Shake off Your Problems

A man’s favorite donkey falls into a deep precipice. He can’t pull it out no matter how
hard he tries. He therefore decides to bury it alive.

Soil is poured onto the donkey from above. The donkey feels the load, shakes it off, and
steps on it. More soil is poured.

It shakes it off and steps up. The more the load was poured, the higher it rose. By noon,
the donkey was grazing in green pastures.

After much shaking off (of problems) And stepping up (learning from them), One will
graze in GREEN PASTURES.

3. The Elephant Rope

As a man was
passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge
creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no
cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds
but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no
attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller
we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As
they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the
rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but
because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot
do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

4. Potatoes, Eggs, and Coffee Beans

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and
that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and
struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon
followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed
each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot,
eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.

He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter,
moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and
placed them in a bowl. He pulled the boiled eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter,
what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed
the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a
smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the
same adversity– the boiling water.

However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and
weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put
in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling
water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do
you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “

Moral:In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly
matters is what happens within us.

Which one are you?

1. Colonel Sanders | Kentucky Fried Chicken

Once, there was an older man, who was broke, living in a tiny house and owned a beat
up car. He was living off of $99 social security checks. At 65 years of age, he decide
things had to change. So he thought about what he had to offer. His friends raved about
his chicken recipe. He decided that this was his best shot at making a change.

He left Kentucky and traveled to different states to try to sell his recipe. He told
restaurant owners that he had a mouthwatering chicken recipe. He offered the recipe to
them for free, just asking for a small percentage on the items sold. Sounds like a good
deal, right?

Unfortunately, not to most of the restaurants. He heard NO over 1000 times. Even after
all of those rejections, he didn’t give up. He believed his chicken recipe was something
special. He got rejected 1009 times before he heard his first yes.

With that one success Colonel Hartland Sanders changed the way Americans eat
chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken, popularly known as KFC, was born.

Remember, never give up and always believe in yourself in spite of rejection.

2. The Obstacle in our Path
There once was a very wealthy and curious king. This king had a huge boulder placed
in the middle of a road. Then he hid nearby to see if anyone would try to remove the
gigantic rock from the road.

The first people to pass by were some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers.
Rather than moving it, they simply walked around it. A few loudly blamed the King for
not maintaining the roads. Not one of them tried to move the boulder.

Finally, a peasant came along. His arms were full of vegetables. When he got near the
boulder, rather than simply walking around it as the others had, the peasant put down
his load and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. It took a lot of effort but he
finally succeeded.

The peasant gathered up his load and was ready to go on his way when he say a purse
lying in the road where the boulder had been. The peasant opened the purse. The
purse was stuffed full of gold coins and a note from the king. The king’s note said the
purse’s gold was a reward for moving the boulder from the road.

The king showed the peasant what many of us never understand: every obstacle
presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

Once there lived two neighbours who used to grow the same plants in their respective gardens. One
neighbour was fussy and took extreme care of her plants. The other neighbour did what was required
but left leaves of the plants alone to grow as they pleased.

On a fine evening, there was a huge storm, accompanied by rainfall. The storm destroyed many of
the plants.

The next morning, when the fussy neighbour woke up, she found that the plants have had been
uprooted and destroyed. However, when the more relaxed neighbour woke up, she found that though
the damage to her plants was minor her plants were still firmly rooted.

The plant of the relaxed neighbour had learnt to do things on its own. So, it had done its bit of work,
grown deep roots, and made a place for itself in the soil. Thus, it had stood firm even in the storm.
However, the fussy neighbour used to do everything for the plant, thereby not teaching the plant how
to sustain on its own.

Moral Of The Story

Sooner or later, you have to let go and become independent. Unless you stop fussing, nothing will
work on its own. The plant of the normal neighbour had done its bit of work and made a place for
itself thereby standing firm. The fussy neighbour did everything for the plant, thereby not teaching
the plant how to sustain on its own.

Why would God want ME?

Author Unknown
I'm not perfect. I have all kinds of problems. I have no ability. I have
no gifts. I'm just not worthy. Why would God want me?

Well, did you know that

Moses stuttered.
David's armor didn't fit.
John Mark deserted Paul.
Timothy had ulcers.
Hosea's wife was a prostitute.
Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
Jacob was a liar.
David had an affair.
Solomon was too rich.
Jesus was too poor.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Peter was afraid of death.
Lazarus was dead.
John was self-righteous.
Naomi was a widow.
Paul was a persecutor of the church.
Moses was a murderer.
Jonah ran from God's will.
Miriam was a gossip.
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
Elijah was burned out.
John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
Martha was a worry-wart.
Noah got drunk.
Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
So did Peter, Paul - well, lots of folks did.

But God doesn't require a job interview for salvation. He's our
Heavenly Father. He doesn't look at financial gain or loss. He's not
prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy, or brassy, not
deaf to our cry, not blind to our need. He know who we are and
what we are and loves us in spite of ourselves

SATAN SAYS, "YOU'RE NOT WORTHY."

JESUS SAYS, "SO WHAT? I AM."
SATAN LOOKS BACK AND SEES OUR MISTAKES.
GOD LOOKS BACK AND SEES THE CROSS.

He doesn't calculate how you failed in '99. It's not even on the
record.

Sure, there are lots of reasons why God shouldn't call us. But if we
are in love with Him, if we hunger for Him, He'll use us in spite of
who we are, where we've been, what we have done, or the fact that
we are not perfect!
Teacher Illustrates Why God Does Not Exist
In her first grade classroom, a young teacher was starting to explain the theory of
evolution to her students.

She directed her first questions to Tommy in the front row.

Teacher : Tommy, do you see the tree outside?

Tommy : Yes.

Teacher : Tommy, do you see the grass outside?

Tommy : Yes.

Teacher : Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.

Tommy : Okay. (He returned a minute later) Yes, I saw the sky.

Teacher : Did you see God?

Tommy : No.

Teacher : That's my point.

We can't see God because he isn't there. He doesn't exist.

A little girl, Sarah, spoke up and wanted to ask Tommy some questions too.

The teacher agreed.

Sarah : Tommy, do you see the tree outside?

Tommy : Yes.

Sarah : Tommy, do you see the grass outside?

Tommy : Yesssssssss (getting tired of the questions by this time).

Sarah : Did you see the sky?

Tommy : Yessssssssss.

Sarah : Tommy, do you see the teacher?

Tommy : Yes.

Sarah : Do you see her brain?

Tommy : No.

Sarah : Then, according to what we were taught in school today, she must not have
one!