Swami

MANECK'S CORNER

How Ramakrishna Taught Swami Vivekananda the Need of a Guru

When Swami Vivekananda first visited Ramakrishna Paramahamsa he asked 'I have read the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures several times, I lecture and give discourses on the Gita and Ramayana. Do I still need harbor of a saint; do I still need a guru?'
Ramakrishna didn't reply to Vivekananda's question. After a few days Ramakrishna called upon Vivekananda and handed him a parcel to be delivered at a nearby village a few hours away by the sea route.
Early morning the boat and sailor would be ready and all he needed to do was to go to the village and deliver the parcel to the designated person. Vivekananda agreed and decided to start early. He found the boat and the sailor ready to put out to sea. Suddenly, upon sitting in the boat, Vivekananda realized that he didn't know the road to the village. He inquired of the sailor who had no clue, either. Vivekananda decided to go back to his guru to ask him the shortest way to the village.
Upon this Ramakrishna said, 'Narendra, this is my reply to the question you asked me when we met the first time: Today, you have the medium (the boat), you have the resource (the sailor), you have the road (the sea), you know what to do (deliver the parcel) and you also know where to go but you don't know the way. Likewise you have read all the scriptures, and you can conduct wonderful discourses on them. However, to realize the wisdom of scriptures one needs a guru, someone who has already traversed that path so that he can guide you through the journey and encourage you to not give up.'

You Are an Inspiration: Don't Ever Forget

Your presence is a gift to the world, you're unique and one of a kind. Your life can be what you want it to be - take it one day at a time.
Count your blessings, not your troubles, and you'll make it through what comes along. Within you are so many answers, understand, have courage, be strong.
Don't put limits on yourself; your dreams are waiting to be realized. Don't leave your important decisions to chance - reach for your peak, your goal, and your prize.
Nothing wastes more energy than worrying - the longer a problem is carried, the heavier it gets. Don't take things too seriously - live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.
Remember that a little love goes a long way - remember that a lot goes forever. Remember that friendship is a wise investment; life's treasures are people . . . together.
Have health and hope and happiness; take the time to wish on a star. And don't ever forget for even a day . . . how very special you are!

Author Unknown

How perfectly God works in our lives.

We run around looking for burning bushes and we get sunrises.
We ask for Him to part the sea and He makes you shed tears of joy.
We ask Him to cause the earth to quake and He sends you someone to love.
You ask Him for nothing and He sends you a reminder that He Loves you anyway.
"Even Looking down God said to me things were looking up!"

AMEN CRACKERS

Have you ever heard of "Amen Crackers"? I hadn't either until my granddaughter, Amanda, came for a visit. Amanda is not quite two but ever since her parents taught her to pray she always prays for each individual thing on her plate.

On evening at suppertime Amanda was in the high chair and I went over to the kitchen counter to fill her plate. Her Mother had put three small crackers on her high chair tray to give her something to eat while I fixed her plate. I watched as she bowed her head and touched the first cracker with her index finger and said, "Amen cracker". She touched the next cracker and said, "Amen cracker", and then she went to the last cracker, touching it, and again saying, "Amen cracker". She thought the tiny crackers were her supper so she was saying her prayers.

Amanda has figured out that prayers have an "Amen" in them but sometimes she gets the "Amen" at the beginning instead of at the end of her prayers.

I got to thinking about the word, "Amen" and I found that in Hebrew the word "Amen" means to confirm and it is spoken to state, "so be it." When we end our prayers with "Amen" we are reaffirming our dedication to God. Sometimes church members or congregations say, "Amen," to show confirmation or agreement when something powerful is spoken from the Word of God.

Amanda's prayer might seem very simple but maybe she wasn't so far off in what she was doing because she would have been confirming her dedication to God first of all instead of at the end. At any rate, we can gain wisdom from "the mouths of babes." I learned several things from Amanda and her "Amen Crackers."

