The arithmetic of happiness Parable from Alexander Vyzhenko

Once Starchik came to Poltava, sat down in Zeleny Gai, not far from the Assumption Cathedral, and began to shout: - I sell wisdom; one Wisdom - a penny, for a nickel - two! A rich man came up to him, and he said: - I, - he says, - will give you a gold one, if you ...

Hey, Minotaur! Parable from Felix Krivin

The minotaur walked through the labyrinth. There was no exit. - Everything with me is not like people! - the Minotaur sighed, as usual exaggerating his misfortunes: his arms, legs, and body were just like those of people, only the head was like that of a bull, and he got it from ...

Without Hope and Fear Ancient Parable

Once the Demonact was asked a question: - How, in your opinion, can you define happiness? - Only free is happy. When he was objected that there are many free, he said: - But I consider a free one who does not hope for anything and is not afraid of anything. - But such ...

ladybug Parable for children

In the middle of the beautiful, bright world of God lived a little gray insect. All other insects were very proud of their bright colors and did not pay any attention to her, and the Colorado potato beetle even mocked her. The little bug was very grieving. ...

Be happy! Parable of unknown origin

A beggar stood by the road and begged for alms. A rider passing by hit the beggar in the face with a whip. He, looking after the retreating rider, said: - Be happy. The peasant who saw what had happened, hearing these words, asked: - Are you really so humble? - ...

To be happy

A rich lady, passing by a poor house, heard cheerful laughter and told the servant: - Go find out what their holiday is. “This is the lumberjack's family,” the servant reported. - Today he sold firewood and fed everyone with porridge. So they are happy. “And my husband has business ...

View from above Parable from Alexander Bella

The man asked God to show the way to happiness. God lifted him up so high that man saw many roads leading to what he was asking about. And so many that I was confused. The man examined them from above until he sank to the ground. Then he ...

Will of god Esoteric parable

Once a very devout man asked God for temporary things every day. And when God did not fulfill his desire, he was offended, but again he prayed. And suddenly he heard a voice inside him. “My godly son, all life forms came from one point. All...

Memories of the music of happiness Parable from Alexandra Lopatina

Once upon a time there was an old husband and wife. In their youth, they passionately loved each other. Every day, the husband brought gifts to his beloved, then a field flower, and sometimes - a ring, bracelet or necklace. Then he took a harmonica out of his pocket and played merrily, and the young ...

Time for happiness Modern parable

One lady was having dinner with her friend. At the next table, a very drunk and therefore excited person obsessively tried to strike up a conversation with them. Finally losing patience, the lady asked him to calm down. - Why on earth? he wondered. - I'm talking about...

This is unlikely to help you Parable from Alexander Bella about the teacher Amu

The disputants turned to Amu with the question: "What is a person striving for?" The sage agreed to listen to them. Then the first one exclaimed: - I don't understand what the argument is about! It is clear that fortunately! “Usually to avoid the worst,” said the other. - To knowledge, - confidently ...

The choice is yours Parable from Sergei Shepel

Why are you angry and offended? Isn't it better to calm down and forgive? - asked the Teacher. - And why should I do him a favor and forgive him, he ... - the student wanted to justify himself. “I'm sorry to interrupt you,” said the Teacher. - Let me ask ...

The choice of the cross Christian parable

There was one simple-minded peasant who lived by the labor of his hands, but earned very little: he barely had enough to feed himself and his family with. Once he went to the seashore, sat down on a stone and began to watch as large ships approached the pier with ...

Call Parable as narrated by Osho

A little struggle is what it takes. You will only become richer through storm, lightning, thunder - just as through joy and happiness. This is an ancient parable, must be very ancient, because God still lived on earth in those days. One day a man came, an old farmer, ...

Where is my remote? Parable from Andrey Yakushev

The best parables about happiness that always help
Compiled by Elena Tsymburskaya

Parables about the meaning of life

Echo

Father and son walked through the mountains. The boy stumbled over a stone, fell, hit hard and shouted:
- A-ah-ah !!!
And then I heard a voice from somewhere behind the mountain, which repeated after him:
- A-ah-ah !!!
Curiosity prevailed over fear, and the boy shouted:
- Who's here?
And I got the answer:
- Who's here?
Angry, he shouted:
- Coward!
And I heard:
- Coward!
The boy looked at his father and asked:
- Dad, what is it?
The man, smiling, said:
- My son, be careful, - and shouted to the mountains: - I adore you!
And the voice answered:
- I adore you!
The man shouted:
- You are the best!
And the voice answered:
- You are the best!
The child was surprised and did not understand anything. Then his father explained to him:
- People call it an echo, but in reality it is like life. It gives you back everything you say and do.
Our life is a reflection of our actions. If you want more love from the world, give more love to those around you. If you wish happiness - give happiness to those around you. If you want a smile from the heart, smile at those you know. Life gives us back everything we gave it. Our lives are not coincidences, but a reflection of ourselves.

