AMAZING AND INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ANIMALS

ü  Sharks can live up to 100 years.

ü  Cat's urine glows under a black light.

ü  The blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, is the largest known animal ever to have lived on sea or land. Individuals can reach more than 110 feet and weigh nearly 200 tons, more than the weight of 50 adult elephants.

ü  Many fish can change sex during the course of their lives. Others, especially rare deep-sea fish, have both male and female sex organs.

ü  The largest eggs in the world are laid by a shark.

ü  The most dangerous animal in the world is the common housefly. Because of their habits of visiting animal waste, they transmit more diseases than any other animal.

ü  A Blue Whale can eat as much as 3 tones of food everyday, but at the same time can live without food for 6 months.

ü  The Peregrine Falcon around 200mph (320 km/h) is the fastest bird on the planet, the top speed recorded is 242.3mph (390 km/h).

ü  Blue whales are found throughout the world's oceans, the lifespan is estimated to be 80 years & population is between 1300 & 2000 only, its dangerously low.

ü  Mosquitos are more attracted to the color blue than any other color.

ü  Slugs have four noses.

ü  A group of jellyfish is called a "smuck".

ü  Laika (dog) became the world's first space traveler. Russian scientists sent the small animal aloft in an artificial earth satellite in 1957.

ü  A domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour.

ü  Snails can have hundreds to thousands teeth, There can be hundreds of rows of teeth and several different tooth types in one snail.

ü  A camel's hump is not used for water storage, but camels can go for long periods of time without water. They drink large amounts of water up to 20 gallons at a time. This water is stored in the animal's bloodstream.

ü  Penguins "fly" underwater at up to 25 miles per hour.

ü  A cockroach can live a long time, a week or 10 days, without its head.

ü  The nine-banded armadillo always gives birth to same gender quadruplets from a single egg.

ü  Octopuses have three hearts. Two pump blood through each of the two gills, while the third pumps blood through the body

ü  Cheetah's can accelerate from 0 to 70 kilometer per hour in 3 seconds only.

ü  A common old wives tale is that fish grow to the size of the aquarium. Actually they will continue to grow as long as they have a quality environment. To find out, a group of researchers kept several trout in a 3 inch diameter tube. Clean water was constantly circulated through the tube. The trout eventually grew to fill the tube completely!

ü  The ears of a cricket are located on the front legs, just below the knee.

ü  Chocolate can be killed dogs. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system. A few ounces is enough to kill a small sized dog.

ü  An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

ü  Blondes have more hair than dark-haired people.

ü  Most cats are left pawed.

ü  The largest flying animal was the pterosaur which lived 70 million years ago. This reptile had a wing span of 36-39 feet (11-11.9 meters) and weighed 190-250 pounds (86-113.5 kilograms).

ü  Bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, are among the largest and fastest marine fish. An adult may weigh 1,500 pounds and swim up to 55 miles per hour.

ü  A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

ü  The oarfish, Regalecus glesne, is the longest bony fish in the world. With its snakelike body sporting a magnificent red fin along its 50-foot length horselike face and blue gills, it accounts for many sea-serpent sightings.

ü  There are 200,000,000 insects for every one human.

ü  A snail can sleep for three years.

ü  When they mate, a yak and a cow produce a dzo.

ü  If a cat is frightened, the hair stands up fairly evenly all over the body, when the cat threatens or is ready to attack, the hair stands up only in a narrow band along the spine and tail.

ü  Snakes are true carnivorous because they eat nothing but other animals. They do not eat any type of plant material.

ü  A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out, because it's attached to the bottom of their mouth.

ü  The blue whale's blood vessels are so broad that a full-grown trout could swim through them, and the vessels serve a heart the size of a small car.

ü  A cat's whiskers are called vibrissae.

ü  A 'bitch' is more likely to bite you than a male dog.

ü  Butterflies taste with their feet. Their taste sensors are located in the feet & by standing on their food, they can taste it

ü  Oils from the orange roughy, Hoplostethus atlanticus, a deep-sea fish from New Zealand, are used in making shampoo.

