Effort in the Right Direction

A giant ship engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for Rupees ten thousand .

“What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!”

So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.”

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer…… ……… ……. Rs. 2.00

Knowing where to tap………. ……… …… Rs. 9, 998.00

Moral: “Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference!”

IF TOMORROW STARTS WITHOUT ME

A few weeks ago a man was killed in an local train  accident. He was very well liked, so the office shut down for his funeral and it was on the news and so on. On the day the workers came back to work,  they found this poem in their e-mail that the deceased man had sent on Friday before he left for home. 
  
      "If tomorrow starts without me, 
      And I'm not there to see, 
      If the sun should rise and find your eyes 
      all filled with tears for me; 
  
      I wish so much you wouldn't cry 
      the way you did today, 
      While thinking of the many things, 
      We didn't get to say. 
  
      I know how much you love me, 
      As much as I love you, 
      And each time that you think of me, 
      I know you'll miss me too; 
  
      But when tomorrow starts without me, 
      Please try to understand, 
      that an angel came and called my name, 
      And took me by the hand, 
  
      And said my place was ready, 
      In heaven far above, 
      And that I'd have to leave behind 
      all those I dearly love. 
  
      But as I turned to walk away, 
      A tear fell from my eye, 
      For all my life, I'd always thought, 
      I didn't want to die. 
  
      I had so much to live for, 
      So much left yet to do, 
      it seemed almost impossible, 
      that I was leaving you. 
  
      I thought of all the yesterdays, 
      The good ones and the bad, 
      I thought of all that we shared, 
      And all the fun we had. 
  
      If I could relive yesterday, 
      Just even for a while, 
      I'd say good-bye and kiss you 
      and maybe see you smile. 
  
      But then I fully realized, 
      That this could never be, 
      For emptiness and memories, 
      would take the place of me. 
  
      And when I thought of worldly things, 
      I might miss some tomorrow, 
      I thought of you, and when I did, 
      My heart was filled with sorrow. 
  
      But when I walked through heaven's gates, 
      I felt so much at home. 
      When God looked down and smiled at me, 
      From His great golden throne, 
  
      He said, "This is eternity, 
      And all I've promised you." 
      Today your life on earth is past, 
      but here life starts anew. 
  
      I promise no tomorrow, 
      But today will always last, 
      and since each day is the same way, 
      There's no longing for the past. 
  
      So when tomorrow starts without me, 
      don't think we're far apart, 
      For every time you think of me, 
      I'm right here, in your heart " 
  

COMMUNICATING WITH GOD

One day a construction supervisor from 6th floor of a building was calling a worker working on the ground floor. Because of construction noise, the worker on the ground floor could not hear his supervisor calling.

Then to draw the attention of the worker, the supervisor threw a 10 rupee note from up, which fell right in front of the worker. The worker picked up the 10 rupee note, put it in his pocket & started his work.

Again to draw the attention of the worker, the supervisor now threw a 500 rupee note. The worker picked up the 500 rupee note, put it in his pocket & continued doing his job.

... Now the supervisor picked a small stone & threw it on the worker to draw his attention. The stone hit the worker exactly on his head. This time the worker looked up & the supervisor communicated with him.
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This story relates to our life in a similar manner:
Our God wants to communicate with us, but we are busy doing our work. God gives us small gifts & we happily keep it. Then God gives us bigger amounts/gifts & and we take it for granted without even acknowledging or thanking God. We just say we are LUCKY!

Then when we are hit with what we call 'problems', we look up & communicate with God.

So every time you get a gift or get saved by His divine grace......acknowledge His blessings, and don't wait till you are hit by a problem to communicate with God....

A School Principal's speech at a graduation..

He said "The Doctor wants his child to become a doctor......... 

the Engineer wants his child to become an engineer......
The Businessman wants his ward to become CEO......
BUT a teacher also wants his child to become one of them, as well..!!!!
Nobody wants to become a teacher BY CHOICE" ....Very sad but that's the truth......!!!

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.
One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued,
"What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

To stress his point he said to another guest;
"You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Teacher Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied,
"You want to know what I make?
(She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't
make them sit for 5 min. without an I- Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?
(She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)

I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them how to write and then I make them write.
Keyboarding isn't everything.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them show all their work in math.
They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need
to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they
were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life

( Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money is n't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make.

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN ALL YOUR LIVES, EDUCATING KIDS AND PREPARING THEM TO BECOME CEO's, AND DOCTORS AND ENGINEERS..........

What do you make Mr. CEO?
His jaw dropped; he went silent.

The Power to Decide..

Human Beings and frogs are the two creatures in nature that have tremendous power to adjust. 

Put a frog in a vessel of water and start heating the water. As the temperature of the water rises, the frog is able to adjust its body temperature accordingly. The frog keeps on adjusting with increase in temperature. Just when the water is about to reach boiling point, the frog is not able to adjust anymore. At that point the frog decides to jump out. The frog tries to jump but is unable to do so, because it lost all its strength in adjusting with the water temperature. Very soon the frog dies. 

What killed the frog? 

Many of us would say the boiling water. But the truth is what killed the frog was its own inability to decide when it had to jump out. We all need to adjust with people and situations, but we need to be sure when we need to adjust and when we need to face. There are times when we need to face the situation and take the appropriate action. If we allow people to exploit us physically, emotionally or financially, they will continue to do so. We have to decide when to jump. 

Let us jump while we still have the strength!

Lessons from Noah's Ark

Everything we need to know, we can learn from Noah's Ark.

ONE: Don't miss the boat.

TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat!

THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

FOUR: Stay fit. When we're 60 years old, someone may ask us to do something really big.

FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

SIX: Build our future on high ground.

SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

NINE: When we're stressed, float awhile.

TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by Professionals.

The Lottery

Have you heard about the man who begged God for years to allow him to win the lottery?

Every day he got down on his knees and shouted to heaven, "Please let today be the day I win!" 

After a year of no response, he went to his teacher to ask what he was doing wrong. 

His teacher asked him, "Did you buy a ticket?"It's a great place to be when you recognize 

the existence of the Creator and learn how to humbly ask for help. But the secret to getting your prayers answered is this," God translates our prayers based on our actions." 

❤Today, do an act of random kindness (especially for someone you don't like.) 

❤Resist the temptation to Judge people. 

❤Go out of your way to help a co-worker. 

❤Cross the street to help a stranded stranger. 

❤Listen closely to someone you normally drown out. 

❤Grab hold of the infinite gifts to help people that the Light throws at you every moment of the day, and open them with gratitude. 

❤Every Positive action, every Restriction, every Conscious effort to emulate the attributes of the Light will ensure that your prayers are heard, Loud and Clear!❤