Daily Story

A fisherman set up a stall to sell fresh fish to tourists visiting a fishing harbour. In front of his new stall, he placed a large board displaying the words, ‘FRESH FISH SOLD HERE’ to attract prospective buyers. Several customers came to buy fish from his stall.

One of his customers made a suggestion, “The board is large and readable. But it is too long. The word ‘HERE’ is unnecessary as the board is quite close to the stall. It may be deleted to make the board short and sweet.” The seller found that the suggestion was logical. So he erased the last word. Now the board read, ‘FRESH FISH SOLD’.

Later another customer gave a novel suggestion: “The word, ‘SOLD’ is not needed on the board as fishes are displayed here for sale and not for exhibition.” The seller agreed and deleted the word, ‘sold.’ Now the board read ‘FRESH FISH.’

Some time later, a new customer examined the board and gave his opinion, “The word ‘FRESH’ need not be displayed publicly as you sell only fresh fish and not rotten fish. It is an insult to other sellers in this area.” The seller readily agreed and modified the board. It now had only one word, ‘FISH.’

Another person visited the stall after sunset. He said, “The smell of your fish can be felt all around this stall. I had no difficulty to locate it though your board was not clearly visible in the dim light. It is not essential to place the board, ‘FISH’ here.” The seller accepted the suggestion and removed the last letter from the board.

The next day, his business was dull. New customers could not identify the stall easily as the board was blank. They went to other stalls in the area. The fisherman’s fate was the result of responding to every suggestion from others. People are lavish in showering advices and critical comments. We must apply our wisdom to identify the relevant, reasonable and acceptable advices.

We must have correct concepts and convictions about values and principles of life. Then nobody can mislead us.

Quote of the day

"My life is my message."

-Mahatma Gandhi

You don't have to wait for a sign to go out and do something. You shouldn't have to be told to go out and do something great. If you're waiting for a sign: this is it. Well, actually, your life is it. Let your life be your message. The life you live should tell you what you're supposed to go out and do. What kind of message your life is telling you, I don't know, but hopefully it's a great one! And even if the message is saying to go do something terrible, you can take that negative message as a reason to do something good instead. Your life is your sign. Get up and follow it!

Quote of the day

"Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got."

-Art Buchwald

If whatever you are doing is the best of times, or maybe something terrible is happening and it's the worst of times, you need to still be careful. It's the only time we've got, so we must make the best of it! Don't waste it away in sorrow if it is the worst of times, and don't waste it away ridiculously if it's the best of times. It is the only time we have, so we need to not waste any of it. Make do with what you have, and make it the best! Time stops for no one. 

Daily Quote

"We all need each other."

-Leo Buscaglia

This is a good, simple quote. It's a nice little breather as we draw our work week to a close. This is a good short and sweet quote that, as we get impatient for the weekend to get started, we should all remember. If you've ever seen High School Musical, you may remember the line, "We're all in this together." It's very true. There is no way you can get through life completely alone. Who will teach you to do things? Who will help you when you are helpless? Who will be there to rub your back and massage your shoulders at the end of the day? We need to stick together. We need to all push through together, no matter what you're doing. If you and some office partners are working on something together, even though it might be Friday or some other special day to you, you must all stick together and finish it strong. Don't just let it hang until Monday. We all need each other to keep each other upright morally and mentally, also. If it is Friday, we need to keep each other from doing stupid things out of excitement. We also need to keep each other from practically exploding when there are 5 minutes left in that honors class you're taking and the teacher doesn't seem to realize school is supposed to get out soon. Especially as the long work week begins bringing in the Friday, we all need each other even more than we usually do.

Daily Quote

"When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all."

-E. O. Wilson

If you've only ever seen one ant, one bird, one tree, one leaf, one something; you can't say you know what every ant, tree, leaf, bird or something looks like. You haven't seen it all. Ants, for example, come in all shapes and sizes; red, black, and sometimes brownish. Every ant is unique, no two are alike. This differentness goes down even to the tiny hairs on an ant's body. If you've seen one type of ant, you most certainly haven't seen them all. Same for birds and trees and things. Birds aren't all one single type. There are tons of variations of birds. They are all so different! A cardinal, for example, is nothing like a trumpeter swan. Even two robins don't look exactly the same. Everything in nature is so different. While they may look the same or similar, everything was created to be so unique. Seeing just one of something doesn't mean you've seen them all. Knowing this, when you look at a person, you must think the same. Everyone is different. So if you are Chinese and you see one Canadian, that doesn't mean you know what every Canadian looks like. If you are American and you saw one African, that doesn't mean you've seen every African. Everyone not only looks different, but everyone's so different on the inside, too. Never judge everything of one kind based on one single something of that kind.

