Inspirational Stories #105 - Having a Best Friend

Two friends were walking through a forest. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand “Today my best friend slapped me in the face”. 

They kept on walking until they found a small  river, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped suddenly started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered  he wrote on a stone “Today my best friend saved my life”.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” The other friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Moral: Do not value the material things you have in your life. But value the people you have in your life.

Inspirational Stories #104 - Five more Minutes

At the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground.  “That’s my son over there,” she said, pointing to a little boy in a blue sweater who was gliding down the slide.  “He’s a fine looking boy” the man said. “That’s my daughter on the bicycle in the red dress.”

Then, looking at his watch, he called to his daughter. “What do you say we go,  sweatheart?”  The girl pleaded, “Just five more minutes, dad. Please? Just five more minutes.”  The man nodded and the girl continued to ride her bicycle to her heart’s content. Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his daughter. “Time to go now?” 

Again the girl begged, “Five more minutes, dad. Just five more minutes.”  The man smiled and said, “OK.” 

“My, you certainly are a patient father,” the woman sitting next to him responded.

The man smiled and then said, “Her older brother was killed by a drunk driver last year while he was riding his bicycle in this same place. I never spent much time with  my son and now I’d give anything for just five more minutes with him. I’ve vowed not to make the same mistake with  my daughter. She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bicycle. The truth is, I get five more minutes to watch her play.”

MORAL: Life is all about making priorities, and family and close friends are  more important that the others, so spend all the time you can with those you love and who love you.

Inspirational Stories #103 - Strength or Weakness

This story is about a 10-year old boy who wanted to learn judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he could'nt understand why that even after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move. "Master, the boy finally asked, shouldn't I be learning more moves now?'. 

'This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know", the master replied. Not quite understanding, but trusting his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the master took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after sometime, his opponent became impatient, and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. 

This time, his opponenet was bigger, stronger and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned about the boy, the refree was about to stop the match. but the master insisted that the  match continue. Soon after the match resumed, his opponenet made a critical mistake. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy was the champion of the tournament. On the way back home, the boy asked, "Master, how did I win the touranament with one only move?".

You won for two reasons, the master answered. First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second, the only known defence for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."

The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Moral: Sometimes we feel that we have certain weaknesses and we blame God, the circumstances or ourselves for it but we never know that our weaknesses can become our strengths one day. Each of us is special and important, so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it.

Inspirational Stories #102 - A Box full of Kisses

A man punished his 4-year old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became furious when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, daddy".

The man was embarrassed by his earlier reaction, but he got angry again when he found out that the box was empty. He screamed at her, "Don't you know when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?". The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh daddy, it's not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They are all for you daddy".  

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

A few months later, an accident look the life of the child. It is told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and whenever he was upset or discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

MORAL: Each one of us have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses... from our parents, children, family, friends, and god. There is simply no other possession anyone could hold, more precious than this.

Inspirational Stories #101 - Rose for Mother

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be sent to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sobbing near the doorstep of the flower shop. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.” 

The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.” He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.” She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.