“The obstacle in Our Path”

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.

Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been.

The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

The peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Moral: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

“A Third Angel”

A teacher teaching Maths to seven-year-old Arnav asked him, “If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

With a few seconds Arnav replied confidently, “Four!” The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. “May be the child did not listen properly,” she thought. She repeated, “Arnav, listen carefully. It is very simple. You will be able to do it right if you listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

Arnav had seen the disappointment on his teacher’s face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, “Four...” The disappointment stayed on teacher’s face. She remembered Arnav loves strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn’t like apples and that is making him lose focus.

This time with exaggerated excitement and twinkling eyes she asked, “If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many will Arnav have?” Seeing the teacher happy, young Arnav calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young Arnav enquired, “Three?”

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, “Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?” Promptly Arnav answered, “Four!”

The teacher was aghast. “How Arnav, how?” she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice. In a voice that was low hesitating young Arnav replied, “Because I already have one apple in my bag.”

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

When someone gives me an answer that is different from what we are expecting, not necessarily they are wrong. There may be an angle that we have not understood at all.

A leader talks to the people & also looks out for the apples in their bag!

“Butterfly”

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Moral: Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

“Complexity Simplified”

Many years ago in a small Indian village, A farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The Moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful Daughter. So he proposed a bargain.

He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his Daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the Proposal. So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let Providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black Pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would Have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.
2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.
3) But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into Jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag.
He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order To save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.

The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with Traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers.

What would you recommend to the Girl to do? Well, here is what she did ....

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dare not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

Appreciate Most complex problems do have a solution. It is only that we don't Attempt to think.

“Event + Response = Outcome”

Whether success or failure, wealth or poverty, health or illness, intimacy or estrangement, joy or frustration, every outcome you experience in life is the result of how you have responded to an earlier event or events in your life.

The following incident happened at a Lexus dealership in Southern California. When the Gulf War broke out, people stopped coming in to buy Lexus’s. They knew that if they didn’t change their response to the event of nobody coming into the showroom, they were going to slowly go out of business. Their normal response would have been to continue placing ads in the newspaper and on the radio, then wait for people to come into the dealership. But that wasn’t working.

The outcome they were getting was a steady decrease in sales. So they tried a number of new things. The one that worked was driving a fleet of new cars out to where the rich people were—the country clubs, marinas, polo grounds, parties in Beverly Hills and Westlake Village—and then inviting them to take a spin in a new Lexus.

Now think about this ...have you ever test-driven a new car and then got back into your old car? Remember that feeling of dissatisfaction you felt as you compared your old car to the new car you had just driven? Your old car was fine up until then. But suddenly you knew there was something better— and you wanted it. The same thing happened with these folks. After test-driving the new car, a high percentage of the people bought or leased a new Lexus.

The dealership had changed their response to an unexpected event—the war—until they got the outcome they wanted of increased sales. They actually ended up selling more cars per week than before the war broke out.

Everything you experience in life both internally and externally is the result of how you have responded to a previous event.

Event: You are given a $400 bonus.

Response: You spend it on a night on the town.

Outcome: You are broke.

Event: You are given a $400 bonus.

Response: You invest it in your mutual fund.

Outcome: You have an increased net worth.

You only have control over three things in your life—the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take (your behavior). How you use these three things determines everything you experience. If you don’t like what you are producing and experiencing, you have to change your responses. Change your negative thoughts to positive ones. Change what you daydream about. Change your habits. Change what you read. Change your friends. Change how you talk

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

Remember if you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got. The day you change your responses is the day your life will begin to get better! If what you are currently doing would produce the “more” and “better” that you are seeking in life, the more and better would have already shown up! If you want something different, you are going to have to do something different!

“Learn and Earn”

Chuan and Jing joined a wholesale company together just after graduation. Both worked very hard.

After several years, the boss promoted Jing to sales executive but Chuan remained a sales rep. One day Chuan could not take it anymore, tender resignation to the boss and complained the boss did not value hard working staff, but only promoted those who flattered him.

