Category: Inspiring Stories

Uplifting Moral Story: Good Karma Comes Around

I got an email from a friend awhile ago, which had a wonderful moral story inside, which I thought to share it here. I asked this friend  Jim, where he found it, and he said he got from another friend. I usually do not like chain emails that goes around but this moral story email was great gem to get lost in spam folder and had to share it here. You will agree too that this is wonderful moral story that will lift up your mood and moral at the same time.

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was those chills which only fear can put in you. He said, “I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.”

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, “And think of me.”
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: “You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.”
Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard….
She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.”

There is an old saying “What goes around comes around.”

So, go ahead and help others, it will come back to help in some other form. Helping others not only make you feel good inside and bring out good feeling in others as well.

Moral Story: Power of Kindness

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.” I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend the following afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.

My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him, and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw a tear in his eye.

I handed him his glasses and said, “Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives.”

He looked at me and said, “Hey, thanks!” There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. It turned out he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before coming to this school.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, “Damn boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!” He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.

Graduation day arrived – I saw Kyle and he looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and all the girls loved him!

Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!”

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. “Thanks,” he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach… but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.”

I stared at my friend in disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. “Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.”

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each other’s lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.

“Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”

Remember, even the smallest of actions can have the profound effect on others.

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Moral Story: How to Turn Weakness into a Strength

A young boy decided to once to  study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master near his home. The boy was learning well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move. “Sensei,”(Teacher in Japanese) the boy finally said, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”

“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals competition.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched and seemed to be not doing so well. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out.

He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. “No,” the sensei insisted, “Let him continue.”

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament.

He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

“Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”

“You won for two reasons,” the sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”

The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Moral of the story:

Each of us is special and important, so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it!


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Moral Story: Power of Kindness

Moral Story: Story of Two Best Friends

Moral Story: Story of Two Best Friends

This is a story tells of two friends and Once they were walking through the desert.

During some sometime  of the journey they had an argument over something silly, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The friend who got slapped was hurt emotionally. But he did not say anything and wrote in the sand “Today my best friend slapped me in the face”.

They both kept on walking together until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath to refresh themselves. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the other friend (who had slapped him previously) saved him.

After the other 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.”

Moral From The Story:

Do not value the things you have in your life, Do value who you have in your life.

 

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Inspiring Story: Abraham Lincoln

More I learn about Abraham Lincoln, the more inspired I am by his life and his achievement that he achieved in his short life.

Abraham Lincoln never quits.

Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.

Abraham Lincoln was one the best presidents in US history of President. That is because he never gave up despite his humble origins.

Here is a sketch of Lincoln’s road to the Presidency:

  • 1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
  • 1818 His mother died.
  • 1831 Failed in business.
  • 1832 Ran for state legislature – lost.
  • 1832 Also lost his job – wanted to go to law school but couldn’t get in.
  • 1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
  • 1834 Ran for state legislature again – won.
  • 1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
  • 1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
  • 1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature – defeated.
  • 1840 Sought to become elector – defeated.
  • 1843 Ran for Congress – lost.
  • 1846 Ran for Congress again – this time he won – went to Washington and did a good job.
  • 1848 Ran for re-election to Congress – lost.
  • 1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state – rejected.
  • 1854 Ran for Senate of the United States – lost.
  • 1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party’s national convention – get less than 100 votes.
  • 1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again – again he lost.
  • 1860 Elected president of the United States.

He did great many things for the country while he was president before he was shot. All of this because he did not give up and quit. So, many time when I feel like like giving up or quitting, I remind myself of his story and I start again! And you should too.

Abraham Lincoln Resources:

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

What Would Lincoln Do?: Lincoln’s Most Inspired Solutions to Challenging Problems and Difficult Situations

Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times

Top 5 Must Read Books On Peace: How To Find Peace

Freedom from desire leads to inner peace.
– Lao Tse

For all of our lives, we feel something is missing and we chase our dream to make money, fall in love, get a college education, get married, buy house, have kids and so on and yet something remains unfulfilled in many people. That something is peace or we can say mental peace that comes with time.

What Does Peace Mean to You?

Peace is kind of inner sense calm where nothing from outwardly bothers you and you are at peace with your self and world. Peaceful heart should be free from worries, jealousy and boosting. It is inner calm and balance where nothing is overly sad or overly happy. That is what it means to me, while I am long way from achieving this feat, I am trying.

When I gave up my six figure job over 7 years ago, I had thought it was a beginning of my journey to find meaningful purpose and peace within myself. I have read many books, visited websites, attended a few talks and I found some great gems and some that were not worth my time.

I want to share top peace related books for those you might be interested, as not all books are created equally and some books can change your life and belief system in good way and some you wished you can get your wasted time back.

Here are my top peace related books, so you do not have to do trial and error to find motivational reading.

