21. Your good deeds could change the world
“Every Sunday morning I take a light jog around a park near my home. There’s a lake located in one corner of the park. Each time I jog by this lake, I see the same elderly woman sitting at the water’s edge with a small metal cage sitting beside her.
This past Sunday my curiosity got the best of me, so I stopped jogging and walked over to her. As I got closer, I realized that the metal cage was, in fact, a small trap. There were three turtles, unharmed, slowly walking around the base of the trap. She had a fourth turtle in her lap that she was carefully scrubbing with a spongy brush.
‘Hello,’ I said. ‘I see you here every Sunday morning. If you don’t mind my nosiness, I’d love to know what you’re doing with these turtles.’
She smiled. ‘I’m cleaning off their shells,” she replied. “Anything on a turtle’s shell, like algae or scum, reduces the turtle’s ability to absorb heat and impedes its ability to swim. It can also corrode and weaken the shell over time.’
‘Wow! That’s really nice of you!’ I exclaimed.
She went on: ‘I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning, relaxing by this lake and helping these little guys out. It’s my own strange way of making a difference.’
‘But don’t most freshwater turtles live their whole lives with algae and scum hanging from their shells?’ I asked.
‘Yep, sadly, they do,’ she replied.
I scratched my head. ‘Well then, don’t you think your time could be better spent? I mean, I think your efforts are kind and all, but there are freshwater turtles living in lakes all around the world. And 99% of these turtles don’t have kind people like you to help them clean off their shells. So, no offense… but how exactly are your localized efforts here truly making a difference?’
The woman giggled aloud. She then looked down at the turtle in her lap, scrubbed off the last piece of algae from its shell, and said, ‘Sweetie, if this little guy could talk, he’d tell you I just made all the difference in the world.'”
22. Don’t let your circumstances change you
“There once was a blind woman who hated herself purely because she could not see. The only person she loved was her boyfriend, as he was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, then she would marry him.
One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her – now she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her loving boyfriend asked her, ‘Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?’
The woman was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and wrote a short note to her saying: ‘Just take care of my eyes, dear.'”
23. You are not going to get anything handed to you
“A man walked to the top of a hill to talk to God.
The man asked, ‘God, what’s a million years to you?’ and God said, ‘A minute.’
Then the man asked, ‘Well, what’s a million dollars to you?’ and God said, ‘A penny.’
Then the man asked, ‘God…..can I have a penny?’ and God said, ‘Sure… in a minute.’
24. Do not get too greedy
“It was an incredibly hot day and a lion was feeling very hungry.
He crawled out of his den and searched here and there, but he could only find a small hare. He caught the hare, but with some hesitation as he knew the hare wouldn’t fill him up.
As the lion was about to kill the hare, he spotted a deer coming his way and thought, ‘Instead of eating this small hare, let me eat that big deer.’
So he let the hare go and went after the deer, but it vanished in the forest. The lion now had nothing to eat as the hare was also long gone.”
25. Your talent only matters if you are somewhere it can be used
“A mother and a baby camel were lying around under a tree.
Then the baby camel asked, ‘Why do camels have humps?’
The mother camel considered this and said, ‘We are desert animals so we have the humps to store water so we can survive with very little water.’
The baby camel thought for a moment then said, ‘Ok…why are our legs long and our feet rounded?’
The mama replied, ‘They are meant for walking in the desert.’
The baby paused. After a beat, the camel asked, ‘Why are our eyelashes long? Sometimes they get in my way.’
The mama responded, ‘Those long thick eyelashes protect your eyes from the desert sand when it blows in the wind.’
The baby thought and thought. Then he said, ‘I see. So the hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for walking through the desert and these eyelashes protect my eyes from the desert then why in the Zoo?'”
26. Always tell the truth
“One night four college kids stayed out late, partying and having a good time. They paid no mind to the test they had scheduled for the next day and didn’t study. In the morning, they hatched a plan to get out of taking their test. They covered themselves with grease and dirt and went to the Dean’s office. Once there, they said they had been to a wedding the previous night and on the way back they got a flat tire and had to push the car back to campus.
The Dean listened to their tale of woe and thought. He offered them a retest three days later. They thanked him and accepted his offer at that time.
When the test day arrived, they went to the Dean. The Dean put them all in separate rooms for the test. They were fine with this since they had all studied hard. Then they saw the test. It had 2 questions.
1) Your Name __________ (1 Points)
2) Which tire burst? __________ (99 Points).”
27. Love matters more than material items
“Some time ago, a man punished his young daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became angry when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the girl brought the gift to her father on Christmas day and said, ‘This is for you, daddy.’
The man became embarrassed by his overreaction a few days before, but his rage continued when he saw that the box was empty. He yelled at her, ‘Don’t you know, when you give someone a gift, there’s supposed to be something inside?’
The little girl looked up at her dad with tears in her eyes and cried; ‘Oh, daddy, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, daddy.’
The father was devastated. He put his arms around his daughter and begged for her forgiveness.
A little while later, the girl died in an accident. Her father kept the gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was feeling down, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.”
