A teacher asked seven-year-old Kazim, "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?" Within a few seconds Kazim replied confidently, "Four!"

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. "Maybe the child did not listen properly," she thought. She repeated, "Kazim, listen carefully. If I give you one apple AND one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"

Kazim had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four..."

The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that Kazim liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?"

Seeing the teacher happy, young Kazim calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young Kazim enquired, "Three?"

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?"

Promptly Kazim answered, "Four!"

The teacher was aghast. "How Kazim, how?" she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.

In a voice that was low and hesitating young Kazim replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag

Wonderful story…with POWERFUL lesson

A woman baked chapatti (roti) for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra chapatti on the window sill, for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunchback came and took away the chapatti. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and uttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” The woman felt irritated. “Not a word of gratitude,” she said to herself… “Everyday this hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?” One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this hunchback,” she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the chapatti she prepared for him! As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said. Immediately, she threw the chapatti into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill. As usual, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and muttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman. Every day, as the woman placed the chapatti on the window sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For many months, she had no news of him.. She prayed for his safe return. That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway. He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother, he said, “Mom, it’s a miracle I’m here. While I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole chapatti. As he gave it to me, he said, “This is what I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!” ” As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned chapatti that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life! It was then that she realized the significance of the words: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” Do good and Don’t ever stop doing good, even if it is not appreciated at that time. If you like this, share it with others and I bet so many lives would be touched

Take hold of your own life.
See that the whole existence is celebrating.
These trees are not serious, these birds are not serious.
The rivers and the oceans are wild,
and everywhere there is fun,
everywhere there is joy and delight.
Watch existence,
listen to the existence and become part of it.
— Osho

This post is dedicated to someone who is very close to me, he and she helped me in doing a reality check today This is what I have for them and it is all with due respect for them.

Please stop comparing me and see life from a bigger picture. There are so many people who are better than you. In future also there will be lot of people who will be better than you. I have my own style and please be aware that I will get what I need. If my heart is clean which I don't doubt, you will get respect till eternity and I mean it till eternity.

Regards
Atul Punjani

By Janina Gomes

Not all relationships will turn out good. Life has its ups and downs and this includes the way we relate to others. But as we grow older we come to realise that some will walk with us for a short distance; others for longer, but very few will do so all the way. We form our own equations. With some we share familiarity and exchange confidences. With others we are cordial and polite.
    Real life is full of exploitation. What this does is to sour relationships and create resentment and bitterness. When we have learned to protect ourselves in such situations, we may have perforce had to build fences. These fences protect our integrity and individuality and help us to live life the way it was meant to be lived, on our own terms.
    The protective fence keeps marauders at bay. Like a line of control, the fence may help us stave off intrusions. However, when there are fences, it is important to also build bridges. These bridges are built through give and take. They in no way undermine our integrity, but help to meet with others; sometimes even antagonists, half way. When we build bridges, we in no way surrender the values for which we stand. We do not forfeit our individuality and are not hammered into submission, not at all.
    Bridges preserve mutuality without sacrificing our own interests. They help us cross troubled waters and to offer our friendship when it would be beneficial to both. Think of the lovely village cottage. It is fenced in to prevent animals and strangers from trespassing; at the same time, it is connected with the outside world.
    Bridges help us to build connections and establish connectivity, both important in all personal and social transactions. In our professional lives too, we cannot work alone. We are part of a team. Where the team spirit is weak, the stronger have the upper hand. It is part of growing and human maturity, to come to a stage where we can be ourselves, still interacting with others, but shunning people who will not allow us to grow.
    It is often made out as if only bridges are necessary in life. But fences play an equally important role in our spiritual lives. Sometimes we have to hem ourselves in, like the flower buds that need the right moment to bloom.
    Fences can be built without creating hostility. They help us create our own boundaries. These boundaries are not only important, but often we need them to survive. There will always be transgressors. But, as we learn from experience, we get better at discerning which relationships are bringing us closer to God and which ones come in the way.
    There could be times when we foolishly allow people to walk all over us. We learn to deal with this shortcoming and become our own persons. In a hierarchical society like ours, where the male tends to dominate, the onus is usually on the woman to build fences. Building fences and bridges could come more easily to women who are by nature wired for compassion and understanding.
    A bully, when confronted the right way, may actually give in and come to round seeing things from another perspective. When confrontation or discussion does not work, distancing oneself remains a good option. We cannot always find an outer environment that is peaceful, but we can certainly create an inner reservoir of peace, which will remain with us, whatever the circumstance.

The difference between success and failure is patience and persistence.
A man who is a master of patience is master of everything else.Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.

Determination is the strength that will enable you to pass the barrier of useless thoughts
in order to create positive thoughts and to be successful in whatever you wish.

It comes from within and its partner is patience.Patience teaches you not to push but rather to wait and appreciate the game of life instead,knowing that nothing remains the same,and everything will change at some point.

A holy man was having a conversation with God one day and said, ' God , I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'

God  led the holy man to two doors.

He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.

In the middle of the room was a large round table.  In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly.  They appeared to be famished.
They were holding spoons with very long handles, that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.

But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. God  said, 'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door.  It was exactly the
same as the
 first one.

There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water.

The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.  The holy man said, 'I don't understand.'

It is simple,' said  God .  'It requires but one skill.

You see they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.'

Its estimated 93% won't forward this.  If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%'.

I'm in the 7%, I will always share my spoon with you

We're all in the same game, just on different levels, some of us make more mistakes than others, some of us make the same and take that little bit longer to learn.....The good news is, we all get a second chance to get it right......It's called "Tomorrow" : )

 Treat everyone you meet as if they are somebody, equally; because they are. Every person in this world is special and unique, deserves to be treated like who they ought to be, for the life potential within them because they are another but loving energy, genuinely human; forget all statuses and positions, see them with your heart not your eyes, don’t allow hidden agendas to oversee your reasons for your words

Life would be boring if one spends his/her lifetime worrying about everything. Life is too precious to spend your time worrying. Laughter is the best medicine available for all ages and there is only one side effect, which is it will entertain the people surrounding you. No one will be friendly with you if you are always worried about something.

1. Laugh every now and then and you will feel young... at heart. Your stress will vanish and you won’t have any health problems, as laughter boosts your immune system.

2. With laughter, you can easily make friends. You will be seen approachable in a party if you sport a constant smile.

3. Laughter improves your self-esteem and gives you confidence and relaxed. Your problems will seem trivial to you and you can tackle them well.

4. Laughter can spark your creativity levels and help you to produce fresh ideas. It can sharpen your memory skills.

5. With laughter, you can strengthen relationships. The one you can’t laugh with won’t be a good life partner for you.

6. Laughter is a good way to exercise your facial muscles. It is proven that laughing more will keep your face fresh and young.

7. By laughing often, you will spread a good vive around you which will effect everyone surrounding you. Whether people understand or not, they will feel better if you are around with laughter.

8. Laughter is associated with romance. Girls always like a boy who can make them laugh and face any problem with humour in heart