A sweet lesson on patience.

A NYC Taxi driver wrote:

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940’s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard
box filled with photos and glassware.

‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her.. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.’

‘Oh, you’re such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive
through downtown?’

‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly..

‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice..’The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired.Let’s go now’.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

‘How much do I owe you?’ She asked, reaching into her purse.

‘Nothing,’ I said

‘You have to make a living,’ she answered.

‘There are other passengers,’ I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.She held onto me tightly.

‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut.It was the sound of the closing of a life..

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

Poison Your Mother-in-Law ...

A long time ago in China, a girl named Li-Li got married and went to
live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li
found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all.

Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by
many of her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li
constantly.

Days passed days, and weeks passed weeks. Li-Li and her mother-in-law
never stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even
worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to
bow to her mother-in-law and obey her every wish.

All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing Li-Li's poor
husband great distress.

Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law's bad temper and
dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it.

Li-Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold
herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some
poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all. Mr.
Huang thought for a while, and finally said, Li-Li, I will help you
solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell
you. Li-Li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to
do."

Mr.Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with
a package of herbs.

He told Li-Li, "You can't use a quick-acting poison to get rid of
your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become
suspicious. Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will
slowly build up poison in her body.

Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these
herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspects
you when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly
towards her. Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her
like a queen."

Li-Li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start
her plot of murdering her mother-in-law.

Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served
the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what
Mr.Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her
temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own
mother. After six months had passed, the whole household had changed.

Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found
that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument
with her mother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much
kinder and easier to get along with.

The mother-in-law's attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to
love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and
relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever
find. Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a
real mother and daughter.

Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what was happening.

One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again.
She said, "Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from
killing my mother-in-law! She's changed into such a nice woman, and I
love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the
poison I gave her."

Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. "Li-Li, there's nothing to
worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were
vitimans to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and
your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the
love which you gave to her."

MORAL: Brothers and Sisters have you ever realised that how you treat
others is exactly how they will treat you?
There is a wise Chinese saying: 'The person who loves others will
also be loved in return.'

Unknown Author

Why We Shout In Anger

A saint was visiting the Ganges river to bathe one day ... He overheard some family members on the banks, shouting and bickering angrily at each other ...

He turned to his disciples, smiled and asked, "Why do angry people shout at each other ???" ... The disciples thought for a while, then one of them said, "Because we lose our calm, that's why we shout" ... The saint replied, "But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you ??? You can simply tell him or her what you have to say in a soft manner" ... Other disciples supplied answers but none satisfied the saint ...

Finally, the saint explained, "When two people are angry at each other, there is a great distance between their hearts ... To cover that distance they must shout so they can hear each other ... The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other, such that they can bridge that great distance ... What happens when two people fall in love ??? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly, because their hearts are very close ... The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small" ... The saint continued, "When they love each other even more, what happens ??? They do not speak; they only whisper, and when they get even closer to each other in their love, finally they do not need to whisper; they only look at each other and that’s all ... That is how close two people are when they love each other" ...

He looked at his disciples and said, "So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other more ... Otherwise, there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return"

The Farmer and the Miser

A farmer owed a large sum of money to a man in the neighboring village who was known to be a miser. The farmer was unable to pay back his debt. The miser was old and unattractive but he fancied the farmer’s beautiful daughter. So he proposed a deal: he would forgive the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the deal. So the miser suggested another idea — he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. Then the girl would pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the miser's wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry the miser and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would go to jail for not paying his debt.

The farmer and his daughter agreed to this plan and the miser bent over to pick up two pebbles. The daughter saw that he picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked her to pick a pebble from the bag. The young woman had to think fast — should she refuse to pick a pebble? Should she tell her father that she saw him pick up two black pebbles? Or should she just pick one of the two black pebbles and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from going to prison for his debt?

The girl put her hand into the bag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it or showing it, she quickly dropped the pebble in the field where it immediately got lost among all the other pebbles. “Oh, I dropped the pebble,” she said. “But no problem, if we look into the bag at the one that is left, we will know which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble was black, it would have to be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the miser dared not admit his dishonesty, the daughter's quick thinking and her ability to "think outside the box" changed what seemed to be an impossible situation into a happy ending for herself and her father. It also outwitted the miser's dishonest plan and resulted in the miser getting exactly what he deserved — nothing!
(Adapted from a traditional teaching story)

A real book

“Lord! When you sell a man a book you don’t sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue—you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night—there’s all heaven and earth in a book, in a real book I mean.”

- Christopher Morley