“Every Sunday morning I take a light jog around a park near my home. There’s a lake located in one corner of the park. Each time I jog by this lake, I see the same elderly woman sitting at the water’s edge with a small metal cage sitting beside her.
This past Sunday my curiosity got the best of me, so I stopped jogging and walked over to her. As I got closer, I realized that the metal cage was, in fact, a small trap. There were three turtles, unharmed, slowly walking around the base of the trap. She had a fourth turtle in her lap that she was carefully scrubbing with a spongy brush.
‘Hello,’ I said. ‘I see you here every Sunday morning. If you don’t mind my nosiness, I’d love to know what you’re doing with these turtles.’
She smiled. ‘I’m cleaning off their shells,” she replied. “Anything on a turtle’s shell, like algae or scum, reduces the turtle’s ability to absorb heat and impedes its ability to swim. It can also corrode and weaken the shell over time.’
‘Wow! That’s really nice of you!’ I exclaimed.
She went on: ‘I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning, relaxing by this lake and helping these little guys out. It’s my own strange way of making a difference.’
‘But don’t most freshwater turtles live their whole lives with algae and scum hanging from their shells?’ I asked.
‘Yep, sadly, they do,’ she replied.
I scratched my head. ‘Well then, don’t you think your time could be better spent? I mean, I think your efforts are kind and all, but there are freshwater turtles living in lakes all around the world. And 99% of these turtles don’t have kind people like you to help them clean off their shells. So, no offense… but how exactly are your localized efforts here truly making a difference?’
The woman giggled aloud. She then looked down at the turtle in her lap, scrubbed off the last piece of algae from its shell, and said, ‘Sweetie, if this little guy could talk, he’d tell you I just made all the difference in the world.'”
22. Don’t let your circumstances change you
“There once was a blind woman who hated herself purely because she could not see. The only person she loved was her boyfriend, as he was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, then she would marry him.
One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her – now she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her loving boyfriend asked her, ‘Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?’
The woman was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and wrote a short note to her saying: ‘Just take care of my eyes, dear.'”
23. You are not going to get anything handed to you
“A man walked to the top of a hill to talk to God.
The man asked, ‘God, what’s a million years to you?’ and God said, ‘A minute.’
Then the man asked, ‘Well, what’s a million dollars to you?’ and God said, ‘A penny.’
Then the man asked, ‘God…..can I have a penny?’ and God said, ‘Sure… in a minute.’
24. Do not get too greedy
“It was an incredibly hot day and a lion was feeling very hungry.
He crawled out of his den and searched here and there, but he could only find a small hare. He caught the hare, but with some hesitation as he knew the hare wouldn’t fill him up.
As the lion was about to kill the hare, he spotted a deer coming his way and thought, ‘Instead of eating this small hare, let me eat that big deer.’
So he let the hare go and went after the deer, but it vanished in the forest. The lion now had nothing to eat as the hare was also long gone.”
25. Your talent only matters if you are somewhere it can be used
“A mother and a baby camel were lying around under a tree.
Then the baby camel asked, ‘Why do camels have humps?’
The mother camel considered this and said, ‘We are desert animals so we have the humps to store water so we can survive with very little water.’
The baby camel thought for a moment then said, ‘Ok…why are our legs long and our feet rounded?’
The mama replied, ‘They are meant for walking in the desert.’
The baby paused. After a beat, the camel asked, ‘Why are our eyelashes long? Sometimes they get in my way.’
The mama responded, ‘Those long thick eyelashes protect your eyes from the desert sand when it blows in the wind.’
The baby thought and thought. Then he said, ‘I see. So the hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for walking through the desert and these eyelashes protect my eyes from the desert then why in the Zoo?'”
26. Always tell the truth
“One night four college kids stayed out late, partying and having a good time. They paid no mind to the test they had scheduled for the next day and didn’t study. In the morning, they hatched a plan to get out of taking their test. They covered themselves with grease and dirt and went to the Dean’s office. Once there, they said they had been to a wedding the previous night and on the way back they got a flat tire and had to push the car back to campus.
The Dean listened to their tale of woe and thought. He offered them a retest three days later. They thanked him and accepted his offer at that time.
When the test day arrived, they went to the Dean. The Dean put them all in separate rooms for the test. They were fine with this since they had all studied hard. Then they saw the test. It had 2 questions.
1) Your Name __________ (1 Points)
2) Which tire burst? __________ (99 Points).”
27. Love matters more than material items
“Some time ago, a man punished his young daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became angry when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the girl brought the gift to her father on Christmas day and said, ‘This is for you, daddy.’
The man became embarrassed by his overreaction a few days before, but his rage continued when he saw that the box was empty. He yelled at her, ‘Don’t you know, when you give someone a gift, there’s supposed to be something inside?’
The little girl looked up at her dad with tears in her eyes and cried; ‘Oh, daddy, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, daddy.’
The father was devastated. He put his arms around his daughter and begged for her forgiveness.
A little while later, the girl died in an accident. Her father kept the gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was feeling down, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.”
