The Secret of Happiness (Posted by Priya Deelchand)

My dearest friends,

Hope you are all doing great and spent an awesome weekend!:))

Here is a wonderful story that my great friend Sangeeta Ramdin sent to me and that I want to share with you today!

The old man shuffled slowly into the restaurant. With head tilted, and shoulders bent forward, he leaned on his trusty cane with each unhurried step.

His tattered cloth jacket, patched trousers, worn out shoes, and warm personality made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd. Unforgettable were his pale blue eyes that sparkled like diamonds, large rosy cheeks, and thin lips held in a tight, steady smile.

He stopped, turned with his whole body, and winked at a little girl seated by the door. She flashed a big grin right back at him. A young waitress named Mary watched him shuffle toward a table by the window.

Mary ran over to him, and said, “Here, Sir. Let me give you a hand with that chair.”

Without saying a word, he smiled and nodded a thank you. She pulled the chair away from the table.. Steadying him with one arm, she helped him move in front of the chair, and get comfortably seated. Then she scooted the table up close to him, and leaned his cane against the table where he could reach it.

In a soft, clear voice he said, “Thank you, Miss. And bless you for your kind gestures.”

“You’re welcome, Sir.” She replied. “And my name is Mary. I’ll be back in a moment, and if you need anything at all in the mean time, just wave at me!”

After he had finished a hearty meal of pancakes, bacon, and hot lemon tea, Mary brought him the change from his ticket. He left it lay. She helped him up from his chair, and out from behind the table. She handed him his cane, and walked with him to the front door.

Holding the door open for him, she said, “Come back and see us, Sir!”

He turned with his whole body, winked a smile, and nodded a thank you. “You are very kind.” he said softly.

When Mary went to clean his table, she almost fainted. Under his plate she found a business card, and a note scribbled on a napkin. Under the napkin was a one hundred dollar bill.

The note on the napkin read...

“Dear Mary, I respect you very much, and you respect yourself too. It shows by the way you treat others. You have found the secret of happiness. Your kind gestures will shine through those who meet you.”

The man she had waited on was the owner of the restaurant where she worked. This was the first time that she, or any of his employees had ever seen him in person.

Moral of the story: the secret to true happiness does lie in the smaller things in life....to try and smile through the pain, to give a little of yourself when you get the opportunity without expecting anything in return, of not holding on to grudges and moving ahead without past burdens, because only when we do these things will we shine and stand apart and be able to find true happiness!!

Wish you an excellent week ahead!

Much love,
Priya:))

Posted by Priya Deelchand

You are Unique (posted by Priya Deelchand)

Did you know that scientist still haven't been
able to figure out the number of possible combinations
of DNA molecules? The best they've been able to do
is provide an estimate: 2.4 billion to the power of 10!

That's an incredible number when you consider that
the possible combinations of all particles in the
universe amount to only 76 to the power of 10!

As you can see, that is vastly less than the possible
combinations DNA, which form your identity.

So scientifically speaking, you are unique! There's no
chance of ever finding another person exactly like you
on the planet.

And you can also be sure that there never has been
- and never will be - two identical human beings in the
entire universe.

So why waste time and energy trying to fit into a mould?
To be like someone else? You are unique, and thus radically
different, no matter what you think and no matter what you do.

Author unknown

Posted by Priya Deelchand

You are Unique (posted by Priya Deelchand)

Did you know that scientist still haven't been
able to figure out the number of possible combinations
of DNA molecules? The best they've been able to do
is provide an estimate: 2.4 billion to the power of 10!

That's an incredible number when you consider that
the possible combinations of all particles in the
universe amount to only 76 to the power of 10!

As you can see, that is vastly less than the possible
combinations DNA, which form your identity.

So scientifically speaking, you are unique! There's no
chance of ever finding another person exactly like you
on the planet.

And you can also be sure that there never has been
- and never will be - two identical human beings in the
entire universe.

So why waste time and energy trying to fit into a mould?
To be like someone else? You are unique, and thus radically
different, no matter what you think and no matter what you do.

Author unknown

Posted by Priya Deelchand

Grow Stronger (posted by Priya Deelchand)

A wine grower named Giorgio called for his two sons
Anton and Vitto and told them he would have to test
each of them in order to decide who was best qualified
to take charge of the property when he retired.

The two young men were very different: Anton was
daring and mischievous, always smiling and friendly,
while his brother was taciturn and hard-working, but
entirely devoid of emotion.

The father gave them each a vine seedling and said:
"I want you to choose the place that you think has
the best conditions for your vine to grow. The one
who harvests the best grapes a few years from now
will take control of the property."

Anton was in no hurry to get started. "I have a lot
of time before I have to start looking around. A vine
grows slowly, and only yields grapes after four years
anyway."

Vitto knew that too, but he decided to find the best
place to plant his vine right away.

He planted his seedling on a parcel of land facing
south, on top of a rocky hill. Anton made fun of him,
saying: "You idiot, you chose the worst possible
location! A hilltop facing south make the leaves
shrivel and burn, and soil full of rocks won't allow
the roots to grow. You won't get any grapes from that
vine at all!"

Four years later the father once again summoned his
two sons so he could taste their fruit.

