In the scheme of the universe

Does it mean anything ?
The first smile of a newborn
The smell of rain on concrete
The breeze between fingers
The sweat pouring down temples
The passing of time
The icecream melting in the mouth
The tingling of excitement
The hopelessness of a wish
The altitude in a plane
The tree devoid of leaves
The fervour of a festival
The parching of the throat
The chanting of a sloka
The feeling of loneliness
The pain on loss
The madness of a crowd
The song of the unknown
The faith in a god
The pang of disappointment
The horror of war
The seed of doubt
The ruthlessness of authority
The vine of life
The might of an ant
The mastery of a craft
The surety of a promise
The presence of a rival
The look of a rainbow
The key sounds of a keyboard
The connection with a painting
The jealousy between colleagues
The beauty of a feather
The courage of a soldier
The stoke of a brush
The might of a pen
The voice inside your head
The stamping of ploughed land
The disgust of infidelity
The pulse of a city
The dirt under the feet
The beat of the heart
The stress of change
The prick of a thorn
The texture of cloth
The colour of the sky
The sting of a bee
The shimmer of the sea
The bite of a child
The call of adhan
The fury of a storm
The snow crunching under boots
The cracking of branches
The positivism of a mirage
The pressure inside tunnels
The glistening of streets
The oncoming of happiness
The sizzle of water on hot pan
The sound of a moo
The ringing of bells
The coziness of a blanket
The fear of dark
The flight of a kite
The belief in a prayer
The drops of water on a flower
The screech of the nail on chalkboard
The shattering of glass
The comb running through hair
The shower when a dog shakes off water
The hiss of a snake
The will to fight
The stickiness of glue
The cracking of egg
The yearn to acquire
The newness in relationship
The screech of brakes
The sense of belonging
The length of boredom
The tune running in your head
The rust that corrodes
The wagging of a tail
The ignition of an engine
The click of a clock
The dripping of water
The cut on the finger
The warmth of a touch
The loneliness around family
The roar of the waves
The magic of lips
The emptiness in words
The chill of the dead
The nausea when tongues wag
The silence when anger explodes
The flipping of a book
The fear of starving
The kindness in a look
The dizziness in heights
The silhouette of walking away
The hurt of harshness
The power of a vision
The randomness of thought
Does it mean anything ?
A thousand such things
The things I feel
The things I do not
In the scheme of the universe.

Winter in New England

'You have not seen the first thing of cold', she says

Colder.... Colder...., I exclaim

The trees have shed their leaves

The water frozen

The grass brittle

The landscape grey

How much colder..., I exclaim

The geese have moved south

The sparrows migrated

Squirrels have stopped rumaging

The chipmunks gone home

How much colder...., I exclaim

Clothes have been bought

Many layers added

Woollen and fleece

Scarves and caps

How much colder...., I exclaim

Can't feel my fingers

Not my toes

My ears feel brittle

Red is the colour of my nose

How much colder...., I exclaim

Eyes water

Nose leaks

Can't feel it happening

I have started freezing

How much colder..., I exclaim

Of the warm sunshine I dream

The waves lapping at my feet

The kiss of cool gentle breeze

The feel of wind through my clothes

How much colder...., I exclaim

Motivational Stories I read when I feel the going tough.

1. Everyone has a Story in Life

A 24 year old boy seeing out from the train’s window shouted…
“Dad, look the trees are going behind!”
Dad smiled and a young couple sitting nearby, looked at the 24 year old’s childish behavior with pity,
suddenly he again exclaimed…
“Dad, look the clouds are running with us!”
The couple couldn’t resist and said to the old man…
“Why don’t you take your son to a good doctor?”
The old man smiled and said…
“I did and we are just coming from the hospital, my son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today.

Every single person on the planet has a story. Try not to judge people before you truly know them. The truth might surprise you.

2. Shake off your problems

A man's favourite donkey falls into a deep precipice; 
He can't pull it out no matter how hard he tries; 
He therefore decides to bury it alive. 

Soil is poured onto the donkey from above. 
The donkey feels the load, shakes it off, and steps on it; 
More soil is poured. 

It shakes it off and steps up;
The more the load was poured, the higher it rose;
By noon, the donkey was grazing in green pastures.

After much shaking off (of problems)
And stepping up (learning from them),
One will graze in GREEN PASTURES.

3. The Elephant Rope

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.

4. Potatoes, eggs, and coffee beans

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.

He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.

However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “

Moral:
In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.

Which one are you?

5. A dish of ice cream

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

“How much is an ice cream sundae?”

“50 cents,” replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it.

“How much is a dish of plain ice cream?” he enquired. Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient.

“35 cents,” she said brusquely.

The little boy again counted the coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed.

When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw.

There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were 15 cents – her tip.

_______________________________________________________

 

I  especially like the last one.  As kids all of us are like that, but as we grow older we change and we loose a lot of important things while gaining others.  How to keep it together is the question.

Thanks to http://www.livin3.com/blogs/positive-life-blog/7790767-5-motivational-and-inspiring-short-stories for the stories.

Sankranti at Hampi : Day 2 (Contd/-)