- I learned that prayer should be a priority.
- I learned that whatever is on my "plate" I should be thankful for it.
- I learned I should keep it simple and be specific.
- I learned to have faith and trust God even when all I have is three crackers.
- I learned it is best to tend to my own crackers that have been provided for me and allow God to fill my plate.
- I learned to be patient. Even if I'm sitting in a high chair, I can't see what is going on in God's kitchen from where I sit.
- I learned to thank God for the small things, and not complain, even if all I have is crackers.
- I learned it doesn't matter if you get the prayer backwards, God hears our hearts.
Have you thanked God for the crackers in your life?
Pamela Perry Blaine


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s observation

“When a great man dies
For years beyond our ken
The light he leaves behind him
Lies upon the paths of men.”

Gandhi's Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World

'You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.' Mahatma Gandhi needs no long introduction. Everyone knows about the man who led the Indian people to independence from British rule in 1947.

So let's just move on to some of my favorite tips from Mahatma Gandhi.

1. Change yourself.

'You must be the change you want to see in the world.'
If you change yourself you will change your world. If you change how you think then you will change how you feel and what actions you take. And so the world around you will change.
And the problem with changing your outer world without changing yourself is that you will still be you when you reach that change you have strived for. You will still have your flaws, anger, negativity, self-sabotaging tendencies – in short, your ego.
Since your ego loves to divide things, to find enemies and to create separation it may start to try to create even more problems and conflicts in your life and world.

2. You are in control.

'Nobody can hurt me without my permission.'
What you feel and how you react to something is always up to you. You can choose your own thoughts, reactions and emotions to pretty much everything. You don't have to freak out, overreact of even react in a negative way.
And as you realize that no-one outside of yourself can actually control how you feel you can start to incorporate this thinking into your daily life and develop it as a thought habit. A habit that you can grow stronger and stronger over time. Doing this makes life a whole lot easier and more pleasurable.
3. Forgive and let it go. 'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.'
'An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.'
Fighting evil with evil won't help anyone.
Forgiving and letting go of the past will do you and the people in your world a great service. If you don't forgive then you let the past and another person to control how you feel. By forgiving you release yourself from those bonds. And then you can focus totally on, for instance, the next point.

4. Without action you aren't going anywhere.

'An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.'
Taking action is hard and difficult.
Preaching or reading or studying endlessly gives you the feeling of moving forward.
To really get where you want to go and to really understand yourself and your world you need to practice. Books can mostly just bring you knowledge. You have to take action and translate that knowledge into results and understanding.

5. Take care of this moment.

'I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.'
Why? Well, when you are in the present moment you don't worry about the next moment that you can't control anyway. And the resistance to action that comes from you imagining negative future consequences - or reflecting on past failures - of your actions loses its power. And so it becomes easier to both take action and to keep your focus on this moment and perform better.

6. Everyone is human.

'I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.' 'It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.'
When you start to make myths out of people – even though they may have produced extraordinary results – you run the risk of becoming disconnected from them. You can start to feel like you could never achieve similar things that they did because they are so very different. So it's important to keep in mind that everyone is just a human being no matter who they are.
It's important to remember that we are all human and prone to make mistakes. Be able to see with clarity where you went wrong and what you can learn from your mistake.

7. Persist.

'First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.'
Be persistent. In time the opposition around you will fade and fall away. And your inner resistance and self-sabotaging tendencies that want to hold you back and keep you like you have always been will grow weaker.
Find what you really like to do. Then you'll find the inner motivation to keep going, going and going.

8. See the good in people and help them.

'I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others.'
Leadership means getting along with people.'
There is pretty much always something good in people. And things that may not be so good. But you can choose what things to focus on.
And when you see the good in people it becomes easier to motivate yourself to be of service to them. By being of service to other people, by giving them value you not only make their lives better. Over time you tend to get what you give. So you, create an upward spiral of positive change that grows and becomes stronger.

9. Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.

'Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.'
'Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.'
I think that one of the best tips for improving your social skills is to behave in a congruent manner and communicate in an authentic way. People seem to really like authentic communication. And there is much inner enjoyment to be found when your thoughts, words and actions are aligned. You feel powerful and good about yourself.
10. Continue to grow and evolve. 'Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.'
You can pretty much always improve your skills, habits or re-evaluate your evaluations. You can gain deeper understanding of yourself and the world.

From Henrik Edberg’s book on Personal Development published on May, 2008

"Water the world"

By Bob Perks

 "It's time to water the mailman," I said.

The woman standing in line with me pretended not to hear me.  When I turned toward her she nervously looked out of the corner of her eye at me.

I smiled.

"I do it every year," I said.

She smiled, looked at me and shrugged her shoulders.

"That's why I'm buying this case of bottled water," I said.

"That's nice," she finally replied.

I was next in line so I paid for my items and said to the clerk, "This is for my mailman."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it.  It's going to get hot later in the week" she said.

I then turned toward the woman and said, "Would you like one?"

She politely shook her head and said, "No, thank you."

As I walked away I paused for a moment to re-adjust my grip on the case of water.  I could hear the woman say,  "Is he crazy?  He wants to water his mailman?"

The clerk who knows me very well from shopping there almost daily began to explain, "He does this every year.  He puts a few bottles out on his porch in ice when the weather gets hot.  He tells me the mailman loves it."

"Oh, that's what he meant.  It sounded strange, "watering the mailman" she said.

"He's a writer," the clerk added.

"Oh, that explains everything." the woman said laughing.

I continued out the door and headed home.

I thought about it for a while.  I know why I do it.  I feel I should and often struggle with those times I am not at home when he comes by.  I worry he might plan on it and not find any there.

I do it because I appreciate him...rain snow, sleet etc. ...he delivers.

Watering the mailman.  Actually, that's exactly what I do.  I take care of him.  I add to his day

In turn I have gained a friend.  I think we need to do that in our relationships.  He needed to tend to those people who bring something special to our lives.  We need to appreciate the things we take for granted. 

I remember my father inviting the coal man into our house one time when he delivered coal to us the day before Christmas.  He offered him a drink and some snacks. 

He was "watering the coal man."

Every time I go shopping I always make appreciative comments to the clerks.  I do it to brighten their monotonous day.

I give a tip to the girl at the pizza shop even when I am just picking it up myself.

Please don't see this as bragging.  I'm not full of myself.  Truthfully I even surprised myself when I began to think about all the people I fuss over.

It doesn't call for praise.  It's really something we should do all the time.  Those little things in the big picture keeps the world a little more bearable. 

I'm not talking about the courteous people who get paid to be nice as a part of customer service.

I'm talking about the guy who holds the door for the next person.  The woman who stops to make a comment about a new born. 

They water the world.

The water represents life.  A tiny drop of kindness makes the world healthy, better off and perhaps reflects hope in the eyes of the hopeless.

Yes, that's it.  All those little things, those tiny drops of water, add up to make waves in an otherwise dry, barren life.

God waters my soul.  God fills up my cup and it overflows with millions of tiny drops of living water.  God nourishes my spirit in those dry times by watering the gifts He has given me.

He leaves a bottle of cleansing hope waiting for me along my path to deliver my stories to the world.

Why not join me.  Together we can "water the world!"

 

The reality of HIM......

 This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and
suffering that I have seen. It's an explanation other people will
understand.


A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.

When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me when they need to."

"Exactly!"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

If you think God exists, send this to other people---If you think God does not exist, delete it!

BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING

 

You can't have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.

Charles F. Kettering

The Learning Tree

My grandfather baited the hook with a worm. He did it slowly, allowing me to watch and learn. He handed the rod to me, held my arms and taught me to cast my line into the blue water. Our bobbers floated together, as we sat on the shore hoping for a bite.

'I remember when I could sit here and watch the fish swimming in the water.'