Anton's basket was filled with beautiful, juicy grapes,
while Vitto's basket held only a few small grapes.

Giorgio picked two grapes from each basket and tasted
them in silence. The ones from Anton's basket were
filled with seeds and their size was due to all the
water they contained.

"Tasteless," his father said. But when Giorgio tasted
Vitto's grapes his face lit up with pleasure. "These
grapes are small but they're bursting with flavor,"
he exclaimed. "Their juice will produce excellent wine.
This is very good work. How did you do it, my son?"

"I followed a simple principle," Vitto replied.
"Like people, vines only yield good fruit when challenged
with adversity."

You may sometimes wonder why you have to put up with
so many obstacles in life. But now you can understand
that problems - the things that make you work harder -
are really there to teach you.

They are the events that form your character and make
you the person you are today.

So be prepared to confront whatever Destiny places
on your path, and use it to become stronger!

Author unknown

Posted by Priya Deelchand

Wounds caused by words (posted by Priya Deelchand)

There once was a boy with a very bad character. His father

gave him a box of spikes and told him to hammer one into the

garden fence every time he lost his patience and got into an

argument with someone.

The first day the boy hammered 37 spikes into the fence.

Over the next few weeks he began learning to control himself,

and the number of spikes he had to hammer diminished day by

day. He had discovered that exercising self control was a

lot easier than hammering spikes.

Finally the day arrived when the boy didn't hammer any spikes

into the fence.

He went to see his father and told him that he hadn't had to

nail any spikes that day at all.

His father told him to pull a spike out of the fence every

day he didn't lose temper.

Days passed, and finally the boy was able to inform his father

that all the spikes had been removed. The father walked with his

son over to the fence and said: "My son, you have done well,

but look at all the holes in the fence. It will never be the

same as it was before.

"When you fight with someone and say terrible things, you

create wounds just like these holes. You can stick a knife into

someone and then pull it out, but the scar will always be there.

No matter how many times you say you're sorry, the scar will

remain."

A wound caused by words is as bad as a physical wound. Friends

are like precious jewels, they make you smile, they encourage you,

they're there to help you and listen to you when you're in need.

They offer you support, and open their hearts to you.

- Author unknown-

Posted by Priya Deelchand

Know Thyself (Posted by Priya Deelchand)

A Tibetan student was practicing
meditation in his cell when a spider
descended from the ceiling and hung
suspended in front of him.

It slowly spun around, attached to
the end of its web, until the novice
tried to catch it, at which point it
raced back up to the ceiling in a
second.

Every day for a week the student's
meditation was disturbed by the spider.
It even seemed that it was getting
bigger, that it was becoming more
adventurous, and sometimes tried to
swing back and forth in front of him,
with all its legs spread wide.

"This spider is bothering me,"
thought the novice, "and making fun of
me. I'll catch it one day, I know will!"

He became so upset that he went to
ask the advice of his Spiritual Master.

"I hid a knife in my sleeve while I
was meditating," he said. "I wanted to
kill the spider when it came down, but
I didn't succeed. It disappeared the
moment I thought about catching it."

"Replace your knife with a piece of
chalk," the Master replied, "and make a
cross on the spider's back each time it
disturbs your meditation. Come back and
see me in a week."

A week later the novice returned to
his Master's cell and knelt down before
him, his head lowered.

"Lift your robe and look at
yourself," the Master instructed.

To his great surprise, the novice saw
a big X drawn on his own chest.
_________________

This short parable may seem absurd,
and yet it contains a profound truth.

The spider that disturbed the novice
during his meditation was his own bad
conscience, which always surfaces when
we are most relaxed. And what do we do?
We accuse it of trying to harm us, we
say that it is someone else, we seek a
threatening monster to fight with. But
the monster, the spider, is our own
self.

We have to be able to look at
ourselves objectively in order to
overcome our worries, before they
assume a form that we have not chosen.

"Know thyself!"

This phrase is attributed toSocrates, but it also appears on the
facade of the Temple of Delphi. 2500
years later it is still relevant, and
will always remain so!

Author unknown

Posted by Priya Deelchand

Listen to your heart (posted by Priya Deelchand)

Every year Father Cornillo opened the
vestry of his little country church and
received visits from the young people
of neighbouring villages.

They came from far to receive advice
and to learn about what to meditate on.

One day, a young girl from a good
family knelt at the feet of the priest.
"Father," she said, "I want to become a
saint. What should I do?"

"Follow your heart, and never deviate
from what it tells you," Father
Cornillo replied.

The girl was pleased with the advice.
'How easy it is to become a saint,' she
thought. 'All I have to do is listen to
what my heart says.'

But before she could get up and leave
the church, the priest added, "To
follow you heart you will have to be
very strong, and your life will be full
of sacrifice."
_______________

Father Cornillo was perfectly right:listening to your heart requires
tremendous willpower.

It is not a question of living
according to what you feel like doing
day by day. On the contrary, you have
to seek out the wisdom of your heart,
and never give up. You cannot be
satisfied with little victories, and
you must not fall prey to self
satisfaction.

Listening to your heart means being
hard on yourself, and never trying to
circumvent its moral requirements.

Author Unknown

Posted by Priya Deelchand