ü  Koala fingerprints are similar to human fingerprints, even with an electron microscope, it can be quite difficult to distinguish between the two.

ü  The mouse is a very adaptable creature who can thrive in almost any environment and has resisted mans' attempts to eradicate it for centuries.

ü  A cat uses its whiskers for measuring distances.

ü  The blackspot angelfish can change sex from female to male. When the male fish of the group dies, the largest female fish starts changing in appearance.

ü  Crocodile only animal & reptile that sheds tear while eating.

ü  Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear (compared to human's 6 muscles each).

ü  The Atlantic Giant Squid's eye can be as large as 15.75 inches (40 centimeters) wide.

ü  Blue-eyed, pure white cats are frequently deaf.

ü  A dog can hear sounds 250 yards away that most people cannot hear beyond 25 yards.

ü  A new born blue whale measures 20-26 feet (6.0 - 7.9 meters) long and weighs up to 6,614 pounds (3003 kg).

ü  Cats do not have a collarbone, so they can fit through any opening the size of their head.

ü  On average, Elephants sleep for about 2 hours per day.

ü  The world's smallest known butterflies, the blue pygmy found in southern California, has a wingspan of just over half an inch.

ü  A camel's hump does not hold water at all - it actually stores fat. The camel uses it as nourishment when food is scarce. If a camel uses the fat inside the hump, the hump will become limp and droop down. With proper food and rest the hump will return to normal.

ü  A cat has a total of 24 whiskers, 4 rows of whiskers on each side. The upper two rows can move independently of the bottom two rows.

ü  There are only three animals with blue tongues: the black bear, the Chow Chow dog and the blue-tongued lizard.

ü  A group of herring is called a seige. A group of jelly fish is called a smack.

ü  The adult sperm whale will regularly dive to depths of up to 1200 feet in search of their favorite food the Giant Squid. The pressure at this depth is about 500 lbs per square inch. Scientists still do not know how they can withstand the pressure.

ü  The largest penguin is the emperor penguin at 4 feet tall and about 65 to 90 pounds & the smallest is the little penguin, also known as the blue or fairy penguin, which weighs only 2 pounds.

ü  One reason of crickets chirping is behaving aggressively during the encounter of two males.

ü  The nine-banded armadillo can jump straight upward about three to four feet into the air. This reflex may help scare off predators in the wild. Unfortunately, many armadillos are killed when they jump into the underside of moving vehicles.

ü  Mice are the smallest mammals to ever be domesticated. Mice weigh on average 1 ounce and are approximately 2.5 to 3.5 inches long (without the tail).

ü  The tallest cacti are the giant Saguaros. They grow up to 18m (59 ft) tall, about the height of a six-storey building.

ü  Humans and cats both have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion. A cat's brain is more similar to a man's brain than that of a dog.

ü  The typical housefly cruses at 8 km/hr.

ü  The domestic cat is the only species able to hold its tail vertically while walking.

ü  Cats lose almost as much fluid in the saliva while grooming themselves as they do through urination.

ü  A cat can rotate its ears independently 180 degrees, and can turn in the direction of sound 10 times faster than those of the best watchdog.

ü  Cats are feline, dogs are canine, and sheep are ovine.

ü  Cats walk on their toes.

ü  Sperm whales have the biggest brains 20 lbs.

ü  Flea can't fly, they can jump over 7 inches high & 13 inches long, 130 times higher than their own height. In human terms this is equal to a 6ft. person jumping 780 ft. into the air.

ü  The earliest cockroach fossils are about 280 million years old.

ü  A cat will spend nearly 30% of her life grooming herself.

ü  The world's largest amphibian is the giant salamander. It can grow up to 5 ft. in length.

ü  The average hamster, if provided a wheel, will run up to eight miles per night!

ü  A pigs snout is called a gruntle.

ü  Armadillos, opossums, and sloth's spend about 80% of their lives sleeping.

ü  Cats' hearing stops at 65 khz (kilohertz) and humans' hearing stops at 20 khz.

ü  Dolphins are highly social, playful, curious and intelligent. They live in groups or families called Pods.

