20 April 2012

The Two Angels


Two travelling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement.


As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied… “Things aren't always what they seem”.


The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.


The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel “how could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die.”


Things aren't always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave her the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.


Sometimes this is exactly what happens when things don’t turn out the way they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You might not know it until some time later.

“Excellence: Skill or Attitude? ”


A gentleman once visited a place under construction where he saw a sculptor making a statute. Suddenly he noticed a similar statute lying nearby.


Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same kind?"


"No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage."


The gentleman examined the statute and found no apparent damage… "Where is the damage?" he asked.


"There is a scratch on the nose of the statute," said the sculptor, still busy with his work.


"Where are you going to install the statute?"


The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high.


"If the statute is that high, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked.


The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I know it and God knows it!"




Moral: 


The desire to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not. 


Excellence is a drive from inside, not outside. 


Excel at a task today – not necessarily for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction. 


Remember, "Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude." – Ralph Marston