Stories from #MondayMotivation: Set 2

In the second set of Stories from #MondayMotivation, we get to know two rich people- one who gives a lesson in giving and other who gives hope. There is a kid who believes in making whatever difference he can, and a woodcutter who forgets the trick for performance. There are wo folklores about a cracked pot spreading happiness and a lucky cat with so many names. Three races teach how to compete and an elephant teaches where to compete. Finally we see the dilemma of listening to multiple advices and the importance of challenges in life. Enjoy the stories and share with your friends!

#11 “Who is richer than Bill Gates?”

Someone asked Bill Gates, Is there any person richer than you?
He said, yes, only one. Many years ago, I had been dismissal and I had gone to New York airport. I read titles of newspapers there. I liked one of them and I want to buy it. But I didn’t have change (coin). I abandoned, suddenly, a black boy called me and told, “This newspaper for you.” I said, but I don’t have change. He said, “No problem, I give you free”.
After 3 months, I went there. Coincidentally, that story happened again and that same boy gave another free newspaper again. I said, I can’t accept. But he said, “I give you from my profit.”
After 19 years, I had been rich and I decided to find that boy. I found him after one and half months searching. I asked him, do you know me? He said, “Yes, you’re famous Bill Gates.”
I said, you gave me free newspaper in 2 times many years ago. Now, I want to compensate it. I am going to give you everything that you want. Black young man replied, “You can’t compensate it!”
I said, why? He said, “Because I gave you when I was poor. You want to give me when you are rich. So, how do you compensate?”
Bill Gates said, I think that black young man is richer than me.
You don’t have to be rich or wait to be rich to give.
Donate generously, don’t wait for your time to be rich.

(Posted on 23/08/2017)

 

#12 “It makes Difference”

There was a man taking a morning walk at the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun ray and would not survive. The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive.
Right there he saw a kid doing something. The kid took a few steps, picked one starfish and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly. Standing right behind him this man couldn’t understand what this kid was doing. He caught up with him and asked, “What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?”
This kid did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, “It makes a difference to this one.”

(Posted on 28/08/2017)

 

#13 “The Woodcutter”

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.
The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.
“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”
Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees.”

Moral:
We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

(Posted on 04/09/2017)

 

#14 “The Cracked Pot”

A farmer had two large pots for fetching water to his house, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the farmer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the farmer one day by the stream.

“I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.”

“Why?” asked the farmer. “What are you ashamed of?”

“I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.

The farmer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the house, I want you to specially notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot noticed the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the farmer for its failure.

The farmer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have taken advantage of your flaw. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my table. Without you being just the way you are and without your help, it was impossible to have this beauty to grace the house.”

(Posted on 11/09/2017)

 

#15 “The Naming Game”

The ambassador of Nippon presented a beautiful cat to the Emperor of China. The emperor became fond of the animal and took it with him wherever he went. People kept asking for the cat’s name and were surprised when told that it had none.

Eventually the emperor decided that the cat should have a name. He called his ministers, the seven wisest men in the empire, and commanded them to find a suitable name for his pet within seven days.

At the end of this period they were summoned to the palace again, and asked for their suggestions. The youngest of the group thought he had found the perfect name.

“TIGER!” he announced proudly.

“Good name,” said the emperor, after a moment’s reflection. “The tiger is a noble and powerful beast.”

“Noble, perhaps,” said the second minister, “but it is not as powerful as the dragon. Can a tiger soar into the sky? No, but a dragon can! I think DRAGON would be a more suitable name for the cat.”

“Clouds can go higher than dragons,” observed a third minister. “A cloud is more powerful than a dragon. Let’s call it CLOUD.”

“Let’s not be hasty,” advised the fourth wise man. “Clouds may fly high but they are pushed around by winds. Winds are more powerful than clouds. WIND would be the most appropriate name for a great emperor’s pet.”

“WIND?” said the emperor, doubtfully. “Isn’t there anything better?”

“There certainly is!” rasped the fifth wise man. “BRICK WALL!”

“BRICK WALL?”

“A brick wall can stop a wind, however powerful,” explained the minister. “A brick wall is more powerful than the wind!”

“Oh, I see, “said the emperor. “ Well, BRICK WALL is not a bad name. But isn’t it somewhat long?”

“I have a shorter name,” said the sixth minister. “RAT.”

“RAT!”

“Yes, Your Majesty, RAT! A rat can eat through a brick wall, which makes it more powerful than the wall, more powerful than the wind, more powerful than…”

“I get your point,” interrupted the emperor, “but can you call a cat, RAT?”

“Indeed you can’t!” piped up the seventh wise man. “If a rat is more powerful than the others the cat is even more so because it is mightier than the rat. Cat should be the name.”

So the royal pet remained nameless in a way because from then on it was simply called CAT. The Naming Game came to the end.
This is exactly what happens when we start complicating things.

