A very good lesson to live by!

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood ???? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?

However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what's important.

David J. Pollay explains his story in this way....

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean...he was friendly.

So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

"Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did."

I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore.

" Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't.
Believe that everything happens for a reason. Never let the garbage truck run over you.

Proudy Red Rose

One beautiful spring day a red rose blossomed in a forest. Many kinds of trees and plants grew there. As the rose looked around, a pine tree nearby said, "What a beautiful flower. I wish I was that lovely." Another tree said, "Dear pine, do not be sad, we can not have everything."

The rose turned its head and remarked, "It seems that I am the most beautiful plant in this forest."

A sunflower raised its yellow head and asked, "Why do you say that? In this forest there are many beautiful plants. You are just one of them." The red rose replied, "I see everyone looking at me and admiring me."

Then the rose looked at a cactus and said, "Look at that ugly plant full of thorns!" The pine tree said, "Red rose, what kind of talk is this? Who can say what beauty is? You have thorns too."

The proud red rose looked angrily at the pine and said, "I thought you had good taste! You do not know what beauty is at all. You can not compare my thorns to that of the cactus."

"What a proud flower", thought the trees.

The rose tried to move its roots away from the cactus, but it could not move. As the days passed, the red rose would look at the cactus and say insulting things, like: This plant is useless? How sorry I am to be his neighbor."

The cactus never got upset and he even tried to advise the rose, saying, "God did not create any form of life without a purpose."

Spring passed, and the weather became very warm. Life became difficult in the forest, as the plants and animals needed water and no rain fell. The red rose began to wilt. One day the rose saw sparrows stick their beaks into the cactus and then fly away, refreshed.

This was puzzling, and the red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds got water from the cactus. "Does it not hurt when they make holes?" asked the rose.

"Yes, but the cactus does not like to see any birds suffer," replied the pine.

The rose opened its eyes in wonder and said, "The cactus has water?"

"Yes you can also drink from it. The sparrow can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help."

The red rose felt too ashamed of its past words and behavior to ask for water from the cactus, but then it finally did ask the cactus for help. The cactus kindly agreed and the birds filled their beaks with water and watered the rose's roots.

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Lesson to learn from the Story :Thus the rose and all of us learned a lesson and never judged anyone by their appearance again.

Patience to Learn!

A young man presented himself to the local expert on gems and said he wanted to become a gemologist. The expert brushed him off because he feared that the youth would not have the patience to learn. The young man pleaded for a chance. Finally the expert consented and told the youth, "Be here tomorrow."

The next morning the expert put a jade stone in the boy's hand and told him to hold it. The expert then went about his work, cutting, weighing, and setting gems. The boy sat quietly and waited.

The following morning the expert again placed the jade stone in the youth's hand and told him to hold it. On the third, fourth, and fifth day the expert repeated the exercise and the instructions.

On the sixth day the youth held the jade stone, but could no longer stand the silence. "Master," he asked, "when am I going to learn something?"

"You'll learn," the expert replied and went about his business.

Several more days went by and the youth's frustration mounted. One morning as the expert approached and beckoned for him to hold out his hand, he was about to blurt out that he could go no longer. But as the master placed the stone in the youth's hand, the young man exclaimed without looking at his hand, "This is not the same jade stone!"

"You have begun to learn," said the master.

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"We do not learn in one night, learning requires patience, if we can keep patience only then can we be flourished with knowledge"

Courtesy: Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R., The Sower's Seeds

Six humans trapped by happenstanceIn black and bitter cold.Each one possessed a stick of wood,Or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs,The first woman held hers backFor on the faces around the fire,She noticed one was black.
The next man looking cross the waySaw one not of his church,And couldn't bring himself to giveThe fire his stick of birch.
The third man sat in tattered clothes;He gave his coat a hitch.Why should his log be put to useTo warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thoughtOf the wealth he had in store.And how to keep what he had earnedFrom the lazy poor.
The black man's face bespoke revengeAs the fire passed from his sight,For all he saw in his stick of woodWas a chance to spite the white.
And the last man of this forlorn groupDid naught except for gain.Giving only to those who gaveWas how he played the game.
The logs held tight in death's still handsWas proof of human sin.They didn't die from the cold without,They died from the cold within

The things we see may be right from our perspective until we know the truth.

The train has started moving. It is packed with people of all ages, mostly with working men and women and young college guys and gals. Near the window, seated a old man with his 30 year old son. As the train moves by, the son is overwhelmed with joy as he was thrilled with the scenery outside......." See dad, the scenery of green trees moving away is very beautiful"

This behavior from a thirty year old son made the other people feel strange about him. Every one started murmuring something or other about this son. "This guy seems to be a crack.." newly married Anup whispered to his wife. Suddenly it started raining... Rain drops fell on the travellers through the opened window. The thirty year old son , filled with joy " see dad, how beautiful the rain is .."

Anup's wife got irritated with the rain drops spoiling her new suit. Anup ," cant you see its raining, you old man, if your son is not feeling well get him soon to a mental asylum.. and don't disturb public henceforth"

The old man hesitated first and then in a low tone replied " We are on the way back from hospital, my son got discharged today morning , he was a blind by birth, last week he got his vision, these rain and nature are new to his eyes.. Please forgive us for the inconvenience caused..."

The things we see may be right from our perspective until we know the truth.But when we know the truth our reaction to that will hurt even us. So try to understand the problem better before taking a harsh action.

This story exemplifies “Altruism.”

A reporter once asked a farmer to divulge the secret behind his corn, which won the state fair contest year after year. The farmer confessed it was all because he shared his seed with his neighbours.

“Why do you share your best seed corn with your neighbours when you're entering the same contest each year as well?” asked the reporter.

“Why sir, said the farmer, didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grew inferior corn, cross-pollination would steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours do the same”.

This is so true with situations in our lives. Those who want to be successful must help their neighbours, friends, relatives to be successful.

Those who choose to live well must help others live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

This story exemplifies “Altruism.”

Meaning of Altruism: ‘Action that benefits another person, including comforting, helping, sharing, rescuing and cooperating. Acts of concern for other people without any hope of reward’.