WISDOM OF THE WORLD - WEEK 125

The Lamb

A herd of goats were eyeing up the green pastures that grew on a high steep mountain. All of them were tempted by that grass but did not trust that they could manage climbing up that steep hill…
Amidst the crowd was a little lamb. This little one started climbing the hill on its own.. Perplexed at this, every goat in the crowd, except the mother of the lamb started bullying the little one… shouting out discouraging comments and making fun of the lamb. The mother watching silently just prayed that her little one be safe. Eventually the little lamb managed to climb the hill and eat the grass. At this, all the goats were astonished. They asked the mother of the lamb- “What was so special about your little one that it was able to achieve something that none was even ready to try?”…
At this the mother replied – “My little one is deaf”
The moral of the story is we should learn to focus on our goal in life and turn a deaf ear to all unwanted and discouraging talk that we have to face during our journey. Our biggest weakness could become our greatest strength if we could realise it and learn to look at only the positive aspects in life. In the end it is only perseverance and grace that will take us to the goal.

WISDOM OF THE WORLD - WEEK 124

Schools Out

A mother repeatedly called upstairs for her son to get up, get dressed and get ready for school. It was a familiar routine, especially at exam time.
"I feel sick," said the voice from the bedroom.
"You are not sick. Get up and get ready," called the mother, walking up the stairs and hovering outside the bedroom door.
"I hate school and I'm not going," said the voice from the bedroom, "I'm always getting things wrong, making mistakes and getting told off. Nobody likes me, and I've got no friends. And we have too many tests and they are too confusing. It's all just pointless, and I'm not going to school ever again."
"I'm sorry, but you are going to school," said the mother through the door, continuing encouragingly, "Really, mistakes are how we learn and develop. And please try not to take criticism so personally. And I can't believe that nobody likes you - you have lots of friends at school. And yes, all those tests can be confusing, but we are all tested in many ways throughout our lives, so all of this experience at school is useful for life in general. Besides, you have to go, you are the headteacher."

WISDOM OF THE WORLD - WEEK 123

Giving up Wine

I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of euro for dinner.
I took out my wallet, got out ten euro and asked, 'If I give you this money, will you buy wine with it instead of dinner?''No, I had to stop drinking years ago', the homeless woman told me.
'Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?' I asked.
'No, I don't waste time shopping,' the homeless woman said. 'I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.'
'Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?' I asked.
'Are you NUTS!' replied the homeless woman. I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!'
'Well, I said, 'I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight.'
The homeless woman was shocked. 'Won't your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.'
I said, 'That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and wine.'

WISDOM OF THE WORLD - WEEK 122

Doilies

Thanks to Penny for the pic...

There was once a man and woman who had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about. For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside.
She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted doilies and a stack of money totalling €25,000. He asked her about the contents. "When we were to be married," she said, "My grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doily." The little old man was so moved, he had to fight back tears. Only two precious doilies were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness. "Honey," he said, "that explains the doilies, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?" "Oh," she said, "That’s the money I made from selling the doilies."