ü  The cat's front paw has 5 toes, but the back paws have 4. Some cats are born with as many as 7 front toes and extra back toes.

ü  The blue whale can produce sounds up to 188 decibels. This is the loudest sound produced by a living animal and has been detected as far away as 530 miles.

ü  Normal body temperature for a cat is 102 degrees F.

ü  A thick layer of blubber (up to 4.5 inches thick) provides polar bears with such excellent insulation that their body temperature and metabolic rate remain the same even at -34F.

ü  Asian elephants stand eight to ten feet tall at the shoulder. Females weight about 6,000 pounds and males can weight up to 11,900 pounds.

ü  The poison arrow frogs of South and Central America are the most poisonous animals in the world.

ü  Cats have a special scent organ located in the roof of their mouth, called the Jacobson's organ. It analyzes smells - and is the reason why you will sometimes see your cat "sneer" (called the flehmen response or flehming) when they encounter a strong odor.

ü  There are over 300 different breeds of horses and ponies around the world.

ü  A fetus acquires fingerprints at the age of three months.

ü  It may take as long as 2 weeks for a kitten to be able to hear well.

ü  A cat's field of vision is about 185 degrees.

ü  A cat sees better than a human at night, it has a layer of extra reflecting cells which absorb light.

ü  There are no poisonous snakes in Maine.

ü  The average life span of a the hermit crab is 75 years.

ü  Cats step with both left legs, then both right legs when they walk or run.

ü  On bitterly cold days with fierce winds, polar bears dig out a shelter in a snow bank and curl up in a tight ball to wait out the storm.

ü  The name hippopotamus comes from the Greek words "hippos" meaning horse, and "potamus" meaning river. Though the hippo spends most of its day in the water, it is more closely related to the pig than the horse.

ü  Cats' hearing is much more sensitive than humans and dogs.

ü  The Virginia opossum has a gestation period of only 12-13 days.

ü  Polar bears generally walk at a leisurely pace to keep from overheating.

ü  A cat has more bones than a human, humans have 206, but the cat has 230 (some cites list 245 bones, and state that bones may fuse together as the cat ages).

ü  One catfish, the giant Manguruyu, Paulicea lutkeni, can reach 3 meters in length and has been held responsible for eating small children in such rivers as the Rio Branco in the Amazon basin.

ü  DEMETRIO was a mammal like REPTILE with a snail on its back. This acted as a radiator to cool the body of the animal.

ü  A large swarm of desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) can consume 20,000 tons (18,160,000 kilograms) of vegetation a day.

ü  One study of a deep-sea community revealed 898 species from more than 100 families and a dozen phyla in an area about half the size of a tennis court. More than half of these were new to science.

ü  Cats have 30 teeth (12 incisors, 10 premolars, 4 canines, and 4 molars), while dogs have 42.

ü  Snakes are true carnivorous because they eat nothing but other animals. They do not eat any type of plant material.

ü  Horseshoe crabs have existed in essentially the same form for the past 135 million years. Their blood provides a valuable test for the toxins that cause septic shock, which previously led to half of all hospital-acquired infections and one-fifth of all hospital deaths.

ü  One type of hummingbird weighs less than a penny.

ü  Domestic cats purr both when inhaling and when exhaling.

ü  A female dog carries her young about 60 days before the puppies are born.

ü  The word butterfly came from the English word Buttorfleoge. Perhaps because, in mediaeval times, butterflies could be seen hovering around butterchurns or that their excrement is yellowish in color.

ü  Green turtles can migrate more than 1,400 miles to lay their eggs.

ü  It may take as long as 2 weeks for a kitten to be able to hear well. Their eyes usually open between 7 and 10 days, but sometimes it happens in as little as 2 days.

ü  Argos or Argus, Ulysses' hunting dog, was the only creature to recognize the Greek hero when he returned home disguised as a beggar after 20 years of adventure.

ü  The one benefit of geese fly in a V is that it is easy to keep track of every bird in the group. Fighter pilots often use this formation for the same reason.

ü  The tip of a bullwhip moves so fast that the sound it makes is actually a tiny sonic boom.

