Be a Pencil

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked:
‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:
I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.
‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’

‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.’

‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.’
‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpner. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.
‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.’
‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.’
‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. in just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action’

source: “Like the Flowing River” by Paulo Coelho

Everyone is a Hero

The Substitute Singer

 
Though I was unable to prove the events of this tale, this event supposedly happened many years ago in the Paris Opera. On the night when a famous tenor was to perform, the packed house was told he would not be able to attend due to traffic.

Concerned, the director of the Opera appeared on the stage to explain what was happening and to ask for a local tenor to act as a substitute.

The audience reacted as expected; with discomfort. Some spectators rose and asked for their money back, while others simply waited to see what lay in store for them, seeing that they had instructed their chauffeurs and made reservations for dinner, and did not quite know how to kill the time.

The substitute tenor came on stage and did the best he could. For two hours he sang with all his heart and soul. At the end, there was almost complete silence.

Then one spectator applauded, and a child’s voice was heard, “Daddy, you’re great! Just great!”

The next moment, the whole theater gave a standing ovation; a simple word of love had changed everything.

Moral : Everyone is a Hero who work with true spirit and passion. Everything is not done for winning, sometimes we work for satisfaction.

Real value

THE RIGHT TIME

A camel dealer reached a village to sell fine animals at a very good price. Everyone bought one, except Mr. Hoosep.

Some time later, the village received a visit from another dealer, with excellent camels, but they were much more expensive.
This time, Hoosep bought some animals.

“You did not buy the camels when they were almost for free, and now you pay almost twice the price,” criticized his friends.

“Those cheap ones were very expensive for me, because at that time I had very little money,” answered Hoosep, “these animals might seem more expensive, but for me they are cheap, because I have more than enough to buy them.”

Moral : Time is one of the most important factor. It changes the value of everything over the time so dont anyone or anything, you may regret later. Every bit of thing is important.

source: coelho blog

Tears

Why are you crying?

A man knocked at his friend’s door to ask him a favor:
“I want you to lend me four thousand dinars because I have a debt to pay. Can you do that for me?”

The friend asked his wife to gather together everything they had of value, but even so it was not enough. They had to go out and borrow money from the neighbors until they managed to get the full amount.

When the man left, the woman noticed that her husband was crying.

“Why are you sad? Now that we’ve got ourselves in debt with our neighbors, are you afraid we won’t be able to repay them?”

“Nothing of the sort! I’m crying because he is someone I like so much, but even so I had no idea he was in need. I only remembered him when he had to knock on my door to ask me for a loan.”

Moral :  Sometimes it is not enough what we see. We may not be able to understand person even if he is close to us or in front of our eyes all the time.

source: coelho blog

Listen to everyone but follow your heart

An old hunter of foxes, considered to be the best in the region, decided finally to retire. He gathered together his belongings and resolved to set off for the south of the country, where the climate was milder.

However, before he could finish packing up his things, he received a visit from a young man.

‘I would like to learn your techniques,’ said the newcomer. ‘In exchange, I will buy your shop, your hunting license, and I will also pay you for all your secrets.’

The old man agreed, they signed a contract and he taught the young man all the secrets of fox-hunting. With the money he received, he bought a beautiful house in the south, where the climate was so mild that not once during the whole winter did he have to worry about gathering wood for the fire.

In the spring, though, he felt nostalgic for his own village and decided to go back and see his friends.
When he arrived, he bumped into the young man who, some months before, had paid him a fortune for his secrets.

‘So,’ the old hunter said, ‘how was the hunting season?’
‘I didn’t catch a single fox.’

The old man was surprised and confused.
‘Didn’t you follow my advice?’

With eyes downcast, the young man replied:
‘Well, to be honest, no, I didn’t. I thought your methods were out of date and I ended up discovering for myself a better way of hunting foxes.’

Moral : Listen to everyone. Learn from everyone. Know the greats. But follow your own intincts, think differently to achieve grater heights.

source : paulo coelho blog