The Emperor's Seed Inspirational Story

An emperor was growing old and knew it was time to choose His successor.  He called the young people in the kingdom together and said, "It is time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor."

"I am giving each one of you a seed today.  I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed.  I will then judge what you bring, and choose who will be the next emperor!"

Ling received a seed like the others.  He went home and excitedly told his mother the story.  She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and carefully watered it.  Every day he watered it and watched to see if it had grown.  After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.  Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing grew.  Three , four, five weeks went by, but nothing sprouted. By now, others were talking about their plants.  Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. 

Six months went by; still nothing grew in Ling's pot.  He believed he had killed his seed.  Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing.  He just kept hoping for his seed to grow.

After a year all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for his inspection.  Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot, but his Mother said he must be honest about what happened.  Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his Mother was right.

When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths.  They were all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the others laughed at him.

A few felt sorry for him and said, "Hey, nice try."  When the emperor arrived, he greeted the young people and then surveyed the room.  Ling tried to hide in the back.

"My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor.  "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!"

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot.  He ordered his guards to bring him to the front.  Ling was terrified.  "The emperor knows I'm a

failure!  Maybe he will have me killed!"

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied.  The emperor looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!"  Ling couldn't believe it.  Ling couldn't even grow his seed.  How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed.   I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today.  I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow.  All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees, plants and flowers.  When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.  Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it.  Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"

Plant honesty, you will reap trust. Plant goodness, you will reap friends.

Plant humility, you will reap greatness. Plant perseverance, you will reap victory.

Plant consideration, you will reap harmony. Plant hard work, you will reap success.

Plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation. Plant patience, you will reap improvements.

Plant faith, you will reap miracles.

Inspiring Story on Attitude By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

Hi Everyone,
I recently came across this great story By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz.
A friend sent this to me and feel free to forward it to your friends.
Your life may take a turn for the better.
Cheers!:)

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ATTITUDE

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut way all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.'

"I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breathe and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them. 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Don't Hope...Decide (Inspirational story on Marriage, Family, Love)

Hey fellow friends,
Below is a story that I received from a friend few days ago.
I find it meaningful for those who have families, so I thought I just post it her to inspire more people.

Enjoy!
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This story was from a guy who told about his amazing story that he experienced one day.

I had one of those life-changing experiences that you hear other people talk about -the kind that sneaks up on you unexpectedly. This one occurred a mere two feet away from me. Straining to locate my friend among the passengers deplaning through the jetway, I noticed a man coming toward me carrying two light bags.

He stopped right next to me to greet his family. First he motioned to his youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags. They gave each other a long, loving hug. As they separated enough to look in each other's face, I heard the father say, "It's so good to see you, son. I missed you so much!" His son smiled somewhat shyly, averted his eyes and replied softly, "Me, too, Dad!"

Then the man stood up, gazed in the eyes of his oldest son (maybe nine or ten) and while cupping his son's face in his hands said, "You're already quite the young man. I love you very much, Zach!" They too hugged a most loving, tender hug.

While this was happening, a baby girl (perhaps one or one-and-a-half) was squirming excitedly in her mother's arms, never once taking her little eyes off the wonderful sight of her returning father.

The man said, "Hi, baby girl!" as he gently took the child from her mother. He quickly kissed her face all over and then held her close to his chest while rocking her from side to side. The little girl instantly relaxed and simply laid her head on his shoulder, motionless in pure contentment.

After several moments, he handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared, "I've saved the best for last!" and proceeded to give his wife the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing.

He gazed into her eyes for several seconds and then silently mouthed. "I love you so much!" They stared at each other's eyes, beaming big smiles at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn't possibly be.

I puzzled about it for a moment then realized how totally engrossed I was in the wonderful display of unconditional love not more than an arm's length away from me.

I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if I was invading something sacred, but was amazed to hear my own voice nervously ask, "Wow! How long have you two been married?" "Been together fourteen years total, married twelve of those." he replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife's face. "Well then, how long have you been away?" I asked the man finally turned and looked at me, still beaming his joyous smile."Two whole days!"

Two days? I was stunned. By the intensity of the greeting, I had assumed he'd been gone for at least several weeks - if not months. I know my expression betrayed me, I said almost offhandedly, hoping to end my intrusion with some semblance of grace (and to get back to searching for my friend), "I hope my marriage is still that passionate after twelve years!"

The man suddenly stopped smiling. He looked me straight in the eye, and with forcefulness that burned right into my soul, he told me something that left me a different person. He told me, "Don't hope, friend... decide!" Then he flashed me his wonderful smile again, shook my hand and said, "God bless!" With that, he and his family turned and strode away together.

I was still watching that exceptional man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, "What'cha looking at?" Without hesitating, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, "My future!"

Don't hope my friends, Decide !! Decide how you want your life to be and just take action and live it !