The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here after one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!”

One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn’t have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn’t say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But honest about what happened, Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, “Hey nice try.”

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “What great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!” All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified and thought.. The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”

Words of wisdom..

What you plant today will determine what you will reap tomorrow. The seeds you now scatter, will make life worse or better, your life or the ones who will come after. Someday you will enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you made today.

One day, they heard that a wise old man had come to town who could solve all kinds of problems and guide people. So the couple decided to visit the wise old man and tell him their source of worry.

Upon visiting, the wise man told them, “Travel around the world and seek a man and a woman who are perfectly happy as a couple. When you find such a couple, ask them for a piece of cloth from the man’s shirt and then keep that piece of cloth with you, and you shall always remain happy.”

The young couple began their journey to find the happiest couple in the world. In one place they heard that the governor and his wife were the happiest couple and so they went to their palace and asked them, “Are you the happiest couple?”

The governor and his wife replied, “Yes, we are happy in every way except for one thing – we do not have any children.”

Well that didn’t make the governor and his wife the happiest couple. So they continued their journey. They arrived in one city where they had heard that the happiest couple lived.

They went to their house and asked them, “Are you the happiest couple?”

The couple replied, “Yes, we are really happy in every way except that we have too many children which make our life a bit uncomfortable.”

No, this couple did not sound to be the happiest. And, so they continued their journey. They visited many countries, cities, towns and villages asking the same question but they did not find what they were looking for.

One Day the young couple came across a shepherd in the desert. The shepherd was grazing his sheep when his wife and child came along. The shepherd greeted his wife and gently patted the child she was carrying. She laid the mat and started to eat contentedly. The young couple came to them and asked them, “Are you the happiest couple?”

The shepherd and his wife replied, “Nobody is unhappier than the king.” The young couple immediately realized that they were the happiest couple and asked them for a piece of the shepherd’s shirt, so that their happiness too would last throughout. The shepherd said, “If I give you a piece of cloth from my shirt then I will be left without any clothes since I own just one shirt.”

The young couple at once understood that it is very difficult to find perfect happiness anywhere in the world. The couple decided to return to their own country.

They went to the wise old man and related all that had taken place. They also complained that his guidance was difficult to abide by. The wise old man laughed and said, “Was your journey useless or did you learn something from it?” The young man replied, “Yes, after this trip I have learnt that in this world, nobody is perfectly happy, only that person is happy who does everything to please God.”

The wife said, “I have learnt that in order to be happy it is important to remember two things: Firstly, all human beings should be thankful and contented with whatever they have. And secondly, for ultimate happiness one must always practice patience.”

After that, the young couple thanked the wise old man for his guidance and returned home. The wise man prayed for them and said, “Indeed the sign of happiness is in their heart and they have good manners and if the lifetime is spent in pleasure of God there would be no differences in the existence of mankind.”

But think twice before you say “Why me??”. Here are 4 simple pointers that can be invaluable resources for great living.

1. Look back and thank GOD
2. Look forward and trust GOD
3. Look around and believe in GOD
4. Look within yourself and find GOD

And why not? Every women in this Earth envisions this day since her childhood; the day when a girl first reads the story of Cinderella and dreams of a day in her life when she will be the “princess” and you, her “prince” charming!

You might be a guy looking for some unique wedding proposal ideas. Ofcourse, it’s crunch time buddy! There has to be something really exciting about it!!

This YouTube video is a wonderful compilation of real life incidents of guys proposing their dream girls and making them go crazy. Take a look:

Words Of Wisdom: Hey! Don’t pay too much attention to the ‘price of the diamond ring’. Trust me, it’s a complete waste of time. The ring that you will be presenting, itself is a ‘priceless’ token of honor for the bondage of love that you share with your lady.

The mathematician called his son and asked, “What is more valuable – gold or silver?” “Gold,” said the son. “That is correct. Why is it then that the village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of gold or silver? He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know what is more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son.”

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the village headman carried this impression. “Every day on my way to school, the village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He laughs, the elders jeer, everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school. This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold or silver.”

The father was confused. His son knew the value of gold and silver, and yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked the silver coin. “Why don’t you pick up the gold coin?” he asked. In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the box were at least a hundred silver coins. Turning to his father, the mathematician’ s son said, “The day I pick up the gold coin the game will stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money.”

Words Of Wisdom: Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it. That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means allowing others to win in one arena of the game, while we win in the other arena of the game. We have to choose which arena matters to us and which arenas do not.

The mouse realized that he was in big trouble. Hence he retreating to the farmyard and proclaimed this warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. THAT’S NOT MY PROBLEM! I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap all alone…

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it. It was a venomous snake whose tail was caught in the trap. Unfortunately the snake went on to bit the lady.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital. When she returned home she still had a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup. So the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient – the chicken!