ü  Since the architecture and chemistry of coral are very close to human bone, coral has been used to replace bone grafts in helping human bones to heal quickly and cleanly.

ü  Cats purr at the same frequency as an idling diesel engine, about 26 cycles per second.

ü  A cat's jaw has only up and down motion, it does not have any lateral, side to side motion, like dogs and humans. For this reason, don't rely on feeding dry food as a dental care program, cats need to have their teeth cleaned by a vet.

ü  A female cat will be pregnant for approximately 9 weeks, between 62 and 65 days from conception to delivery.

ü  Almost 10% of a cat's bones are in its tail, and the tail is used to maintain balance.

ü  Flying squirrels don't really fly, they glide from branch to branch. A blanket-like furry skin stretches their front and hind legs, and acts as a parachute, enabling the squirrel to soar like a kite.

ü  Dogs cannot see as well as humans and are considered color blind. A dog sees objects first by their movement, second by their brightness, and third by their shape.

ü  Goats produce cashmere.

ü  A cat sees about 6 times better than a human at night, and needs 1/6 the amount of light that a human does.

ü  A polar bear's body temperature is 98.6 degree, which is average for mammals.

ü  Some of the most successful species of bats live in large cave colonies. Some of these colonies have millions of members, even up to 20 million.

ü  The lifespan of the common goldfish is over 20 years.

ü  Cats have 30 vertebrae, more than humans have.

ü  The Antartic notothenia fish has a protein in its blood that acts like antifreeze and stops the fish freezing in icy sea.

ü  The basenji, an African wolf dog, is the only dog that cannot bark.

ü  Kangaroos can't walk backwards.

ü  One reason of crickets chirping is sounding a danger alert when sensing trouble.

ü  The starfish species, Porcellanaster ivanovi, has been found to live in water as deep as 24,881 feet (7,584 meters).

ü  Polar bears are well-adapted to severe cold. Winter temperatures in the far north often plunge to -40 F or -50 F and can stay that way for days or even weeks.

ü  A turkey's furcula better known as a wishbone.

ü  The cat's clavicle, or collarbone, does not connect with other bones but is buried in the muscles of the shoulder region. This lack of a functioning collarbone allows them to fit through any opening the size of their head.

ü  Recent studies have shown that cats can see blue and green. There is disagreement as to whether they can see red.

ü  The nine-banded armadillo can hold their breath for six minutes or more!

ü  Hippos like to be close to shore lying on their bellies. In areas undisturbed by people, hippos lie on the shore in the morning sun.

ü  When a cat drinks, its tongue, which has tiny barbs on it, scoops the liquid up backwards.

ü  Cats take between 20-40 breaths per minute.

ü  A cat has approximately 60 to 80 million olfactory cells (a human has between 5 and 20 million).

ü  The common term for a member of the bee genus 'Bombus' is the bumblebee.

ü  A cat's normal pulse is 140-240 beats per minute, with an average of 195.

ü  The human ear can detect sound waves vibrating at frequencies up to 20,000 times a second. But dogs can hear sound waves that vibrate at frequencies of more than 30,000 times a second.

ü  The heaviest cat on record weighed 46 lbs.

ü  A domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour.

ü  A kitten will typically weigh about 3 ounces at birth. The typical male housecat will weigh between 7 and 9 pounds, slightly less for female housecats.

ü  There are several reasons why crickets chirp. One of them: Calling to attract a female with a loud and monotonous sound.

ü  Irish Wolfhounds rank as the largest dog, and Chihuahuas as the smallest dog. The St. Bernard is the heaviest dog and other breeds range in size between these extremes.

ü  The cat has 500 skeletal muscles, humans have 650.

ü  Kittens have baby teeth, which are replaced by permanent teeth around the age of 7 months.

ü  All dogs are probably descended from an animal called Tomarctus. This animal lived approximately 15 million years ago.

ü  A dog's heart beats between 70 and 120 times a minute, compared with a human heart which beats 70 to 80 times a minute.

ü  The fierce DINOSAUR was TYRANNOSAURS which has sixty long & sharp teeth, used to attack & eat other dinosaurs.

