MOUNTAIN STORY

A son and his father were walking on the mountains.
Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: “AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!”
To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: “AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Curious, he yells: “Who are you?”
He receives the answer: “Who are you?”
And then he screams to the mountain: “I admire you!”
The voice answers: “I admire you!”
Angered at the response, he screams: “Coward!”
He receives the answer: “Coward!”
He looks to his father and asks: “What’s going on?”
The father smiles and says: “My son, pay attention.”
Again the man screams: “You are a champion!”
The voice answers: “You are a champion!”
The boy is surprised, but does not understand.
Then the father explains: “People call this ECHO,
but really this is LIFE.”
It gives you back everything you say or do.
Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.
If you want more love in the world,
create more love in your heart.
If you want more competence in your team,
improve your competence.
This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life;
Life will give you back everything you have given to it.”

“Your life is not a coincidence. It’s a reflection of you!”

DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped
off the train in Boston and walk timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University
President’s outer office.
The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at
Harvard and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge.
“We want to see the president,” the man said softly.
“He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped.
“We’ll wait,” the lady replied.
For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged
and go away. They didn’t and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the
president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.
“Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she said to him.
He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time
to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer
office.
The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.
The lady told him, “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was
happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a
memorial to him, somewhere on campus.”
The president wasn’t touched.... He was shocked.
“Madam,” he said, gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and
died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”
“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly. “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to
give a building to Harvard.”

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then
exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over
seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”
For a moment the lady was silent.
The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now.
The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it
costs to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?”
Her husband nodded.
The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr.
and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to
Palo Alto, California where they established the University that
bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that
Harvard no longer cared about.
You can easily judge the character of others by how
they treat those who they think can do nothing.

THE WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the
shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been
flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over its own pelt and strolled down
among the sheep. The Lamb that belonged to the sheep, whose skin the Wolf
was wearing, began to follow the Wolf in the Sheep’s clothing; so, leading the
Lamb a little apart, he soon made a meal off her, and for some time he
succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoying hearty meals.
Appearances are deceptive.

FATHERS EYES

A teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. The
father believed in encouragement. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was
always in the stands cheering. He never missed a game.
This young man was the smallest of the class when he entered high school. His father continued to
encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn’t want to.
But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best
at every practice, and perhaps he’d get to play when he became a senior. All through high school he
never missed a practice or a game, but remained a bench warmer all four years. His faithful father
was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him. When the young man went
to college, he decided to try out for the football team as a “walk-on.”
Everyone was sure he could never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him
on the roster because he always puts his heart and soul to every practice, and at the same time,
provided the other members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed. The news that he had
survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father.
His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games. This
persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to
play in the game.

It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before
the big play off game, the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and he
became deathly silent. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, “My father died this morning.
Is it all right if I miss practice today?”
The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, “Take the rest of the week off, son.
And don’t even plan to come back to the game on Saturday.” Saturday arrived, and the game was
not going well.
In the third quarter, when the team was ten points behind, a silent young man quietly slipped into
the empty locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the sidelines, the coach and his
players were astounded to see their faithful team-mate back so soon.
“Coach, please let me play. I’ve just got to play today,” said the young man.
The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted his worst player in this close
playoff game. But the young man persisted, and finally feeling sorry for the kid, the coach gave in.
“All right,” he said. “You can go in.” Before long, the coach, the players and everyone in the stands
could not believe their eyes. This little unknown, who had never played before, was doing
everything right. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed, blocked and tackled
like a star. His team began to triumph.
The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game, this kid intercepted a pass and ran all
the way for the winning touchdown. The fans broke loose. His team-mates hoisted him onto their
shoulders. Such cheering you’ve never heard!
Finally, after the stands had emptied and the team had
showered and left the locker room, the coach noticed
that the young man was sitting quietly in the corner all
alone. The coach came to him and said, “Kid, I can’t
believe it. You were fantastic!”
Tell me what got into you? How did you do it? He
looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said,
“Well, you knew my dad died, but did you know that my
dad was blind?” The young man swallowed hard and
forced a smile, “Dad came to all my games, but today
was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to
show him I could do it!”

GRANDPA’S TABLE

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old
man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at
the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas
rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped, the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.
The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. “We must do something about
Grandfather,” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the
floor.” So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while
the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was
served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a
tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions
when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.
One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He
asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” Just as sweetly, the boy responded, “Oh, I am
making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.” The four-year-old
smiled and went back to work. The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then
tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be
done.
That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table.
For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family.
And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care
any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the
tablecloth soiled.
Children are remarkably perceptive. Their eyes ever observe, their ears ever listen, and their minds
ever process the messages they absorb. If they see us patiently provide a happy home atmosphere
for family members, they will imitate that attitude for the rest of their lives. The wise parent
realizes that every day the building blocks are being laid for the child’s future. Let’s be wise builders
and role models.
“Life is about people connecting with people, and making a positive difference.
Take care of yourself, ... and those you love, ... today, ... and everyday!”

A HOLE IN THE FENCE

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him
that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to
control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it
was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence....
Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the
father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his
temper. The day passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were
gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well,
my son, but look at the holes in the fence.”
The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.
You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry,
the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
Friends and loved ones are a very rare jewel, indeed.
They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.
They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they
always want to open their hearts to us. Water your
relationships with kindness… and they will grow. So be
careful little lips what you say…! And you won't chase
friendships away.

TRUE WEALTH

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of
showing his son how the poor people live so he could be thankful for his wealth.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad.”
“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. “Oh yeah” said the son. “So what did you
learn from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they
have a creek that has no end.” “We have imported lanterns in our
garden and they have the stars at night.” “Our patio reaches to the
front yard and they have the whole horizon.” “We have a small
piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our
sight.” “We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.”
“We buy our food, but they grow theirs.” “We have walls around
our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.”
With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks dad for showing me how
poor we are.”