Tag: stories

Terrific Tale Tuesday

Happy Tuesday. Here’s a new story for inspiration today!

The Cockroach

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady.

She started screaming out of fear.

With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but …it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.

In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt.

When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior?

If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?

He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of those people to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach, that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Remember, you are NOT alone!! Until next time– Jenn 👍🏼☀️🐾🌺

A Terrific Tuesday Tale

It gets hard to find multiple stories of inspiration that do not repeat. So I am going to try to find one terrific story of good Global news for Tuesday’s for 2019.

I recently found the good news movement on Instagram and I love their good news.

Here’s, one of my most recent favorites.

So, so exciting!! I hope they thrive. It’s so exciting to read good news!!

Remember, you are NOT alone!! Until next time– Jenn 🤩✨

Tuesday’s Trilogy of Inspiration

Photo by Public Domain Pictures on Pexels.com

$800.00

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.” After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.

After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 dollars and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks,…

“Who was that?” “It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replies. “Great!” the husband says, “Did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”

Moral of the story:
If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

It’s Good to Be Up High

A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A rabbit asked him, ”Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?” The crow answered: “Sure, why not.” So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow and rested.

A fox jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very high up.

 

The Seasons of Life

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn to not judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no – it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right because they had each seen but one season in the tree’s life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are – and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life – can only be measured at the end when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

Don’t judge a life by one difficult season. Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

 

Remember, you are NOT alone!  Until next time — Jenn 🙂

art artwork autumn autumn leaves
Photo by Vali S. on Pexels.com

Tuesday’s Trilogy of Inspiration

 

Shark Bait

During a research experiment, a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank.

As you would expect, the shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and ate the smaller fish.

The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the tank, creating two separate partitions. She then put the shark on one side of the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other.

Again, the shark quickly attacked.  This time, however, the shark slammed into the fiberglass divider and bounced off.  Undeterred, the shark kept repeating this behavior every few minutes to no avail.  Meanwhile, the bait fish swam around unharmed in the second partition.  Eventually, about an hour into the experiment, the shark gave up.

This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks.  Each time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the bait fish, until eventually, the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass divider and simply stopped attacking altogether.

The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn’t attack.  The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the baitfish, so the bait fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.

The moral:  Many of us, after experiencing setbacks and failures, emotionally give up and stop trying. Like the shark in the story, we believe that because we were unsuccessful in the past, we will always be unsuccessful. In other words, we continue to see a barrier in our heads, even when no ‘real’ barrier exists between where we are and where we want to go. 

 Being and Breathing

One warm evening many years ago…

After spending nearly every waking minute with Angel for eight straight days, I knew that I had to tell her just one thing.  So late at night, just before she fell asleep, I whispered it in her ear.  She smiled – the kind of smile that makes me smile back –and she said, “When I’m seventy-five and I think about my life and what it was like to be young, I hope that I can remember this very moment.”

A few seconds later she closed her eyes and fell asleep.  The room was peaceful – almost silent.  All I could hear was the soft purr of her breathing.  I stayed awake thinking about the time we’d spent together and all the choices in our lives that made this moment possible.  And at some point, I realized that it didn’t matter what we’d done or where we’d gone.  Nor did the future hold any significance.

All that mattered was the serenity of the moment.

Just being with her and breathing with her.

The moral:  We must not allow the clock, the calendar, and external pressures to rule our lives and blind us to the fact that each individual moment of our lives is a beautiful mystery and a miracle – especially those moments we spend in the presence of a loved one.

The Wise Woman’s Stone

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food.

The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me something more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.
Author Unknown

Remember, you are NOT alone!  Until next time — Jenn 🙂

holiday dark decoration halloween
Photo by Public Domain Pictures on Pexels.com

Tuesday’s Trilogy of Inspiration

 

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A Blind Man’s Love

A man married a beautiful girl.  He loved her very much.  One day she developed a skin disease.  Slowly she started to lose her beauty.  It so happened that one day her husband left for a tour.  While returning he met with an accident and lost his eyesight.  However, their married life continued as usual.  But as days passed she lost her beauty gradually. Blind husband did not know this and there was not any difference in their married life.  He continued to love her and she also loved him very much.  One day she died.  Her death brought him a great sorrow.  He finished all her last rites and wanted to leave that town.