ü  A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

ü  Mice not only captivate our imagination but they play a very important part in history also.

ü  King Angelfish Holocanthus passer act as cleaner fish for Hammerhead sharks. They can be seen picking parasites from inside the sharks' mouth! (As it turns out many of the Holocanthus angelfish act as cleaner fish).

ü  The Stegosaurus dinosaur measured up to 30 feet (9.1 meters) long but had a brain the size of a walnut.

ü  One of our favorite mice is Mickey Mouse who has delighted us since the late 1920's.

ü  A Cicada passes eggs through its ovipositor.

Inspirational Stories #96 - Poisoning Mother-In-Law

A long time ago in China, a girl named Li-Li got married and went to live with her husband and mother-in-law.

In a very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn’t get along with her mother-in-law at all. Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her mother-in-law’s habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.

Days passed days, and weeks passed weeks. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow to her mother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing the poor husband great distress.

Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law’s bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it.

Li-Li went to see her father’s good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all. Mr. Huang thought for a while, and finally said, “Li-Li, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you.”

Li-Li said, “Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do.” Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs.

He told Li-Li, “You can’t use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious. Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspects you when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. Don’t argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen.”

Li-Li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law.

Weeks went by, months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother. After six months had passed, the whole household had changed.

Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn’t had an argument in six months with her mother-in-law, who now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with.

The mother-in-law’s attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and daughter.

Li-Li’s husband was very happy to see what was happening.

One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again. She said, “Mr. Huang, please help me to stop the poison from killing my mother-in-law! She’s changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her.”

Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. “Li-Li, there’s nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her.”

Author Unknown

Story Submitted by A.Bhatia

Inspirational Stories #95 - New A - Z by Graduates...

The Alphabet:
A – ACCEPT	Accept others for who they are and for the choices they've made even if you have difficulty understanding their beliefs, motives, or actions.
B – BREAK AWAY	Break away from everything that stands in the way of what you hope to accomplish with your life.
C – CREATE	Create a family of friends whom you can share your hopes, dreams, sorrows, and happiness with.
D – DECIDE	Decide that you’ll be successful and happy come what may, and good things will find you. The roadblocks are only minor obstacles along the way.
E – EXPLORE	Explore and experiment. The world has much to offer, and you have much to give. And every time you try something new, you’ll learn more about yourself.
F – FORGIVE	Forgive and forget. Grudges only weigh you down and inspire unhappiness and grief. Soar above it, and remember that everyone makes mistakes.
G – GROW	Leave the childhood monsters behind. They can no longer hurt you or stand in your way.
H – HOPE	Hope for the best and never forget that anything is possible as long as you remain dedicated to the task.
I – IGNORE	Ignore the negative voice inside your head. Focus instead on your goals and remember your accomplishments. Your past success is only a small inkling of what the future holds.
J – JOURNEY	Journey to new worlds, new possibilities, by remaining open-minded. Try to learn something new every day, an you’ll grow.
K – KNOW	Know that no matter how bad things seem, they’ll always get better. The warmth of spring always follows the harshest winter.
L – LOVE	Let love fill your heart instead of hate. When hate is in your heart, there’s room for nothing else, but when love is in your heart, there’s room for endless happiness.
M – MANAGE	Manage your time and your expenses wisely, and you’ll suffer less stress and worry. Then you’ll be able to focus on the important things in life.
N – NOTICE	Never ignore the poor, infirm, helpless, weak, or suffering. Offer your assistance when possible, and always your kindness and understanding.
O – OPEN	Open your eyes and take in all the beauty around you. Even during the worst of times, there’s still much to be thankful for.
P – PLAY	Never forget to have fun along the way. Success means nothing without happiness.
Q – QUESTION	Ask many questions, because you’re here to learn.
R – RELAX	Refuse to let worry and stress rule your life, and remember that things always have a way of working out in the end.
S – SHARE	Share your talent, skills, knowledge, and time with others. Everything that you invest in others will return to you many times over.
T – TRY	Even when your dreams seem impossible to reach, try anyway. You’ll be amazed by what you can accomplish.
U – USE	Use your gifts to your best ability. Talent that’s wasted has no value. Talent that’s used bill bring unexpected rewards.
V – VALUE	Value the friends and family members who’ve supported and encouraged you, and be there for them as well.
W – WORK	Work hard every day to be the best person you can be, but never feel guilty if you fall short of your goals. Every sunrise offers a second chance.
X – X-RAY	Look deep inside the hearts of those around you and you’ll see the goodness and beauty within.
Y – YIELD	Yield to commitment. If you stay on track and remain dedicated, you’ll find success at the end of the road.
Z – ZOOM	Zoom to a happy place when bad memories or sorrow rears its ugly head. Let nothing interfere with your goals. Instead, focus on your abilities, your dreams, and a brighter tomorrow.