(Posted on 18/09/2017)

 

#16 “Three Races”

In old times, fable retells the story of the young athletic boy hungry for success, for whom winning was everything and success was measured by such a result.

One day, the boy was preparing himself for a running competition in his small native village, himself and two other young boys to compete. A large crowd had congregated to witness the sporting spectacle and a wise old man, upon hearing of the little boy, had travelled far to bear witness also.

The race commenced, looking like a level heat at the finishing line, but sure enough the boy dug deep and called on his determination, strength and power .. he took the winning line and was first. The crowd was ecstatic and cheered and waved at the boy. The wise man remained still and calm, expressing no sentiment. The little boy, however. felt proud and important.

A second race was called, and two new young, fit, challengers came forward, to run with the little boy. The race was started and sure enough the little boy came through and finished first once again. The crowd was ecstatic again and cheered and waved at the boy. The wise man remained still and calm, again expressing no sentiment. The little boy, however, felt proud and important.

“Another race, another race!” pleaded the little boy. The wise old man stepped forward and presented the little boy with two new challengers, an elderly frail lady and a blind man. “What is this?”, quizzed the little boy. “This is no race” he exclaimed. “Race!”, said the wise man. The race was started and the boy was the only finisher, the other two challengers left standing at the starting line. The little boy was ecstatic, he raised his arms in delight. The crowd, however, was silent showing no sentiment toward the little boy.

“What has happened? Why not do the people join in my success?” he asked the wise old man. “Race again”, replied the wise man, “…this time, finish together, all three of you, finish together” continued the wise man. The little boy thought a little, stood in the middle of the blind man and the frail old lady, and then took the two challengers by the hand. The race began and the little boy walked slowly, ever so slowly, to the finishing line and crossed it. The crowd were ecstatic and cheered and waved at the boy. The wise man smiled, gently nodding his head. The little boy felt proud and important.

“Old man, I understand not! Who are the crowd cheering for? Which one of us three?”, asked the little boy. The wise old man looked into the little boy’s eyes, placing his hands on the boy’s shoulders, and replied softly … “Little boy, for this race you have won much more than in any race you have ever ran before, and for this race the crowd cheer not for any winner!”

(Posted on 25/09/2017)

 

#17 “Why the Elephant moved aside?”

An elephant took a bath in a river and was walking on the road.

When it neared a bridge, it saw a pig fully soaked in mud coming from the opposite direction.

The elephant quietly moved to one side, allowed the dirty pig to pass and then continued its onward journey.

The unclean pig later spoke to its friends in arrogance, “See how big I am; even the elephant was afraid of me and moved to one side to let me pass”.

On hearing this, some elephants questioned their friend, the reason for its action. Was it out of fear?

The elephant smiled and replied, “I could have easily crushed the pig under my leg, but I was clean and the pig was very dirty.
By crushing it, my leg will become dirty and I wanted to avoid it.
Hence, I moved aside.”

Realized souls will avoid contact with negativity not out of fear, but out of desire to keep away from impurity though they are strong enough to destroy the impurity.

You need not react to every opinion, every comment, or every situation.

Kick the drama and keep going ahead.

(Posted on 02/10/2017)

 

#18 “The Richest Man in the World”

There was a business executive who was deep in debt and could see no way out.

Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him. “I can see that something is troubling you,” he said.

After listening to the executive’s woes, the old man said, “I believe I can help you.”

He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying, “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.”

Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!

“I can erase my money worries in an instant!” he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check. At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.

“I’m so glad I caught him!” she cried. “I hope he hasn’t been bothering you. He’s always escaping from the rest home and telling people he’s John D. Rockefeller.”

And she led the old man away by the arm.

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he’d been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him.

Suddenly, he realized that it wasn’t the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.

(Posted on 10/09/2017)

 

#19 “People’s Advice”

An old man and his grandson were going to town with a donkey. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along, they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.
Then, later, they passed some people who remarked, “What a shame, he makes that little boy walk.” So they then decided they’d both walk!
Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey. Now they passed some people who shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey.
The boy and man figured they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and both of them fell down. Till they could stand up, the donkey ran away, never to be found again…

Moral: If you try to please everyone and listen to everyone, you might as well lose all that you have.

(Posted on 17/09/2017)

 

#20 “Sharks”

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So the fishermen had to go further out to sea to catch their supply of fish, the fishing boats got bigger and bigger.

The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh and they lost their fresh taste.

To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. Also, the frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference; because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste.

How did the Japanese fish company solve this problem? To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies added a small shark to the tanks that the fish were kept in. The shark of course eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state due to the fact that the fish are challenged.

Keep that shark inside you alive!
Challenge yourself everyday. Push yourself everyday. The more the sharks(challenges), the more you are forced to move forward. The more the sharks, the more you will be motivated to work better.

(Posted on 23/09/2017)

 

Disclaimer: All these stories are sourced from Internet. The blogger does not claim any right on them. They are compiled and shared only as an attempt to cheer up our otherwise stressed lives.