I am just passing through!

How an elderly woman so casually talked of an important phase of life?

There is a popular story that several years ago a man set out for a country walk.  However, he lost his way.  Then he found himself on a lonely track where he came upon a cottage.  He decided to ask for directions.  With quiet courtesy an elderly woman invited him in for a cup of tea and a home-baked food.

He was simply taken aback to see that the lady lived alone with so little things with her just a table, two wooden chair and an old iron bedstead in the corner.  The man could not hide his surprise.  He said, "You have so little and still you seem to be so content."  "Where is all your furniture?"  He said.  Then the lady said with a smile, "Where is yours?"  The traveler echoed in surprise,  "Why should I have any furniture here?  I am just passing through?"

The Old woman smiled again.  She said quietly, "So am I."

Story of the Stonecutter

There was a stone cutter. One day he found a big stone in a mountain. He wanted to split that Rock. He took his big iron hammer and started to hit it with his might. There was no scratch - not a chip. He pull back his hammer and hit it again and again. There was not a slight crack. He continued his work. Passersby saw his efforts with no result and laughed at him saying what is the use of hitting this boulder.  You will not be able to brake this stone.  But the stone cutter was serious. A stone cutter is intelligent. He knows that just because he don't see immediate effects from his current actions, it doesn't mean that he is not making any progress. He continued his hitting. But there was no result after hitting 70th hit or 180th hit. But at the 707th hit the rock doesn't just chip, but literally split in half. Was it the one single hit that split the rock? No. Absolutely not. The constant pressure applied to that rock split it finally.

Persistence is the key to success. But also you must know when you should give up. Have you ever heard of Traf-O-Data a company formed by Bill Gates and his associates before Microsoft.  But they abandoned that project in a latter date.   Theres is no use in follow with a project which is of no use.

I am a user of internet since 2000. During the fist few years I was introduced to make some bucks from reading emails. My personal experience was very bad as I did not receive any payment till now even though I pursued it for few years. Persistence with worthless efforts are a waste of time and energy. But I found writing and publishing articles with Hubpages   It is a very good way to earn some bucks. Even though there was no result in the first year, it made some progress in the second year. I don't know what motivates you to write. Whatever it is, do it with your full might, one day you will see the starts.

Be Content With What You Have

Jim and Tom were believers of the same church. Jim was a wealthy man. He had many business ventures. He was the back borne of the local church. He were there for donations. He were there in the church committee. He actively participated every church services and activities. Whether it was weekly or Sunday service, he was there. He was there to teach Sunday school students. Donated generously for the church fund.

At the same time Tom was a worker who earned his daily wages by doing odd jobs.  He attended Church every Sunday only.

When both of them died one day. Gabriel was advised by the God to take Tom to heaven and Jim to hell. Gabriel was puzzled at the instruction and went to God to clarify the matter.

Gabriel said to God, why have you sent Jim to hell. He was a good Christian. He gave tithe regularly. He attended all the church service. He helped many. He was the corner stone of that small church. There is no point in sending him to hell. On the other hand Tom was attending church once in a week. He was not so active like Jim. Still you send Tom to heaven and Jim to hell. What prompt you to do like this.

Then God replied to Gabriel that Jim was good in all other areas but he lack one important quality. He never satisfied by the things given to him. I gave him good business. I gave him good wife. I gave him good children. I gave him good house. Nice car. Whatever I can, I gave him. 

 

But he never satisfied with all that good blessings. Whenever he attended the church he was asking for more blessings. While praying he was complaining about his this business or that business. He was asking for more business. Better Car and Better home etc. He neither satisfied nor give thanks for all the things I have given in his life even though he was having best things in his life. He was greedy and asking for more blessings. Never satisfied. Never content with what was given to him.

On the other hand Tom was always satisfied with the things given to him. Whenever he came to church he worshiped me truly. He gave thanks for all the thing he had.  He prayed these words. "thank you Lord for all the blessings and take care of me". He was not greedy and demanding like Jim. He had a good heart even though I refused to bless him with material things he loved me and thanked me for all the blessings.

I don't want someone who is demanding things always in the heaven.  The best place for those who are not satisfied by the things they have is Hell.

A Tribute To A Baker

"HUUP...ONE, HUUP...TWO, HUUP...THREE..."

