It’s now or never

"Avoiding the phrase “I don’t have time...”, will soon help you to realize that you do have the time needed for just about anything you choose to accomplish in life." 

- Bo Bennett

Once upon a time, a man stopped at a flower shop to order flowers to send to his mother who lived in a city two hundred miles away. 

As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and one red rose costs two dollars."

The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. We'll buy you a rose for your mother."

He bought the little girl her rose and ordered flowers to be sent to his own mother. As they were leaving the flower shop, he offered little girl a ride home. 

Neighbor’s dirty laundry

"One should look long and carefully at oneself before passing judgment on others." 

- Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin)

A young couple moved in to their newly bought house. One morning, young wife looked out her window at her neighbor’s laundry hanging on the line and began making remarks about how dirty the laundry still was.

Days went by, and still the neighbor didn’t learn how to clean her dirty laundry properly. As time went by, every day when the neighbor hanged the laundry, young wife continued to complain: “Hadn’t she heard of bleach?  Was she using cheapest detergent? Worse yet, wasn’t she aware of the fact that everyone would see the dingy towels hanging on the clothes line.” All this time, the husband was silent and it seemed that he was not interested in this issue.

The highest price

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." 

- Henry David Thoreau

Once upon a time, as the Christmas was nearing, old jeweler watched the people passing by his exclusive store. A petite girl came around the corner and pressed her nose against the window. Her sky blue eyes sparkled as she saw something exhibited at the store’s front and she ran in.

She decisively pointed at the beautiful blue turquoise necklace. “I want this as a gift for my sister! Can you please wrap it up?” 

“How much money do you have?” asked the jeweler in astonishment.

The girl placed the battered old tin box on the counter and emptied it. Inside, there were several small bills, couple of coins, few seashells and small figurines. “Will this be enough?” she asked proudly. “I want to buy the Christmas present for my elder sister. Ever since we lost our mother, she takes care of both of us, and works all day long without any time for herself. I am sure that she will be overjoyed to have this gift. You see, her eyes are the same color as that jewel!”

Who is that girl?

"People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.  When you figure out which it is, you’ll know exactly what to do."

-  Michelle Ventor

Once upon the time, a thirteen-year-old son of a wealthy mandarin official had a dream in which he met the old Sage and learned that he was destined to wed the girl who worked in the fruit stand across the street. When he awoke, he was quite skeptical, but, curious as he was, he went out to have a look at the girl.

She was six years old, was completely filthy, and had a stream of snot running from her nose. He was horrified and furious! “I am never going to marry this horrible abomination!” In his anger, he threw a rock that hit her eyebrow and sent her crying into the house.

A decade passed, and son of the mandarin official, now 23, took the imperial exams and received his first government job. Since the rulers respected and honored his father, a marriage was arranged for him to the daughter of the Prime Minister.

If I had known this...

O! What men dare do! What men may do! What men daily do, not knowing what they do!

- William Shakespeare

Once upon a time, king with his large entourage went sailing across the sea. On the second night of a journey, a terrible storm struck and the ship sunk. Only the king, his queen and youngest daughter managed to wash ashore at some small village in a far away land.

In this land, nobody has ever heard about his kingdom and he had no money with which to support the family. They were even afraid to acknowledge that they were a royal family. Since they had to eat, the king went looking for work and, being the king, he did not have any usable skill. Only job he managed to get was a shepherd, taking care of the village’s sheep.

Several years passed and the prince of this country arrived in the village where they lived. He noticed the king’s daughter, which has grown into a very beautiful girl, and vowed that he will marry no other girl but the shepherd's daughter.

His father, the king, tried to dissuade him, but seeing that the prince was unwavering, he sent envoys to the shepherd, asking his daughter to marry a prince. The shepherd received the envoys, thanked them for this offer and asked what handcraft was the prince skilled in? The envoys were outraged. “What need does the prince and future king have for a craft? He has lands and servants!”