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Wisdom and Philosophy
Wisdom Tips and Ideas
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Wisdom Stories
Philosophy Stories
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Here you will find 5 short 'Wisdom
Stories' per week.. The theme that is followed in each story is... a
short introduction, a wisdom related story and a powerful quote.
Please enjoy...
ADAPTING TO CHANGE:
We tend to get a little stuck in our ways, so it wouldn’t seem
too outrageous to state that this is why CHANGE is often
outside our comfort zone.
Today’s story is about a man called Peter. He is a very
proud man and worked all his life. Most of his working life
he was working for two large international manufacturers,
his wages were stable and his finances relatively
troublesome.
He was quoted as saying:
“I’ve provided for my family throughout my working life, they have
never gone short of anything. As a husband I’ve
always done everything that was necessary. At times my
wife has caused me to blush with her complimentary comments.”
Peter was a proud man and it was clearly evident that he
had led a full and prosperous life.
He was two years away from retirement when he fell ill. It
appeared it was stress related. But how could this stress
have been brought about?
Like most individuals Peter was stubborn at times. He had
been sent various letters about a pension scheme that had
failed to meet its original expectations and couldn’t fulfill its
obligation to provide a pension. He needed to file a claim
immediately to have any chance of recovering the losses
through an insurance claim.
Peter had chosen not to tell his wife of these letters because
he feared for what would happen when the eventual
CHANGE did happen from work to retirement.
These letters had been sent five years earlier. Peter had
not done anything because he was disgusted with the
circumstances. His thoughts were; how could such a
reputable company fail in its responsibilities in this way?
This turmoil had been eating this proud man up from inside;
to such an extent it was to make him seriously ill.
As he recovered from this illness he found a need to tell his
wife of the problem. She said, “You big pudding! Your health is more
important than your money! Please don’t be so proud! You need to share
with me all the doubts and fears you have about this big CHANGE from
working all your life to retirement.”
QUOTE: “It doesn’t matter how strong your opinions are. If
you don’t use your power for positive change, you are
indeed, part of the problem.” (Coretta Scott King, Reformer).
HAPPINESS:
Imagine you have bought your son a half-size 'pool-table
for Christmas. Your son's name is Jack.
Jack is completely oblivious to this present, as you have
discretely hidden it in your main bedroom. Jack is still in the
belief that all presents come from Santa Claus. Jack is
seven years old.
As a parent you have all good intentions to scurry around
on Christmas Eve when your children are in bed and wrap
this big box for Jack. As the early evening progresses you
enjoy a few glasses of wine.
You are suddenly presented with a problem! Lethargy.
What a huge box to wrap… He'll only rip off the paper
anyway… Oh dear, what a sad moment, no energy and
only one more present to wrap!
You begin to justify not wrapping the present at all as you
had thought about the task previously. You have another
glass of wine and dwell on what to do.
Eventually you settle on a compromise. It would be almost
like a game. If you opened the box and wrapped an item
from within, Jack could guess what it belonged too and then
you could take him to the big box.
A few glasses of wine hadn't helped your judgement as
you squeezed your hand inside the box and pulled out two
pool cues. You wrapped these cues and waited for
Christmas morning.
As any child, Jack's disposition is happy. Your children
have encouraged you to come downstairs for 6.50am on
Christmas morning. Santa Claus has been during the
night, Santa's drink and the carrots for the reindeers
had all gone.
The forty or so presents are all opened in no time. "Oh…
Jack there is one more present, " you said. Jack almost
snatched the gift and proceeded to rip off the wrapping
paper.
"Pool cues! Great. I guess Santa wanted me to just
have the cues and no table because I can use these cues
down at the club, " said Jack in a bright and enthusiastic
voice.
Jack's happy disposition had seen a positive within a gift
of only two pool cues, a pool table wasn't necessary.
Both parents would look at each other and tears would
well up within their eyes.
Of course Jack would get the pool table a few moments
later, but it wasn't until after you had given him the
biggest hug possible.