The boss knew that Chuan worked very hard for the years, but in order to help Chuan realize the difference between him and Jing, the boss asked Chuan to do the following. Go and find out anyone selling water melon in the market? Chuan returned and said yes. The boss asked how much per kg? Chuan went back to the market to ask and returned to inform boss the $12 per kg.

Boss told Chuan, I will ask Jing the same question? Jing went, returned and said, boss, only one person selling water melon. $12 per kg, $100 for 10 kg, he has inventory of 340 melons. On the table 58 melons, every melon weighs about 15 kg, bought from the South two days ago, they are fresh and red, good quality.

Chuan was very impressed and realized the difference between himself and Jing. He decided not to resign but to learn from Jing.

A more successful person is more observant, think more and understand in depth. For the same matter, a more successful person sees several years ahead, while you see only tomorrow. The difference between a year and a day is 365 times, how could you win?

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

Think! how far have you seen ahead in your life? How thoughtful in depth are you…

“Look within”

A man feared his wife wasn’t hearing well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called his family doctor to discuss the problem. The doctor told him there is a simple, informal test; which he could perform and give them a better idea about her hearing loss.

“Here’s what you do,” said the doctor, “stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone, see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response.”

That evening, when his wife was in the kitchen, cooking dinner, he was in the drawing room, standing about 40 feet away from her. “Honey, what’s for dinner?”, he asked in a normal tone. No response! So he moved closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeated “Honey, what’s for dinner?” Still there was no response. Next, he moved into the dining room where he was placed about 20 feet from his wife and asked the same question. Still further, he didn’t get his awaited response. He now walked upto the kitchen door which was another 10 feet away and asked “Honey, what’s for dinner?” Again no response! So he walks up and whispers behind her “Honey, what’s for dinner?” “Steve, for the fifth time I’ve said, “Chicken” . “Do you have some hearing problem ?”

Sometimes, the problem may not be with the other person as we always think; it could be within us. Let’s look within ourselves before we find fault with others.

“Making a Difference”

A man was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along he began to see another man in the distance.

As he grew nearer he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up, and throwing it out into the water.

As our friend approached even closer he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had washed up onto the beach, and one at a time, he was throwing them back into the ocean.

The first man was puzzled. He approached the man and said, "Good Evening Friend, I was wondering what are you doing?" And he replied, "I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw them back into the sea, they will die because of lack of oxygen."

"I understand," my friend replied "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach and you couldn't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many and don't you realize that this is happening on hundreds of beaches up and down this coast ... can't you see that that you can't possibly make a difference?

The local native smiled, bent down, picked up yet another starfish ... and as he threw it back out into the sea, he replied, "It made a difference to that one!"

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

You may feel like you cannot make a difference in the world today, but you CAN make a difference in one life at a time.

“Mute Gossip”

It was a bad day for me. Many things had gone wrong for me during the day and I was feeling peevish and restless when I entered a city bus at Corporation.

As the city bus was much crowded, I did not get any place to sit and had to stand carrying a heavy sack on my shoulders.

Many school-going children were present in the city bus, returning to their homes. They were all talking loudly, shouting and producing so much of noise that the conductor had to shout “Ticket-ticket” with all his might to attract passengers’ attention.

In all this mayhem, I noticed a group of 2-3 little girls, around 10-12 years old, chatting animatedly with each other. However, there was something strange in their talk – they were rigorously using hand signs, body language for talking instead of words. They were all deaf.

But their mute conversation was more vocal than all the noise and cacophony around. They were all gossiping over something animatedly, smiling; their innocent faces bright with genuine happiness.

God did not gift them with the power of listening. But it did not seem to prevent them from being happy, from smiling genuinely. They did not seem to complain about life being unfair to them, in-fact they did not seem to lack anything in life.

Life may not be perfect, it may not give us all that we want, it may not always seem fair to us, but still life is beautiful and it does not prevent us from being happy, from smiling genuinely.

I felt much better when I left the city bus. My problems were too trivial to complain and get upset …

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

Life is beautiful. Cherish all that you have!

“Nail in the Fence”

There was a little boy who had a very bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven thirty seven nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.

It was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say "I'm sorry", the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.”

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

Control your anger and never say bad things in anger to anyone.

