I am sorry:

SORRY so common a word, its used by one and all. Strange isn't it.... you will easily say sorry to a stranger but when it comes to saying it to your loved ones, at office, home or your neighbours.... ego / attitude / anger does not let you say utter this word ! However, saying sorry to your loved ones / subordinates and people close to you, strengthens and binds the relationship ! These are the people who will stand by you always !

Once there was a man who had 3 daughters and was a single parent to his children. One morning he asked his oldest daughter, Sonia, to do the breakfast dishes before going to school.

Not realizing that she was already running late and facing too many tardy notices, he was stunned by her reaction. She burst into profuse tears. Again, misinterpreting the motive behind the outburst, assuming that she was merely trying to get out of an unpleasant chore, he demanded that she dry her tears and get back to work immediately. She reluctantly obeyed him, but her anger could be clearly heard in the careless clanking of the dishes in the sink, she turned back to her father and stared sullenly out the window.

Usually the man used to take advantage of the uninterrupted time to spend with his children while driving them to school by teaching poetry or religious verses. However that morning there was no songs- only deathly, stubborn silence.

The man dropped his daughter, mumbled a good bye and moved to office. He tried to work but couldn’t concentrate all he could see was his daughter’s scared, tear-stained face as she hesitantly climbed out of the car to face her teachers and classmates.

The man began to realize that his timing had gone wrong and with the passage of the day he began to feel remorseful. So he decided to say SORRY to his daughter and couldn’t wait till suppertime to apologize.

He took permission from the school to take his daughter for lunch and was astonished to see the surprise on her face. He led her by her arm through the corridor and as the doors banged behind them, he turned towards his daughter and said, “Sonia I am sorry. I am so very sorry! It’s not that I shouldn’t have asked you to help out at home, but I had no right on it this morning without any previous warning. I upset you at a time when you most needed my love and support- just before you went to school. And I let you go without saying ‘I love you’. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

Sonia put her arms around her father’s neck and hugged him and said “Oh, Dad, of course I forgive you. I love you too.”

The power of these restorative words, “I am Sorry!” is such that they heal relationships – between us and our friends and loved ones and between us and God.

संतोष ही परम सुख है:

    किसी से बदला लेना बहुत आसान है मगर किसी का बदला चुकाना बहुत ही मुश्किल। उन्हें भुलाना अच्छी बात नहीं जो विपत्ति में आपका साथ दिया करते हैं। पैसों पर ज्यादा घमंड मत करना उनसे सिर्फ बिल चुकाया जा सकता है बदला नहीं।
    सब कुछ होने पर भी यदि आपको संतोष नहीं है तो फिर आपको अभाव सतायेगा और सब कुछ मिलने पर भी यदि आप चुप नहीं रह सकते तो फिर आपको स्वभाव सतायेगा। यदि फिर आपके मन में अपने पास बहुत कुछ होने का अहम आ गया तो सच मानो फिर आपको आपका ये कुभाव सतायेगा।
   दौलतवान न बन सको तो कोई बात नहीं, दिलवान और दया वान बन जाओ, आनंद ही आनंद चारों तरफ हो जायेगा।   

जिन्दगी बदलने के लिए लड़ना पड़ता है।
और आसान करने के लिए समझना पड़ता है॥   

छोटा बनके रहोगे तो मिलेगी हर रहमत प्यारों
बड़ा होने पर तो माँ भी गोद से उतार देती है॥
                                    

Two little teardrops:

Two little teardrops were floating down the river of life.

One drop said to the other, "I am the teardrop of a girl who loved a man and lost him." Who are you?

"Well, I am the teardrop of the girl who won him."

Love is very strange. Love is unconditional commitment to an imperfect individual. You need it but when you love, it's like destining yourself for pain. You become addicted and dependent on the person. You become strong and at the same time, you open yourself up to being hurt. Love can make you bear any kind of pain and any kind of sacrifice. It can also make you feel stupid and act stupidly. Sometimes when you love and end up giving so much of yourself, subconciously you only discover how much you've given when the person you love hurts you or has to say goodbye.

Then you realize, an important part of yourself is already with that person. It goes away when he leaves and you are left with a sickening, empty feeling inside.

Tears are bound to shed from your eyes no matter how you force yourself to keep them in. Most teardrops ever shed on this earth have been for love or lack of it. When tears dry, a silent loss sticks to your heart for a long, long time.

