2 Runners in an Ultra Marathon Race

In an ultra-marathon, there were only two runners left leading the race after they had covered 1250km over 25 days and they both still have about 1250km distance to finish the race.

Both of them were already exhausted, but continued to press forward until the end of 50th day. At this time, it started to drizzle. It was so foggy and clear vision was limited to a few kilometres. This significantly raised the degree of difficulty of the marathon.

The first runner at the front exerted his utmost effort to maintain his position at the forefront, he is also worried that the runner behind him would catch up. He is also worried about slipping as the path is slippery due to the rain so he was always looking intently at the path before him.

On the other hand, the second runner following behind was always focusing & visualising his goal ahead with his head and body postures raised and maintained upright. He only had the finishing point in his mind.

The second runner drew nearer and nearer to the first runner. The rain became heavier. By then both of them could hardly hold themselves up further. The runner in front finally collapsed due to exhaustion. The runner behind also seemed unable to hold out longer.

At this critical moment, he suddenly noticed and 'saw' an image of the Finishing Point, and it was not far ahead. He could vaguely discern the flag fluttering at the finishing point. He told himself to press on as the finishing point was just a short distance ahead.

This give him the impetus to dash forward with all his might to the finishing point. The second runner completed the race.

The first runner who was originally the fastest gave himself more stress by constantly worrying about losing and the slippery path and due to lack of focus, his stamina could not last him further, so he collapsed when he could win the race.

The second runner caught up with the first runner because he persevered towards his goal and vision throughout the entire 50 days race. In the end, he overcame all difficulties and obstacles successfully, dashed towards the finishing point and won the race.

The moral of the story is :
The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. 
Life battles don't always go to the fastest or the strongest, sooner or later those who win are those who think THEY CAN & those who HAVE A GOAL instilled deeply in them.

Old woman hired a painter

An old woman hired a painter to paint her house. When the painter entered the house, he saw that the old woman's husband was blind. The painter felt sympathetic towards the couple but the blind man was cheerful and sanguine, so during the few days that the painter worked in that house, he had congenial conversations with the old man.

When the painting work was completed, the old woman found that the painter had given them a very big discount in the bill. She asked the painter. " Why have you deducted so much from the charges?"

The painter replied, "I have had a very pleasant time talking with your husband these few days. His attitude towards life makes me realise that my circumstances are not the worst. I have deducted part of the charges, in appreciation of his kindness, as he has transformed my mentality. I no longer consider my job as hard work. I thank both of you from the bottom of my heart."

The old woman was moved to tears by the painter's GRATITUDE towards her husband, as the painter had only one arm.

A leaf from Bodhi Tree

2 persons lived in a same block of flats.A young gentleman lived in unit 33 while an old man lived in unit 32.

The old man's life was full of frustrations and misfortunes always befell him like shadow following him. When he was young, he lost all his family members in a war. One of his legs was also lost due to the bombing. Despite these misfortunes, the old man always looked cheerful.

On the other hand, the young man always looked miserable and did not greet people. It seemed as if everyone in the world owed him something. He only talked to the old man.

One day, the young man poured out his grivances to the old man and told the old man about the misfortunes that he had experienced. The old man merely smiled, without uttering a word.

Finally the young man could not help asking the old man, "You have experienced so many hardships throughout your life, but why have you never expressed any sorrow?"

The old man was silent. He looked intently at the young man. After a while, he showed the young man a leaf fallen from a Bodhi Tree. and asked," Look here. What does this leaf resemble?"

The young man looked at the leaf for a long time without saying anything. The old man then said," Doesn't this leaf look like a heart?"

Hearing this, the young man said, "Oh yes, the shape of this leaf is like a heart."

"Look again, what are there on the leaf?"

The old man passed the leaf onto the young man's hand. The young man could clearly see many holes of different sizes on the leaf.

The old man then said, "This leaf has grown in the spring wind and sunlight. It has also been buffeted by winds and rains, bitten by insects as well as hit by stones, so it is riddled with gaping wounds, but it has not withered. This is because it is full of gratitude for the sunshine, soil, rain and dew that have nourished its life. It is full of love for its own life. In contrast to these conditions, those setbacks that i have experienced are totally insignificant."

The old man finally said, "This is the answer, in which you will find the history of human life, as well as thought-provoking philosophy."

The young man still keeps that leaf even now. Whenever he encounters any setback, he would take out the leaf and ponder quietly. The story and life force of the leaf always enable him to maintain optimism and seal for self-improvement - the "Sunshine Mentality"!

Little Monk sweeping fallen leaves

There was a little monk, whose duty was to sweep the fallen leaves in the monastery compounds every morning, but this task alone was very time-consumin. In particular, the huge amount of leaves falling frequently between autumn and winter made his work more difficult.

Everyday he racked his brains to think of a solution to the endless sweeping of fallen leaves, so as to make his work easier. He even consulted his seniors. The abbot soon heard of this matter and he talked to the little monk about it.