“No pointing fingers”

A man asked his father-in-law, "Many people praised you for a successful marriage. Could you please share with me your secret?"

The father-in-law answered in a smile, "Never criticize your wife for her shortcomings or when she does something wrong. Always bear in mind that because of her shortcomings and weaknesses, she could not find a better husband than you."

We all look forward to being loved and respected. Many people are afraid of losing face. Generally, when a person makes a mistake, he would look around to find a scapegoat to point the finger at.

This is the start of a war. We should always remember that when we point one finger at a person, the other four fingers are pointing at ourselves.

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

If we forgive the others, others will ignore our mistake too.

“Perspective of 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 did you learn 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.

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

Appreciate and value every single thing you have!

“The biggest strength of wise people”

Gautama Buddha was sitting under a banyan tree. One day, a furious Brahmin came to him and started abusing him. The Brahmin thought that Gautama Buddha would reciprocate in the same manner, but to his utter surprise, there was not the slightest change in the expression on his face.

Now, the Brahmin became more furious. He hurled more and more abuses at Buddha. However, Gautama Buddha was completely unmoved. Actually there was a look of compassion on his face. Ultimately the Brahmin was tired of abusing him. He asked, "I have been abusing you like anything, but why are you not angry at all ?"

Gautama Buddha calmly replied, "My dear brother, I have not accepted a single abuse from you." "But you heard all of them, didn't you?" The Brahmin argued half-heartedly. Buddha said, "I do not need the abuses, so why should I ever listen to them?"

Now the Brahmin was even more puzzled. He could not understand the calm reply from Gautama Buddha. Looking at his disturbed face, Buddha further explained, "All those abuses are now remaining with you." "It cannot be possible. I have hurled all of them at you," the Brahmin persisted.

Buddha calmly repeated his reply, "But I have not accepted even a single abuse from you ! Dear brother, suppose you give some coins to somebody, and if he does not accept them, with whom will those coins remain?"

The Brahmin replied, "If I have given the coins and if it’s not needed by someone, then naturally they would remain with me."

With a meaningful smile on his face, Buddha said, "Now you are right. The same has happened with your abuses. You came here and hurled abuses at me, but I have not accepted a single abuse from you. Hence, all those abuses would remain with you only. So there is no reason for me to be angry with you."

The Brahmin remained speechless. He was ashamed of his behavior and begged for Buddha's forgiveness.

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

Inner calmness and peace are keys to contented life. Gautama Buddha’s advice is “Live life as per your goals and ambitions.” You know who you are and what you want in life, so don’t respond to what another person talks about you, in anger. Control your anger with patience and calmness. That is biggest Strength of Wise people!

“The Fern and Bamboo”

One day I decided to quit...i quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality....i wanted to quit my life. i went to the woods to have one last talk with god.

"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?

"His answer surprised me.

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

"In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. The same in year four.

"Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant.

But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo.. I will never quit on you”.

"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful”.

"Your time will come", God said to me.. "You will rise high"
"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.
"As high as it can?" I questioned
"Yes."

He said, “Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

I left the forest, realizing that God will never give up on me. And He will never give up on you.

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

Never regret a day in your life. Good days give you happiness. Bad days give you experiences, both are essential to life.

“The Purpose of Life”

Without purpose as the compass to guide you, your goals and action plans may not ultimately fulfill you. You don’t want to get to the top of the ladder only to find out you had it leaning up against the wrong wall.

When Julie Laipply was a child, she was a very big fan of animals. As a result, all she ever heard growing up was “Julie, you should be a vet. You’re going to be a great vet. That’s what you should do.” So when she got to Ohio State University, she took biology, anatomy, and chemistry, and started studying to be a vet.

A Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship allowed her to spend her senior year studying abroad in Manchester, England. Away from the family and faculty pressures back home, she found herself one dreary day sitting at her desk, surrounded by biology books and staring out the window, when it suddenly hit her: You know what? I’m totally miserable. Why am I so miserable? What am I doing? I don’t want to be a vet!

Julie then asked herself, What is a job I would love so much that I’d do it for free but that I could actually get paid for? It’s not being a vet. That’s not the right job. Then she thought back over all the things she’d done in her life and what had made her the most happy.

