the mud settled down on its own. You got a clear water. It didn’t require any effort”.

Moral: Your mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. We can judge and take best decisions of our life when we stay calm.

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION STORY ( the blind girl )

The Blind Girl (Change)

There was a blind girl who hated herself purely for the fact she was blind. The only person she didn’t hate was her loving boyfriend, as he was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry him.
One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her – now she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “now that you can see the world, will you marry me?”
The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying:

“Just take care of my eyes dear.”

Moral of the story: 

 When our circumstances change, so does our mind. Some people may not be able to see the way things were before, and might not be able to appreciate them. There are many things to take away from this story, not just one.

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION STORY ( one who read the future)

One who read the future

A man who lived a long time ago believed that he could read the future in the stars. He called himself an Astrologer and spent his time at night gazing at the sky. He was always busy worrying about future and villagers often came to him, hoping to know what their future holds.

One evening he was walking along the open road outside the village. His eyes were fixed on the stars. He thought he saw there that the end of the world was at near. He lost in his thoughts about the future. As he was looking at the stars, he kept walking without looking down. Suddenly, he fell into a ditch full of mud and water.
He was sinking in the muddy water, and madly trying to claw at the slippery sides of the hole in his effort to climb out. He was unable to crawl out and fearing for his life, he started screaming for help. His cries for help soon brought the villagers running.
As they pulled him out of the mud, one of them said, “You pretend to read the future in the stars, and yet you fail to see what is at your feet! This may teach you to pay more attention to what is right in front of you, and let the future take care of itself.”
“What use is it,” said another, “to read the stars, when you can’t see what’s right here on the earth?”

Moral:

 We all want our future to be bright and happy, but the time doesn’t stop for anyone. Each tomorrow turns into today, your present is also a part your future. There is always a tomorrow to look forward to and improve, but you can’t go back to yesterday. So, maintain the balance of your present life while you work for a better tomorrow

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION STORY ( box full of kisses)

Box Full of Kisses (Love)

Some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.”
The man became embarrassed by his overreaction earlier, but his rage continue when he saw that the box was empty. He yelled at her; “Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?”
The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried;

“Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, Daddy.”

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.
Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. Her father kept the gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

Moral of the story: 

 Love is the most precious gift in the world.

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION STORY ( puppies for sale)

Puppies for Sale (Understanding)

A shop owner placed a sign above his door that said: “Puppies For Sale.”
Signs like this always have a way of attracting young children, and to no surprise, a boy saw the sign and approached the owner; “How much are you going to sell the puppies for?” he asked.
The store owner replied, “Anywhere from $30 to $50.”
The little boy pulled out some change from his pocket. “I have $2.37,” he said. “Can I please look at them?”
The shop owner smiled and whistled. Out of the kennel came Lady, who ran down the aisle of his shop followed by five teeny, tiny balls of fur. One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said, “What’s wrong with that little dog?”
The shop owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the little puppy and had discovered it didn’t have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame.
The little boy became excited. “That is the puppy that I want to buy.”
The shop owner said, “No, you don’t want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I’ll just give him to you.”
The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store owner’s eyes, pointing his finger, and said;

“I don’t want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I’ll pay full price. In fact, I’ll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month until I have him paid for.”

The shop owner countered, “You really don’t want to buy this little dog. He is never going to be able to run and jump and play with you like the other puppies.”
To his surprise, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the shop owner and softly replied, “Well, I don’t run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands!”

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION STORY ( control your anger)

Control Your Temper (Anger)

There once was a little boy who had a very bad temper. His father decided to hand him a bag of nails and said that every time the boy lost his temper, he had to hammer a nail into the fence.
On the first day, the boy hammered 37 nails into that fence. The boy gradually began to control his temper over the next few weeks, and number of nails he was hammering into the fence slowly decreased. He discovered it was easier to control his temper than to hammer those nails into the fence.
Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father the news and the father suggested that the boy should now pull out a nail every day he kept his temper under control.
The days 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.

“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.”

Moral of the story: 

Control your anger, and don’t say things to people in the heat of the moment, that you may later regret. Some things in life, you are unable to take back.

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION STORY ( the butterfly)

The Butterfly (Struggles)

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. Until it suddenly stopped making any progress, and looked like it was stuck.
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, although it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man didn’t think anything of it, and sat there waiting for the wings to enlarge to support the butterfly. But that didn’t happen. The butterfly spent the rest of its life unable to fly, crawling around with tiny wings and a swollen body.
Despite the kind heart of the man, he didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through the small opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings to prepare itself for flying once it was out of the cocoon.
 

