Cup 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 plain looking 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."

 

Good boss

Scientists at the Rocket launching station in Thumba, were in the habit of working for nearly 12 to 18 hours a day. There were about Seventy such scientists working on a project. All the scientists were really frustrated due to the pressure of work and the demands of their boss but everyone was loyal to him and did not think of quitting the job. 

 

One day, one scientist came to his boss and told him - Sir, I have promised to my children that I will take them to the exhibition going on in our to  wnship. So I want to leave the office at 5 30 pm.  His boss replied - O K, , You are permitted to leave the office early today. 

 

The Scientist started working. He continued his work after lunch. As usual he got involved to such an extent that he looked at his watch when he felt he was close to completion.The time was 8.30 p.m  Suddenly he remembered of the promise he had given to his children. He looked for his boss,,He was not there. Having told him in the morning itself, he closed everything and left for home.   Deep within himself, he was feeling guilty for having disappointed his children.  He reached home. Children were not there.His wife alone was sitting in the hall and reading magazines. The situation was explosive, any talk would boomerang on him.

 

His wife asked him - Would you like to have coffee or shall I straight away serve dinner if you are hungry.

The man replied - If you would like to have coffee, i too will have but what about Children???

Wife replied- You don't know - Your manager came at 5 15 p.m and has taken the children to the exhibition.

 

What had really happened was  The boss who granted him permission was observing him working seriously at 5.00 p.m. He thought to himself, this person will not leave the work, but if he has promised his children they should enjoy the visit to exhibition. So he took the lead in taking them to exhibition .  The boss does not have to do it everytime. But once it is done, loyalty is established.  That is why all the scientists at Thumba continued to work under their boss eventhough the stress was tremendous.

 

By the way , can you hazard a guess as to who the boss was?

 

He was A P J Abdul Kalam.

Cleaning Lady

 During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz.

 I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:

 "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

 Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times.

 She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?

 I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended,                                                                           

 One student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

 "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant.

 They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello".

 I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

 

Simple the better

One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the case of the empty soap box, which happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies. The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soap box that was empty. Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soap box went through the assembly line empty.
Management asked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent whoopee amount to do so.
But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed with the same problem, did not get into complications of X-rays, etc but instead came out with another solution. He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.
Learn to focus on solutions not on problems!

Encouragement

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to theroom's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.The men talked for hours on end.They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the thing he could see outside the window.The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats.Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and afine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by.Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who haddied peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called thehospital attendants to take the body away.As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could bemoved next to the window.The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Love citation

• If you're afraid to love a person because of friendship, you have 2 choices, either tell what you feel and let the love take place or forever hide the feeling under a friendship full of pretensions.
• Love can never be so beautiful without friendship, one leads to another and the process is irreversible!!!
• Love doesn't have to have a happy ending, 'coz love doesn't have to end at all. A man realized he wanted his love back not wanting to be hurt again. The girl said "NO"! The man cried out to God, "If it was meant to be, why did i lose her?" God replied, "You didn't lose her...YOU LET HER GO!" When you love someone, don't expect that person to love you back the same amount. One of you will be ahead, the other behind. It's either you catch up or the other waits......
• Never be afraid to fall in love. It may hurt a lot,it may give you aches and pains, but if you don't follow your heart, in the end you will cry even more for not giving love a chance......
• Love is like standing on wet cement, the longer you stay the harder it is to leave...and you can never go without leaving your prints behind...
• True love hears what is not spoken, and understands what is not explained, for love doesn't work in the mouth, nor the mind, but in the heart...
• When you love, you must not accept anything in return, for if you do, you're not loving but investing.
• It's better to lose your pride with someone you love rather than lose that someone you love with your useless pride.
• I can't choose who I'm gonna love, but i also can't just love who chooses to love me...and you can't blame me in choosing to love you as much as I can't blame you for not learning to love me.
• The most cruel thing a guy could do to a girl is to let her fall in love when he doesn't intend to catch her fall!

Gift

A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, told him that was all he wanted. As the Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study.
His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bhagwad Geeta. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me just a Book?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.
He never contacted his father again for long time. Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father must be very old by now, and thought of visiting him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram informing him of his father's demise and having willed all his possessions to him. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new Bhagwad Geeta, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the holy book and began to turn the pages. As he read through the pages, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the holy book. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words.........PAID IN FULL.
How many times do we miss GOD's blessings because they are not packaged as
we expected?

Little Consideration

One day, a ten-year-old boy went to an ice-cream shop, sat at a table and asked the waitress, "How much is an ice-cream cone?"
She said, "seventy-five cents." The boy started counting the coins he had in his hand. Then he asked how much a small cup of ice-cream was. The waitress impatiently replied, "sixty-five cents."
The boy said, "I will have the small ice-cream cup."
He had his ice-cream, paid the bill and left. When the waitress came to pick up the empty plate, she was touched. Underneath were Ten one-cent coins as tip. The little boy had consideration for the waitress before he ordered his ice-cream. He thought of others before himself.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.

Diet FAQ

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

 

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it...don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

 

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

 

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

 

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

 

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that   means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain.Bottoms up!

 

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

 

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!!. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil.In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

 

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

 

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

 

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

 

A: Are you crazy? HELLO ...... Cocoabeans ... another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!

 

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

 

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

 

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

 

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

 

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets and remember, "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways -  bodythoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming - WOO HOO! What a Ride!"

 

Dedicated to Amtb and Anl.

 

Winning Race

A few weeks ago NIMH (National Institute of Mentally Handicapped, Hyderabad) had conducted a sports meet for all the physically & mentally handicapped children at National Stadium Hyderabad.
In one race, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win.
All, that is, except one little boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. Then they all turned around and went back every one of them. One girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, "This will make it better."
Then all nine linked arms and walked together to the finish line. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes.