A young woman was sitting at her dining table, worried about taxes to be paid, housework to be done and to top it all, her extended family was coming over for festival lunch the next day. She was feeling miserable and not knowing what to do. At this moment she was not feeling very thankful as she was very nervous. As she turned her gaze sideways, she noticed her young daughter scribbling furiously into her notebook.
She asked her, “What are doing in your notebook.” The daughter said, “My teacher asked us to write a paragraph on “Negative Thanksgiving” for homework today. She asked us to write down things that we are thankful for, things that make us feel not so good in the beginning, but turn out to be good after all.” With curiosity, the mother peeked into the book. This is what her daughter wrote:
“-I’m thankful for the bad-tasting medicine, because it helps me feel better.
–I’m thankful for waking up to the rays of the sun, because it means I’m still alive.
–I’m thankful for doing my homework after school, because it will help me to pass my class.“
It then dawned on the mother, that she had a lot of things to be thankful for. She thought again to herself that she had to pay taxes but that meant she was fortunate to be employed.
She had housework to do but that meant she had a shelter to live in. She had to cook for her many family members for lunch but that meant she had a family with whom she could celebrate and be joyous.
The moral here is we generally complain about the negative things in life but we fail to look at the positive side of it. What is the positive in your negatives? Look at the better part of life today and make your everyday a great day.Life is about being happy and taking everything as it comes. Always remember that your present situation is not your final destination. The best is yet to come.
A young woman worked for a merchant who lived on top of a hill. She had to walk down the hill every day to collect water from a stream. She had two pots to carry water, which she hung upon a pole and carried over her shoulders. One of the pots had a crack but she still used it. The woman would fill them to the brim and walk back up the hill. By the time she reached the house, the cracked pot would only be half full.
When the cracked pot saw water filled to the top in the other pot, it began to feel desolate and sad. After a few years, the cracked pot spoke to the lady, “I apologize for my flaws. I spill half of the water, I’m of no good”. The lady replied gently, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to look at the path we traverse.” The next time, the pot carefully observed the path up the hill. On his side of the trail, the pot noticed beautiful flowers growing in abundance. They were all radiant and looking fresh. While the other side was always dry.
The lady then said to the cracked pot, “I had always known about your cracks and I took advantage of it to water those beautiful flowers along the way. With you being just the way, you always are, the path uphill would not have this beauty.” She further said, “Every one of us is unique and we all have our own flaws; it is our little quirks and faults that make us and the world so interesting. The perfect ones are always flawed. I find beauty in your flaws. Let yourself be flawed. Change the way you are thinking and let your perception change towards life. You are worthy and doing such an important work to keep the flowers in abundance.”
The cracked pot understood the significance of what his lady said. He stopped whining and feeling sad for himself and changed the way he was thinking and all was merry and joyous from that time onward.
My wonderful friend, Zaza from scribeforlove blog has written enchanting three verses on My Heart is a Waiting Basket and I have again thought of continuing her verses into a poem that is penned below:
–Many a times there are wrong people who very often teach us the right lessons in life. They are not out to hurt us but teach us what life is really all about. That is called life experience.
–Time they say is our greatest healer. It can heal almost everything. Give it time and space. Do not hurry. We are not going anywhere. Practice Patience. Learn to stay in tune with time.
–Thankfulness opens you up to beautiful experiences, which then provide further reasons to be grateful. Thus, your path becomes an upward spiral, ever increasing in gladness and joy. What if today we were just thankful for everything that we have been given in our lives.
–No one is in charge of your happiness, except you. Let go of worries and fears and what anyone thinks of you. Enjoy every moment of your precious life and be happy and joyous at all times.Be in the Here and Now.
–Don’t compare your life to others and don’t judge them, you have no idea what their journey is all about. So always believe in YOURSELF and be free of judgements.
–Be the author of your dreams. Face challenges with a Joyful Heart. Let love lead the way. Celebrate and make your own music, the right people will dance along with you.
–Life will never come again. We all are Tourists and God is our Travel Guide who has already fixed all our Routes, Restaurants, Destinations, etc. etc. So, trust him and enjoy the TRIP called LIFE.……………..
The telephone rang. It was a call from his mother. He answered it and his mother told him, “Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday. Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days. “Jack, did you hear me?” “Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It’s been so long since I thought of him. I’m sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago,” Jack said.
“Well, he did not forget you. Every time I saw him, he’d ask how you were doing. He’d reminisce about the many days you spent over ‘his side of the fence’ as he put it”, Mom told him. “I loved that old house he lived in,” Jack said. “You know, Jack after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man’s influence in your life,” she said.
“He is the one who taught me carpentry,” he said. “I would not be in this business if it were not for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important. Mom, I’ll be there for the funeral,” Jack said. As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser’s funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Jack stopped suddenly. “What’s wrong, Jack? His Mom asked. “The box is gone,” he said. “What box?” Mom asked.
“There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he’d ever tell me was “the thing I value most,” Jack said. It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. “Now I’ll never know what was so valuable to him,” Jack said. “I better get some sleep. I have early flight home, Mom.”
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day, Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. “Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days,” the note read. Early the next day Jack went to the post office and retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. “Mr. Harold Belser,” it read.
Jack took the box out of his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack’s hands shook as he read the note inside. “Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It’s the thing I valued most in my life.” A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filled his eyes. Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.
Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: “Jack, Thanks for your time! Harold Belser.” “The thing he valued most was my time!” Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. “Why?” Janet, his assistant asked. “I need some time to spend with the people I love and say I care for,” he said. “Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!”
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away and how much time we spend with the people who we love the most. Relationships are like birds, if you hold tightly, they Die. If you hold loosely, they Fly. But if you hold with Care, they remain with you FOREVER.
My beautiful friend, Zaza from scribeforlove blog has written enchanting three verses on Capturing Beauty and I loved them so much I continued and added few more verses. The poem goes like this:
BEAUTIFUL LINES WRITTEN BY SOPHIA LOREN THE GORGEOUS ACTRESS:
“When I got enough confidence, the stage was gone from below my feet.
–When I was sure of Losing, I won.
–When I needed People the most in my life, they Left me.
–When I learnt to dry my Tears, I found a shoulder to Cry on.
–When I mastered the Skill of Hating, someone started Loving me from the core of the Heart.
–And while waiting for Light for Hours when I fell asleep, the Sun came out. That’s LIFE!!! No matter what you plan, you never know what Life has Planned for you.
–Make space for new growth. Make your own music, the right people will dance along.
Success introduces you to the World but Failure introduces the World to you. Always be Happy No Matter What!!!!! Often, we lose Hope and think this is the end but dear friends God smiles from above and says in his most gentle and sweet voice, “Relax Sweetheart, it’s just a Bend, not the End!!!!!!”