A man from behind called and said, “Now how will you be able to walk all alone?  All these days your wife used to help you”.  He replied, “I am not blind.  I was acting because if she knew l could see her skin condition due to a disease, it would have pained her more than her disease.  I didn’t love her for her beauty alone, but I fell in love with her caring and loving nature.  So I pretended to be blind.  I only wanted to keep her happy”.

Moral:  When you truly love someone, you will go to any extent to keep your loved one happy and sometimes it is good for us to act blind and ignore one another’s short comings in order to be happy.  The Beauty will fade with time, but heart and soul will always be the same.  Love the person for what he/she is from inside, not from outside.

 

A Blank Question Paper

One day a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test.  They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin.  The professor handed out the question paper with the text facing down as usual.  Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the page and begin.  To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions, just a black dot in the center of the page.

The professor seeing the expression on everyone’s face, told them the following, “I want you to write what you see there.”  The confused students got started on the inexplicable task.  At the end of the class, the professor took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students.  All of them with no exceptions described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet etc.

After all had been read, the classroom was silent.  The professor began to explain, “I am not going to grade on you this, I just wanted to give you something to think about.  No one wrote about the white part of the paper.  Everyone focused on the black dot and the same happens in our lives.  We have a white paper to observe and enjoy, but we always focus on the dark spots.  Our life is a gift given to us by God with love and care.  We always have reasons to celebrate, nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that provides our livelihood, the miracles we see every day.”

“However, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots, the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friends etc.  The dark spots are very small compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds.  Take your eyes away from the black spots in your life.  Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you.  Be happy and live a life positively!”

 

The Three Types of People

A teacher shows three toys to a student and asks the student to find out the differences. All the three toys are seemed to be identical in their shape, size, and material. After keen observation, the student observes holes in the toys. 1st toy it has holes in the ears.  The 2nd toy has holes in ear and mouth. The 3rd toy has only one hole in one ear.

Then with the help of the needle, the student puts the needle in the ear hole of the 1st toy. The needle comes out from the other ear. In the 2nd toy, when the needle was put in the ear the needle came out of a mouth. And in the 3rd toy, when the needle was put in, the needle did not come out.

The First toy represents those people around you who gives an impression that they are listening to you, all your things and care for you. But they just pretend to do so. After listening, as the needle comes out from the next ear, the things you said to them by counting on them are gone. So be careful while you are speaking with this type of people around you, who does not care for you.

The Second toy represents those people who listen to you all your things and gives an impression that they care for you. But as in the toy, the needle comes out from a mouth. These people will use your things and the words you tell them against you by telling it to others and bringing out the confidential issues for their own purpose.

The Third toy, the needle does not come out from it. These kinds of people will keep the trust you have in them. They are the ones who you can count on.

Moral: Always stay in a company of a people who are loyal and trustworthy. People, who listen to what you tell them, are not always the ones you can count on when you need them the most. 

 

Remember, you are NOT alone!  Until next time — Jenn

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Tuesday’s Trilogy of Inspiration

Photo by Jenn Freese

 

The Honest WoodCutter

A poor woodcutter accidentally dropped his ax into the river. He was very upset, as he had no money to buy another ax. Just then a fairy appeared in the river holding out a golden ax to him. “I found this ax in the river. Is this yours?”

“That’s not mine”, replied the woodcutter. The fairy then brought out a silver ax. The woodcutter disowned this one too. Finally, the fairy held out a wooden ax.

Smiling with happiness, the woodcutter said, “That’s mine. Thank you very much.”

The fairy felt very happy seeing his honesty and said, such honesty deserves a reward. She gave the poor man all the three axes and disappeared.

Moral: Honesty is the best policy. Always be honest.

Who Is Happy?  The Crow and the Peacock

A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.”

He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.”

The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.”

The peacock replied, “I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. So for past few days, I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.”

The Lion & the Poor Slave

A slave, ill-treated by his master, runs away to the forest. There he comes across a lion in pain because of a thorn in his paw. The slave bravely goes forward and removes the thorn gently.

The lion without hurting him goes away.

Some days later, the slave’s master comes hunting to the forest and catches many animals and cages them. The slave is spotted by the masters’ men who catch him and bring him to the cruel master. The master asks for the slave to be thrown into the lion’s cage.

The slave is awaiting his death in the cage when he realizes that it is the same lion that he had helped. The slave rescued the lion and all other caged animals.

Moral of the story: One should help others in need, we get the rewards of our helpful acts in return.