Moral of the story: 

Our struggles in life develop our strengths. Without struggles we never grow and never get stronger, so it’s important for us to tackle challenges on our own, and not be relying on help from others.

The Lazy Man and the God’s Plan

Once upon a time, there was a very lazy man who would always look for an easier way to feed himself. One day while he was searching for something to eat, he saw the fruit farm. He looked around and didn’t see anyone guarding the fruits on the tree, so he quickly decided to steal some fruits. But as soon as he walked into the farm and started to climb the tree, the farmer saw him and started coming at him to catch him. The lazy man saw the farmer coming at him with a stick, he got afraid and ran towards the forest nearby and went inside it to hide.
After some time when he felt he started to move on from the forest and while passing through, he saw the wonderful scene. There was a fox. It had only two legs and still was crawling on them happily. The lazy man thought, how can this fox stay alive in such condition?! The fox can’t run, how he must be able to feed himself or stay alive from the threat of other animals.
Suddenly, he saw the lion coming towards the fox with a piece of meat already in his mouth. All the animals ran away and the lazy man climbed up on the tree to save himself but, the fox stayed there only, he didn’t have the ability to run on two legs. But what happened next surprised the lazy man. The lion left a piece of meat which was in his mouth for the fox!
The lazy man felt happy seeing god’s play. He thought the god who is the creator of all, always has a plan set to take care of what he created. He felt that god must have something planned for him too. So, he left that place and sat somewhere away alone waiting for someone to feed him too. As time starting to pass, he kept looking at the road, waiting for his food. He waited there for 2 days without any food! Finally, he couldn’t bear the hunger and started to leave.
He met an old sage (a wise person famed for wisdom) on the way. He told everything happened to the sage. The sage first gave him some food and water. After having it, the lazy man asked the sage, “oh wise one, the god had shown his mercy on the crippled fox, but why the god was so cruel to me?”
The old sage with a smile said, “True that the creator has a plan for everyone. You are obviously a part of the god’s plan. But Son, You took his sign in a wrong way. He didn’t want you to be like the fox. He wanted you to be like the Lion”.

Moral: Often we misunderstand the signs. God has given everyone a strength and ability to do their part. Always learn to see the things in a positive way and see yourself in a strong position to help the ones who need. Don’t go for the easy choice. Make a right choice.

The Travelers and The Plane Tree

Two men were walking along one summer day. Soon it became too hot to go any further and, seeing a large plane tree nearby, they threw themselves on the ground to rest in its shade.
Gazing up into the branches one man said to the other, “What a useless tree this is. It does not have fruit or nuts that we can eat and we cannot even use its wood for anything.”
“Don’t be so ungrateful,” rustled the tree in reply. “I am being extremely useful to you at this very moment, shielding you from the hot sun. And you call me a good-for-nothing!”

Moral: All of God’s creations have a good purpose. We should never belittle God’s blessings.

The Thirsty Crow

One hot day, a thirsty crow flew all over the fields looking for water. For a long time, he could not find any. He felt very weak, almost lost all hope. Suddenly, he saw a water jug below the tree. He flew straight down to see if there was any water inside. Yes, he could see some water inside the jug!

The crow tried to push his head into the jug. Sadly, he found that the neck of the jug was too narrow. Then he tried to push the jug to tilt for the water to flow out, but the jug was too heavy.

The crow thought hard for a while. Then, looking around it, he saw some pebbles. He suddenly had a good idea. He started picking up the pebbles one by one, dropping each into the jug. As more and more pebbles filled the jug, the water level kept rising. Soon it was high enough for the crew to drink. His plan had worked!

Moral: Think and work hard, you may find solution to any problem.

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION STORY ( the obsatacle in path)

The Obstacle In Our Path (Opportunity)

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. He then hid himself and watched to see if anyone would move the boulder out of the way. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.
Many people loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none of them did anything about getting the stone out of the way.
A peasant then came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to push the stone out of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.
After the peasant went back to pick up his 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 explaining that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

Moral of the story: 

 Every obstacle we come across in life gives us an opportunity to improve our circumstances, and whilst the lazy complain, the others are creating opportunities through their kind hearts, generosity and willingness to get things done.

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION STORY ( a pound of butter)

A Pound of Butter (Honesty)

There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to a baker. One day the baker decided to weight the butter to see if he was getting the right amount, which he wasn’t. Angry about this, he took the farmer to court.
The judge asked the farmer if he was using any measure to weight the butter. The farmer replied, “Honor, I am primitive. I don’t have a proper measure, but I do have a scale.”
The judge asked, “Then how do you weigh the butter?”
The farmer replied;

“Your Honor, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker.”

Moral of the story: In life, you get what you give. Don’t try and cheat others.