And then it hit her—it was all of the youth leadership conferences that she had volunteered at, and the communications and leadership courses she had taken as elective courses back at Ohio State. How could I have been so ignorant? Here I am at my fourth year at school and just finally realizing I’m on the wrong path and not doing the right thing. But it’s been here in front of me the whole time. I just never took the time to acknowledge it until now.

Buoyed by her new insight, Julie spent the rest of her year in England taking courses in communications and media performance. When she returned to Ohio State, she was eventually able to convince the administration to let her create her own program in “leadership studies,” and while it took her 2 years longer to finally graduate, she went on to become a senior management consultant in leadership training and development for the Pentagon.

She also won the Miss Virginia USA 2002 contest, which allowed her to spend much of 2002 speaking to kids all across Virginia, and she has also created the Role Models and Mentors for Youth Foundation, which teaches kids how to be better role models for one another. She also founded a drug-prevention organization that promotes the message "Lead your own life with the skill and the will to say no". By the way, Julie was all by age 26 years old and an Award Winning National Speaker, Author and Positive Role Model— a testament to the power that clarity of purpose can create in your life.

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

You don’t have to go for a year abroad to get away from the daily pressures of your life long enough to create the space to discover what you are really here to do. All you need to make sure is not to live someone else’s dreams and stop settling for less than you want. If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.

"Love, Touch and Inspire others"

My wife called, will you come here and make your darling eat her food? I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter Anupama looked frightened; tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with curd rice. Anu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age.
I cleared my throat, and picked up the bowl. 'Anu, darling, why don't you take a few mouthful of this curd rice? Just for Dad's sake, dear.
Anu softened a bit, and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. 'Ok,Dad. I will eat - not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this. But,you should...' Anu hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this entire curd rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?' 'Promise'. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine, and clinched the deal. Now I became a bit anxious. 'Anu dear, you shouldn't insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money right now. Ok?' 'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'. Slowly and painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity. I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for forcing my child to eat something that she detested.

After the ordeal was through, all our attention was on her. 'Dad, I want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!' was her demand. 'Atrocious!' shouted my wife. Impossible!' 'Never in our family!' My mother rasped. 'She has been watching too much of television. This is not expected of our culture!' 'Anu darling, why don't you ask for something else? We will be sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head.'

'Please, Anu, why don't you try to understand our feelings?' I tried to plead with her. 'Dad, was it not you who told me the story of King Harishchandra, and its moral that we should honor our promises no matter what?'
On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to watch my hairless Anu walking towards her classroom. She turned around and waved. I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and shouted, 'Anu, please wait for me!' What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. 'May be, that is the in-stuff', I thought.
'Sir, your daughter Anu is great indeed!' Without introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued,' that boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Chandra. He is suffering from leukemia.' She paused to muffle her sobs. Chandra not attend the school for the whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the schoolmates. 'Anu visited him last week, and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue.

But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son! Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your daughter.'
I stood transfixed and then, I wept. 'My little Angel, you are teaching me how self-less real love is!'

The happiest people on this planet are not those who live on their own terms but are those who change their terms for the ones whom they love.

“Scattered Paper”

Once upon a time an old man spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief.

As a result, the young man was arrested. Days later the young man was proven innocent. After been released he sued the old man for wrongly accusing him.

In court the old man told the Judge: “They were just comments, didn't harm anyone..”

The judge, before passing sentence on the case, told the old man: “Write all the things you said about him on a piece of paper . Cut them up and on the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to hear the sentence.”

The next day, the judge told the old man: “Before receiving the sentence, you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper that you threw out yesterday.”

The old man said: “I can't do that! The wind spread them and I won't know where to find them.”

The judge then replied: “The same way, simple comments may destroy the honor of a man to such an extent that one is not able to fix it.

If you can't speak well of someone, rather don't say anything.

'Let's all be masters of our mouths, so that we won't be slaves of our words.”

“Things aren't always what they seem”

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied... "Things aren't always what they seem".

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel "how could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him," she accused. "The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die."

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave her the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."