Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. 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 an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, 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."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND, AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE

Parable Of The Pencil - Pencil story

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

"There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."

"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand."

"Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."

"Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

"Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."

"And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.

Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.

Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make a change.

Love and Time

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said,
"Richness, can you take me with you?"
Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you."
"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way. Realizing how much was owed the elder, Love asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who Helped me?"
"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"
Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."

Alexander Fleming

I happened to stumble an inspiring story today, a story of one of the greatest scientists in London.

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to eke out a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

"I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."
"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
"Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly.
"I'll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of."

And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

Someone once said what goes around comes around.

Teacher under interrogation

Teaching is one of the toughest jobs on earth. No wonder some teachers feel like giving up to a profession which is not only physically and mentally demanding but also emotionally disheartening.

With so many work to accomplish, not to mention the regular teaching work and lesson planning, we can't help not to answer some of the big questions concerning us.
1. Do you plan to slow down in the coming year?

Being young and vibrant is a blessing. I can imagine my old co-teachers complaining their back pains and sore throat and other muscle pains caused by old age. It's good to know that I am young and I still have the energy to teach. I am given the proper motivation for my work. I guess, I just need to maintain my pace and passion in teaching students and I should not let it die down on me.

2. Do you consider yourself a workaholic?

I could say I am. Specially this month and this coming September, I don't know how to define the word "rest."

3. When you need more time, do you tend to cut back on your sleep?

Not anymore. I learned so much lessons in the past. I realized sleep is very important. I can't afford to cut back on it. Time management is still an effective way to beat any deadline.

4. At the end of the day, do you often feel that you have not accomplished what you had set out to do?
Sometime I feel like I am not accomplishing anything when I don't plan out my day. Iused to list down on paper the things I want to accomplish in a particular day as "To-do-list." If I fail to make a list, I am sure nothing will happen.

5. Do you worry that you don’t spend enough time with your family or friends?
Yes, I really worry not spending quality time with people whom I care and love. I hope I can be with my family always. But to my friends I can spare some time specially when they invited me to a party.

6. Do you feel that you’re constantly under stress trying to accomplish more than you can handle?
I have this mentality. I just don't know how to avoid stress.

7. Do you feel trapped in a daily routine?
Yes.

8. Do you feel that you just don’t have time for fun any more?
I still find time to enjoy and have fun while working.

9. Do you often feel under stress when you don’t have enough time?
Nope.

10. Would you like to spend more time alone?
Yes, I truly need time to contemplate on my life. I will explain later.

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Inspiring Myself

My conscience talking to me:

Some people have different things that can inspire them greatly in times of depression. If you have certain things that can make you feel better, why not write them out and place those papers around your home. This way you can see these inspiring thoughts at all times.

You need to remember that everyone has bad days. No matter who they are and how much money they have. A person will never be in his life happy all the time. It's not normal, and you can't ever expect it. That's why you need to remember inspiring thoughts at these low times.

Perhaps you have a favorite book that you enjoy many quotes from, maybe even the Bible. Even if you're not a very religious person there are some very good inspiring comments in the Bible that everyone can enjoy.

Think of something you've accomplished in the past. Be it a simple thing like a story you wrote or a poem. Even though it may never have been published when shared with friends they really enjoyed it. This should inspire you to perhaps even write another one, and get you out of that mood.

Movies that you always find that make you happy can have some inspiring thoughts in them to make you feel less down too. Placing that movie on and watching it, or just the scenes that always make you laugh or smile can be enough of a push to bring you from a down mood to an up mood.

Finally, you need to keep in mind that you are no different from anyone else. We all experience these feelings of being down. Just don't let them get too bad before you seek out a friend to talk to. If you ever get close to thinking of hurting yourself call your friends up and chat, they will help you out.