Remember, you are NOT alone!  Until next time — Jenn

white and black moon with black skies and body of water photography during night time     art beach beautiful clouds

Tuesday’s Trilogy of Inspiration

“Kind deeds often come back to the givers in fairer shapes than they go.”

-Louisa M. Alcott

A lesson of Hastening the Judgement 

A Father and his Daughter were playing in the park.  The young daughter spotted an apple vendor.  She asked her father to buy her an apple.  Father didn’t bring much money with him, but it was enough to purchase two apples.  So, he bought two apples and gave them to his daughter.

His daughter held one apple each in her two hands.  Then, he asked her if she could share one apple with him.  Upon hearing this, his daughter quickly took a bite from one apple.  And before her father could speak, she also took a bite from the second apple.

Father was surprised.  He wondered what mistake he made raising his daughter that she acted in such a greedy way.  His mind was lost in thoughts, that perhaps he was just thinking too much, his daughter was too young to understand about sharing and giving.  A smile disappeared from his face.

And suddenly his daughter with an apple in her one hand said, “Father have this one, it is much juicier and sweeter”.  Her father was speechless.  He felt bad about reaching his judgment so quickly about his daughter.  But, his smile came back now knowing why his daughter quickly took a bite from each apple.

Don’t judge anything too quickly.  Always spare time to understand things better.

Looking At A Mirror

One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on the door on which it was written: “Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym”.  In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while, they started getting curious to know who was that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself.

The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought: “Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he died!”  One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside they suddenly became speechless.  They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself.

There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: “There is only one person who is capable of setting limits to your growth: it is YOU.” You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization, and your success. You are the only person who can help yourself.  Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your partner changes when your company changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life. “The most important relationship you can have is the one you have with yourself”.

Moral: The world is like a mirror: it gives back to anyone the reflection of the thoughts in which one has strongly believed. The world and your reality are like mirrors lying in a coffin, which show to any individual the death of his divine capability to imagine and create his happiness and his success. It’s the way you face Life that makes the difference.

My Granddaughter’s Dress

I saw a dress in a consignment shop that I knew my granddaughter would love. But money was tight, so I asked the store owner if she could hold it for me. 

“May I buy the dress for you?” asked another customer.

“Thank you, but I can’t accept such a gracious gift,” I said.

Then she told me why it was so important for her to help me. She’d been homeless for three years, she said, and had it not been for the kindness of strangers, she would not have been able to survive.

“I’m no longer homeless, and my situation has improved,” she said. “I promised myself that I would repay the kindness so many had shown me.” 

She paid for the dress, and the only payment she would accept in return was a heartfelt hug.

 

Remember, you are NOT alone!  Until next time — Jenn

nature sky sunset the mountains

Tuesday’s Trilogy of Inspiration

 

Photo by Public Domain Pictures on Pexels.com
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 

Helping Others

Once there was a small boy named Shankar. He belonged to a poor family.  One day, he was crossing through the forest carrying some woods. He saw an old man who was very hungry.  Shankar wanted to give him some food, but he did not have food for his own.

 So he continued on his way.  

On his way, he saw a deer who was very thirsty.  He wanted to give him some water, but he did not have water for himself.

 So he went on his way ahead.

Then he saw a man who wanted to make a camp, but he did not have wood.  Shankar asked his problem and gave some wood to him.  In return, the man gave him some food and water.  

Now he went back to the old man and gave him some food and gave some water to the deer. The old man and the deer were pleased.   Shankar then happily went on his way.

However, one day Shankar fell down the hill.  He was in pain, but he couldn’t move, and no one was there to help him.  But, the old man, he had helped, saw him and quickly pulled him up the hill.  He had many wounds on his legs.  The deer whom Shankar had given water saw his wounds and quickly went to the forest and brought some herbs.  After some time his wounds were covered.   

All were very happy that they were able to help each other.

Moral: If you help others, then they will also help you.

 

Creation: A Sioux Story

The Creator gathered all of Creation and said, “I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realization that they create their own reality.”

The eagle said, “Give it to me, I will take it to the moon.”

The Creator said, “No. One day they will go there and find it.”

The salmon said, “I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean.”

“No. They will go there too.”

The buffalo said, “I will bury it on the Great Plains.”

The Creator said, “They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it even there.”

Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, “Put it inside of them.”

And the Creator said, “It is done.”

 

How Can We Be Happy?

