Imperfection

A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.

"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

- Author Unknown -

Love

"People who love each other fully and truly are the happiest people in the world. They may have little, they may have nothing, but they are happy people. Everything depends on how we love one another." - Mother Teresa -

Journey

"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will be stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb." - Sir Winston Churchill -

Happiness

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of that candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." - Buddha -

Capability

"If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe -

Peace

"It is essential to know that to be a happy person, a happy family, a happy society, it is very crucial to have a good heart; that is very crucial. World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just the absence of violence but the manifestation of human compassion." - Dalai Lama -

Truth

"The greatest friend of truth is time, her greatest enemy is prejudice, and her constant companion humility." - Charles Caleb Colton -

Imagine

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it." - William Arthur Ward -

Love

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." - Mother Teresa -

Most important

When is the best time to do each thing?
"Remember that there is only one important time and that is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion."

Who are the most important people to work with?
"The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future?"

What is the most important thing to do at all times?
"The most important pursuit is making the person standing at your side happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life."

- Answers by Leo Tolstoy -

Motivation

"People excel and learn, not because they are told to, but because they want to." - Peter Senge -

Flexibility

"When people are born they are supple, and when they die they are stiff.
When trees are born they are tender, and when they die they are brittle.
Stiffness is thus a cohort of death; flexibility is a cohort of life."

- Tao-Te Ching -

What you are

"It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not." - Andre Gide -

Angels

Dedicated to all loving mothers.

Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God: "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

God answered: "Among the many Angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

"But tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile, that's enough for me to be happy," said the child.

"Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your Angel's love and be happy," said God.

"And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don't know the language that men talk?"

"Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your Angel will teach you how to speak", answered God.

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to You?" asked the child.

God said: "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"I've heard that on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me?" worried the child.

"Your Angel will defend you even if it means risking its life," assured God.

"But I will always be sad because I will not see You anymore," sighed the child.

God said: "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way for you to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard, and the child - in a hurry - asked softly: "Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my Angel's name?

Your Angel's name is of no importance, you will call your Angel "Mommy"

- Author unknown -

Bequests

"There are only two lasting bequests we can give our children - one is roots, the other wings." - Stephen Covey -

Choice

"In life you're either a passenger or a pilot - it's your choice." - Author unknown -

Doubts

"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts;
but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." - Francis Bacon -

Children

"Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but are not from you.
And though they are with you yet they do not belong to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
But seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
And He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable."

- Kahlil Gibran -

To be misunderstood

"Is it so bad to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and
Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood! - Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Right now

"Somebody is very proud of you.
somebody is thinking of you.
somebody is caring about you.
somebody misses you.
somebody wants to talk to you.
somebody wants to be with you.
somebody hopes you aren't in trouble.
somebody is thankful for the support you have provided.
somebody wants to hold your hand.
somebody hopes everything turns out all right.
somebody wants you to be happy.
somebody wants you to find him/her.
somebody is celebrating your successes.
somebody wants to give you a gift.
somebody thinks that you ARE a gift.
somebody hopes you're not too cold, or not too hot
somebody wants to hug you.
somebody loves you.
somebody admires your strength.
somebody is thinking of you and smiling.
somebody wants to be your shoulder to cry on.
somebody wants to go out with you and have a lot of fun.
somebody thinks the world of you.
somebody wants to protect you.
somebody would do anything for you.
somebody wants to be forgiven.
somebody is grateful for your forgiveness.
somebody wants to laugh with you.
somebody remembers you and wishes that you were there.
somebody needs to know that your love is unconditional.
somebody values your advice.
somebody wants to tell you how much they care.
somebody wants to share their dreams with you.
somebody wants to hold you in their arms.
somebody wants YOU to hold them in your arms.
somebody treasures your spirit.
somebody wishes they could STOP time because of you.
somebody praises God for your friendship and love.
somebody can't wait to see you.
somebody loves you for who you are.
somebody loves the way you make them feel.
somebody wants to be with you.
somebody wants you to know they are there for you.
somebody's glad that you're their friend.
somebody wants to be your friend.
somebody stayed up all night thinking about you.
somebody is alive because of you.
somebody is wishing that you had noticed them.
somebody wants to get to know you better.
somebody misses your advice/guidance.
somebody has faith in you.
somebody trusts you.
somebody needs you to send them this list.
somebody needs your support.
somebody needs you to have faith in them.
somebody will cry when they read this.
somebody needs you to let them be your friend.
somebody hears a song that reminds them of you."

- Author unknown -

Inferior

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt -

Dalai Lama's 19 instructions for life

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rs: respect for self, respect for others and responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

- Dalai Lama -

You

"You can only lead others where you yourself are prepared to go." - Lachlan McLean -

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt -

Religion

"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." - Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Thanks Irina for sharing this quote.

Will

"Strength does not come from physical capability. It comes from an indomitable will". - Mahatma Gandhi -

Thanks Omara for sharing this quote.

Achievement

"To do something well is so
worthwhile that to die trying
to do it better cannot be foolhardy.
It would be a waste of life to do
nothing with one's ability,
for I feel that life is measured
in achievement
not in years alone." - Bruce McLaren -

Today - essence of life

"Look to this day... for it is the very essence of life. For yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision. But today, well-lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope." - Author unknown -

Thanks Neelakantan for sharing this.

Tomorrow

"No one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going.
Not only strike while the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking.
Do not trust the cheering, for those persons would shout as much if you or I were going to be hanged."

- Oliver Cromwell -

Quality of Life

A group of working adults got together to visit their University lecturer. The lecturer was happy to see them. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. The Lecturer just smiled and went to the kitchen to get an assortment of cups - some porcelain, some in plastic, some in glass, some plainlooking and some looked rather expensive and exquisite. The Lecturer offered his former students the cups to get drinks for themselves. When all the students had a cup in hand with water, the Lecturer spoke: "If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal that you only want the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all you wanted was water, not the cup, but we unconsciously went for the better cups." "Just like in life, if Life is Water, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold/maintain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change." "If we only concentrate on the cup, we won't have time to enjoy/taste the water in it." - Author unknown -

Thanks Rani for sharing this to our group.

The wisdom of today

"We often wish for more, without realizing that life's most precious
treasures, are often within the palms of our hands.
It is not success, but rather the journey there,
that often makes our lives complete.
We are most at peace with the world, when we accept
the wonderful and amazing creature - that is - ourselves.
When we give our all TODAY; and look forward to giving tomorrow
the same, then there is no reason for regretting our yesterdays.
Despise not the past, for in it lies the wisdom of today,
and the hope of tomorrow.
- Eric Jordan -

Gratitude

"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation." - Brian Tracy -

Attitude

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

It is more important that the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.

The remarkable thing is - we have a choice every day of our lives regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past.

We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.

We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I’m convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you.

We are in charge of our attitudes."

- Charles Swindoll -