Inspirational Stories

1.

Two good friends had a quarrel one day...

Two good friends had a quarrel one day, and one of them slapped another. The man felt pain, but said nothing and wrote on the sand: “Today my best friend slapped me.”

Two friends continued walking and found an oasis. They decided to swim in a wellspring and suddenly the one who was slapped, started to sink, but his friend saved him.

When he regained consciousness, he wrote on the stone: “Today my best friend saved my life.”

The other friend, who slapped and saved his friend’s life, asked him:

– When I hurt you, you wrote on the sand and now you are writing on the stone. Why?

His friend said:

– When someone hurts us, we should write it on the sand, so that the wind could erase it. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it on the stone, so that the wind could not erase it.

2.

One businessman was in debt...

 One businessman was in debt and couldn’t figure out a way out of it. Creditors were pressing him. Suppliers were demanding for a payment. He was sitting on a bench in the park with his head down, thinking what could save the company from bankruptcy. Suddenly, an old man appeared in front of him.
– I see that something is bothering you, – he said.
After listening to the businessman, the old man said:
– I think I can help you.
He asked the businessman, what his name was, wrote him a check and said:
– Take this money. We will meet here exactly in one year, and you will be able to return it to me at that time.
After that, he turned around and disappeared just as suddenly as he appeared.
The businessman saw a check in his hands for an amount of 500 thousand dollars, signed by John Rockefeller, one of the richest people in the world at that time!
‘I could end all of my problems in no time!’ – He thought. But instead, the businessman decided to put the check into his safe. Only one thought about its existence gave him strength to find a solution to save his business.
With the return of his optimism, he concluded profitable deals. During a couple of months he got out of debt and started to earn money again.
Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the same check. At the agreed time the old man appeared again. And at the moment, when the businessman wanted to return the check and to share his story of success, a nurse ran up and grabbed the old man.
– I’m so glad, I caught him! – She exclaimed. – I hope he wasn’t bothering you. He always runs away from the house and tells he is John Rockefeller.
The businessman was bemused. During the whole year he was spinning and building a business, buying and selling, convinced that he had half a million dollars. And suddenly he understood that it’s not the money, real or imaginary, that turned his life up. It was his new confidence and belief that gave him strength to achieve everything that he had now.

3.

Happy Dervish...

  

Once, a shah was riding in his palanquin through the town, looking through the window at the scurrying people. Suddenly, he saw a lonely dervish sitting in the middle of the crowd, who was smiling and looking happy about something. The dervish was dressed poorly, and except the saucer for hand-outs and a road script he had nothing else besides him. The shah road past him and soon forgot what he saw.

After a few days, the shah had to go the same way again, where he saw the same dervish again, completely happy, dozing with blissfully closed eyes.

The next day, shah chose the same way on purpose, to see if the dervish will be in his place and again the image was the same. Intrigued, shah was going the same way almost every day and every time he found the dervish in the same spirit.

Finally, unable to stand it anymore, shah came out from the palanquin and addressed the imperturbable dervish with these words, “Why are you always smiling? Almost every day I see you here and it seems that you are absolutely happy.”

“Exactly, my master.” said the dervish with a smile.

Shah was surprised and asked, “Why are you happy? Do you have any money?”

“I don’t have anything, my master. Maybe during the day a little bit will fall in for food.”

“Do you have a home or a family?”

“Neither this and nor that. I wander the world as the wind.”

“Maybe then, you have good heath?”

“Absolutely not, my master, from the cold of the night my bones ace often and almost all of my teeth have fallen out.”

“What makes you so happy then? Tell me. Maybe your recipe for happiness will be useful to me. I have everything, but I’m unhappy.”

“God never sends more challenges for one person that he can’t handle. And burdens a person only with those circumstances, which at that moment, are most useful for his development. The circumstances in which the person is – is the place for spiritualization. I accept that the best thing for me now is what I am, where I am and what is happening with me. I accept it with gratitude and a smile, if necessary with resistance and patience, and if possible, I try to understand what God is trying to say to me with it and in which direction should I move with my development. The realization of it doesn’t make me absolutely happy, but I have a clear horizon opening in front of me, free from the rainy curtains and filled with the sunny light of awareness.”

 4.

Jim worked at a radio station all his life...

 

Jim worked at a radio station all his life. He was a well-known and famous radio show host. All of his friends and colleges knew him by one feature: if he’s on-air, he is always wearing a suit and a tie. They laughed at him: ‘No one ever sees you, why do you dress like that?’, but he always turned that into a joke.