Some children may have well been disappointed with
two pool cues, but Jack had been your perfect son.
His happiness had brought you happiness too.
QUOTE: "For you to experience happiness as a
result of an action, you need to lower your own
expectation of the outcome of that action."
"Happiness is not something you carry in your hand;
it is something you carry in your heart." (Unknown Author).
HAPPINESS 02
I have two short stories today. As I twisted and turned
within my mind which to use I couldn’t manage to
forget the first that popped into my mind. It
characterizes children, their innocence their laughter
and their joy.
The story is about one specific parent, who was also a
school teacher in the late 1960’s. He’d decided to go
and watch a soccer game in London, England. He was
to take his own son and one of his friends, both aged
eleven.
It wasn’t long before word had got around the lads at
school that, Mr. Jenkins was taking a few lads to the
game on Saturday. A few more parents were needed
as twenty children eventually invited themselves.
Don’t forget that in the 1960’s very few soccer games
were ever shown on television, but those that were had
a huge audience, including of course all these children.
It turned out none had actually been to a live game before.
All the lads were excited as they shuffled through the
turn-styles and up through the stadium to the upper tier.
Then, as they approached the last few steps and the
full view of the stadium was realized, one of the
children commented, “Wow! This game is in colour!”
Because soccer was shown on black and white
televisions, then that is how it must have been to the
children!
(An excerpt taken from a London seminar at the
School of Philosophy).
The second story today is more appropriate for the
quote I’ve chosen:
“A fisherman was lazily fishing by a river, His catch
was good.
Along came a high-flying businessman on his
lunchtime stroll. He noticed the skill that this
fisherman had and was eager to talk to him.
“You are having a good day, ” remarked the
businessman. “Bout normal, ” said the fisherman.
“Bout normal! Your catch looks excellent. You’ll be
in for a fine and hearty supper, ” said the businessman.
“No sir, I put them all back, ” said the fisherman.
“If you could catch the same amount each day, you
could open a ‘fish ‘n’ chip’ shop and supply all your
own fish, What a handsome saving you would make.
Not only could you supply your own shop, I’d be
betting you could supply many shops. Wouldn’t you
fancy your own business?” Said the businessman.
“No sir, ” remarked the fisherman.
“As soon as you started to earn more money from all
these shops, you could have a shop in each town and
city. You could teach your fishing skills to several
others and you could be supplying all the fish at no
price at all! What a superb saving; and what a chance
to earn a substantial living. Then as the shops were
functioning easily on their own for a few years you
could sell the complete chain and retire with million
and millions. With all that money at your disposal,
you could live the life of your dreams. What would
you fancy doing?”
“Just fishing on this bank sir, ” replied the fisherman.
The fisherman had realized the tranquil life he wanted
both started and finished with his own thoughts on
the river bank.
QUOTE: “We are trying to get peace or happiness
from outside, from money or power. But real peace,
tranquility, should come from within.”
(His Holiness the Dalai Lama).
HAPPINESS 03
If you are not happy all of the time, then at least
be assured that this is how most people exist. It
is how most of us seem to perceive our humdrum
existence.
Yet however, we can improve this ratio with
practice. With a steady progress we can become
skilful at being happy for longer and more often.
Let me explain with a story how easy it is to
approach life in the wrong manner:
…Once upon a time, there was a wise man who
insisted that to live well, one had to be positive
and thankful for all of life.
One day, a traveller came to him and said, “How
can I be positive? Nothing goes right in life! I’ve
been badly hurt by people I have trusted, and
now I want revenge!”
The wise man shook his head. “What would
you do to those that hurt you?” he asked.
“I’d tear them limb from limb… I’d ruin their
business… I’d…” and he broke off. “Can
you help me get revenge?” he begged.
“Yes’” said the wise man. “I’ll certainly help
you, but first you must do two things for me.”
“I will, ” said the traveller.
“First, ” said the wise man, “I want you to tear
a branch off that tree over there.”
The traveller readily went to the tree and
twisted off a large branch. “There you are!
What’s the second thing?”
