Which lion wins?

“You make the world a better place by making yourself a better person.”

- Scott Sorrell

Once upon a time, grandfather sat his grandson on his lap and told him a story, a true tale of life.

“There is a raging battle in the soul of every man. Not unlike the clash of two lions, this battle is fought in the soul of each and every one of us. One lion represents EVIL - rage, jealousy, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, sin, anger, inadequacy, deceit, false pride...

The other lion represents GOOD. He represents true joy – peace, harmony, love, hope, enjoyment, optimism, friendliness, kindness, warmth, generosity, truth and compassion.”

Keeping love alive

You know very well that love is, above all, the gift of oneself!

- Jean Anouilh

Once upon a time, a mother and her son were walking along the beach. Suddenly, the boy asked: "Mom, how do you keep love alive?"

The mother looked at her son and replied, "Take some sand in your hand and squeeze it as hard as you can." The boy did as instructed, but the harder he squeezed the sand, the faster it escaped his hand, running through his fingers. "But like this the sands falls out." complained the boy.

"Yes," said the mother. "Now, open your hand wide." The boy opened his hand and the wind blew away all the remaining sand. "I can't keep it in my hand that way either!"

Survival lesson

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

- Dale Carnegi

Once upon a time, on a hot summer day a farmer’s donkey fell down a deep well. For hours on end, the poor animal cried out in distress as the farmer tried to imagine a way to get the donkey out. Finally he determined, since the poor donkey was really rather old and not worth saving, besides, he decided to use this accident to his advantage by covering over the well.

Thus, he invited all of his neighbors over to help him cover the well and put the old donkey out of its misery.  Courteously, the other farmers dropped by, grabbed shovels and began to scoop dirt down into the well.

The donkey realized what was happening and cried out wretchedly in despair.  After some time, he quickly quieted down and, much to their amazement, looked up at them almost calculatingly. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was amazed at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something incredible. He would simply shake it off, and climbed on top of the falling dirt.

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!”