He said. 'Sometimes, they'd jump out and land beside me. I didn't need a rod and bait back then.' He was teasing me again. I liked it. The sun warmed us. We sat and talked.

 

'We have to be patient.' he continued. 'The fish may come or they may not. It doesn't matter. We're out in the sun. It's a beautiful day. If it had rained, we wouldn't be here. We're lucky to have the warmth of the sun.'

He leaned back against a tree and sighed. 'Yes, it's a great day.'

I watched our bobbers. No fish pulled them under that day. It didn't matter. I was with granddad. I felt grown up. Just being with him was special.

Later, I sat in the back of the boat and watched as he rowed. His powerful muscles rippled with each pull on the oars. I wanted to be like him when I grew up. He was well liked by everyone. He'd struggled hard all his life for the little he had, but he managed to find time to laugh.

 

Sim was an amazing man. In the short time we had together, he taught me many things: how to bait a hook, the love of a good laugh, the value of a good friend, respect for my elders, to work hard and to love harder. The list is long.

He didn't always teach me directly. I pictured him with my mom, when she was a child, teaching and guiding her to maturity. The things he taught her would be passed on to me.

 

The family tree is a learning tree. The larger, older branches support and guide the new smaller branches. They balance the family structure with their strength. Over time, the branches above grow large, join with other families, and shade the older branches below. The old branches grow weak from the lack of light, die and fall away. The branches above take over their role on the learning tree, supporting the new family members.

 

For Closeness T-R-A-V-E-L


Inmate Mitchell King had a visitor -- his wife. King was serving a six-year jail term in Auckland, New Zealand for armed robbery. But his wife didn't want to be away from him for that long. So they held hands. And they stuck. She'd rubbed her palms with Super Glue.

Their new-found closeness was short-lived. And their separation painful. Her technique is not one I'd recommend for a closer relationship.

But if you want more closeness; if you desire relationships that are deeper and broader, more meaningful and longer-lasting, then remember the word "travel."

T is for TRUST. Trust is the glue that holds people together (not Super Glue). A relationship will go nowhere without it.

R is for RESPECT. "Do not save your loving speeches for your friends till they are dead; do not write them on their tombstones, speak them rather now instead," writes Anna Cummins. It's about respecting others and letting them know that you value them.

A is for AFFECTION. Sometimes affection means love. Sometimes it means a touch. Always it means kindness.

V is for VULNERABILITY. Though we may feel afraid to let another too close, no relationship will go anywhere without risking vulnerability. Entrepreneur Jim Rohn says, "The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy." And the love.

E is for EMOTIONAL INTIMACY. Learn to be open. Learn to communicate freely. What kinds of relationships you make are largely determined by how openly you have learned to communicate.

L is for LAUGHTER. Victor Borge got it right when he said, "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." It's also the most enjoyable.

For relationships that can really go somewhere, just remember the word "travel." Then enjoy the trip!

The Power of Kindness

A few years ago, a fellow I'll call Bob wrote me to explain, having just lost his bride of 42 years, how profoundly he was helped by grand and spontaneous acts of kindness of strangers. In one case, he was at Kinko's to make copies of the notes of love and support he received when he was overcome with emotion. After he began to cry, a young woman seeing his pain walked over and, without a word, hugged him until he regained control.

Weeks later, he was at a restaurant alone and again began to cry when he thought about his wife. A waitress sat beside him and held his hand. As long as there are people like that in the world, Bob concluded, there is still hope.

The great musician Pablo Casals said, "Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he acts on it and listens to it, he is giving a great deal of what the world needs most. It is not complicated, but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act upon it."

Poet William Wordsworth put it another way, declaring that the best portion of a good person’s life is the "little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love." And novelist Henry James said, "Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind, the second is to be kind and the third is to be kind."

Think how much better the world would be and how much more gratifying your own life would be if every day each of us set out to lighten the life or brighten the day of another with simple kindness.

