Thoughts...

[Invincible]

Once there was a boy who lived in a big house on a hill. He loved dogs and horses, sports cars and music. He climbed trees and went swimming, played football and admired pretty girls. Except for having to pick up after himself, he had a nice life.
One day the boy said to God, "I’ve been thinking, and I know what I want when I become a man."

"What?" asked God.

"I want to live in a big house with a porch across the front and two Saint Bernard’s and a garden out back. I want to marry a woman who is tall and very beautiful and kind, who has long, black hair and blue eyes, and who plays the guitar and sings in a clear, high voice.

"I want three strong sons to play football with. When they grow up, one will be a great scientist, one will be a senator and the youngest will quarterback for the 49ers.

"I want to be an adventurer who sails vast oceans and climbs tall mountains and rescues people. And I want to drive a red Ferrari and never have to pick up after myself."

"That sounds like a nice dream," said God. "I want you to be happy."

One day, playing football, the boy hurt his knee. After that he couldn’t climb tall mountains or even tall trees, much less sail vast oceans. So he studied marketing and started a medical-supplies business.

He married a girl who was very beautiful and very kind and who had long, black hair. But she was short, not tall, and had brown eyes, not blue. She couldn’t play the guitar, or even sing. But she prepared wonderful meals seasoned with rare Chinese spices and painted magnificent pictures of birds.

Because of his business, he lived in a city near the top of a tall apartment building that overlooked the blue ocean and the city’s twinkling lights. He didn’t have room for two Saint Bernard’s, but he had a fluffy cat.

He had three daughters, all very beautiful. The youngest, who was in a wheelchair, was the loveliest. The three daughters loved their father very much. They didn’t play football with him, but sometimes they went to the park and tossed a Fris-bee ---except for the youngest, who sat under a tree strumming her guitar and singing lovely, haunting songs.

He made enough money to live comfortably, but he didn’t drive a red Ferrari. Sometimes he had to pick up things and put them away -even things that didn’t belong to him. After all, he had three daughters.

Then one morning the man awoke and remembered his dream. "I am very sad," he said to his best friend.

"Why?" asked his friend.

"Because I once dreamed of marrying a tall women with black hair and blue eyes who would play the guitar and sing. My wife can’t play the guitar or sing.

She has brown eyes, and she’s not tall."

"Your wife is beautiful and very kind," said his friend. "She creates splendid pictures and delectable food."

But the man wasn’t listening.

"I am very sad," the man confessed to his wife one day.

"Why?" asked his wife.

"Because I once dreamed of living in a big house with a porch, and of having two Saint Bernard’s and a garden out back. Instead, I live in an apartment on the 47th floor."

"Our apartment is comfortable, and we can see the ocean from our couch," replied his wife. "We have love laughter and paintings of birds and a fluffy cat -not to mention three beautiful children."

But the man wasn’t listening.

"I am very sad," the man said to his therapist.

"Why?" asked the therapist.

"Because I once dreamed that I would grow up to be a great adventurer. Instead, I’m a bald businessman with a bad knee."

"The medical supplies you sell have saved many lives," said the therapist.

But the man wasn’t listening. So his therapist charged him $110 and sent him home.

"I am very sad," the man said to his accountant.

"Why?" asked the accountant.

"Because I once dreamed of driving a red Ferrari and of never having to pick up after myself. Instead, I take public transportation, and sometimes I still have to clean up."

"You wear good suits. You eat at fine restaurants, and you’ve toured Europe," said his accountant.

But the man wasn’t listening. His accountant charged him $100 anyway. He was dreaming of a red Ferrari himself.

"I am very sad," the man said to his minister.

"Why?" asked the minister.

"Because I once dreamed of having three sons; a great scientist, a politician and a quarterback. Instead, I have three daughters, and the youngest can’t even walk."

"But your daughters are beautiful and intelligent," said the minister. "They love you very much, and they’ve all done well. One is a nurse, another is an artist and the youngest teaches music to children."

But the man wasn’t listening. He was so sad that he became very sick. He lay in a white hospital room surrounded by nurses in white uniforms. Tubes and wires connected his body to blinking machines that he had once sold to the hospital.

He was terribly, tragically sad. His family, friends and minister gathered around his bed. They were all deeply sad too. Only his therapist and his accountant remained happy.

Then one night, when everyone except the nurses had gone home, the man said to God, "Remember when I was a boy and I told you all the things I wanted?"

"It was a lovely dream," said God.

"Why didn’t you give me those things?" asked the man.

"I could have," said God. "But I wanted to surprise you with things you didn’t dream of.

"I suppose you’ve noticed what I’ve given you : a kind, beautiful wife, a good business, a nice place to live, three lovely daughters -one of the best packages I’ve put together-"

"Yes," interrupted the man. "But I thought you were going to give me what I really wanted."

"And I thought you were going to give me what I really wanted," said God.

"What did you want?" asked the man. It had never occurred to him that God was in want of anything.

"I wanted to make you happy with what I’d given you," said God.

The man lay in the dark all night, thinking. Finally he decided to dream a new dream, one he wished he’d dreamed years before. He decided to dream that what he wanted most were the very things he already had.

And the man got well and lived happily on the 47th floor, enjoying his children’s beautiful voices, his wife’s deep brown eyes and her glorious paintings of birds. And at night he gazed at the ocean and contentedly watched the lights of the city twinkling on, one by one.

" You are what you think about. All you are arises from your thoughts. With your thoughts, you make your world." - Buddha.

[Invincible]

The C.E.O. Story

A successful businessman was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next C.E.O..
I have decided to choose one of you."

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued.

"I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next C.E.O.."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Everyday he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the C.E.O. for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened.

Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the boardroom. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the C.E.O. arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back.

"My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the C.E.O.. "Today one of you will be appointed the next C.E.O.!"

All of a sudden, the C.E.O. spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The C.E.O. knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the C.E.O. asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The C.E.O. asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.

"How could he be the new C.E.O.?" the others said.

Then the C.E.O. said,

"One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

* If you plant hard work, you will reap success

* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

"Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back"

[sara leo]

“People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
… Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
… Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
… Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
… Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
… Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
… Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
… Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
… Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.”