Eternally grateful ;)

"In life, we must learn to say - I am sorry, I love you, thank you and good bye. It might not be easy but we can also say you are welcome, please stay or even stop. It would just be a matter of choice; choice of words, time and person. So be honest, listen and say what is in your heart."

- Facebook status updated by my friend PRABHLEEN KAUR.. 

Whether you are saying sorry for accidentally bumping into someone, or hurting them beyond repair, saying it to a random person or some one you don't want to loose. "Sorry" helps, it makes a difference. 
Whether you are thanking some one for lending you a pencil or thanking them for being there for you, to some one helping you at the ticket counter or some one helping you in running your life, "thanks" helps, it makes a difference. 
Whether the goodbye you said was more intentional or involuntary than you meant it, "see you soon" helps, it makes a difference. 
Whether you are saying I love you to your mom or your brother, your family or your friend, some one you meet everyday or you see once every year, it helps, it always makes a difference. 
These words are not adjectives or helping verbs or nouns or pronouns they hold much more relevance in our lives than a few grammar tests or mannerisms. Its funny how we forget to tell our moms that we love them, forget to say thanks to our dads and sorry to our siblings but we do not hesitate in wasting these precious words by casually springing them unnecessarily at any random stranger. Its good to say thanks to the lady at the coffee shop, to the waiter who had to pick up your dirty dishes, sorry to the janitor who had to clean up your mess! But seriously, at first, why not say thanks to your dad for working hours and hours so that you could eat out, shop till your hearts stops beating, and enjoy a comfortable life; why not say thanks to your moms who suffered sleepless nights due to your sore tummy when you were a kid, sorry for breaking your siblings favorite toys just for the fun of it. And than throw these words around in the basket of kindness, mannerisms and etiquette s.Taking the most important people in our life for granted leads to zero appreciation whereas you should be showering them with presents (just a thought).
Always remember:


"Be grateful, be kind, be loved"


XOXO 

The Hare and The Tortoise, yet again..

We have all heard about the story about the famous race between our very favorite, Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Hare since childhood. 
Lets repeat it again today with a bit of addition to the original version, as life throws something new at us all the time, one of my new favorite rules quoted by one of my favorite TV characters that "new is always better" so here's presenting to you some new add-on s to one of the oldest stories of my life.

Story #1 (the original version, just in case you missed it before or simply for reminiscing purposes)


Once upon a time in a jungle there lived a Tortoise and a Hare. One day Mr. Hare was making fun of Mr. Tortoise's slowness, he bragged on and on about how fast he, Mr. Hare, is and how slow Mr. Tortoise is. After listening to relentless boasting of Mr. Hare's hustle, Mr. Tortoise raised his neck and challenged Mr. Hare to a race. 

Mr Hare thought "what a silly fellow, he thinks he can beat me, I'll show him" and says, "Sure, Mr. Tortoise, the race is on"
Mr. Tortoise called out for animals in the jungle and mapped the race track and set the time of the race.
The next day at sunrise the race began, Mr. Hare being such a swift runner, soon left Mr. Tortoise behind. After crossing half-way Mr. Hare stopped for a while, stretched his arms thinking, "I have plenty of time to take a nap" and slept alongside the road. Mr. Tortoise walking slow and steadily, never stopping, finished the race before Mr. Hare. 
Later in the evening, when Mr. Hare woke up he ran as fast as he could to see Mr. Tortoise waiting patiently for his arrival at the finish line. 
Moral:
<Slow and steady wins the race>


Story #2 (story continued after the first race)


After losing to Mr. Tortoise, Mr. Hare felt terribly ashamed of himself and to keep his future generations from making fun of him, he challenged Mr. Tortoise for another race and this time Mr. Hare had made up his mind to not to stop until he reaches the finish line, Mr. Tortoise agreed. 

The race was planned the similar way and in the end obviously Mr. Hare won the simple race because he was fast and Mr. Tortoise was slow. 
Moral:
<Determination and strong will are the key ingredients to success>


Story #3 (further a bit more)


Mr. Tortoise said to Mr. Hare, "we've raced twice, we both won once, now lets have another race, a last one, to decide the winner. Once and for all, to settle the argument."
Mr. Hare, proud and obsessed with his speed, agreed.  Mr. Tortoise said, "but one condition, Mr. Hare, I will choose the path of the race"
Mr. Hare agreed to that as well. Hence, the path was selected by Mr. T and the race began in the same way. Mr. Hare was determined to stop only after he finishes the race before Mr. T.

What Mr.  H didn't know was, that the finishing line was beyond a deep pond. and there was no way for Mr. H to reach the other end to get to the finishing line. Hence he waited and waited and thought and thought. Meanwhile Mr. T reached the pond and saw Mr. H sitting there deep in thoughts. But since it was working as Mr. T planned, he smiled sheepishly and crossed the pond and hence won that particular race. 
Moral: 
<A person, well-prepared with a perfect strategy is higher above than a person full of talent and experience>


Story #4 (My favorite and best of all)


After finally admitting defeat Mr. Hare, stopped boasting about his speed and became a pleasant person to be around with. So, Mr. Tortoise asked Mr. Hare to be friends, which Mr. H agreed up on happily. One day both of them were sitting idle, had nothing to do, Mr. H proposed to Mr. T, that they should have a race, not a competitive race, but a friendly one. A very healthy and friendly race between the two of them. Mr. T agreed. Mr H chose the same path that Mr. T chose in the last race. On the normal ground Mr. H carried Mr. T on his shoulders and ran as fast as he could and upon reaching the pond Mr. T carried Mr. Hare on his hunch, swimming all the way to the other end. Hence, they both reached the other end of the pond together. Mr. H then realized that it took them half of the time together to complete the race whereas individually it was a huge waste of time. Mr. T was also thinking the same thing. Hence they  both learned a valuable lesson, Mr. Hare never bragged about his capabilities to any one ever again. 
Moral:
<Team-Work and Team-Spirit will take you to a goal where you cannot even dream of going on your own>


**Some splendid examples of team work:- 
1.Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (first ever to climb the Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953.
2.Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. (first ever to step on the moon on July 20, 1969.
and so on..


I am grateful to one of my Professor's at my college for re-telling us what we've already known in a full interactive way possible. I am never going to forget this story and try to imply it as much as I can in my life. 
This just shows that there are several outcomes of one phase and its our wish to choose the right door. Also, all the morals are completely adaptive to their specific borough. 
Cheers!


XOXO