 

I’ve Dedicated the Season to You

Ive known Ron a long time. But we live in different cities, and I didn’t know about Anthony, a young man he’s been a Big Brother to for six years. I found out that despite Ron’s tremendous travel schedule, he’s made the time nearly every week to be with Anthony. He wanted to tell me what just happened.

Anthony had a bitter history of rejection and abuse, and although he’s spent a great deal of time with Ron, he is still reserved and emotionally distant. Apparently, Anthony recently got into a community college where he became a starter on the football team.

Ron said he was pleasantly surprised when Anthony invited him and his wife Sally to watch him play. After the game, Ron rushed onto the field to congratulate Anthony for playing well. Anthony was muddy and tired.

"Do you really think I played well?" he asked.

"Why, that last block saved the game. I’m proud as can be," Ron answered.

Anthony smiled broadly and said, "That’s really good to hear because I want to show you something."

Ron got teary when Anthony pulled the neck of his muddy shirt aside and revealed a picture taped to his shoulder pad. A picture of Ron and Sally. Anthony said, "I just want you to know I’ve dedicated this season to both of you."

Yes, Ron gave Anthony a wonderful gift, but Anthony’s present was easily as great. He gave the two the kind of feeling you can’t get from money, status or power. He gave them gratitude.

A Worldwide Spectacle of Cheating and Self-Indulgent Violence

Americans were shamed by the conduct of a few athletes at the 2006 Winter Olympics, but that was nothing compared to what’s gone on in the past month on the international stage.

A worldwide crisis is growing, with huge cultural and financial implications.

Other than the Olympics, two of the biggest sporting events in the world are the Tour de France and the World Cup. Both have been marred and mangled by illegal and unsporting behavior that has alienated, or at least embarrassed, all but hard-core partisans.

In another doping scandal that may eventually destroy cycling, this year’s Tour de France was decimated when nine cyclists, including three favorites – Italy’s Ivan Basso, Germany’s Jan Ullrich and Spain’s Francisco Mancebo – were banned from the race because they were linked to a doping doctor in Spain.

Soccer was deeply scarred when it was revealed that some of Italy’s top clubs paid off referees to fix matches. The World Cup tournament itself did not restore the game’s luster. Instead, the games featured unprecedented violence, dirty play, fakery and unsportsmanlike behavior.

There were nearly 30 ejections in the tournament, far more than ever before, including England’s star Wayne Rooney (for stomping a fallen opponent in the groin) and Germany’s Torsten Fring (for punching an opponent). And many thought the game between Portugal and the Netherlands, which broke single-game records for yellow cards (16) and red cards (4), was one of the most despicable World Cup games ever played.

The slide toward foolish, uncontrolled, unsporting behavior was epitomized in the final game when French captain Zinedine Zidane head-butted an opponent during a crucial point in overtime and was ejected. Sadly, the reputation of one of the game’s greatest players will be forever tainted by this lapse in professionalism.

The French team eventually lost to Italy. The squad had every right to be frustrated and disappointed, but as they walked from the award podium, their coach and several team members disrespected their opponents and their sport by removing their second-place medals in apparent disgust. What happened to the glory of honorable competition?

Done right, sports can uplift our spirits and showcase the best of human character, but not enough people are doing it right.

*As if to add an exclamation point, in another part of the globe Scottish soccer star Fernando Ricksen was sent home from South Africa for drunken behavior on a plane.

Management Maxim #1: Suitability Is as Important as Capability

A critical maxim of management is: "Suitability is as important as capability." Capability asks, "Can they do the job?" Suitability asks, "Are they right for the job?"

If the job is not a good fit, it’s not a good job.

Yes, an employee has to have (or be able to readily acquire) the skills and knowledge required for excellent job performance, but compatibility can be more critical than capacity.

There are three aspects to suitability: intellect, temperament and objectives.

Intellectually, will the employee be challenged but not overtaxed by the job? People who are overqualified usually fail or leave because they get bored or hate being underutilized. On the other hand, employees who must stretch mightily to do a job often find it too stressful to do so continually.

