A tourist was walking through an elephant camp when she spotted gigantic elephants nearby.
Wanting to catch a glimpse of them from up close, she moved towards the elephants. As she
got closer, she noticed that the only thing restraining the elephants were tiny pieces of rope tied
to their legs. She was surprised by how such mammoth beings were being restrained by small
pieces of rope.
Noticing a trainer nearby, she went and asked him why the elephants didn’t escape when they
could easily break away from the rope. The trainer said, “When the elephants were young, they
were restrained using the same rope. Since they were much smaller then, they couldn’t escape.
As they grew up, they continued to believe that the rope was much stronger than them. That’s
why even now they do not try to break free.”
The tourist was amazed. The elephants could break away from the rope anytime and escape.
But just because they believed they couldn’t, they stayed as captives.
Moral of the story: Always believe in your capabilities and be determined to fight anything life
throws at you.

There once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It
was no ordinary watch because it had sentimental value for him.
After searching high and low among the hay for a long while; he gave up and
enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.
He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded.
Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went through and around the
entire stack of hay but still could not find the watch. Just when the farmer was
about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and asked to be
given another chance.
The farmer looked at him and thought, “Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere
enough.”
So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while the little boy came
out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so
he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed.
The boy replied, “I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I
heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction.”
MORAL :
A peaceful mind can think better than a worked up mind. Allow a few
minutes of silence to your mind every day, and see, how sharply it helps you
to set your life the way you expect it to be!

The Generous Student.

Lin Piao used to absent himself from classes very often and one day the principal of the college made up his mind to expel him. So he sent for the young man.

Lin arrived just as the principal was about to go for lunch.

“Is this the time to come!” said the principal, sternly.

“Forgive me, Sir,” said Lin, “but I got to college very late today. You see, I found a lump of gold in our field.”

“A lump of gold!” said the principal, his eyes popping out. “Oh, my, what are you going to do with it?”

“I decided to build a palatial house, buy several acres of land and several head of cattle,” said the student. “I also decided to give you a small sum for the trouble you have taken in educating me.”

The principal was pleased and invited Lin to eat with him. The young man ate ravenously but the principal hardly touched his food. He was wondering how much Lin would give him and if it would be enough to buy that small paddy field he had always wanted.

“I hope you’ve kept the gold in a safe place,” he said, suddenly coming out of his reverie.

“I never got a chance to do that,” said Lin. “It disappeared the moment my mother shook me awake.”

“What!” screamed the principal. “You mean it was all a dream?!”

The young man nodded.

The principal controlled himself with a great effort of will.

“I’m happy you remembered me in your dream,” he said, finally. “I hope you remember me when you really get some gold. Now please leave.”

It was only when the young man had left that the principal remembered why he had sent for him.

Once a young man was passing by a street where he saw an old man sitting on
road side begging for money.
That old man was sitting there with an empty bowl in kept in front of him and a
card board sign was kept beside that empty bowl.
On card board cut out it was written: “Blind – Please Help…!”
Young man noticed that despite it was rush hour and many people were passing
by that old man yet no one was giving him any money.
Young man felt very bad that no one was helping that old man or giving him any
money.
So he went to that old man and took his card board in his hand. He then took out a
thick marker pen out of his pocket and turned the cardboard sheet back-to-front
and re-wrote the sign then went on her way.
Old man noticed that someone was there writing something on the board but
didn’t said anything.
Just in few minutes, that empty bowl was now filled with money. Old man noticed
that and stopped a stranger and asked him what was written on that card board.
Stranger replied, “It says.. – It’s a beautiful day. You can see it. I cannot..”
MORAL:
Our Choice of Words and Language can create Positive or Negative effect on
other. If we Choose right words then we can truly connect with people and
Change their Views.

One day the Zen master wanted to show his students a new technique of shooting an arrow. He told his students to cover his eyes with a cloth and then he shot his arrow. When he opened his eyes, he saw the target with no arrow in it and when he looked at his students, they looked sad because their teacher had missed.
The Zen master asked them, “What lesson do you think I intend to teach you all today?” They answered, “We thought you would show us how to shoot at the target without looking.” The Zen master said, “No, I taught you that if you want to be successful in life, don’t forget the target. You have to keep an eye on the target, otherwise you may miss a good opportunity in life.” They looked at each other, impressed with the lesson.
The moral of the story is we need to consistently focus on what we want and we need to realize that :
What thoughts we focus on we FEEL, therefore our thoughts have a direct effect on our emotions
What we focus on and feel we attract in our lives. Our destiny is consistently shaped by our thoughts.