 

Those melodious orders sounded like the commands of a tough marine drill sergeant. However, in reality the man's name was Tom Williams and he was an executive with the Houston Oilers (of the National Football League) and a world class trainer of famous athletes -- Earl Campbell, Darrell Green, Mike Singletary, Hakeem Olajuwon -- to name but a few. 

During the off season he operated a Kolache shop, baking cookies and meat filled delights.

 

Approximately 200 yards from this Kolache shop was his famous "Hill", a very steep embankment, which led to the bayou. Tom would have his athletes train on that hill, running up and down to build stamina or to help rebuild muscles or ligaments damaged after an injury or surgery.
 

As for me, I had always wanted to be a pro athlete, but early on I realized that I was not quick enough nor tall enough to become one, so I focused my dreams on becoming an Orthopedic Surgeon, helping my athletic idols to recover from devastating injuries. 

That dream, however, was smashed during my sophomore year in college when I was seriously injured as an innocent victim of a convenience store robbery. I was shot in the back of the head, and very few thought I would even survive. However, many months later, after several surgeries and lengthy hospital rehabilitation programs, I met Tom, the eternal optimist. 

The first day my family and I encountered Tom he was barking out orders for his athletes on the "Hill". He told my parents he could definitely help me, but I would have to discipline myself to work four straight hours every single day, including weekends. 

At first, my parents would watch Tom work with me in the back of his Kolache shop. Tom would cover the tables he would normally use to knead his dough, and now would "knead" my muscles, massage my limp right arm, and struggle with me as I learned to walk again.

 

Then, one day, Tom barked, "Mike, let's go to the 'Hill'."
I was scared as I limped toward the bayou, and my parents were equally petrified. The "Hill" was so steep that I thought even a Billy goat would have difficulty trying to climb it.

 

Initially, Tom ordered two husky athletes to lift me under my arms and "drag" me down the hill. When we got to the bottom, one of the athletes screamed up to Tom, "What do you want us to do now?" Tom calmly replied, "Drag him back up." 

At that point, my father, who by profession is a rabbi, told my mother that he thought Tom was going to kill me and they should get me away from him as soon as possible.

 

My father, wanting to be polite, thanked Tom and stated that we had to go home. But Tom replied, "It's only 2 o'clock, and Mike is to be here until 5, and by the way, bring him a little earlier tomorrow."
 

 

Even though my father was adamant about leaving, my mother truly felt that if Tom could help "million dollar athletes" recover, he could surely help her son.

My father went home, never returning to the Kolache store because he told my mother, "Tom is going to kill Mike," and my mother never volunteered any information to my father about my progress with Tom as the days wore on.

One day, a number of weeks later, Tom called my father at home and said, "Father, this is Tom Williams and you need to get here fast!" With that, Tom slammed the phone down. 

My father thought I was dead or badly injured, the victim of a severe injury while tumbling down that "Hill." He quickly sped toward Tom's shop, jumped out of his car, and noticed many people huddled near the corner of the "Hill." With great trepidation my father peered over the "Hill" and saw me slowly climbing the "Hill" -- alive. 

 

When I reached the top of the "Hill" I quickly turned around as Tom instructed me and went back down to the bottom, to the bayou. Tears welled up in my father's eyes as Tom approached him and said, "Rabbi, you might give great sermons, but you don't practice what you preach. You tell everyone to have faith, but you did not have faith -- faith in me, faith in your son, and faith in God. You simply said, 'I give up,' and you went home."

 

 

My father pondered seriously as to what Tom had just said and watched as I slowly reached the edge of the "Hill" on my return trip. At that moment, with tears of great joy, my father and I fell into each other's arms and embraced one another. 

That was just one of the many lessons I learned from Tom over the next few years. Even though I still have many physical disabilities as a result of the gunshot wound, the "Hill" taught me that even the impossible could become the possible.

Everyone in life has his own "Hill" to climb, some small, some large. On that day Tom taught me the most important lesson of my life: "Never give in; never give up." 

 

 

Even though Tom was a world class trainer of athletes, he learned that his true love was helping "ordinary" people, and soon after my success on the "Hill" Tom opened a Rehabilitation Center where he worked with spinal cord and head injured and stroke patients. In the "old days," Tom would use only a simple table in the back of his Kolache shop on which he prepared his pastries to help his clients.

