A lesson in giving

A lesson in giving

Many years ago, when I worked as a transfusion volunteer at a Hospital, I got to know a little three-year-old girl who was suffering from a disease. The little girl needed blood from her five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease. The boy had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness and was the only hope for his sister.

The doctor explained the situation to the little brother and asked if the boy would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate only for a moment before he took a deep breath and said: “ Yes, I will do it if it will save my sister.”

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the nurse beside him and asked with a trembling voice, “When will I start to die?”

The young boy had misunderstood the doctor and thought he had to die to save his sick sister.

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Changing Vision

Changing Vision

There once lived a wealthy man who was bothered by severe eye pain. He consulted many physicians,  but none could treat his ache.  He went through a myriad of treatment procedures but his pain persisted with more vigor. He looked and for every available solution for his pain, and approached a wise monk, renowned for treating various illnesses. The monk carefully observed the man’s eyes and offered a very peculiar solution.

The monk told the man to concentrate only on green color for a few weeks and avoid any other colors. The man was desperate to get rid of the pain and was determined ready to go to any extent.The wealthy man appointed a group of painters and purchased barrels of green paint and directed that every object, his eye was likely to fall to be painted green.

After a few weeks, the monk came to visit the man to follow up on the man’s progress. As the monk walked towards the man’s room, the appointed painter poured a bucket of green paint on the monk.  The monk could see that the whole corridor and the room were painted green. As the monk inquired for the reason for painting everything green, the wealthy man said that he was only following the monk’s advice to look at only green.

Hearing this, the monk laughed and said “If only you had purchased a pair of green spectacles, worth just a few dollars, You could have saved a large share of your fortune. You cannot paint the world green.”

Moral: Let us change our vision and the world will appear accordingly. 

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Waiting for rabbit suicide

Waiting for rabbit suicide

Once there lived a lazy farmer who did not enjoy working hard in the fields. He spent his days napping under a tree. One day, while he was resting under a tree, a fox came chasing a rabbit. There was a loud THUMP–the rabbit had crashed into the tree and died.

The farmer picked up the dead rabbit and took it home, frustrating the hell out of the fox. The farmer ate cooked and ate the rabbit for dinner and sold its fur at the market. The farmer thought to himself, “If I could get a rabbit like that every day, I’d never have to work again.”

The next day, the farmer went right back to the tree and waited for another rabbit to die in a similar way. He saw a few rabbits, but none of them ran into the tree like before. Indeed, it was a very rare incident, but the farmer did not realize it. “Oh well,” he thought cheerfully, “There’s always tomorrow.” Since, he was just waiting for the rabbit to hit a tree and die, he did not give any attention to his field. Weeds grew in his rice field. Soon, the farmer had to be hungry as he ran out of his rice and never caught any other rabbit too.

Moral: Do not wait for good things to come without doing anything. Do not give your life to luck without working for success.

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The Little Wave:

The Little Wave:

A little wave was bobbing along in the ocean and was having a grand old time. He was enjoying the wind and the fresh air as it travelled– until he noticed that all the other waves in front of him were crashing against the shore. “Oh My God, this terrible”, The little wave thought. “Look what is happening to all the other waves and I will have to face the same  fate!”

When the little wave was in the state of panic another wave came across and asked the little wave, “Why are you distressed my friend?”

The little wave said, “We are all going to crash against the shore and face our end! All of us waves are going to be nothing! Isn’t it terrible?”

The second wave answered with a smile, “No, you don’t understand. You’re not just a wave, you are a part of the ocean.”

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Soar Like an Eagle

Soar Like an Eagle

Did you know that an eagle can foresee when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?
Instead of hiding, the eagle will fly to some high point and wait for the winds to come.When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind can pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle soars above it.The eagle does not escape or hide from the storm instead it uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the stormy winds which others dread.

When the storm of life or challenges hit us, we can rise above them and soar like the eagle which ride the winds of the storm. Don’t be afraid of the storms or the challenges in your life. Use it to lift you higher in your life.

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Stopped by a brick

 Stopped by a brick  

A successful young executive was riding his brand new Jaguar down a neighborhood street when he noticed a kid darting out from between parked cars. He slowed down a little bit as he appeared near it, a brick smashed into his car’s door. He slammed on the brakes and drove back to the place where the brick has been thrown.

The furious man jumped out of his car and caught the nearest kid shouting, “What was that all about? What the heck did you do to my car? Why did you do it?”. The young boy was little scared but was very polite and apologetic. “I am sorry Mister. I didn’t know what else to do,” he pleaded. “ I had to throw the brick because no one else would stop for my call to help”.  With tears rolling down his cheeks, he pointed towards the parked cars and said “it’s my brother, he rolled off the curb and fell off his wheelchair and he is badly hurt. I can’t lift him up.”

The sobbing boy asked the man, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He is hurt and he is too heavy for me.” The young man was moved beyond words and tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the other kid from the spot and put him back to the wheelchair. He also helped the little kid with his bruises and cuts. 

When he thought that everything will be ok, he went back to his car. “Thank you, sir, and God bless you”, said the grateful kid. The young man was too shaken up for any word, so the man simply watched the little boy push the wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk. It was a long and slow ride back home to the man.  When he came out of the car, he looked at his dented car door. The damage was very noticeable, but he did not bother to repair it. He kept the dent to remind him of the message; “Do not go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention”. 

Moral: Life whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we do not listen to it, it throws a brick at us. It is our choice, listen to the whisper or wait for the brick.

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It’s Little Things that Make a Big Difference.

It’s Little Things  that Make a Big Difference.

There was a man taking a morning walk at or 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 rays, they would die. The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly. Right behind him, there was another person who couldn’t understand what this man 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 man 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.”

 Moral: What difference are we making? Big or small, it does not matter. If everyone made a small difference, we’d end up with a big difference, wouldn’t we? 

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