The little monk expressed his ideas honestly to the abbot. The abbot said to him, "Tomorrow, before you start sweeping, why don't you shake every tree with some force, so that all the withered leaves drop down, then you will not have to sweep fallen leaves the day after tomorrow.

The little monk was very delighted to hear this. He thought, "The abbot is indeed intelligent. I have thought of all methods, yet i have not thought of this."

The next morning, the little monk work up very early and ran to the backyard without washing his face. He exerted all his strength to shake all the tress, thinking that he could then sweep away at one go all fallen leaves of that day and the day after. Then, he cleared the fallen leaves and went to take his lunch happily.

On the third day, the little monk was stunned when he took a look at the backyard. All the efforts that he had put in the previous day had been wasted, as the backyard was still full of fallen leaves.

The abbot came over and said to the little monk, "Do you know why i gave you that suggestion? That is to make you realise that no matter how hard you shake the trees today, there will still be fallen leaves tomorrow."

The little monk finally understood that there were many things that could not be done in advance.

THE TRUEST ATTITUDE IN LIVING IS TO LIVE EARNESTLY IN THE PRESENT MOMENT.

"Plonk is coming! Plonk is coming!"

A fully ripe fruit dropper down from a tree into a deep pool of water with a loud sound, "Plonk!"

A monkey heard the sound. Astonished, it took to its heels at once. As it ran, it shouted, "Plonk is coming! Plonk is coming!"

When animals in the surronding heard the monkey's cries, they also followed the monkey and ran quickly, without finding out the truth of the matter. As they ran, they also shouted, "Plonk is coming! Plonk is coming!"

When the long, king of the animals, saw the animals run past, it was also startled and fled for its dear life.

As this time, a passer-by who saw the animals fleeing for their lives asked them, "Why are all of you fleeing?"

The panic-stricken animals said, "Plonk is coming! Plonk is coming! You should also flee quickly!"

The passer-by asked, "What is plonk?"

At this time, the animals looked at one another. None of them knew what "Plonk" was, so the passer-by said, "Bring me to see what 'plonk' is exactly. Let's go!"

The monkey that detected "Plonk" brought them to the pond to take a look. They did not know whether to laugh or cry, as they found out that "Plonk" was merely a fruit, not some dreadful thing. They had frightened themselves for nothing!

That is what often happens in the world - people echo others' words without thinking and spread erroneout messages that mislead others. Therefore, we must know how to look at things wisely.

A young kid learning Karate

A father was worried about his son, who was already 16 years old, but lacked the strength of character expected of a man.

The father visited a Karate Master (Blackbelt Expert) to request him to train his son.

The Karate Master agreed and said, "Alright, you shall leave your son with me. Within 3 months, i will certainly train him to be a man of mettle. However, you cannot visit him within these 3 months."

The father agreed to this.

3 months later, the father came to bring his son home. The Karate Master had arranged for a match between the son and a karate instructor (also a Blackbelt), so as to show the result of the 3 month training.

During the match, the son dropped to the ground at every single blow delivered by the karate instructor. He stood up immediately to meet the challenge again, only to fall flat on the ground again at once. Yet, he stood up once again.... This happened repeatedly, for a total of 14 rounds.

Then, the Karate Master asked the father, "What do you think? Does your son demostrate enough strength of character ecpected of a man?"

The father said. "I am so ashamed. I have sent him here to be trained for 3 months, but the result i see is that he is so vulnerable and drops down to the ground the moment he gets hit."

The Karate Master said. " It is really pity that you only see victory and loss on the surface. Didn't you see the BRAVERY and WILLPOWER in your son who immediately stood up when he dropped down to the ground? This is the true strength of a character in a man!"

The moral of the story tells us 2 things.

A PERSON WHO HAS THE QUALITIES FOR SUCCESS WILL MAKE EFFORTS TO STAND UP ONCE AGAIN AFTER HE HAS FALLEN DOWN. MOREOVER, HE WILL TELL HIMSELF TO "TRY AGAIN".

IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO DEFEAT ONE'S OPPONENT IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED VICTORIOUS.

Crabs learning to walk

Father Crab said to the little crab that just learnt to walk, "My child, why do you always walk crosswise (Sideway)? You ought to walk straight in the forward direction. This will enable you to move faster and look smarter."

The little crab said, "But Father, don't you also walk crosswise too?"

This short story tells us that Everyone is born, carrying two bags. One bag is hung in front, containing all of others' faults and flaws. The other bag is hung behind, containing one's own faults and flaws.

Therefore, people always notice the various faults of others and put all these faults of others into the front bag, to be firmly remembered one by one. On the other hand, one does not bother to take a look at one's own errors and faults which are contained in the bag behind one's back.

In general, people ofther think that they are more worthy than others, or even superior to others. This is the worst shortcoming of people, who are always "eager" to expose others' faults, while overlooking the fact that they themselves are not wise sages and thus are also prone to err.

GAINING MASTERY OVER ONESELF IS MORE IMPORTANT VICTORY THAN DEFEATHING OTHERS.