No Risk No Reward: A Cautious Farmer’s Story

A backwoods farmer, sitting on the steps of his shack, was approached by a stranger who was
passing through.

“How’s your wheat coming along?” asked the stranger.

Didn’t plant any.” Really? I thought this was good wheat country.”

“I didn’t plant because I was afraid it wouldn’t rain.”

“How’s your com coming along?”

“Didn’t plant any.”

“Really? I thought this was good corn country.”

“I didn’t plant any because I was afraid of com blight.”

“What did you plant?”

“Nothing,” said the farmer, “I just played it safe.” 

The Butterfly Predicament: A Story About Struggle

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the
butterfly for several hours as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole.

Then it stopped, as if it couldn't go further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining
bits of cocoon.

The butterfly emerged easily but it had a swollen body and shrivelled wings.

The man continued to watch it, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge
and expand enough to support the body, Neither happened!

In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was the restricting cocoon and the
struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from
the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once that was achieved.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. Going through life with no obstacles
would cripple us. We will not be as strong as we could have been and we would never fly. 

Journey of Awakening: A Life Saving Story

“There was once a king who was going to put to death many people,
but before doing so he offered a challenge.

If any of them could come up with something which would make him
happy when he was sad, and sad when he was happy, he would spare their lives.

All night the wise men meditated on the matter.

In the morning, they brought the king a ring.

The king said that he did not see how the ring would serve to make him
happy when he was sad and sad when he was happy.

The wise men pointed to the inscription.

When the king read it, he was so delighted that he spared them all.

And the inscription read...

“This too shall pass.”

The Story Of Two Monks And A Beautiful Woman

Two monks were returning to the monastery in the evening.

It had rained and there were puddles of water on the road sides.

At one street a beautiful young woman was standing unable to walk across because of a large
puddle of water. The elder of the two monks went up to her, lifted her, and then dropped her off
on the other side of the road. After that he continued on his way to the monastery.

In the evening the younger monk came to the elder monk and asked,

“Sir, as monks, we cannot touch a woman?”

The elder monk answered “Yes, brother.”

Then the younger monk asks again, “But then Sir, how is that you lifted that woman on the
roadside?”

The elder monk smiled at him and told him, “I lifted her to the other side of the road,
but you are still carrying her.” 

The Guru’s Directions: A Story About Success

A man met a guru. The man asked the guru - ‘Which way should I go to achieve success?’ 

The robed, bearded sage said nothing, but he pointed to a place in the distance. 

The man, thrilled by the prospect of quick and easy success, rushed in the appropriate direction. 

Suddenly, there came a loud ‘Splat.’ 

Soon, the man limped back, tattered and stunned, assuming he must have misinterpreted the 

message. He repeated his question to the guru. ‘Which way should I go to achieve success?’ The 

guru again pointed silently in the same direction. 

The man obediently walked off once more. This time the ‘splat’ was deafening. 

When the man crawled back, he was bloody, broken, tattered, and irate. 

‘I asked you which way I should go to achieve success,’ he screamed at the guru. 

‘I followed the direction you gave me, and all I got was splatted! 

No more of this pointing! Talk! ’ 

Only then did the guru speak. What he said was: 

‘Success is that way. Just a little past splat.’ 

The Woodcutter’s Axe: A Story About Being Busy

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it.
The pay was really good and so were the work conditions and for that reason, the woodcutter
was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was to work and the first day,
the woodcutter cut down 18 trees.

‘Congratulations,’ the boss said. ‘Go on that way! ’

Very motivated for the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could
cut down 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he only could cut down 10 trees. Day
after day he was cutting less and less trees.

‘I must be losing my strength,’ the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologised,
saying that he could not understand what was going on.

‘When was the last time you sharpened your axe?’ the boss asked.

‘Sharpen! I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut down trees.’

Life gets like that. Sometimes we get so busy that we don’t take time to ‘sharpen the axe.’

Which Wolf Will Win?

An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life.

He said to them, ‘A fight is going on inside me ... it is a terrible fight and it is between two
wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt,
resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,
friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside
you, and inside every other person, too.’

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, ‘Which wolf will
win?’

The old Cherokee simply replied . . . ‘The one you feed.’