Now, he had a state of the art, modern Rehabilitation Center along with his own man-made "Hill" so Tom could encourage many more to defy the experts.

Tom received referrals from all over the country for he had a special ability to make patients want to excel. His patients improved and his Center was a huge success.

For the next few years I would regularly go to the Center, not only to exercise but more importantly to work out for the "Master," Tom.
 

 

I had developed a strong emotional connection with Tom. He had extended to me a lifeline to enjoy life once again which many physicians and therapists stated no longer existed.

However, later Tom became extremely ill with cancer and passed away. The funeral was huge. Many of his athletes were there to say their last "good byes" and "thank yous." I was an honorary pallbearer because his family thought that our relationship was a special and unique one.

After everyone left the cemetery I went up to Tom's grave to utter my final prayer and statement of thankfulness that such a wonderful man had been a part of my life. As I glanced at the inscription on the tombstone I read:

Forever Loved In The Hearts Of Those He Touched
Tom Williams
April 11, 1927 -- June 11, 1995

At that very moment I realized why we were so deeply connected: April 11 is also my birthday!
(c)2001 by Michael Jordan Segal, MSW
Michael Jordan Segal, who defied all odds after being shot in the head, is a husband, father, social worker, freelance author (including a CD/Download of 12 stories, read with light backgroud music, entitled POSSIBLE), and inspirational speaker, sharing his recipe for happiness, recovery and success before conferences and businesses. To contact Mike or to order his CD,

Stanislavsky Lech - 25 Miles to Freedom , Power of Question

Anthony Robbins tells a story of a Krakow Death Camp escapee. His name was Stanislavsky Lech, and when his home was stormed and the Nazis herded him with his family into Krakow, he watched as they were all murdered. He was put to work. Eventually, he was weak and starving, in addition to his grief, and a thought crossed his mind that he would not survive one more day in Krakow.

He changed his question from "How can there be such a terrible place" to "How can we escape from such a place?" At first the answer was the same, "There is no escape." He kept asking in slightly different ways, "How can I do it?"

Soon, he smelled rotting flesh a few feet from where he was working, and noticed that the bodies of those who had been recently gassed were piled into the back of a truck. Again, he changed the "How can God allow this to happen?" to "How can I use this to help me escape?"
When he returned from work the next evening, the truck was there. He pulled off his clothes when no one was looking and, pretending to be dead, climbed into the pile of dead bodies. He waited while the cold of the corpses pressed against him, and the smell invaded his body. The ride to the open grave wasn't long, and he was dumped along with the others. He waited until it had been quiet for some time before he dared to look around.

They were gone. He got up and ran, naked, 25 miles to freedom that night.

He was able to free himself, in part, because he asked a different question. Our intuition, or higher self, will always answer our questions. Just as it is helpful to know what we really want, it is also helpful to know where we could use some help.

Does God Exist

Does God Exist?

A man went to do his hair cut.  As always, he and the barber chatted about many things.  While talking they come to subject of God and the barber said that there is  no God.  God doesn't exits!  If God exists, why there is suffering and crime.  If god existed, there wouldn't be much suffering.

The man fell into thought for a while and then said:

You know something? Barbers don’t exist.

Barber: - What do you mean, don’t exist? I’m here, and I’m a barber.

Man: - They don’t exist! – insisted the man. – Because if they did, there wouldn’t be people with such long beards and such tangled hair.

Barber: - I can guarantee that barbers do exist. But these people never come in here.

Man : - Exactly! So, in answer to your question, God exists, too. It just so happens that people don’t go to Him. If they did, there wouldn’t be so much misery in the world and they would be more giving.

Yes! God is there.  God exits. But men are not seeking God. 

Power of Help, Appreciate the Help of Others

"We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated."
~Maya Angelou


This is a powerful message in our modern society. We seemed to have lost our bearing & our sense of direction.

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, for he made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "none".

The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.

The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as a clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.

The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.--

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: " Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'

The Director asked, " please tell me your feelings."

The youth said,

Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not be the successful me today.

Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only now I realize how difficult and tough it is to get her work done.

Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for in a manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.

Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wants, would develop "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. For these kind of people, who may be good academically, they may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel a sense of achievement. They will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.