One day Jim was invited to appear on the TV. There was a show dedicated to the oldest radio employees. For the first time the people, who only knew him by his voice, would see him. Before the recording of the show, the director came to Jim and asked:

– Usually you arrive on time, but today you are 10 minutes late. It’s not horrible, but I’m still interested, why?

– You see, – Jim answered, – at the last moment when I was already dressed up, I noticed that I don’t have new socks. For the first time I was invited to the television, and I thought that simply wearing clean sock is not enough. It needs to be in new socks. So I needed to go to the store for socks.

– But why do you need new socks? – The director was surprised. – You could have come without the socks, because we will be filming you only in close-up, over the waist.

– You see, to be spotless on-air, I need to feel myself spotless in everything, starting with the shirt and finishing with the pen in my pocket. And if my socks have holes in them, or my shoes are dirty, I’m not spotless anymore.

5.

One student asked his wise teacher...

 

One student asked his wise teacher, what is more important for a person: is it outer or inner beauty? In response to that the teacher asked his student:

– Tell me, if you needed to buy a house, but you only had enough money for a beautiful outside, but a comfortless house, or a poor house, but warm and reliable. What would you choose?

– I would rather choose a simple outside but convenient inside house.

– But what if a vain person was buying a house, proud of his position, but not having enough resource to buy a beautiful and cosy house?- asked the teacher again.

– Surely, he would prefer the outer beauty of the house, – answered the student.

– I think you are right, – said the teacher and added: – but regardless of your choice, each of you would understand that you are missing beauty or comfort and would seek for it.

– So it means that outer and inner beauty is essentially equivalent and valuable only in harmony? – asked Zhao Zeng.

– You can say that, – answered the teacher smiling, – but I thought foremost that when possessing a half, you always need to seek for a whole, not losing what you already have. Because a half will always be only a half, despite of how great it would be.

6.

Once upon a time there was a Wave...

 

Once upon a time there was a Wave. She liked to frolic with the wind. She liked to caress the rocks on the shore.

Once she got into a strange bay. There was a Cliff. He stood in the middle of the bay. The Wave became friends with Cliff. They could talk for hours. They spent all time together.

Once the Wave realized that she loved the Cliff. He also liked funny and careless Wave. But he told her:

— No, you can‘t love me. I am a stone. I am a Cliff. I don‘t know how to love. I will break you.

But the Wave did not want to back down. She tried to hug Cliff and was scattered by thousands of gold spray. But Wave tried to do this again. She forced herself just to communicate with Cliff. She carefully took off shells, sticking on him. But Cliff said:

— I am strong. I am a stone. I don‘t need your care.

Once again the Wave rushed towards him. Once again the sprays glistened on the wind…

The years passed. The Wave still loved the Cliff. He pretended not noticing this. She tried to approach him – and still has been broken.

One morning the Wave disappeared. The Cliff woke up and did not see her nearby. But he forced himself not to think about it. Days went by, but she did not appear.

Several years have passed, and the Wave came back. She has changed a lot. She knew a lot more about life now. She was no longer so thoughtless and careless. But she still loved the Cliff. And he … he pretended that it does not matter that she came back, because he was a stone. How could he afford a weakness for the Wave?

Many years have passed. The Wave still talked with the Cliff, but there were no more intimate conversations and long night vigils. The Cliff was getting older. Water undermined it. And the Wave was travelling, learning new countries and cities, new people. Somehow, returning home, she realized that she no longer thought of the Cliff. The Cliff also understood that. And he also understood that could not live without her, without her stories about the cities and foreign shores, without her twitter about everything. One day the Cliff told her:

– Yes, I am a stone. Yes, I am a Cliff. But I cannot live without you.

And he fell into the waves. And the Wave… she just kissed him saying goodbye.

7.

 

Once upon a time, there was an unfortunate poor man...