I am like a grain of wheat which faces one of the three futures. The wheat can be placed in a sack & dumped in a stall until it is fed to swine. Or It can be ground to flour and made into a Bread. or It can be placed in the earth and allowed to grow until it’s golden head divides and produces a thousand grains of the one.
I am like a grain of wheat with one difference. The wheat cannot choose whether it be fed to swine, ground for bread, or planted to multiply. I have a choice and I will not let my life be fed to swine nor will I let myself be ground under the rocks of failure & despair to be broken open & devoured by the will of others.
Now, Like the wheat of grain which will sprout and blossom only if it is nurtured with rain and sun and warm winds. I must nurture my body and mind to fulfill my dreams. But to grow to full stature the wheat must wait on the whims of nature. I need not wait for I have the power to change my life. I will set goals for the day, the week, the month, the year and my Life.
In setting my goals, I will consider my best performance of the past and multiply it a hundred fold. This will be the standard by which I will live in the future.
I can reach my goal, If I plan and act on it. My actions matter for my results.

The height of my goals will not hold me though I stumble often before they are reached. If I stumble I will rise and my falls will not concern me, for all men must stumble often to reach the goals. only a worm is free from the worry of stumbling. I am not a worm. I am not a sheep. I am a man/woman.
Let others build small houses , I will build a castle with the bricks I have, one brick at a time. Like the sun warms earth, this story will warm my Life and turn my dreams into reality.

Today I will surpass every action I performed yesterday, I will surpass my own deeds & not bothered by what others are doing.
I will aim high, I will raise my goals as soon as I achieve them.
Read the following affirmations aloud.
I am Great. I can do it. I am on top of the world.
Let the world approach me with praise and I have wisdom to receive it in humility.
I am the ———- of my Life(Hero/ Heroin)

A psychology professor entered the classroom with half a glass of water in his hand.
The students expected the old common question was it half empty or half full?” But to
the surprise, he asked them “How heavy is this glass of water?”
The answers given by the students ranged from 7 oz. to 25 oz. But the professor
replied that the actual weight of the glass with water doesn’t always matter but how
long you hold the glass is what matters.
If you hold the glass for a minute, you won’t feel much weight. But if you hold for 10
minutes, you will feel a little more weight and it gets heavier for you with hours.
If you hold it for the entire day, then your hands would go numb and pain. Similar is
the case when you carry stress with you. If you think about it for a while and leave it,
then there is no problem but if you think about it for hours, it starts becoming a
problem and it becomes worse if you sleep with it.
Moral: You should learn to let go of your stresses and never sleep with it. If you can
do something about it, just do it. In the other case, just leave it and work towards your
goals or else it just kills your productivity.

Knowledge is Power:

Once there a was great teacher who had many students.

Once one of the students came to him and asked “I have read lots of books but forgotten most of them. What’s the purpose of reading?”.
The teacher didn’t give him an answer at that time.

After few days teacher gave that student a sieve which was in dirty and in very bad condition as shown in the picture.
The teacher asked the student to fetch water from a nearby river in this sieve.

The student didn’t like the idea but he could not refuse his teacher.

He went to the river, filled sieve at the river and started his return journey.

Few feet as he walks, all water in the sieve was drained through holes.

Then again he went to the river and filled sieve.

He did this all day but could not complete the task assigned by his teacher.

He returned to the teacher with a sad face and said “ I am unable to fetch water with this sieve. I am failed “

His teacher smiled at him.

No! You didn’t fail.

Look at the sieve.
It has become like new. It got clean when you were trying to fetch water.

The teacher then explained the true motive behind this task.

He said “ Last time you asked me what is the purpose of reading if you don’t remember what you read. Now take this example of the sieve.

Sieve = Mind

Water = Knowledge

River = Book

Even if you can’t remember its ok!

But reading will definitely make your mind sharp. “

Reading has a profound impact on our mind, brain[1] .

It helps to be a better version of yourself.

This is a subconscious process.

The story ends here.

I have read hundreds of books till date.

I don’t remember all the things from them.

But I certainly know that I am smarter than before and hence I will keep reading.

Footnotes

Shoe Salesmen in Africa..

Many years ago two salesmen were sent by a British shoe manufacturer to Africa to investigate and report back on market potential.

The first salesman reported back, “There is no potential here – nobody wears shoes.” The second salesman reported back, “There is massive potential here – nobody wears shoes.”

This simple short story provides one of the best examples of how a single situation may be viewed in two quite different ways – negatively or positively. The question is, when confronted with a problem or challenge, which salesman are you ?

The forest wolf spent his nights howling at the moon. He was making fun of her, of how old she was, how slowly she moved, and how little light she had. In the same forest, when the howling had stopped, the little hedgehog would come out to console the moon.

One day, both the wolf and the hedgehog were far from home and were caught unawares by a great storm. When the storm subsided, both animals were lost. As the moon came out, the wolf began his usual howling, while the hedgehog was feeling sad and frightened at being lost.

Before long the hedgehog heard a voice calling him, but he couldn’t see anyone around. It was the moon, who was so grateful for the hedgehog’s constant help and advice, that she wanted to help him find his way home. So the moon gathered up all her light into one single ray, to help show the hedgehog how to get back safely.

The hedgehog arrived home in the early hours, while the wolf remained lost, out in the darkness, and scared to death. Only then did he realise that all his rudeness to the moon had been pointless and cruel. The moon didn’t shine for him until the wolf asked for forgiveness for his bad attitude, and promised not to bother anyone again like that.