Well, that's what you get for caring so much about someone. But how can you regret it? To give yourself freely and lovingly is the most beautiful thing you can do. Loving makes you real. Loving also makes you cry.

And that is why a teardrop is also BEAUTIFUL !

Helping Hands !!!

A mother, wishing to encourage her son's progress at the piano, bought tickets to a performance by the great Polish Pianist Ignace Paderewski. When the evening arrived, they found their seats near the front of the concert hall and eyed the majestic Steinway waiting on the stage. Soon the mother found a friend to talk to, and the boy slipped away.

At eight o'clock, the lights in the auditorium began to dim, the spotlights came on, and only then did they notice the boy - up on the piano bench, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." His mother gasped in shock and embarassment but, before she could retrieve her son, the master himself appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard.

He whispered gently to the boy, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side and improvised a delightful obligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized with their blended and beautiful music.

In all our lives, we receive helping hands - some we notice, some we don't. Equally we ourselves have countless opportunites to provide helping hands - sometimes we would like our assistance to be noticed, sometimes we don't. Little of what we all achieve is without learning from others and without support from others and what we receive we should hand out.

The Emperor's Horseman !

Hi, Today I have posted a story which has a deep meaning. It makes me think how far one can go to to get money, power, grandeur and at what cost .... Is it really worth accumulating all this and that too at the cost of our health, family, life etc etc ???

A long time ago, there was an Emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he likes, then the Emperor would give him the area of land he has covered.

Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible.

Came to a point when he had covered a substantial area and he was exhausted and was dying. Then he asked himself, "Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only need a very small area to bury myself."
The above story is similar with the journey of our Life. We push very hard everyday to make more money, to gain power and recognition. We neglect our health, time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding beauty and the hobbies we love. 
Moral- One day when we look back , we will realize that we don't really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have missed....

Life is not about making money, acquiring power or recognition. Life is definitely not about work!

Life is short, energy limited, with this limited energy we have to find the unlimited; with this short life we have to find the eternal. Don't waste it with unimportant matters !!!

Be Happy and have a good and worthy life ! : ) : ) : )

Who is Happy? The Peacock & The Crow

A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.”

He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.”

The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.”

The peacock replied, “I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. So for past few days I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.”

That’s our problem too. We make unnecessary comparison with others and become sad. We don’t value what God has given us. This all leads to the vicious cycle of unhappiness. Learn to be happy in what you have instead of looking at what you don’t have. There will always be someone who will have more or less than you have. Person who is satisfied with what he/she has, is the happiest person in the world.

Be happy and contented ! Life is short ... appreciate what you have and value the same !

The Crow and the Peacocks

There was a flight of crows in a thick forest. One day, they saw a few peacocks dancing there. One of the crows felt very jealous. He was not contented with what he had. He wanted to be as beautiful as the peacocks. He said to himself, “How beautiful they look! What lovely feathers they have! If I were a peacock, I would also have looked so beautiful”.

He soon had an idea. “Every day, I'll watch these peacocks dance and whenever any of their feathers fall, I will pick them up and keep them safely. When I have enough, I'll stick them on my tail and…….hurrah……I'll become as beautiful as a peacock!”

The grumpy crow left his friends and followed the peacocks wherever they went. He picked up each and every feather they dropped and kept them safely. One day he thought he had collected enough feathers. He stuck them inside his own feathers and danced with joy.

Next day, the grumpy crow went in search of the peacocks. He quietly crept close to them and pretended to sleep. Soon, the peacocks got ready to dance. He also joined them in the dance and sang along with them.

The peacocks soon realized that he was not one of them. Suddenly all of them stopped dancing and said, “Why do you want to act like a peacock?” The crow said, “You are so beautiful. I also want to look like you”.

The Peacocks said, “All of us have some or the other good qualities. You may not look good, but you have an intelligent brain which we don't have. So be satisfied with what you are.”

The grumpy crow went home to join his friends. The oldest and the wisest crow said to him, “Son, you have learnt your lesson. You may not be as the beautiful as a peacock or as strong as a lion, but everyone loves you just as you are. So, just be yourself ."

Moral of the story: We should respect and love ourselves as we are and be happy.

Dear Parents

Help your child understand the values learnt from the story.

• Be contented.
• Contentment is happiness.
• I am the best gift that I have received.
• I am precious.
• I am special.
• I am unique.
• I have something special to give.
• I will remain in charge of my happiness.

What we are is God’s gift to us and what we became is our gift to God.”