I CANNOT DO THIS BECAUSE.....

Monkey-hunters
use a box with an
opening at the top,
big enough for the
monkey to slide its
hand in. Inside the
box are nuts. The
monkey grabs the
nuts and now its
hand becomes a
fist. The monkey
tries to get its
hand out but the
opening is big
enough for the
hand to slide in,
but too small for
the fist to come
out. Now the
monkey has a
choice, either to let
go off the nuts
and be free
forever or hang on
to the nuts and
get caught. Guess
what it picks every
time? You guessed
it. He hangs on to
the nuts and gets
caught.
We are no
different from
monkeys. We all
hang on to some
nuts that keep us
from going
forward in life. We
keep rationalizing
by saying, "I
cannot do this
because . . ." and
whatever comes
after "because"
are the nuts that
we are hanging on
to which are
holding us back.
Successful people
don't rationalize.
Two things
determine if a
person will be a
success: reasons
and results.
Reasons don't
count while results
do...

THE BURNING DESIRE

A young man
asked Socrates
the secret to
success. Socrates
told the young
man to meet him
near the river the
next morning.
They met.
Socrates asked
the young man to
walk with him
toward the river.
When the water
got up to their
neck, Socrates
took the young
man by surprise
and ducked him
into the water.
The boy struggled
to get out but
Socrates was
strong and kept
him there until the
boy started
turning blue.
Socrates pulled his
head out of the
water and the first
thing the young
man did was to
gasp and take a
deep breath of air.
Socrates asked,
'What did you want
the most when
you were there?"
The boy replied,
"Air." Socrates
said, "That is the
secret to success.
When you want
success as badly
as you wanted the
air, then you will
get it." There is no
other secret.
A burning desire
is the starting
point of all
accomplishment.
Just like a small
fire cannot give
much heat, a weak
desire cannot
produce great
results...

It is a little things that make a big difference

There was a man
taking a morning
wa lk 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."
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?

Consideration

One day, a ten-
year-old boy went
to an ice cream
shop, sat at a
table and asked
the waitress, "How
much is an ice-
cream cone?" She
said, "seventy-five
cents." The boy
started counting
the coins he had in
his hand. Then he
asked how much a
small cup of ice-
cream was. The
waitress
impatiently replied,
"sixty five cents."
The boy said, "I will
have the small ice-
cream cup." He had
his ice-cream, paid
the bill and left.
When the waitress
came to pick up
the empty plate,
she was touched.
Underneath were
ten cent coins as
tip.
The little boy had
consideration for
the waitress
before he ordered
his ice-crearn. He
showed sensitivity
and caring. He
thought of others
before himself. If
we all thought like
the little boy, we
would have a
great place to live.
Show
consideration,
courtesy, and
politeness.
Thoughtfulness
shows a caring
attitude.

I KNEW YOU WOULD COME

There were two
childhood buddies
who went through
school and college
and even joined
the army together.
War broke out and
they were fighting
in the same unit.
One night they
were ambushed.
Bullets were flying
all over and out of
the darkness came
a voice, "Harry,
please come and
help me." Harry
immediately
recognized the
voice of his
childhood buddy,
Bill. He asked the
captain if he could
go. The captain
said, "No, I can't let
you go, I am
already short-
handed and I
cannot afford to
lose one more
person. Besides,
the way Bill
sounds he is not
going to make it."
Harry kept quiet.
Again the voice
came, "Harry,
please come and
help me." Harry sat
quietly because
the captain had
refused earlier.
Again and again
the voice came.
Harry couldn't
contain himself
any longer and
told the captain,
"Captain, this is my
childhood buddy. I
have to go and
help." The captain
reluctantly let him
go. Harry crawled
through the
darkness and
dragged Bill back
into the trench.
They found that
Bill was dead. Now
the captain got
angry and shouted
at Harry, "Didn't I
tell you he was not
going to make it?
He is dead, you
could have been
killed and I could
have lost a hand.
That was a
mistake." Harry
replied, "Captain, I
did the right thing.
When I reached Bill
he was still alive
and his last words
were 'Harry, I
knew you would
come.
Good relationships are
hard to find and once
developed should be
nurtured. We are often
told: Live your dream.
But you cannot live your
dream at the expense
of others. People who
do so are unscrupulous.
We need to make
personal sacrifices for
our family, friends, and
those we care about
and who depend on us.

A Pound OF BUTTER

There was a farmer
who sold a pound of
butter to the baker. One
day the baker decided
to weigh the butter to
see if he was getting a
pound and he found
that he was not. This
angered him and he
took the farmer to
court. The judge asked
the farmer if he was
using any measure. The
farmer replied, amour
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."
What is the moral of
the story? We get back
in life what we give to
others. Whenever you
take an action, ask
yourself this question:
Am I giving fair value
for the wages or
money I hope to make?
Honesty and dishonesty
become a habit. Some
people practice
dishonesty and can lie
with a straight face.
Others lie so much that
they don't even know
what the truth is
anymore. But who are
they deceiving?
Themselves.

A BEAUTIFUL TRUE LOVE STORY

One day, a young guy
and a young girl fell in
love.
But the guy came from
a poor family. The girl’s
parents weren’t too
happy.
So the young man
decided not only to
court the girl but to
court her parents as
well. In time, the
parents saw that he
was a good man and
was worthy of their
daughter’s hand.
But there was another
problem: The man was
a soldier. Soon, war
broke out and he was
being sent overseas for
a year. The week
before he left, the man
knelt on his knee and
asked his lady love, “Will
you marry me?” She
wiped a tear, said yes,
and they were engaged.
They agreed that when
he got back in one year,
they would get married.
But tragedy struck. A
few days after he left,
the girl had a major
vehicular accident. It
was a head-on collision.
When she woke up in
the hospital, she saw
her father and mother
crying. Immediately, she
knew there was
something wrong.
She later found out that
she suffered brain
injury. The part of her
brain that controlled her
face muscles was
damaged. Her once
lovely face was now
disfigured. She cried as
she saw herself in the
mirror. “Yesterday, I
was beautiful. Today,
I’m a monster.” Her
body was also covered
with so many ugly
wounds.
Right there and then,
she decided to release
her fiancé from their
promise. She knew he
wouldn’t want her
anymore. She would
forget about him and
never see him again.
For one year, the soldier
wrote many letters—
but she wouldn’t
answer. He phoned her
many times but she
wouldn’t return her
calls.
But after one year, the
mother walked into her
room and announced,
“He’s back from the
war.”
The girl shouted, “No!
Please don’t tell him
about me. Don’t tell him
I’m here!”
The mother said, “He’s
getting married,” and
handed her a wedding
invitation.
The girl’s heart sank.
She knew she still loved
him—but she had to
forget him now.
With great sadness,
she opened the
wedding invitation.
And then she saw her
name on it!
Confused, she asked,
“What is this?”
That was when the
young man entered her
room with a bouquet of
flowers. He knelt beside
her and asked, “Will you
marry me?”
The girl covered her
face with her hands and
said, “I’m ugly!”
The man said, “Without
your permission, your
mother sent me your
photos. When I saw
your photos, I realized
that nothing has
changed. You’re still the
person I fell in love.
You’re still as beautiful
as ever. Because I love
you!”