Words of Wisdom
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An Awesome story : (Must read)
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in
Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'
Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important.
Tell them, before it is too late!! And what better time than at the start of a New Year !
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in
Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'
Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important.
Tell them, before it is too late!! And what better time than at the start of a New Year !
A beautiful article on Husband Wife relationship written by T T Rangarajan. Taken from his AWESOME book : Unposted Letters. This according to me is a 'must have' book for all book lovers !
Existence has purposefully created man and women a little incomplete so that they could embrace each other and make it complete. However, centuries of conditioning have given the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ a very narrow connotation. It has shrunk the scope of this relationship. Drop the words husband and wife from your vocabulary and resolve to be ‘friends for a life time’. Then both the man and the woman sometimes play the mother , sometimes the father, sometimes a cranky kid, then the mentor, the teacher, the mirror…. And sometimes husband and wife too. Expand the definition of this relationship and keep it open.
Dignity in marital relationship is found when you relate to to your spouse as a complete individual and not just the body. Observe each other’s way of thinking. Discuss personal values, standpoints and convictions; get sensitised to each others feelings, develop emotional compatibility and take time to sit together in quietude to develop spiritual connectivity. Respect the entirety of the person and relate to the whole person, not just the peripheral aspect of the other – the body.
Don’t try to do it in one year what can be done in ten years and don’t try to do in one month what can be done in one year. Most married couples fall all over each other , overdo everything within the first few months and then there is no life left in that relationship. They coexist in a dead relationship. What can be a tree should not die as a plant. Take it slow and make it long.
In life, as well as in good relationship, the past is irrelevant. The present forms the building blocks. The future is very significant, for that is where the two of you will travel together. Discussing day-to-day trifles alone will only make you fall in love. Talk future, talk dreams, talk ambitions, and resolve to play a part in each other’s growth in a very objective and non-intrusive manner. That’s the way to grow in love.
There is this universal concept that after the wedding both lives superimpose and there is only one life to live from there on. As a result, women were often forced to live as a shadow of their man in the name of marriage. They tagged on, but as frustrated , self-pitying, sacrificial individuals who felt exploited.
(Read it carefully):The fact is, much after YOUR life and MY life become OUR life, there still is my life and your life. ‘Our’ life is that intersecting space called marriage. Happiness in marriage depends on how both relate to ‘our’ space and how this space keeps growing with every passing year. However, he will continue to have his life and she should continue to have her life. In fact, she is at her best in ‘our’ space when she goes to her space and comes to ‘our’ space; and the same is true with him. This will ensure that you respect each other’s space, each other’s individual likes, dislikes and priorities, and most importantly, this alone will ensure that you do not suffocate each other in the name of love.
Marriage, in its true sense, should improve the quality of life of both involved. Marriage can and should be a continuity of life, magnifying the possibilities for both.
A good marriage has to be nurtured and developed. Building a great marriage is an art; so get artistic.
GET ARTISTIC
Existence has purposefully created man and women a little incomplete so that they could embrace each other and make it complete. However, centuries of conditioning have given the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ a very narrow connotation. It has shrunk the scope of this relationship. Drop the words husband and wife from your vocabulary and resolve to be ‘friends for a life time’. Then both the man and the woman sometimes play the mother , sometimes the father, sometimes a cranky kid, then the mentor, the teacher, the mirror…. And sometimes husband and wife too. Expand the definition of this relationship and keep it open.
Dignity in marital relationship is found when you relate to to your spouse as a complete individual and not just the body. Observe each other’s way of thinking. Discuss personal values, standpoints and convictions; get sensitised to each others feelings, develop emotional compatibility and take time to sit together in quietude to develop spiritual connectivity. Respect the entirety of the person and relate to the whole person, not just the peripheral aspect of the other – the body.
Don’t try to do it in one year what can be done in ten years and don’t try to do in one month what can be done in one year. Most married couples fall all over each other , overdo everything within the first few months and then there is no life left in that relationship. They coexist in a dead relationship. What can be a tree should not die as a plant. Take it slow and make it long.
In life, as well as in good relationship, the past is irrelevant. The present forms the building blocks. The future is very significant, for that is where the two of you will travel together. Discussing day-to-day trifles alone will only make you fall in love. Talk future, talk dreams, talk ambitions, and resolve to play a part in each other’s growth in a very objective and non-intrusive manner. That’s the way to grow in love.
There is this universal concept that after the wedding both lives superimpose and there is only one life to live from there on. As a result, women were often forced to live as a shadow of their man in the name of marriage. They tagged on, but as frustrated , self-pitying, sacrificial individuals who felt exploited.
(Read it carefully):The fact is, much after YOUR life and MY life become OUR life, there still is my life and your life. ‘Our’ life is that intersecting space called marriage. Happiness in marriage depends on how both relate to ‘our’ space and how this space keeps growing with every passing year. However, he will continue to have his life and she should continue to have her life. In fact, she is at her best in ‘our’ space when she goes to her space and comes to ‘our’ space; and the same is true with him. This will ensure that you respect each other’s space, each other’s individual likes, dislikes and priorities, and most importantly, this alone will ensure that you do not suffocate each other in the name of love.
Marriage, in its true sense, should improve the quality of life of both involved. Marriage can and should be a continuity of life, magnifying the possibilities for both.
A good marriage has to be nurtured and developed. Building a great marriage is an art; so get artistic.
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