Once a group of 50 people was attending a seminar. Suddenly the speaker stopped and decided to do a group activity. He started giving each one a balloon. Each one was asked to write his/her name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room.

Now, these delegates were let in that room and asked to find the balloon which had their name written, within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for their name, colliding with each other, pushing around others and there was utter chaos.

At the end of 5 minutes, no one could find their own balloon.

Now each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it. Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

The speaker began— This is what is happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is. Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their happiness, you will get your own happiness. And this is the purpose of human life.

Is this not what you are looking for?

Remember, you are NOT alone!  Until next time–Jenn

beach coast island landscape

 

Tuesday’s Trilogy of Inspiration

 

The Jay and the Peacock

A Jay venturing into a yard where Peacocks used to walk, found there a number of feathers which had fallen from the Peacocks when they were molting.

He tied them all to his tail and strutted down towards the Peacocks.

When he came near them they soon discovered the cheat, and striding up to him pecked at him and plucked away his borrowed plumes.

So the Jay could do no better than go back to the other Jays, who had watched his behavior from a distance; but they were equally annoyed with him, and told him:

“It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds”

 

Belling the Cat

Long ago, the mice had a general council to consider what measures they could take to outwit their common enemy, the Cat.

Some said this, and some said that; but at last a young mouse got up and said he had a proposal to make, which he thought would meet the case.

“You will all agree,” said he, “that our chief danger consists in the sly and treacherous manner in which the enemy approaches us. Now, if we could receive some signal of her approach, we could easily escape from her. I venture, therefore, to propose that a small bell be procured, and attached by a ribbon round the neck of the Cat. By this means we should always know when she was about, and could easily retire while she was in the neighborhood.”

This proposal met with general applause until an old mouse got up and said: 

“That is all very well, but who is to bell the Cat?”

The mice looked at one another and nobody spoke. Then the old mouse said:

“It is easy to propose impossible remedies.”

 

The Mischevious Dog

A Dog used to run up quietly to the heels of those he met and to bite them without notice.

His master sometimes suspended a bell about his neck, that he might give notice of his presence wherever he went, and sometimes he fastened a chain about his neck, to which was attached a heavy clog, so that he could not be so quick at biting people’s heels.

The Dog grew proud of his bell and clog, and went with them all over the market-place.

An old hound said to him: “Why do you make such an exhibition of yourself? That bell and clog that you carry are not, believe me, orders of merit, but, on the contrary, marks of disgrace, a public notice to all men to avoid you as an ill-mannered dog.”

Remember, you are NOT alone!!  Until next time–Jenn

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Mallory Square Key West, FL

 

Tuesday’s Trilogy of Inspiration

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The Ass and His Purchaser

A MAN wished to purchase an Ass, and agreed with its owner that he should try out the animal before he bought him. He took the Ass home and put him in the straw-yard with his other Asses, upon which the new animal left all the others and at once joined the one that was most idle and the greatest eater of them all. Seeing this, the man put a halter on him and led him back to his owner. On being asked how, in so short a time, he could have made a trial of him, he answered, “I do not need a trial; I know that he will be just the same as the one he chose for his companion.”

A man is known by the company he keeps.

 

The Bee and Jupiter

A Bee from Mount Hymettus, the queen of the hive, ascended to Olympus to present Jupiter some honey fresh from her combs. Jupiter, delighted with the offering of honey, promised to give whatever she should ask. She, therefore, besought him, saying, “Give me, I pray thee, a sting, that if any mortal shall approach to take my honey, I may kill him.” Jupiter was much displeased, for he loved the race of man, but could not refuse the request because of his promise. He thus answered the Bee: “You shall have your request, but it will be at the peril of your own life. For if you use your sting, it shall remain in the wound you make, and then you will die from the loss of it.”

Evil wishes, like chickens, come home to roost.

 

The Bundle of Sticks

An old man on the point of death summoned his sons around him to give them some parting advice. He ordered his servants to bring in a faggot of sticks and said to his eldest son: “Break it.” The son strained and strained, but with all his efforts was unable to break the Bundle. The other sons also tried, but none of them was successful. “Untie the faggots,” said the father, “and each of you takes a stick.” When they had done so, he called out to them: “Now, break,” and each stick was easily broken. “You see my meaning,” said their father.

Union gives strength.

 

Remember, you are NOT alone!!  Until next time–Jenn.

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***Aesop’s Fables