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"Loving the Dandelions" -Author Unknown "There once was a young man named Nasreddin who planted a flower garden. But when the flowers came up so did a great crop of dandelions among them. Wishing to eliminate the unwanted guests, Nasreddin consulted with gardeners near and far, but none of their solutions worked. Finally, the young man traveled to the palace of the sheik to seek the wisdom of the royal gardener himself. But unfortunately, he had already tried all the methods the royal gardener recommended to him. Silently they sat together for a good long time. At last, the royal gardener looked at Nasreddin and said: "Well, then, the only thing I can suggest is that you learn to love them."  "And A Meadow Lark Sang" -Ravindra Kumar Karnani
"Hospital Windows" -Author Unknown Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.
She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."
"The Starfish" -Author Unknown An old man was walking along the beach, when he came upon a part of the sand where thousands of starfish had washed ashore. A little further down the beach he saw a young woman, who was picking up the starfish one at a time and tossing them back into the ocean.
"Oh you silly girl," he exclaimed. "You can't possibly save all of these starfish. There's too many." The woman smiled and said, "I know. But I can save this one, " and she tossed another into the ocean, "and this one", toss, "and this one..."
"All the Time in the World" - Author Unknown At the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground. "That's my son over there," she said, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater who was playing on the slide. "He's a fine looking boy," the man said. "That's my son on the swing in the blue sweater." Then, glancing at his watch, he called out to his son, "What do you say we go, Todd?" Todd pleaded, "Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more minutes." The man nodded and Todd continued to swing to his heart's content. Several minutes passed, and the father stood and called again to his son. "Time to go now?" Again Todd pleaded, "Five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes." The man smiled and said, "Okay."
"My, you certainly are a patient father," the woman said.
The man smiled and then said, "Last year, my older son, Tommy, was riding his
bike near here and he was killed by a drunk driver. I never spent enough time
with Tommy, and now I'd give anything for just five more minutes with him.
I've vowed not to make the same mistake with Todd."
"He thinks he gets five more minutes to play on the swings. The truth is... I
get five more minutes to watch him play."
"Smiling Through The Storm" - Author Unknown There was a little girl who walked to and from school every day. One day, though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she set out on her daily trek to the elementary school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning. Her mother was concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child. Following the roar of thunder, lightning, like a flaming sword, was cutting through the sky. Concerned, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school. As she did so, she saw her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up and smile at the sky. Another and another flash of lightning followed and with each the little girl would look up at the streak of light and smile. The mother pulled her car up beside the child, and she lowered the window and called to her, "What are you doing? Why do you keep stopping?" The little girl answered, "I am trying to look pretty! God keeps taking my picture."
May God bless you today as you face any storms that come your way! And don't
forget to SMILE!
 
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