Inspirational Stories #94 - The Grass Cutting Days

The pastor called me to come forward. I walked to the pulpit confident and proud. I looked out at my family. Some wore somber expressions. Others had faces still damp with tears. Then I gazed down at the shiny black coffin crowned with yellow flowers.

My father, Charlie Lyons, was gone. It was my turn at his funeral earlier this year to pay tribute to the man who taught me so much growing up on the North side. How do you sum up a lifetime in 10 minutes?

I flashed to Dad holding the handlebar and jogging alongside my bike until I felt ready to ride on my own. I saw him pulling up to my broken-down car at night, doing a quick fix and trailing me home. I thought of the hug we shared at my wedding.

Then, I started talking about a special moment I draw from now. Dad was always full of advice, but one of the biggest lessons he taught me one summer was about having a strong work ethic. When my brother and I were growing up, we mowed yards during the summer to earn pocket change. Dad was our salesman. He pitched our service to neighbors and offered a price they could not refuse. My brother and I got $10 per yard. Some yards were a half-acre. I later found out our friends were charging $20 or more for the same amount of work.

Every time we headed out to mow lawns, Dad was there to watch. I used to wonder why he came with us. He stood supervising our work in the sticky Florida heat when he could have been inside relaxing with air conditioning and an icy drink.

Inspirational Stories #93 - Attitude – One of Life’s Choice

My wife, Tere, and I purchased a new car in December. Even though we

had tickets to fly from California to Houston to visit her family for Christmas, we decided to drive to Texas to break in the new car. We packed the car and took off for a wonderful week with Grandma.

We had a wonderful time and stay to the last possible minute visiting with Grandma. On the return trip we needed to get home in a hurry, so we drove straight through — one person driving while the other one slept. After driving in a hard rain for several hours, we arrived home late at night. We were tired and ready for a hot shower and a soft bed. I had the feeling that no matter how tired we were, we should unpack the car that night, but all Tere wanted was the hot shower and soft bed, so we decided to wait and unload the car in the morning. 

Inspirational Stories #92 - The Missing Watch

There once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It was no ordinary watch because it had sentimental value for him. 

After searching high and low among the hay for a long while; he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.

He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded.

Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went through and around the entire stack of hay but still could not find the watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and asked to be given another chance.

The farmer looked at him and thought, “Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough.”

So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed.

The boy replied, “I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction.”

A peaceful mind can think better than a worked up mind. Allow a few minutes of silence to your mind every day, and see, how sharply it helps you to set your life the way you expect it to be!

Inspirational Stories #91 - Military’s love… in sickness!

The passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive young woman with the white cane made her way carefully up the steps. She paid the driver and, using her hands to feel the location of the seats, walked down the aisle and found the seat he’d told her was empty. Then she settled in, placed her briefcase on her lap and rested her cane against her leg. 

It had been a year since Susan, 34, became blind. Due to a medical misdiagnosis she had been rendered sightless, and she was suddenly thrown into a world of darkness, anger, frustration and self-pity. And all she had to cling to was her husband, Mark.

Mark was an Air Force officer and he loved Susan with all his heart. When she first lost her sight, he watched her sink into despair and was determined to help his wife gain the strength and confidence she needed to become independent again.

Inspirational Stories #90 - Military Story: The Marine’s Father

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.

“Your son is here,” she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened. 