Top 5 Must Read Books on Peace:

This list is based on what I have read out of thousands of books that I have read. I am book worm and love reading in my spare time. I happen to be very fast reader too, so sometimes I have to and like to re-read books that are truly inspiring. This list is in random order;

1. 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace

This book has written by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, who has written many books on self development, and has appeared in many television and radio shows such as The Today Show, The Tonight Show, and Oprah. I usually stay away from trendy things so I had not read any of his books, until a friend of gave me her copy to read it. It is simply great and shares 10 (not so much) secrets to have inner peace.

The book is about 158 pages, that reveals 10 basic steps or principles of changing the perception or outlook in our life. It is simple, although it is about peace, happiness comes along with it. Some of the secret focuses on having an open mind, avoiding weak thoughts, attach to nothing and gaining wisdom to forget your own history, treat yourself as you like to be and so on. I like how the each chapter he starts with simple yet profound quotes that makes a perfect sense.

This book is easy read in one lazy afternoon and shows many ways to bring peace, positivity and happiness all in rolled in one. One issue I have with this book is that Dr. Dyer does not show how to change certain behavior, I think he assumes that reader already knows how to do it. Being happy or bringing peaceful mind is certainly long journey that can not be achieved in one day. This book sure bring one step closer to finding inner peace.

2. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (Revised Edition)

This is amazing book by my favorite author Dale Carnegie. I had first read it in teen years but easily forgotten in my busy teen life. It was not until, I took a Dale Carnegie leadership Workshop early in my career and then I begin co-teaching the workshop as an assistant, I truly realize how powerful this book and its message is.

You may think this is worry book, why it is in peace section? Without letting go of worry, we can not be at peace and believe me after reading and re-reading this book again, you will find peace as you let go of some of silly concerns and worries that we all tend to have.

Book begins with  “Those who don’t know how to fight worry, die young.” If you have read How to Win friends by Dale you will know, this book has same good old common sense, interviews with famous people, heartfelt advice and solutions. He does not teach you, he makes you feel like we are learning together, without making you feel guilty and silly over our worries and concern. This book is must for many home library, it is in mine.(Amzn.)

3. Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

This is written by Thich Nhat Hanh, whom I had not known much about until I started reading Zen Habits. He recommended this book, so I had to go get and read it. This book really spoke to my inner calm and encouraged mental inner peace. We are looking for peace and happiness outward, no wonder we do not find it. Peace and happiness comes from within us, once we remove the clutter from our life, and mind.

Modern living has made us lose touch with our true self and peace within us. Thich Nhat Hanh is Zen Master, author and spiritual master who shows us how every moment can be turned in positive instead of annoying one. For him a ringing phone can be a signal to call us back to our true selves. According to him even dirty dishes, traffic lights are process to keep our conscious to stay alive to present reality. So, next time, you are stuck at red light, sit back and smile….One thing I like about this book’s method is, that process starts where-ever you might be, if I am with a toddler in kitchen, I can still get deep meditative presence and I like that. He also shows, how to increase awareness through conscious breathing which is huge step towards inner joy. World around has its beauty and its horrors but we can still find stillness and peace, this book makes me optimistic and it will do similar thing to you. (Amzn.)

  4. World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony

Why food book in peace section? It is because it is true that we are what we eat, really! Food is our most intimate and telling connection both with the living natural order, being compassionate with earth and with our living cultural heritage . By eating the plants and animals of our earth, we literally incorporate these principles.

Doctor Will Tuttle’s World Peace Diet is unlike any other “diet book” that you will ever read. Diet Books such as Dr. Atkins, The South Beach Diet attempt to give the reader guidance on how to lose weight. However, they fail to spell out the psychological health, ethical, environmental, and spiritual implications of their guidance. The World Peace Diet suggests how we as a species might move our consciousness forward so that we can be more free, more intelligent, more loving, and happier in the choices we make.  Make peace with earth and our body and eat diet that is good for us, earth and other living beings so that we can be in harmony and at peace.

5. Peace of Mind: Healing of Broken Lives

This book was strongly recommended by elderly uncle about 2 years ago, when we were without any income and little P was having lot of health and breathing issues. Trying to find silver lining between unemployment and sick child was tough to say the least. At the moment, I could not see how any reading will help someone in my situation and I sure did. I wished I had read it sooner.

Peace of Mind spiritual healing is based on the premise that no one can be truly healthy unless their mind, body and psyche are indeed operating in one sympathetic unit. This book promotes that it is not enough to alleviate physical symptoms of illness or injury; to be completely healed one must also address the mental and spiritual symptoms as well. This is great book for depression, mental well being. Even though I do not believe in black magic, spiritual attacks, evil eyes, and curses, this book also touches upon these topics as well.

I have tackled depression and anxiety both and now I know that to live a healthy life, stress free, we need to keep the body and spirit in sync. This book  offers a simple guide to achieving peace and tranquility for the soul in a step by step guide: Signs – Diagnosis, Healing – Treatment, Protection and Purification.

May Peace Be With You!

Also Check out Peace Quotes 

Peace symbol Gifts

View full post By Zengirl Top Peace Books On Heart and Mind Blog