1 Inspiring Stories Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States of America (1861 1865) is one of the

e worlds great statesmen for all time. Here is a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the head master of his school in which his son was studying, a letter so typical of the man who bore malice towards none and had charity for all.

Abraham Lincoln's letter to his son's teacher

He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish Politician, there is a dedicated leader... Teach him for every enemy there is a friend, Steer him away from envy, if you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick... Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books... But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside. In the school teach him it is far honourable to fail than to cheat... Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong... Teach him to be gentle with gentle people, and tough with the tough. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon... Teach him to listen to all men... but teach him also to filter

2 all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through. Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad... Teach him there is no shame in tears, Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness... Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to put a price-tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right. Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to be impatient... let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have sublime faith in mankind. This is a big order, but see what you can do... He is such a fine fellow, my son!

3 Mistakes are opportunities This is a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others? He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floora veritable sea of milk! When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?" Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?" He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk. His mother then said, "You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it." The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson! This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment "doesn't work," we usually learn something valuable from it.

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4 Teacher & the Student As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise. Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around.." His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well-liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle." His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken." Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class." By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume.. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.

5 Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets.." A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life. Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life. Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer....The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD. The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference." Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you." (For you that don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)

6 Baggage A chemistry professor decided to teach his students a different lesson one day. Holding a glass of water in his hand, he asked the students, How much do you think this glass of water weighs? 500 grams! came a voice from the back. 600, said another student. I dont really know! said the professor, holding the glass up to make sure everyone could see it. And unless we weigh it, we wont know. With the glass still in his outstretched hand, the professor continued, What will happen if I hold it like this for a few minutes? Nothing! came the reply. Right, and if I hold it for an hour like this, what might happen? Your hand will begin to hurt, said a student. Indeed. And what would happen if I held the glass in my hand like this for 24 hours? You would be in tremendous pain, said one student.Your hand will probably go numb, said another.Your arm will be paralysed and well need to rush you to the hospital! said a student on the last bench. True, said the professor. But notice that through all this, the weight of the glass did not change. What then causes the pain? The class went quiet. The students seemed puzzled.What should I do to avoid the pain? asked the professor. Put the glass down! said a student. Well said! exclaimed the professor. And thats a lesson I want you to remember. The problems and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. But think about it a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralysed incapable of doing anything. Its important to remember to let go of your problems. Remember to put the glass down! We may not have been in that classroom that day, but its a lesson we would all do well to remember. Put the glass down! Always. Its not just problems and worries. Sometimes, we feel hurt and betrayed by a friend. And we carry that grudge through our lives. It grows and causes us anguish and pain. Learning to forgive and forget is not just good for the other people, its great for you. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail and when he was finally freed, you can understand how angry and vengeful he must have felt. But guess what? When he became President, he invited his jailers to be present at the inauguration in the VIP seats! If he could forgive after 27 years of suffering, surely we can too.

7 It is the same with our fears too. A failure or an incident in early childhood becomes a deeply entrenched fear over time. Fear of public speaking, fear of Maths, fear of rejection. You name it, and chances are, we have it. Someone gave us that glass to hold when we were little kids you are clumsy, you are no good, you cant do it and we have faithfully held on to it all our lives. I cant - becomes a thought that stays in our mind and grows leading us to complete paralysis. Time to put the glass down! The story goes that there was a hardworking man who lived a contented life with his wife and children. Every evening when he returned from work, hed follow a ritual. Outside the door to his house were three nails. On the first one, hed put his hat. On the second hed hang his coat. And on the third nail, hed unwrap an imaginary turban from his head and put it there. A friend happened to see this and enquired what he was putting on the third nail every day. Those are my problems, my worries and my anger, said the man. I have lots of that at work, but when I come home, I remember to take it off and leave them outside. I dont take them home with me. Maybe you should learn to do that too. Starting today. Put the glass down. And see the difference!

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Story of Two Frog

A group of frogs weretraveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. Whenthe other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs thatthey were as good as dead.Thetwo frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit withall their might.. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that theywere as good as dead.. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what theother frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died. Theother frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowdof frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. Hejumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the otherfrogs said, "Did you not hear us?"

Thefrog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraginghim the entire time.

Thisstory teaches two lessons:

1.There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word tosomeone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through theday. 2.A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to killthem.

Becareful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The powerof words... Itis sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such along way. Anyonecan speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficulttimes. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.