How To Do Things: Moving The Big Rock Story

One spring day, a small boy tried to move a big rock in his backyard so he could start his garden.
He tried, and tried, and tried, but the he couldn’t budge the rock even a little bit.

His father watched from the porch, and finally he asked his son whether he was using all of his
strength.

The boy said, “Yes, I am.”

“No, you’re not,” said the father. “You haven’t asked me to help you!”

T = Together
E = Everyone
A = Achieves
M = More”

The Art Of Asking: A Golf Instructor Story

A few years ago, a struggling golf pro was hired for one week to go to the Middle East to instruct a rich Arab sheikh how to play the game of golf.

The golf instructor was promised a large sum of money and offered an even larger bonus if the sheikh could break 100 by the end of their week of lessons.

As soon as the golf instructor arrived at the sheikh’s private airport, he was treated like royalty. Anything he wanted was immediately given to him free of charge.

At the first session, the golf instructor and the sheikh became friends almost instantly.

They met for three hours every morning and three hours every afternoon.

By the end of the week, the sheikh, who had never played golf before, broke 100.

The golf instructor would get his huge bonus!

When the golf instructor was getting ready to leave, the sheikh gave him his check for the week of lessons and the huge bonus.

And then the sheikh said to the instructor, “I must also give you a present for your kindness and help. What would you like?”

The golf instructor said, “This is the most money I’ve ever made — you don’t owe me
anything.”

The sheikh said, “No, I must get you a present.”

The instructor said “OK —just buy me a golf club.”

The sheikh said, “Consider it done.”

After a few months had passed, the golf instructor received a registered letter in the mail. It was from a South Carolina law firm. The instructor opened the formal-looking letter. Inside was a legal document making him the owner of a golf club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

Penguins Can Fly: A Knowing Vs Doing Story

Once upon a time, there was a penguin who was surfing the internet.

He came across the website of a motivational speaker who specialised in teaching pigs how to
fly with his seminar titled Pigs Can Fly!

The penguin was amazed and thought, “If this person can teach pigs to fly,
maybe he can perform a miracle and also teach penguins to fly.”

The penguin emailed the motivational speaker and asked him if he had a seminar
titled “Penguins Can Fly.”

“Of course. No problem,” The speaker responded.

The penguin then asked him if he would be interested in coming to the South Pole.

The speaker said it would be very expensive.

The money was raised.

The travel arrangements were made.

Everything was all set.

On the big day, 100 excited penguins showed up at a hotel for the
“Penguins Can Fly” seminar.

The motivational speaker began the ’’Penguins Can Fly” seminar by telling
the penguins that there were only two things they had to do to fly:

1. Flap your wings harder.

2. Believe in yourself.

He started teaching them how to flap really, really, really hard.

The penguins learned how to flap harder, but not one of the penguins left the ground.

Then the motivational speaker had ladders set up all around the room.

He explained that he wanted the penguins to start on the first rung, jump off and flap really hard.

They started on the first rung. They jumped off and flapped.

And then they all fell flat on their beaks.

Next, then they progressed to the second rung.

They jumped off, flapped really hard, but no success.

When they got to the third rung, all of a sudden some one of the penguins yelled out,

“Look at Ralph! Look at Ralph!”

Ralph was up and flying for about 10 seconds.

That did it!

As soon as the penguins saw that it was possible, they started to believe!

One after another, they started flying. They were up in the air for five seconds . . .

10 seconds ... 30 seconds...

By the end of the day, every single one of the penguins was flying for as long as they wanted!
The “Penguins Can Fly” seminar was a resounding success.

When it ended, the speaker didn’t just get a standing ovation - he received a flying one, too!

After it was all over, the most amazing thing happened.

When all the penguins left the hotel, each and every one of them walked. 

The Pearly Gates Of Heaven: Saint Peter’s Shoe Salesman Story

One day an old man who, was an expert in the world of art, died and went to heaven
where he was met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.

The old man asked Saint Peter to introduce him to other people who were interested in art.

Saint Peter, standing at the pearly gates of heaven said, “See that man with the beard?

He was the greatest artist who ever lived. Want to meet him?”

The old man said, “Saint Peter, I know that man and I know art. That man worked in his father’s
shoe store and he sold me all my shoes for years. And he’s not an artist!”

Saint Peter still standing at the pearly gates of heaven replied,

“Oh, he could have been the greatest artist who ever lived,
but he thought he was a shoe salesman.” 

Smart Monkey: An Animal Experiment FAIL Story

A team of research scientists had selected four groups of monkeys for a pharmaceutical
experiment.

The animals in the first group were to receive a high dose of the drug being studied.

Those in the second group were to get a moderate dose.

The monkeys in the third group were scheduled to receive a low dose of the drug.

And those in the fourth group were to be injected with a placebo.

The day before the experiment was to begin, the monkeys in the high-dose group were
deprived of food while those in the other three groups were fed as usual.

On the morning of the experiment, tests revealed unexpected nutrients in the blood of the fasting
monkeys. The researchers were surprised. They decided to repeat the previous day’s procedure,
but this time they were going to observe the behaviour of the monkeys at night when the lights
were off.

The researchers made a touching discovery.

The monkeys who were being fed were passing their food to their hungry friends who were
being deprived of food. 

How To Climb A Mountain...or anything else: The True Inner Story

Once upon a time there was a world-class climber who gave classes and lessons to a small
number of students.

For several weeks, they studied the technical and safety aspects of the sport and conducted
several climbs.

As the class came to an end, the instructor informed his students that there were more advanced
classes, but that to get into the class they would have to do one last climb in which their
performance would be evaluated.

On the day set for the climb, the students arrived at the appointed place. They were met by
people who said the instructor was delayed and that they should begin the climb without him.

The route was a long and difficult one, and required all the skills they had learned during the
class.

After several hours of exhausting climbing, each student reached what appeared from below to
be the last face at the end of the climb.

As each one pulled himself up over the top of this face, they saw that the mountain continued
to rise up before them.

The instructor, who was hidden from the students, watched the face of each student carefully as
they realized that the climb was not over.

Many of them sighed with disappointment that they had yet more to do.

However, a few looked up with eagerness and anticipation that there were new heights to reach,
and these were the ones the instructor accepted into the advanced class.

He wanted to climb with people who were attracted to higher and higher peaks in the world -
and in themselves. 

The King’s Rock Story: Every Obstacle Is An Opportunity

In ancient times, a king had a huge boulder placed in a roadway, then he hid and watched to see if anyone would remove it.

Some of the kingdom’s biggest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around the
boulder.

Many of them loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none of them did anything about getting the big stone out of the way.

Then a peasant farmer came along, carrying a load of vegetables on his back.

When he came to the boulder, he laid down his vegetables and began trying to move the boulder to the side of the road.

After much struggling and straining, he finally succeeded.

As he was picking up his vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been.

The purse contained many gold pieces and a note from the king indicating the gold was for the person who removed the stone from the roadway.

The farmer had learned what many others have learned since:

Every obstacle presents an opportunity.

Life will throw up obstacles, but instead of going around them or trying to avoid them all together, take the opportunity to confront them and learn in the process. Facing obstacles and challenges makes us stronger and aids us on our spiritual path. Oftentimes, when we avoid something we are only putting off the time until we will meet it again. It is best to bite the bullet and face these challenges head on, improving your self and learning the lessons that are meant to be learnt.