Quote of the day

"If you are given a chance to be a role model, I think you should always take it because you can influence a person's life in a positive light, and that's what I want to do. That's what it's all about."

-Tiger Woods

If you are given the opportunity to be a role model, take it! Take it and make it good. If you get the chance to influence someone's life positively, take it. Be someone that someone else would look up to. Someone that, when they become your age, they can grow up to be just like. When someone gets positively influenced, they will begin to act like the influencer. This will make others around them also want to be like them, too, creating a chain reaction of positive light. If the person influenced doesn't act like the influencer but is still influenced, then at least one person has the right mindset! This is why it is so important, when you have the opportunity to influence someone, to not only take it, but to make sure you influence them positively.

Quote of the day

We are always being taught to love others unconditionally. This is true! Love others with all your heart and soul. But showing your love for others doesn't mean you have to spend all your love on others and hate yourself. No, save a little love for yourself. This doesn't mean be narcissistic. Love yourself, but love others too. Love everyone as equals. Spread the love! Many people don't realize that they can love others and themselves. Other people don't realize they can love others other than themselves. Find the balance between self love and love for others.

Daily Story

Two brothers lived in constant poverty. The elder brother was satisfied with his humble assets and led a life of peace and contentment. But the younger brother was always unhappy, ambitious and greedy. He wanted to enjoy all the pleasures of life and was envious of his wealthy neighbours. He rejected his elder brother’s views with contempt. One day they met a saintly preacher on the way. The younger brother complained about his constant poverty and God’s apparent cruelty. The preacher consoled him and advised them to pray for receiving richer resources if it is the will of God. 

They returned to their homes and resumed their prayers with greater zeal. The younger brother soon started receiving several blessings. His land gave a rich harvest and he obtained a loan to start a new business. His financial status soared steadily. But his elder brother remained poor as before. The younger brother considered his brother to be unworthy to receive the blessings of God as his prayers were not answered so far.

The saintly preacher later returned to their village and met both the brothers. He was surprised to find that the younger brother had become a successful and wealthy businessman in a short period. The preacher asked him why he did not share a part of his blessings with his elder brother who was still very poor. The rich man replied that the blessings he received were the results of his own fervent prayers and hard work and his brother did not deserve any gift because even God had disregarded his prayers and deserted him.

Then the preacher told him, “You are thoroughly mistaken, my son. God has answered all the prayers of your brother.”

“But I don’t find that he received any blessing from God. He is unworthy to get the grace of God and I don’t care for him”, the rich man replied.

The preacher corrected him, “I know what he had prayed for. He was praying to God for you. He was praying that all your prayers shall be answered and your wishes be fulfilled. He did not pray for his own prosperity. Whatever you enjoy now is the result of his intercession. You should be thankful to him forever.” 

These words transformed the rich man. He learned that the blessings we receive need not be the fruits of our own prayers or efforts alone, but can be the results of the prayers of others for us.

Let us not do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble towards one another, always considering others better than ourselves. Let us look out for one another’s interests, not just for our own.

Daily Quote

"The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others."

-Albert Schweitzer

The purpose of our lives is to help others. Show compassion, show love. Help those in need so that they might turn around and pay it forward. Imagine: If everyone in the world just got up and did one good thing for the community, what would the world be like? If everyone picked up one piece of trash, if everyone scrubbed one wall clean of graffiti, if everyone helped each other build nice houses for the people that don't have them and helped everyone with everything. If there was one global community service day, just imagine what the world would be like! It would be pretty amazing. This probably will never happen, so we as individuals need to just do our part and serve. We can do all of these things alone as well, so we can step up and be the change that would be lovely to see in this world.

Story of the day

A wild fire broke out in a dense forest. Heaps of dry leaves easily caught fire and the strong winds quickly spread the fire. The frightened animals and birds fled for their lives. Two monkeys were left behind in the burning forest. One was blind and the other was lame. They cried for help but their friends and relatives deserted them.