 Once upon a time, there was an unfortunate poor man. His home was also very poor – a small and empty house, where mice made their nests and spiders made their webs.
People tried to avoid coming into his house – why should they go into those poor ruins? And the poor man thought that poverty is the reason of his misfortunes – his eternal destiny.
So once, the poor man met a wizard and complained to him about his poverty and miserable life. The wizard felt sorry for the poor man and gave him an unprecedented vase. And said:
– This is a magical vase that will save you from poverty.
The poor man took the vase and wanted to sell it at first and then spend the money on alcohol, as usual, besides, why would he need such a beautiful thing? But then he started admiring the vase and couldn’t take it to the market. He brought the vase home, put it on the table and started admiring it.
– It’s not right for such a beautiful thing to be empty, – the poor man thought. So he picked some wildflowers and put them into the vase.
It became even more beautiful.
– Not good, – the poor man though again, – that such a beautiful thing stands next to a spider web.
So the poor man started cleaning his house from spider webs, sweeping out cockroaches and mice, cleaning the dust, washing the floor and the walls, whitening the ceiling.
And it became clear that his house wasn’t poor, but rather warm and cosy. And the poor man wasn’t a poor man anymore, but a hard working host, who had no time for the thoughts about misfortune.

8.

Late in the evening I was walking in the park...

 

Late in the evening I was walking in the park. Suddenly I heard scream coming from behind bushes. I stopped to listen and understood that a woman was attacked. I heard sounds of fighting and muttering. For several moments I was hesitating, should I get involved?

I panicked. I was frightened for my own safety. Maybe it is better to call the police? Then I realized that a woman‘s voice becomes weaker, so I knew I have to act quickly. Can I run away from this? Finally I decided that I have to help this unknown woman even if I am risking my own life. I felt some strange transformation inside, the moral and physical strength, so I ran behind the bushes. I pulled the attacker off the girl. We felt to the ground and grappled for several minutes. Then the assailant jumped up and ran away.

Breathing hard I slowly came up to the girl, who was cowering behind a tree. It was dark, so I could not see her face clearly. I felt, that she is very frightened, so I talked to her from a distance: „You are safe now, it‘s ok, the man had run away“. After a few moments I heard her words with a great amazement in her voice: „Dad, is that you?” And then I realized that the girl was my youngest daughter.

9.

 

A poor boy was selling goods from one door to another...

 

A poor boy was selling goods from one door to another to pay for his studies. One day he found that he had only one dime left, and he was hungry. While approaching the next house, he decided to ask for a meal.
But when a young woman has opened the door, he only dared to ask for a glass of water. She looked at him and understood that probably the boy is hungry. So she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it and then asked how much he owed her. The woman replied: „You don‘t own me anything. Mother taught us never to accept pay for a kindness“. „Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart“, – he said and felt that now is stronger not only physically, but his faith in God has grown as well. The boy‘s name was Howard Kelly.
Many years have passed. One day that woman became seriously ill. Local doctors could not help her. Therefore they sent her to a big city, where her rare disease would be studied by specialists. Dr Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he entered her room in the hospital, he immediately recognized the woman, that showed kindness to him, when he was poor. The doctor was determined to do his best to help her recover from her disease.
The struggle was long, but together they managed to overcome her illness. After some time the woman received a bill for her treatment. She was worried that the amount to pay would be so significant, that it would take the rest of her life to pay for it. Finally, when the woman looked at the bill, she noticed words that were written on the side of the bill. The words were: „Paid in full with a glass of milk“.

10.

When I was a little girl, I remember that...

 

When I was a little girl, I remember that when my dad was repairing something, every time he asked me to hold the hammer, just so we would have a time for a conversation with each other. I never saw my dad drinking or taking a „night out with the boys“, all he did after work was taking care of his family.
I grew up and left home for college and since then, my dad had been calling me every Sunday morning, no matter what. And when several years later I bought a house, my dad was painting it by himself for three days in the 80-degree summer heat. All he asked was to hold his paint brush and talk to him. But I was too busy in those days, I did not find any time for a conversation with my dad.
Four years ago, my dad was visiting me. He spent many hours putting together a swing set for my daughter. He asked to bring him a cup of tea and have a talk with him, but I had to prepare for a trip that weekend, so I did not have time for any long conversations that day.
One Sunday morning we had a telephone talk as usual, I noticed that my dad had forgotten some things that we discussed lately. I was in a hurry, so our conversation was short. Few hours later that day came a call. My father was in a hospital with an aneurysm. Immediately I bought ticket for a flight and on my way I was thinking about all missed occasions to have a talk with my dad.
By the time I have arrived to hospital, my father had passed away. Now it was he who did not have time for a conversation with me. I realized how little I knew about my dad, his deepest thoughts and dreams.
After his death I learned much more about him, and even more about myself. All he ever asked me was my time. And now his has all my attention every single day.