அன்புடன்

The True Meaning of Peace

 There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.

The first picture was of a calm lake, the lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains too, but these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush, a mother bird had built its nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on the nest in a perfect peace.

 "Bravo" said the king putting his hand on the second picture "peace doesn't mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the true meaning of peace".

What is Love?

In a classroom there were several kids, when one of them asked the teacher:

- Teacher, what is LOVE?

The teacher felt the kid deserved the best answer she could give to that intelligent question. Since it was almost time for a break, she asked every student to go around the school and come back with something that would bring the feeling of love.

The kids rushed out the classroom, and when they came back the teacher said:

- So, I want everybody to show what you brought to the whole class.

The first kid said:

- I brought this FLOWER, isn't it beautiful?

The second kid said:

- I brought this BUTTERFLY. Look at these colorful wings, I am gonna put it in my collection!

The third kid said:

- I brought this YOUNG BIRD. It had fallen with another one from the nest. Isn't it cute?

And the kids were showing what they brought.

After almost everybody had showed their discoveries, the teacher noticed that there was a kid who had been quiet all the time. She was ashamed because she had not brought anything. The teacher went to her and asked:

- My dear, why haven't you brought anything?

She then answered in an innocent voice:

- I am sorry teacher. I saw the FLOWER, and felt its perfume. I was going to take it, but I preferred to leave it so its perfume would last longer and others could feel it. I also saw the BUTTERFLY, soft, colorful. She seemed so happy that I did not want to disturb it. I also saw the YOUNG BIRD that had fallen between the leafs, but as I climbed the tree, I noticed the sad look of its mother, so I decided to return it to the nest. Therefore, I only bring with me: the perfume of the flower, the feeling of liberty of the butterfly and the gratefulness of the look of the little bird's mother. How can I show you what I brought?

The teacher thanked the young kid and gave her an A, because she was the only one that realized that we can only bring LOVE in our hearts.       

Scars  

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily, gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said "you have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one."

You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there.

Make sure you control your temper the next time you are tempted to say something you will regret later.