Stories with a moral

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks right to the top, rocks about 2″ diameter.He then asked the students if the jar was full ? They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them in to the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.The students laughed. He asked his students again if the jar was full ? They agreed that yes, it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this is your life.

The rocks are the important things – your faith, your beliefs, your family, your partner, your health, your children – anything that is so important to you that if it were lost,you would be nearly destroyed.

The pebbles are the other things in life that matter,but on a smaller scale.The pebbles represent things like your job,your house,your car etc.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff. If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first,there is no room for the rocks.

The same goes for your life.

If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff,material things,you will never have room for the things that are truly most important.Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life.

Play with your children. Spend quality time with your spouse. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, fix the car etc.

Take care of the rocks first, the rest is just pebbles and sand!!!

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The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

“Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?”

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face.

“A dollar ninety-five. That’s almost $2.00. If you really want them, I’ll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday’s only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma.”

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, “Do you love me?”

“Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you.”

“Then give me your pearls.”

“Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She’s my very favorite.”

“That’s okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night.” And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny’s daddy asked again, “Do you love me?”

“Daddy, you know I love you.”

“Then give me your pearls.”

“Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.”

“That’s okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you.”

And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style.

As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek. “What is it, Jenny? What’s the matter?”

Jenny didn’t say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, “Here, daddy; this is for you.”

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time… He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.

So it is, with God. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.

Are you holding onto things that God wants you to let go of?

Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing.

God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.

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What is your White Rabbit 

Most of us love cars with all features – leather upholstery, sliding sun-roof, air-conditioning, stereo sound system with CD changer with blue tooth , Automatic transmission, cruise control, Reverse parking assistance etc. You have all these but there is one problem. The car brake is jammed 

So no matter how hard you press your foot against the accelerator, the car does not move ahead. Since the brake is jammed, the car just goes round in circles. You must be thinking – what a waste of a great car ?

And if you think about it, you might realize that our lives are quite similar to this car. Each of us in fact a luxury car with terrific features. We all have inside us all the stuff that the world is looking for. But there is a that little problem. We have got our got or foot on the brake. And that impacts our ability to get ahead in life ! 

What is our “ foot on the brake “? It is usually a self-limiting belief that holds us back. We feel we are not good enough. And we find that instead of getting ahead in life, we are just going round circles. 

And as we sit in our wonderful luxury car with a foot on the brake, we get frustrated as we watch other cars overtake us and zoom. We wish our car was like theirs !. We sometimes blame the manufacturer and feel the world has been unkind to use. We feel like exchanging our car for another one. In reality, all we need to do is take that foot off the brake. And our cars- our lives- will move ahead. 

Next time you feel life isn't going as smoothly as you like- or your career is not moving fast enough- don’t complain about the vehicle. Just take your foot off the break. Get rid of those self-limiting beliefs. And your bound see the difference. 

As you learn to enjoy the ride in the car, you must hear the story of the man who lived in a beautiful villa in a place far away from the city. One day, a fairy magically appeared before him and told him that all the wealth and riches he wanted in life were now within his reach. ‘ just go out into the garden, ‘ said the Fairy. “ There is a large treasure chest there, filled with gold and diamond and precious stones. Go claim it- it’s all you yours !. The couldn't believe his luck!

The fairy then added; “ There’s just one catch. There’s a white rabbit in the garden. As you go looking for the treasure chest, you must not think about the white rabbit. If you, you won’t be able to find the riches .’ And you can imagine what happened ! We are like that man with the white rabbit , aren't we ?

Our goals and dreams are all within our reach. But we are held back by our own white rabbits, our self-limiting beliefs. And they prevent us from rising to our full potential and achieving our goals. 

‘I can’t because… ‘ we tell ourselves, and white rabbit gets going, We blame it on childhood, education, background, current situation, boss, family… whatever. We find our own white rabbits. 

So what’s your white rabbit ? What’s your favorite excuse for not doing what it takes to achieve your goals ? Whatever it is, it’s good to identify it. And banish it from your mind. 

Remember to take your foot off the brake too ! 

“ Our goals dreams are within our reach, but we are held by our own white rabbits , our Self- limiting beliefs “