Leave it to HIM

A new preacher was walking with an older more seasoned preacher in the garden one day ...

... and the younger preacher, feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was inquiring of the older preacher. The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals.

The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the WILL OF GOD for his life and for his ministry. Because of his high respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to TRY to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact it wasn't long before he realized how impossible it was to do so. Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud while keeping it intact, the older preacher began to recite the following poem.

"It is only a tiny rosebud, a flower of God's design; but I cannot unfold the petals with these clumsy hands of mine. The secret of unfolding flowers is not known to such as I. GOD opens this flower so sweetly. When in my hands they die. If I cannot unfold a rosebud this flower of God's design. Then how can I have the wisdom to unfold this life of mine? So I'll trust in Him for leading each moment of my day. I will look to him for His guidance each step of the pilgrim way. The pathway that lies before me, only my Heavenly Father knows. I'll trust Him to unfold the moments, just as He unfolds the rose"

(Author : Gettysburg)

The Flying Elephant

Marguerite Theophil
A businessman approached the Wise One. “All my decisions seem wrong, i never make enough money... you must help me”.
The Wise One simply gave him a tiny locked treasure chest charm, and said, “Take this with you everywhere, and shake it three times whenever you enter a new space or meet someone for the first time”. Somewhat sceptical, he looked at the tiny charm. “Oh well”, he thought, “maybe the magic object inside will bring me luck; no harm in trying it out”.
He carried the little charm everywhere, and in the space that he shook it thrice, waited, and paid attention, he noticed an opportunity here, a danger or pitfall there. A year went by and his luck had totally changed.
He went back to the Wise One and excitedly asked for the key. At first she refused, but he persisted, and she reluctantly opened the tiny little treasure chest. The man reached out and almost snatched it from her. He looked inside.
“Why... there’s nothing inside!” he exclaimed in shock. “But there is on the outside”, she smiled.
The power of talismans to open us to our own capacities needs to be better understood, and this lesson is best communicated through story, as in this beautiful traditional one — but modern tales too have had much the same point to make to a rather different audience, as in the story of Dumbo, the Flying Elephant.
Born into a circus, a baby elephant is rejected by the others because of his unusually big ears. Jeered at by children, rejected by the other performers, poor Dumbo is demoted to appearing as a clumsy, bumbling creature in an act with the clowns.
Only little Timothy Mouse befriends him, and devises a to make lonely little Dumbo a star. He gets a crafty crow to inform Dumbo that magic flying feathers are what really make crows able to fly, and if Dumbo had just one such magic feather, then he would be able to fly too.
Plucking a feather out of a friend’s tail and giving it to Dumbo, he says, “This is a magic flying feather for you”. And wonder of wonders — Dumbo flies on his first try, and because of this, is made part of a more daring performance, where he has to leap from a high platform as part of the clown’s fire rescue act.
All goes well till one day, about to dive off the high platform in the middle of the act, Dumbo somehow loses the magic feather. Timothy Mouse, terrified, immediately yells and convinces him, “It isn’t really magic. You can fly on your own”. And Dumbo, flapping his enormous ears madly, discovers in that moment that it was not the feather at all which had the power of flight, but Dumbo himself.
The feather was only a bridge to put him in touch with a gift that was his all along. In our lives, we are in need of magic feathers in the form of talismans or beliefs that can help us reach new heights. Our lesson is to utilise them for as long as we need them, but recognising them for the temporary gift they are, we are challenged to transcend the need for an outer reminder of what has been ours all along.
The writer is a Mumbai-based organisational consultant, personal growth coach and workshop leader. E-mail:

A lesson on life

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the
express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what you learned from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:

"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.
Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!



"Life is too short and friends are too few."

Attitude++

Author Unknown


Harvard and Stanford Universities have reported that 85% the reason a person gets a job and gets ahead in that job is due to attitude; and only 15% is because of technical or specific skills. Interesting, isn't it?



You spent how much money on your education? And you spent how much money on building your positive attitude? Ouch. That hurts.



Now here's an interesting thought. With the "right" attitude, you can and will develop the necessary skills. So where's your emphasis? Skill building? Attitude building? Unfortunately, "Neither" is the real answer for many people. Perhaps if more people knew how simple it is to develop and maintain a positive attitude they would invest more time doing so.



So here we go. - Five steps to staying positive in a negative world:



1. Understand that failure is an event, it is not a person. Yesterday ended last night; today is a brand new day, and it's yours. You were born to win, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, and then you can expect to win.



2. Become a lifetime student. Learn just one new word every day and in five years you will be able to talk with just about anybody about anything. When your vocabulary improves, your I.Q. goes up 100% of the time, according to Georgetown Medical School.



3. Read something informational or inspirational every day.



Reading for 20 minutes at just 240 words per minute will enable you to read twenty 200-page books each year. That's 18 more than the average person reads! What an enormous competitive advantage . . . if you'll just read for twenty minutes a day.



4. The University of Southern California reveals that you can acquire the equivalent of two years of a college education in three years just by listening to motivational and educational cassettes on the way to your job and again on the way home. What could be easier?



5. Start the day and end the day with positive input into your mind.



Inspirational messages cause the brain to flood with dopamine and norepinephrine, the energizing neurotransmitters; with endorphins, the endurance neurotransmitters; and with serotonin, the feel-good-about-yourself neurotransmitter.



Begin and end the day by reading or doing something positive!



Remember: Success is a process, not an event.



Invest the time in your attitude and it will pay off in your skills as well as your career.



Think of it.......

Shake It Off And Step Up

By: Author Unknown

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. 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 shovelling 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!

You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL! What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

THAT'S LIFE! If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity...THE ADVERSITIES THAT COME ALONG TO BURY US USUALLY HAVE WITHIN THEM THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT AND BLESS US! Remember that FORGIVENESS--FAITH--PRAYER-- PRAISE and HOPE...all are excellent ways to "SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP" out of the wells in which we find ourselves!