But his wife’s sickness continued. Friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig!

But, alas, the farmer’s wife did not get well. She eventually died.

Large number of people came for her funeral and the farmer had to slaughter the cow to provide enough meat for all of them for the funeral luncheon.

And the mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

Words Of Wisdom…

The next time you hear someone is facing a problem and you think it doesn’t concern you, remember – when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s tapestry. Our lives are woven together for a reason. One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a friend.

Keep Smiling

There was a salesman called Ramesh in Kerala, a state in the southern part of India. He was honest, polite and hard working. It was the month of June (start of monsoon in Kerala) when he got his first assignment in his new office. He was given the a list of people whom he has to approach and sell the product.

Surprisingly he realized that the list is full of local Kerelean laundry owners. He got scared and thought he won’t be able to achieve the desired target. He approached his senior Monty but got not much help. So he went back to his desk, thought for a moment and accepted the challenge as he had no other option.

The next day he started approaching the laundry owners and within 15 days he got some really nice response. Almost 80% of them purchased his product but in credit and everyone promised to pay him off within the next 15 days. He was very happy as he knew that his job is almost done! So was his senior Monty. But he didn’t knew that the next one month was going to be tougher than what he was thinking of.

On the last week of June amidst heavy showers he started visiting the laundry owner’s place to collect money. Upon visiting half of them he realized he has collected not a single penny. And the same trend continued for the next 7 days. He was frustrated, demoralized, impatient and so was his senior Monty.

Ramesh explained everything to Monty including peculiar behavior he noted amongst the laundry owners – whenever he knocked the owners, they used to look at the sky before asking him to come the next day. Listening this his senior smiled once and said that he is ‘on track’ and will soon get some good results. He never realized for once what his payment has to do with the sky!

After almost 14 days, on a bright sunny monday morning he started visiting the laundry owners once again. Though it was the monsoon season it didn’t rain heavily for the last three days. Suddenly by noon Ramesh realized that he has collected the payments from almost 50% of the owners which was almost unbelievable.

He worked hard through out the day and by the day end he had completed 90% of his target for June and July. He was very happy and so was his senior. By month end he went on to become the ‘star performer’ for the month of June, July and was handed over the letter of confirmation by the management. It was like a roller coaster ride for him.

Yet he wondered what the sky has to do with the payment. Why the laundry owners used to look at the sky and tell him to come the next day? To solve this mystery he went to a laundry owner and asked the same question. The owner laughed at him and said “Son this is the month of monsoon and we have to wash the clothes, dry them off, iron them before handing them off to the customers.

Now if the sun doesn’t shine how can we dry our clothes, earn money to pay you?”. Ramesh recollected his memories and smiled at the owner and realized that it was his patience and endurance that kept him going and ultimately helped him achieve the pinnacle of success.

Moral of the Story

Like Ramesh everyone of us should realize that apart from being a honest hard worker if we can keep our patience and wait for our turn to come, we are inching towards the ladder of success!

Keep smiling

He said he would forgo the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter.

He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1. If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven.
2. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven.
3. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag.He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

What would you recommend to the girl to do?

Well, here is what she did…

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one.

And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one!

Moral of the Story

Most complex problems do have a solution. It is only that we don’t attempt to think.

When the mind is alert, sharp and calm while facing any problem, there definitely would crop a good solution to it whereas if the mind is too agitated, depressed and fidgety, the brain loses its ability of positive “thinking” and everything seems blank and bleak with no solution that the mind forces a person to take drastic and negative measures like commit suicide or a crime as an immediate solution.

If we can understand the problem, the answer will come out of it because the answer is not separate from the problem!

Also, the important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution!

Next time you face a problem, consciously make an attempt to think more clearly, cleverly and calmly…and you will surely find the best solution for it.

But the ache persisted with great vigor than before. At last a monk who was supposed to be an expert in treating such patients was called for by the millionaire. The monk understood his problem and said that for sometime he should concentrate only on green colors and not to fall his eyes on any other colors. The millionaire got together a group of painters and purchased barrels of green color and directed that every object his eye was likely to fall to be painted in green color just as the monk had directed.

When the monk came to visit him after few days, the millionaire’s servants ran with buckets of green paints and poured on him since he was in red dress, lest their master not see any other color and his eye ache would come back.

Hearing this the monk laughed and said “If only you had purchased a pair of green spectacles, worth just a few rupees, you could have saved these walls and trees and pots and all other articles and also could have saved a large share of his fortune. You cannot paint the world green!”

Words of wisdom

Let us change our vision and the world will appear accordingly. It is foolish to shape the world, let us shape ourselves first.