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital – the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

“Who was that man?” he asked.

The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she answered.

“No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied.

“I never saw him before in my life.”

“Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”

“I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.”

Inspirational Stories #89 - Military: A beautiful true love story

One day, a young guy and a young girl fell in love.

But the guy came from a poor family. The girl’s parents weren’t too happy.

So the young man decided not only to court the girl but to court her parents as well. In time, the parents saw that he was a good man and was worthy of their daughter’s hand. 

But there was another problem: The man was a soldier. Soon, war broke out and he was being sent overseas for a year. The week before he left, the man knelt on his knee and asked his lady love, “Will you marry me?” She wiped a tear, said yes, and they were engaged. They agreed that when he got back in one year, they would get married.

But tragedy struck. A few days after he left, the girl had a major vehicular accident. It was a head-on collision.

When she woke up in the hospital, she saw her father and mother crying. Immediately, she knew there was something wrong.

She later found out that she suffered brain injury. The part of her brain that controlled her face muscles was damaged. Her once lovely face was now disfigured. She cried as she saw herself in the mirror. “Yesterday, I was beautiful. Today, I’m a monster.” Her body was also covered with so many ugly wounds.

Right there and then, she decided to release her fiancé from their promise. She knew he wouldn’t want her anymore. She would forget about him and never see him again.

For one year, the soldier wrote many letters—but she wouldn’t answer. He phoned her many times but she wouldn’t return her calls.

But after one year, the mother walked into her room and announced, “He’s back from the war.”

The girl shouted, “No! Please don’t tell him about me. Don’t tell him I’m here!”

The mother said, “He’s getting married,” and handed her a wedding invitation.

The girl’s heart sank. She knew she still loved him—but she had to forget him now.

With great sadness, she opened the wedding invitation.

And then she saw her name on it!

Confused, she asked, “What is this?”

That was when the young man entered her room with a bouquet of flowers. He knelt beside her and asked, “Will you marry me?”

The girl covered her face with her hands and said, “I’m ugly!”

The man said, “Without your permission, your mother sent me your photos. When I saw your photos, I realized that nothing has changed. You’re still the person I fell in love. You’re still as beautiful as ever. Because I love you!”

Inspirational Stories #88 - Military Story: True Friend

Horror gripped the heart of the World War I soldier as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle. Caught in a trench with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier asked his lieutenant if he might go out into the “no man’s land” between the trenches to bring his fallen comrade back.  

 “You can go,” said the lieutenant, “but i don’t think it will be worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your life away.” The lieutenant’s advice didn’t matter, and the soldier went anyway. Miraculously he managed to reach his friend, hoist him onto his shoulder and bring him back to their company’s trench. As the two of them tumbled in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, and then looked kindly at his friend.

“I told you it wouldn’t be worth it,” he said. “Your friend is dead and you are mortally wounded.”

“It was worth it, though, sir,” said the soldier.

“What do you mean; worth it?” responded the Lieutenant. “Your friend is dead.”

“Yes, Sir” the private answered. “But it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive and I had the satisfaction of hearing him saying, “Jim…, I knew you’d come.”

Many times in life, whether a thing is worth doing or not, really depends on how u looks at it. Take up all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret not doing it later in your life. May each and every one of you be blessed with the company of TRUE FRIENDS. A true friend is one who walks in, when the rest of the world walks out. War doesn’t determine who’s right. War only determines who’s left.

Inspirational Stories #87 - A Smile

A smile costs nothing, but gives much.

It enriches those who receive, without making poorer those who give.

It takes a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.

None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it, and none is so poor, but that he can be made rich by it. 

 A smile creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in business, and is the countersign of friendship.

It brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and it is nature’s best antidote for trouble.

Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone, until it is given away.

Some people are too tired to give you a smile;

Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.

Inspirational Stories #86 - Life

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be – a roommate, a neighbor, a professor, a friend, a lover, or even a complete stranger – but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.

Sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.

Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved straight flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless. 

The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you become. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are sometimes the most important ones.

If someone loves you, give love back to them in whatever way you can, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.

If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart.