Saturday Story from Siva (12): The Story of a Boy and His Father

Hi,

Good morning! Hope you had a great week. I would like to share with you this Saturday the Story of a Boy and His Father. Here it goes.......

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"Using All of Your Strength" Author Unknown
A young boy was walking with his father along a country road. When they came across a large boulder, the boy asked, "Do you think I could push that boulder?" 

His father answered, "If you use all your strength, I'm sure you can."


The boy tried to lift, pull, and push the boulder, but he couldn't move it. Determined, the little Boy struggled harder, but every time he thought he had made some progress, the boulder tipped and rolled back hurting his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears of frustration and said, "Dad, you were wrong. I can't do it."


His Dad said, "Son, why didn't you use all the strength that you had available?" The boy said, "But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had, but I couldn’t push it!"


His dad said, "Try again." This time, as the boy struggled with the boulder, his father joined him and together they pushed the boulder aside. "Son," the father said, "you didn't use all your strength earlier. You didn't ask me to help. Don't you think your dad is also your strength?"

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We have many resources available with us, and it is important that we use all of our strength so as to be able to accomplish many of the tasks that we perform in our daily life. In the process, we should be willing to ask for help from others as much as we are willing to help others. That includes our own family members, friends, and colleagues. Seven years ago, only when I lost my father, I realized what kind of a strength and force he had been to me in my life and repented how I had always underestimated it. Sometimes we fail to ask for help because of pride or stubbornness. Sometimes we think it's a sign of weakness to admit we need a hand. And sometimes we don't even think about asking for help. It may be the right time now to ponder and prepare an inventory of our strengths, including the innate as well as acquired resources. That includes the people we live and work with.

Reinforcing this thought, here is a video of an amazing story of Patrick Henry Hughes, a boy born blind and wheelchair-bound. Recognizing Patrick's passion for music, his father helped him overcome the odds to live out a dream. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xwCG0Ey2Mg&feature=player_embedded.html

To your continued SUCCESS,

With love and regards,

Siva

Saturday Story from Siva (11): The Story of an Army Officer and His Father

Hi,
Here is another true story, a story of an Army Officer and His Father, and the legacy they carried forward from his Grandfather.....
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An excerpt from "A Lesson in Ethics by an Army Officer"
By Retd Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch (Contribution by Jagadish C Majumdar)

It was the summer of 1967. I was sixteen years old. My father, who was then working for Indian Army as a colonel never allowed any of our family members use the office jeep for family use, while most others routinely did so. I was so upset, one day I mustered up enough courage and asked my father, "Why don't you let us use the office jeep sometimes, Dad?"

He replied, "I would son, but the pear would not go down my throat."

"What pear?" I asked.

Father narrated this amazing tale. "When I was a kid your age, I had gone out to play with my friends. On the farther side of the village there was a beautiful orchard of pears. We crawled under the fence and took all that we could carry before scampering back to safety. I took my share of the loot home. Your grandfather was sitting in the veranda, and I offered him a plate with the freshly cut pears. I don't know what I expected to get from him; praise or appreciation. What I got, however, was something totally different. He said that the pear would not go down his throat as he found it impossible to eat anything that had not been honestly obtained."

"I took the plate back with an overriding sense of pain and guilt. Away from your grandfather's eyes, I took a bite of the pear to see if there was any truth in the assumption. Well, the pear wouldn't go down my throat either." "Life offers many temptations, son, but some of us cannot get the pear down our throats."
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Fruits obtained through labour in a fair and just manner are always sweet, rewarding true happiness to the one who rightfully deserved it. Those obtained, through unfair means, even if appear to be good in the short-term, eventually cause undue worry and unhappiness. I am sure you would agree with me that we find the days on which we put in our best efforts more fulfilling and the rewards they fetch more blissful.

You can read the complete story written by Dhruv Katoch at http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2010/08/a-lesson-in-ethics-by-an-army-officer.html

To your continued SUCCESS,

With love and regards,
Siva

Saturday Story from Siva(10): The Story of The Farmer and The Mule

Hi,
I would like to share with you another old fable that most of us have read as a child. Here goes the story of The farmer and Old Mule.......
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The Story of The Farmer and The Old Mule
Anonymous
The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying' - or - whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbours together and told them what had happened and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbours continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back: he should shake it off and step up! This he did, blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up... shake it off and step up... shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up! It wasn't long before the old mule stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Each one of us has been blessed with great success in life in some form or the other right from the birth. For some, it is perhaps in the form of survival itself against many odds and for some others it is through prosperity and fame. It could be those early steps we walked when we stood up despite many falls we experienced as a toddler, or those difficult poems we memorized at school despite our mistakes and the tantrums of our teachers, or those races we ran and the games we played despite the bruises we had, or those of several accomplishments we managed despite all the obstacles and challenges we experienced. 

Disappointment, discouragement, and deterrents are something we all experience as we undertake tasks and move forward with our goals and mission in life. It is perhaps time to look back and see how triumphant we have been thus far, and all that we may have to do the next time we face a disappointment or a discouragement is to say to ourselves is, “Shake it off and step up.”


To your continued success,
With love and prayers,
Siva

Saturday story from Siva (9): The Story of consciousness and character

Hi,

While the Teachers’ Day is celebrated on different dates in different countries, we in India celebrate it tomorrow, the 5th Sep, which is birthday of Dr S. Radhakrishnan, a great teacher, philosopher and also the 2nd President of India. It is our teachers at early school and also in colleges who sow the seeds of good character and moral values in us through many of those stories as well as their real life experiences. Here goes the story, “A Penny’s Worth of Character” written by Jesse Hilton Stuart (1907-1984), who was a great teacher and also a short story writer. 
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A Penny's Worth of Character

by Jesse Hilton Stuart
Shan Shelton is going to the store for his mother. If he had a dime, he could buy his favourite treat, a chocolate bar and a lemon soda pop.

Shan knows that Mr. Conley, the storekeeper, pays a penny each for good used paper sacks returned to the store. There are ten sacks at home, but Shan's mother tells him to take only nine to Mr. Conley, because the tenth sack has a hole in it. Shan wants a chocolate bar and a lemon soda pop so much, he disobeys his mother and takes the tenth sack. He carries the sack with the hole in it concealed among the nine good sacks, hoping Mr. Conley won't notice it.

Mr. Conley overlooks it, but Shan, eating his chocolate bar and drinking his lemon soda pop, discovers something is wrong inside him and all around him.
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1. Live your life as though your every act would become a universal law.
2. Carry yourself as though everyone is watching you even though no one is watching you.
3. One of the things we know about men and women of great character is that they set very high standards for themselves. And the standards they set for themselves are higher than those anyone else will set for them.
4. They imagine that they are being watched in cameras everywhere, and they conduct themselves as though they were the kind of people they would like to be.
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At the end, consciousness prevails. There exists an opportunity to become from good to great. All that one may have to do is to listen to one's own consciousness and follow its prescription to greatness. As a reinforcement of the great message pronounced by Jesse Stuart, I would like to share with you the means by which one could practice universal maxim suggested by Brian Tracy, another great teacher as given below: 
"I am firm in my belief that a teacher lives on and on through his students. Good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal." 
_ Jesse Stuart

Expressing gratitude to all of my teachers, 

With love and regards,

Siva