You are Very Special

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a brand new Rupee 500 note. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this Rupee 500 note?".

Hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this note to one of you but first let me do this.".

He proceeded to crumple the note up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?".

Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?".

And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth Rupee 500/-.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

You are special, don't ever forget it! Why let today's disappointments overshadow tomorrow's dreams?

Turn Your Weakness to Strength

A 10-year-old boy who had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident, decided to study judo despite the disability.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move.
"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"

"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the
sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches.

The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match.

Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

"No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue."

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"

"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of Judo; And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grip your left arm!!!

You can change your weakness into your biggest strength!

When the Things go Haywire

Most of us do not like to have the negative emotions like anger, worry, fear, resentment, and hatred; still we find it hard to keep our cool when things go haywire around us. How can we handle such situations better? Many years ago, I got the answer to this question from the well known author Dale Carnegie through his great book, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living". He uses the generic term "worry" for a wide range of undesirable emotions and provides excellent advice on how to deal with them. The top three suggestions from this book that I liked the most are following:

• Live in present. The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today, makes the strongest falter. Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
• Accept the worst. Ask yourself, "What is the worst that can possibly happen if I can't solve my problem?" and prepare yourself mentally to accept the worst, if necessary. Then calmly try to improve upon it. Co-operate with the inevitable.
• The Golden Rule For Conquering Worry: Have faith and pray. Always have the thought that you are not alone. Share your burden with God.

फानूस बनके जिसकी हिफाजत हवा करे
वो शमा क्या बुझे जिसे रोशन खुदा करे

Cracked Pots

We all know the importance of cultivating a positive thinking, and have experienced the great results we can produce with it; However, when we are faced with our flaws and failures, our positive mindset is put to a stress test. How do we stay positive in such situations? I read a beautiful story long back that has a simple answer to this. It also teaches you a powerful lesson about working with others.

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. There is a lot of good out there.