Temperament and personality are also important. Some people flourish while others wilt in particular organizational cultures. Some need more authority or autonomy than a job entails while others want closer supervision and more direction. Some love and others hate detail work. And some rebel against too much structure while others need orderliness and predictability.

Fit involves integration with existing people and practices and compatibility with the style and values of their immediate boss. An organization should encourage fresh ideas, creativity, innovation and a willingness to challenge assumptions and approaches, but there is a significant downside to employees who spend too much energy trying to change their coworkers and the way things are done.

Finally, does the job make sense given the applicant’s financial and career objectives? Despite pledges and protests to the contrary, employees who think they are taking a step backward in pay or prestige often find easy excuses to leave. In such cases, it’s just like hiring a temp but without the control over timing.

A responsible manager must be perceptive and prudent. Just as job applicants tend to say whatever they think the employer wants to hear, employers who need to fill a job tend to believe whatever they want to hear.

There’s no lasting benefit when suitability gaps are filled with wishful thinking or rationalizations.

Every Good Decision Starts With a Stop

More often than we like, most of us face choices that can have serious and lasting impacts on our lives. Do we go along with the crowd? Do we tell someone off? Do we quit a job or end a relationship? Unfortunately, these decisions are not preceded by a drumroll warning us the stakes are high. Even worse, we often don’t have a lot of time to figure out what to do.

It’s no surprise that most bad decisions -- the ones that mess up our lives -- are made impulsively or without sufficient reflection.

Ancient proverbs warn us to "Count to ten when you’re angry" or "Think ahead." But anger and the lack of preplanning are only two factors that can impede excellent decision making. Fatigue, fear, frustration, stress and impatience also create obstacles to wise choices.

Just as we learned to look both ways before we cross the street, we can learn to systematically analyze every important decision to allow us to arrive at effective and ethical conclusions.

Each good decision, therefore, should start with a stop -- a forced moment of reflection to let us clarify our goals, evaluate the completeness and credibility of our information and devise alternative strategies to achieve the best possible result. This stop can also allow us to muster our moral willpower to overcome temptations and emotions that can lead to rash, foolish or ill-considered decisions.

While it’s great to be able to "sleep on a problem" for a day or two, or even a few hours, before making a decision, many situations do not afford us that luxury. But even a pause of a few seconds can be enough. 


What’s Wrong With Plagiarism?

Plagiarism and her close cousins, cheating and resume fraud, are much in the news these days. While many are outraged, others are quick to excuse and shrug off such conduct. "What’s the big deal?" they ask.

Well, first, plagiarism is a form of lying and fraud. Often it’s a form of theft as well. But even if the person plagiarized consents, the act is fundamentally dishonest. Those who take credit for the writings or ideas of others victimize everyone who believes the plagiarist’s false claims.

Second, if plagiarism and other forms of cheating are treated lightly, more people will engage in such conduct more often. Remember, what we allow, we encourage. Because the Internet makes plagiarism so easy, it becomes even more important to impose consequences on cheaters that are serious enough to deter others.

Third, the reason to impose severe sanctions on people who lie and cheat is not so much to inflict pain on wrongdoers as it is to honor and uphold moral principles and protect honest people from being taken unfair advantage of. When cheaters are allowed to prosper, we betray all those who have the virtue and courage to resist temptation.

Finally, all forms of cheating are habit forming. What’s more, cheaters invariably lie to cover up their cheating, increasing the damage to their own credibility and generating toxic distrust and cynicism that undermines all of society.

 

The Red Marbles

Barbara Miller was bagging some early potatoes for me. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily looking at a basket of freshly picked green peas. I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller and the ragged boy next to me.

'Hello Barry, how are you today?'

'H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas, they sure look good.'

'They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?'

'Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time.'

'Good, anything I can help you with?'

'No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas.'

'Would you like to take some home?'

'No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with.'

'Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?'

'All I got's my prize marble here.'

'Is that right? Let me see it.'