They heard each other. The lame monkey saw the helpless blind monkey and came near him as fast as he could. He told the blind one, “Friend, there is only one way to escape from this raging fire. You can move fast and I can see well. Let us move together.” The blind monkey readily agreed and stooped down. The lame monkey climbed on the back of the blind monkey, who moved, following the directions of the lame monkey. 

They could move fast through a narrow area where the blazing fire had not yet reached. They reached a safe spot at a great distance from the roaring fire. They embraced and thanked each other. They promised to stay together as real friends for the rest of their lives. Their friends were sorry for abandoning them during the dangerous moments and begged their pardon. They became friends again.

“A friend in need is a friend indeed.”

Quote of the day

To be humble, you don't necessarily have to put yourself down. True humility isn't thinking less of yourself, it is simply thinking of yourself less and showing off to make others feel bad less. It is considering your own needs while thinking of how to let everyone have what they want too; it is a balance between personal needs and needs for others. Humble people don't forget about themselves. They don't think they are terrible at something just to make someone else feel great at it. They know their strengths and weaknesses as much as anyone else, they just choose to keep it in. When you brag about yourself, you could be making someone feel bad that they aren't that great at whatever it is. Perhaps that's your intention: but why? Putting someone down by saying your strengths that you already know are their weaknesses is definitely not humble. So as I was saying, humble people don't forget about themselves, they just indulge themselves in thinking of others rather than indulging in personal vainity.

Daily Quote

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

-Muhammad Ali

If you don't take any risks at all, you will never learn anything new. Although the pain of the mistake is quite, well, painful, you need to make mistakes from your courageous risks in order to learn. Playing it safe all the time will never get you anywhere. You will ultimately end up as someone people push around because you don't know how to stand up for yourself. You will never get to be a high rank in a job because you will then be forced to take risks when hiring or firing people. If you never take risks, there is also the risk (ironic, isn't that?) of curiosity. This is normally a great thing, but if you are afraid to do the things you are curious about they will burn you up from the inside like glowing embers that will be hard to put out but never will get to quite become inflamed. But if you take risks, on the other hand, you may be lucky or skilled enough to make them work. It might end up being an amazing idea and now you will know. But if you take a risk and it ends up getting you into trouble, at least now you know and hopefully you've learned your lesson. So if you can work up the courage to take risks (by this I mean things that can't get you killed), even small ones, you will accomplish things in life.

Daily Quote

Sometimes, the most important thing you can do is choosing what kind of people to hang out with. What they say and do can greatly affect what you say and do, so it is a good idea to pick the people you would want to be. If you were hanging around a group of people that did nothing but criticize you and pick on you and influence you to do stupid and illegal things but you hang around them because they're cool and you want to be cool too, then likely you are not with the right people. They are going to cause you to do things you will regret later; some things may cause permanent damage to you and your reputation. Pick the people who raise you up to more than you can be. The people who are supportive and will always be there for you, and the people who bring that side of you out and help you share that side with others around you. Those are the type of people to spend your time with.

Quote of the day

"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."

-Oprah Winfrey

Passion ignites the soul. Focus on something that you are passionate about, and it will give you a feeling of power that can cause you to do great things. This power will not only rub off and excite you about doing things you may not like on any other day, but it will give you an overall better mood. You will be more pleasant to be around and you will be getting what you need to get done done, and best of all you will be happy and joyful! A great example of this would be a story of my own. I was introduced to a service project that involves crafts. It is for a great cause, too. How it works is I have been purchasing paracord 550 to cut into 8' strips and make into paracord "survival" bracelets. I'm doing this through Operation Gratitude, and when the bracelets are done I send them to OG for them to send to US Troops as a kind of "you're loved" care package. I love this activity, it is so much fun to make these bracelets. I am passionate enough about this activity that it has given me the energy and power to jump out of bed and get ready super super fast this morning instead of wanting to stay in bed and being super slow. Passion is truly an amazing emotion!

Sorry this is the first post in a very long time. I was gone most of the summer, and when I returned I found that my computer wasn't letting me on blogger or any blogs of any kind. So I had to get that sorted out before I could actually access it to post anything. After that was sorted out, I waited another week or so because I have been incredibly busy. I will definitely try my hardest to get a post out every day! Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it!
-LifeOO