The wise man smiled. “Now put it back, ” he said.
The traveller stood staring. “I can’t do that, ” he
said.
“No, ” said the wise man. “So remember this;
it’s very easy to wound and destroy, but it is
more difficult to repair the damage that has
been done. Note that the tree won’t hurt you back.
It will go on growing and bearing fruit. It’s much
better to be creative than destructive - - even to
people that have hurt you.”...
For every moment you want revenge, and then
realise it is both pitiful and destructive, there is a
moment of sweetness soon after; as you settle
for a positive attitude instead of a negative.
Rather than wallow in your own sadness, rejoice
in the skill you have developed to overcome
your revenge.
QUOTE: “Just as a trainer disciplines and calms
a wild and wilful steed by subjecting it to skilful
and prolonged training, so must the wild, wandering,
random activities of body and speech be tamed to
make them docile, righteous and skilful.”
(His Holiness the Dalai Lama).
HAPPINESS 04
No matter what you have, or DON'T HAVE, happiness comes
from within you. If happiness could be bought you wouldn't
see so many people searching for it in all sorts of things
(drugs, alcohol, physical pleasure, etc.). However, lacking
happiness also cuts across all lines. The poorest of the poor
and the richest of the rich can be unhappy.
The choice to be happy comes from inside you and is not
dependent on who you are, what you do, where you live, how much money
you have, and on and on and on. Choose to be happy and you will be.
A tale of kingdoms past is where our story takes us today, but the
message is clear…
“He had a large kingdom, much wealth, a beautiful queen, and beautiful
children. He was well loved by his subjects, and is kingdom was not at
war with any neighboring kingdoms. But one day the king became sad and
disconsolate.
At first the jester was called in to cheer the king, but he was of no
use. Then the minstrels were brought in, also to no avail. The king's
advisors brought in entertainer after entertainer, but none could
cheer the king. A few days later, the king fell ill and took to his
bed.
The best doctors were called, but none of the remedies they prescribed
were of any help. At long last they brought in the court wizard. He
performed a series of incantations, then declared, "The king must wear
the shirt of a truly happy man. Only that will cure him."
Messengers and couriers were sent out in haste to find a truly happy
man. They scoured the kingdom for a happy man. One by one they began
to return with the news that they could not find such a man. Then,
when all seemed lost, the last courier came running through the
palace. While he had not found a happy man, he had heard tales of just
such a man that lived deep in the king's forest on a small farm.
Though he was weak, the king rose from bed, dressed, and rode with an
entourage out into the forest.
He arrived at the farmhouse late that night. Though it was not messy,
it was apparent that the people who lived here were very poor.
Nonetheless, the king knocked on the door and told the woman that
answered that he had come to see her husband. She replied that he was
fast asleep, but that she would wake him. After several minutes, a man
came to the door wrapped in a blanket. The king explained his
situation and told the man that he needed his shirt. At this the man
began to laugh. The king grew angry, but this only caused the man to
laugh more. Finally, the king demanded to know what was so funny. At
this the man
removed the blanket he had wrapped around him to show that he was so
poor that he had no shirt.”
(Unknown Author).
QUOTE: “The very purpose of our life is happiness: in order to achieve
happier days, happier weeks, happier years, happier family, happier
human community… we should pay more attention to inner development.”
(His Holiness the Dalai Lama).
The content and materials provided in this
web site are for informational and educational purposes only and are not
intended to supplement or comprise any precise facts, although we have
researched sufficiently for the facts and information to be reasonably
accurate. All content and materials including research papers,
case studies and testimonials summarizing facts have been done by
individuals working for this website. We cannot be held responsible for
any inaccuracies, as we have described that information is for educational
purposes and therefore maybe a few weeks old.
Resources:
All Authors, where know are credited to both quotes and 'add-in' stories
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Wisdom and Philosophy
Wisdom Tips and Ideas
Wisdom Quotes
Wisdom Stories
Philosophy Stories
Wisdom Examples
Wisdom Quotations
Short Wisdom Illustrations
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