The Pear Tree

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to
judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to
go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third
in summer and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to
describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that
smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful
thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and
drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because
they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one
season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy,
and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end,
when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your
spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

Moral lessons:

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the
difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time later .

Boy and Tree

There was one time a very young boy, who used to spend time playing by a tree.

One day he got bored and he said to the tree, "I'm bored, I've played
with these toys too many times!"

The tree replied, "OK, you can climb up on me and play on my branches."

The boy got really happy with this suggestion and he had a lot of fun
playing and sitting high up, on the branches of the tree.

When he started school, he spent more time away from the tree, but one
day he came back to it, and the tree was overjoyed to see its young
companion, and it encouraged him to climb on, but he refused.

"My clothes are going to get dirty if I climb up on you."
So the tree thought for a while, and said, "OK, bring a rope and tie
it to me, and you can use my branches as a swing."

The boy liked that idea, so he did that too, and would come back every
other day to sit for a while on that swing.

Whenever he used to get hot, the tree told him to rest in its shade.

As he got older, and moved on to college, times became harder on him
and he ran short of food, so he went back to the tree which he had
stopped visiting for a long time.

The tree recognised him immediately and welcomed him, but he was
hungry and complained to the tree, "I don't have any food to eat, my
stomach is cringing with hunger."

So the tree said, "Pull down my branches and take off the fruit, and
fill yourself up."

The young guy didn't even hesitate, but jumped up and tore off one of
the smaller branches and ate to his fill.

Over the weeks, he tore off all the branches and ate all the fruit.

After the fruits had all gone, he went away and didn't come back to the tree.

When he reached his middle ages, he came back to the tree and said to
it, "I have been very successful in life.

I have earned a lot of money, I have a huge house and I have found a great wife.

Now I want to travel and see the world."

The tree was now very old, but to help its long time companion, it
didn't wait, and said, "Bring a saw, cut off my trunk and make a boat.
Then you will see the wonders of the world."

So again, without hesitation the man cut down the tree.

The same tree which he had played on, ate its fruit, laid in its
shade; he cut it down and made a boat.

As soon as it was finished, he sailed away and wasn't seen by his people again.

One day, an old man, walked past the tree.

It hadnt recovered from the time he had cut it down. He went up to the
tree, but didn't say anything.

He felt the tears coming down from his eyes.

This time the tree spoke in a faint voice, "I'm sorry. I don't have a
trunk for you to climb, nor fruit for you to eat, nor branches of
shade for you to lie in. All I have now are my deep roots."

The old man whispered, "That's fine. Tree roots are the best place to
lie down, snuggle up and sleep after a long life."

The tree symbolizes our parents, and the boy symbolizes us.

The moral of the story is that we make use of our parents like tissue,
and use them all up, and don't even give thanks, but they stay with us
till the very end.

You are your best judge!

Once upon a time there was a painter who had just completed his
course. He took 3 days and painted beautiful scenery. He wanted
people's opinion about his caliber and painting skills. He put his
creation at a busy street-crossing. And just down below aboard which
read -"I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I
might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. Please put a
cross wherever you see a mistake."

While he came back in the evening to collect his painting he was
completely shattered to see that whole canvass was filled with Xs
(crosses) and some people had even written their comments on the
painting. Disheartened and broken completely he ran to his master's
place and burst into tears.

This young artist was breathing heavily and master heard him saying,
"I'm useless and if this is what I have learnt to paint I'm not worth
becoming a painter. People have rejected me completely. I feel like
dying"

Master smiled and suggested "My Son, I will prove that you are a great
artist and have learnt flawless painting. Do as I say without
questioning it. It WILL work."

Young artist reluctantly agreed and two days later early morning he
presented a replica of his earlier painting to his master. Master took
that gracefully and smiled.

"Come with me." master said.

They reached the same street-square early morning and displayed the
same painting exactly at the same place. Now master took out another
board which read -"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new
to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes
etc. I have put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please do a
favor. If you see a mistake, kindly pick up the brush and correct it."

Master and disciple walked back home. They both visited the place
same evening. Young painter was surprised to see that actually there
was not a single correction done so far. Next day again they visited
and found painting remained untouched. They say the painting was kept
there for a month for no correction came in!

Moral of the story: It is easier to criticize, but difficult to
improve! So don't get carried away or judge yourself by someone
else's criticism and feel depressed. Judge yourself! You are your
best judge!

A Parrots Advice.

A story worth reading.....or listening to.

A man had a parrot of which he was excessively fond. He kept it in a
silver cage and fed it fruits and nuts and anything else the bird
asked for, for the parrot was so clever it could engage in
conversation.

The parrot longed for freedom and often asked for it but the merchant
would always reply: "Ask for anything else."

One day the parrot said to him: "Give me freedom and I'll give you
three pieces of advice that could be of great benefit to you." The
merchant loved the parrot but he loved money more. He thought: "If his
advice helps me amass wealth, it would be worth it."

"Go," he said, opening the cage.

The parrot hopped out onto his hand.

"Never grieve over loss of wealth," he said. The merchant thought it
was tame advice but said nothing.

The parrot flew to the roof of the merchant's house. "This is my
second advice," he said. "Never believe everything that is told to
you."

"Tell me something that I don't know," said the man, sounding annoyed.

"What you don't know is that I've two priceless gems in my stomach,"
said the bird.

"Two priceless gems," echoed the merchant. "Oh, what a fool I was to
set you free! I'll regret this for the rest of my life!!"

"Don't you want to hear my third advice?" asked the parrot.

"Tell me," said the merchant, bitterly.

"I advised you never to grieve over losses but here you are grieving
over losing me," said the parrot. "I advised you never to believe
everything you hear but you immediately believed me when I told you I
had two gems in my stomach. Could I have survived if I really had two
gems in my stomach? My third advice is: "Listen, learn to listen with
your mind instead of just with your ears."
And with that, the parrot flew away, leaving the merchant gaping.

The Power of an Apology

This morning I accidentally hit my 3 year old with my handbag as I was
coming through the door.

She said "Oh Mum you hit me!"

I responded with, "But darling I didn't mean it, so why are you
cracking up at me?"

"But you did hit me Mum. You hit me and it hurts."

"But I didn't mean it sweetie – ok?"

Then I realised that actually – No it's not ok. Whether it is
intentional or not it needs to be recognised as pain that you have
caused another. It really does. She had a little red mark on her
forehead and it was in fact my doing.

Whether I meant to do it or not.

So I put the groceries down, leaned forward and asked her to show me
the mark. I then gave her a Magic Kiss. I said I was really sorry then
gave her a cuddle. No more was spoken about it.

It was a really easy thing to do. Much easier than arguing and saying
-"It's not my fault because I didn't mean it!" Yes – a lot of things
are not intentional but they still need to be recognised as pain.

How hard is it to just face someone, kiss them and apologise?