Chances.........

Hi all,

Picked up this story. Thought I should put it.

Quote:

CHANCES.........




Lecturer Charles Hobbs sometimes tells about a woman who lived in
London over a century ago. She saved what little money she could
working as a scullery maid and used it one evening to hear a great
speaker of her day.



His speech moved her deeply and she waited to visit with him afterwards.

How fine it must be to have had the opportunities you have had in life,’ she said.

‘My dear lady,’ he replied, ‘have you never received an opportunity?’

‘Not me. I have never had a chance,’ she said.


‘What do you do?’ the speaker asked.

She answered, ‘I peel onions and potatoes in my sister's boarding house.’

‘How long have you been doing this?’ he pursued.



‘Fifteen miserable years!’ she replied.

‘And where do you sit?’ he continued.

‘Why, on the bottom step in the kitchen.’ She looked puzzled.

‘And where do you put your feet?’

‘On the floor,’ she answered, more puzzled.

‘What is the floor?’

‘It is glazed brick.’

Then he said, ‘My dear lady, I will give you an assignment today. I
want you to write me a letter about the brick.’

Against her protests about being a poor writer, he made her promise to
complete the assignment.

The next day, as she sat down to peel onions, she gazed at the brick
floor. That evening she pulled one loose, took it to a brick factory
and asked the owner to explain to her how bricks were made.

Still not satisfied, she went to a library and found a book on bricks.



She learned that 120 different kinds of brick and tile were being
produced in England at the time. She discovered how clay beds, which
existed for millions of years, were formed.



Her research captivated her imagination and she spent every spare

moment learning more. She returned to the library night after night

and this woman, who never had a chance, gradually began to climb

the steps of knowledge.

After months of study, she set out to write her letter as promised.


She sent a 36-page document about the brick in her kitchen and, to her
surprise, she received a letter back.



Enclosed was payment for her research. He had published her letter!

And along with the money came a new assignment - this time he asked

her to write about what she found underneath the brick.

For the first time in her life she could hardly wait to get back to
the kitchen! She pulled up the brick and there was an ant. She held it
in her hand and examined it.

That evening, she hurried back to the library to study ants.



She learned that there were hundreds of different kinds of ants. Some

were so small they could stand on the head of a pin; while others were so
large one could feel the weight of them in one's hand. She started her
own ant colony and examined ants underneath a lens.

Several months later she wrote her findings in a 350-page ‘letter.’ That too, was eventually published.



She soon quit her kitchen job to take up writing.

Before she died, she had traveled to the lands of her dreams and had
experienced more than she ever imagined possible!



This is the woman who had never had a chance!

Some people wait for opportunity to come knocking. Some however, seek it out…………proving again that that we can be more than victims of
mere circumstances.

So dear brothers and sisters, if given a chance now……. will you take it?


And if given no chance………will you make one?





If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it!


Unquote:

Thanks
Bala

hi bala,


nice story,

inspiring...


dips

__________________
Deepali Arora,
Noida.

Hi Bala

good piece, expecting some more posts

Regards
dilnaz

Thanks Deepali & Dilnaz.


bala

Hi all,

One more piece, little different.......



Quote::::::


Lessons on Life

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not
to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in
turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the
third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to
describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The
second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of
promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that
smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful
thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and
drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because
they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one
season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy,
and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end,
when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your
spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.


Moral:

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the
difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or
later.


Anonymous



Unquote::::::


Thanks
Bala

hi psyched,


nice story,,,

liked its moral..


dips

__________________
Deepali Arora,
Noida.

Thanks Deepali.

The one which hit me through my eyes were:

"Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the
difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or
later. "

Eternal HOPE once again?

Bala