'Here 'tis. She's a dandy.'

'I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?'

'Not zackley, but almost.'

'Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble.'

'Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.'

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me.

With a smile she said, 'There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, perhaps.'

I left the stand smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering.

Several years went by, each more rapid that the previous one and I had occasion to visit some old friends and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his viewing that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts ... all very professional looking.

They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket.

Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and mentioned the story she had told me about the marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

'Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim 'traded' them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about colour or size, they came to pay their debt.'

'We've never had a great deal of the wealth,' she confided, 'but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho.'

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

Author Unknown

 

Playing for Someone Else

Skip Bertman, now the athletic director at Louisiana State University, was one of the most successful college baseball coaches ever, winning five NCAA baseball championships. He often sent his players off to play with an inspirational story, which he ended by invoking them to do their best and a reminder: "You represent LSU, your family and your Maker."

Coach Bertman emphasized the idea that his players were never simply playing for themselves. He told a story about a young man named John who played football for Columbia University in the 1930s. Actually, John was on the squad because he had a terrific attitude, not because he was a good player. He was a benchwarmer who hadn’t been in a single game.

During his senior year, John’s father died. When he returned from the funeral, he asked his coach if he could start in the next game to honor his dad. The coach couldn’t refuse, but he warned John that it probably would be only for a few plays.

To the coach’s surprise, John played so well he was declared the game’s most valuable player. When the coach asked him how he was able to play at such a high level after just losing his father.  John said, "My dad came to every game, Coach. You probably saw me walking with him holding his arm. That’s because he was blind. I figure today was the first time he ever saw me play. I was playing for my daddy."

It’s amazing how much better all of us can be when we play for someone else.

 

A Boomerang World

As I was sitting outside this morning sipping my coffee and watching the sun climb over the horizon, I looked down and saw a curved stick on the ground that reminded me of a boomerang. Suddenly I was caught up in memories of me as a kid playing for hours on end in my grandfather's backyard with a small wooden boomerang he had given to me as a gift.

Remember when you were a kid, how fascinated you were with boomerangs? (At least I was) You take this flat, curved piece of wood and throw it and then watch in amazement as it curves around in the air and comes right back to you.

As "miraculous" as that seemed when we were kids, I've found that most of our life is like that. Whatever we "throw" out there, comes back to us.

We live in a "boomerang" world.

Let me explain:

If you smile at someone, in almost every case, they will smile back.

Try it now with someone nearby and see if it works.

If you're kind toward someone, they will usually be kind in return.

Of course, this also works in the other direction.

If you complain to someone, they will "share" their complaints with you. (In fact, you may quickly find yourself in a subtle competition to see who is more miserable.)

If you get angry at someone, they will usually get angry with you.

And so on...

The fact is, whatever you decide to "throw" out into the world will usually circle around and land right back at your feet. (Much like the boomerangs we played with as kids.)

Here's what struck me this morning.

I have a CHOICE about what I decide to "throw" out into my world. I have a CHOICE about what I WANT to land at my feet?

If you want more JOY - throw it out there.

If you want more HAPPINESS - throw some happiness out there to someone else and watch it "miraculously" come back to you.

It even works with money. Need money? Give some away. (Spiritual leaders from the beginning of time have been telling us this, but most of us are afraid to believe it.)

It works in just about every area of our life. When we give something away. When we "throw" it out there. It comes back to us.

But here's the good news. (And this is really the "miraculous" part) We actually get MORE back than what we throw out there. Plant a seed and you don't just get one seed back. You get hundreds - maybe even thousands!

So today and for as many days afterwards as you want, make a conscious CHOICE about what you want to "throw" out into the world. By doing this, you will be making a choice about what is going to come back and land at your feet.

Remember the boomerang. Whatever you "throw" out there WILL come back to you many times over.

Author Tim Wright, Ph.D.

Something similar to what Swami says:  “The world is nothing but a reflection, reaction and resound of own thoughts, words and deeds”

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