In our search for wisdom, ................and other short stories

There were once two rabbits Frederick and Wanda who enjoyed their strolls together. On this walk, they came upon two carrots. One of the carrots had large leaves sprouting out of the top and the other looked much smaller from the surface.

Frederick was excited and ran up to the carrot with the larger leaves. 

“I’ll have this one,” he proudly exclaimed and proceeded to extract it from the ground.

Wanda shrugged her shoulders and pulled out the other carrot, which turned out to be much bigger.

Frederick was surprised and asked how this could possibly be. 

Wanda looked at her friend and replied, “You can’t always judge a carrot by its leaves.”

They kept on walking and came across another pair of carrots, again with differing sized leaves. This time Frederick allowed his friend the first pick.

Wanda hopped to each carrot, inspected and sniffed them carefully and, to Frederick’s surprise, chose the carrot with the larger leaves. As they each extracted their carrots from the ground, Frederick was bemused to see that his carrot was smaller than Wanda’s.

“I thought that you said that small leaves meant it would be a larger carrot.” He said.

“No,” replied Wanda, “I said don’t judge a carrot by its leaves. It’s also important to remember to think before you choose.”

Frederick nodded and they ate their carrots before continuing their stroll.

For a third time, they found two carrots, again with different sized leaves. Frederick looked confused and didn’t know what to do. Wanda indicated that he could choose which carrot to eat.

The poor foolish rabbit, pretended to inspect each carrot, but he didn’t really know what to do. He knew that he wasn’t as smart as his friend and he looked to Wanda with a confused expression on his face.

Wanda smiled warmly and hopped over to the carrots. She inspected them and pulled out one of the carrots.

Frederick shrugged his shoulders and went to the other one before he was interrupted by his wise friend. 

“No Frederick, this one’s your carrot,” she said.

“But you made the choice and I’m sure it’s the bigger one of the two. I don’t know how you do it, but I guess you’re just smarter than me.”

“Frederick, there’s no point in having wisdom if you’re not willing to share the benefits of it with others. You’re my friend and I want you to have this carrot. A smart rabbit with a full stomach but no friends isn’t really wise is she?”

“I guess you’re right,” said Frederick with a full mouth, “As usual.”

This story act as a reminder that in our search for wisdom, we must also search for a way to assist those around us with what we’ve learned.

Be wise, share what you’ve learned with others and help make the world a better place for those around you.

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When I take a long time to finish, I am slow;
When my husband takes a long time, he is thorough.

When I don't do it, I am lazy;When my husband does not do it, he Is busy.

When I do something without being told, I am trying to be smart;When my husband does the same, he takes the initiative.

When I make a mistake, I am an idiot;When my husband makes a mistake, he's only human.

When I am out of the house, I am wandering around;When my husband is out of the house, he's on business.

When I am one day sick, I am always sick; When my husband is a day sick, he must be very ill.

When I want to go out for holiday, I m wasting money; When my husband wants to go on holidays, It's because he's overworked.

When I please my husband, I m apple polishing;If my husband pleases me he loves me ..

..............But why are we working !!!

Ever wondered how hard we work to fill our lives with luxuries that we hardly have time to enjoy?

LOOK AT IT THIS WAY... The luxury Cars, Land Cruisers, RAV4's, BMW's, Mercedes that are parked 8 hours, driven 30min to the office and 30min back home

And whilst we sit on a not-so-comfortable chair in a small room called an office, your 7 bedroom mansion lies idle with only the maid enjoying herself to the 'bacon and egg breakfast' relaxing on that veryexpensive leather sofa that we only sit on when we get home... and being so tired we just doze off to sleep anyway. When tired of work she takes a break turns on the TV and spoils herself with the fully subscribed TV, of course if she feels bored she can always turn on that brand name sound
system and swing a bit.....

And whilst all that is happening where are you... you are eating a cheap take away lunch everyday and oh by the way there is no breakfast really, because its just a cup of tea a few slices of bread probably with some left-over’s from yesterday's supper (for the fortunate few). Every moment you pray that it could just get to 4pm so that you can drive home and join....the Maid!! (Poor you)

So this is your miserable lot for the rest of your working life... by the time you retire you'll have no pleasure in them anymore. By now your children would have joined in the Rat Race of finding a good jobworking very hard and never enjoying the fruits of their labours.... it's all vanity isn't it?

SO MY QUESTION IS... WHO IS ENJOYING BETTER FRUITS OF YOUR LABOUR...YOU OR THE MAID?

SAD BUT TRUE!
A close friend of mine drove to her office on Monday morning; only to realize that she forgot her laptop at home. She went back home, on arrival she was shocked to find Gardener and Maid. Maid was wearing her white-satin dress and Gardener was wearing her husband's dress ; in her house , having breakfast.

NOW who is a slave? And who is enjoying your hard earned money? Think about it...

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A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop an "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, they may be successful for a while, but eventually they would not feel a sense of achievement. They will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying our children instead?

 

You can let your child live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch on a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your child learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

..................

One young man went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the initial interview, and now would meet the director for the final interview.

 

The director discovered from his CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent. He asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "no".

 

" Was it your father who paid for your school fees?"

 

"My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.” he replied.

 

" Where did your mother work?"

 

"My mother worked as clothes cleaner.”

 

The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

 

" Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?"

 

"Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Besides, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.

 

The director said, "I have a request. When you go home today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.

 

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high.

  

When he went back home, he asked his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to her son.

 

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother winced when he touched it.

 

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fees. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his education, his school activities and his future.

 

After cleaning his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

 

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

  

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

 

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, when he asked: "Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

 

The youth answered," I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'

 

“I know now what appreciation is. Without my mother, I would not be who I am today. By helping my mother, only now do I realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done on your own. And I have come to appreciate the importance and value of helping one’s family.

 

The director said, "This is what I am looking for in a manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life.”

 

“You are hired.”

 

This young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and worked as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Grandmother says… Carrots, Eggs, or Coffee; “Which are you?”A young woman went to her grandmother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her grandmother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her granddaughter, she asked, “Tell me what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft.She then asked her to take an egg and break it.

After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The granddaughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The granddaughter then asked. “What’s the point,grandmother?”

Her grandmother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity–boiling water–but each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her granddaughter.

“When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?

Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?

~Author Unknown