Plant the future

In one oasis, lost among the deserts, next to the date palm trees sat old Ali. His neighbor Hakim, a wealthy merchant who went out to ventilate his camels, saw Ali, out of breath, stubbornly digging the sand.
- How are you, old man? Peace to you!
“And you,” Ali replied.
- What are you doing here, in this heat, why are you picking the ground with this stick?
“I'm planting,” the old man replied.
- What are you planting here, Ali?
“Dates,” the old man replied, inserting a palm tree into the hole.
- Dates?! - repeated the merchant and closed his eyes as if he had heard the most stupid thing. “The heat has damaged your mind, dear friend. Get up, drop this empty business, let's go to the shop, have a drink.
- No, I have to finish planting. After that, if you like, we'll have a drink.
- Tell me, friend, how old are you?
“I don’t know, sixty, seventy, eighty… I don’t know… I forgot. What does it matter?
- Look, friend, the date palm begins to bear its first fruits fifty years after planting. I do not wish you anything bad, and God forbid you to live up to a hundred years, but you yourself understand, it is hard to believe that you will wait for the fruits of what you are planting now. Drop it and come with me.
- Hakim! - answered Ali. - I ate the fruits of dates planted by someone else, who also did not dream of trying them. I plant today so others can eat dates tomorrow. And at least in honor of the unknown who did it for me, it is worth completing my work.
- You taught me a very big lesson, Ali! Let me repay you for this, ”Hakim said, dropping a leather bag full of coins into the old man's hand.
- Thank you! See, you told me that I could not harvest; but I have not even finished planting, but have already collected a bag of money thanks to the kindness of a friend.
- Your wisdom surprises me, old man! - Hakim threw up his hands. - This is the second important lesson that you gave me, and perhaps even deeper than the first. Let me pay you for it with another bag of coins.
“Sometimes this happens,” the old man continued, opening his fingers to look at the bags of money. - I planted so as not to harvest, and before I finished planting, I had already harvested, and not once, but twice!
- Enough, old man! Shut up, or if you continue to explain these things to me, I will not have enough of all my wealth to pay you, ”the neighbor laughed.

Lifetime

One man came to the village to visit relatives and went to the cemetery to visit the grave of one of his relatives. By chance he went to another site, and his attention was attracted by the inscriptions on the gravestones, in which there was clearly something different from the others. One inscription read: “Here rests such and such. He lived for eight months, four days and nine hours. " Another inscription said that someone was resting here, who had lived for seven years, two months and twenty hours. A few steps away, another slab announced that it was erected in honor of such and such, who lived for twelve years, three months, seven days and fifteen hours.
The number of such inscriptions led the man to assume that this is a site where only children are buried. At that moment, he saw the attendants of the cemetery and asked one of them:
- Why is only the time that these children lived is recorded here? Why are there so many dead children? Was there an epidemic here, or maybe someone cursed these people and their children were dying?
The minister replied:
- This village has its own tradition. When children come of age, they are presented with a notebook. On one of the pages, they write down the happiest and most significant events in their life, on the other - the time, how long the event that they enjoyed lasted. Almost everyone writes down the emotions that accompanied the first kiss, how many seconds or minutes it lasted, what they felt at the same time. Almost everyone writes in the day of their wedding, the birth of a child, a long-awaited journey, a meeting with someone they love, when something worked out ... This is the present time of life.
We exist to be happy, to enjoy life, to help other people, to be in harmony with the world. Everything else is not life.

Eagle's choice

The eagle lives 70 years, but in order to reach this age, at 40 years old, he must pass a serious and difficult test.
At 40, his claws shrink and become soft, and he cannot keep the animals he feeds in the air. Its long and sharp beak is combed and curled under the neck, preventing it from grasping food. Its wings wear out and become heavy from the fat accumulated on the feathers. It's getting so hard to fly! The eagle has two alternatives: die or endure a very painful renewal process that lasts 150 days.
If the eagle chooses life, he needs to climb high in the mountains and stay there, in a nest attached to sheer cliffs. After he finds such a place, the eagle begins to beat its beak against the rock until it tears off its old beak. Then he must wait until a new beak grows, with which he must peel off the old claws one by one. When its new claws begin to grow back, it begins to shed its old feathers. After 5 months, he makes his first flight after the renovation and lives for another 30 years.
Almost everyone in their life at least once, but came to the need to stop, retire and begin the process of renewal to continue their beautiful flight. We must get rid of the habits, traditions and memories that hurt us and hinder our development. Only by freeing ourselves from the burden of the past will we be able to continue our flight.

House with mirrors

In one small town on the outskirts there was an abandoned house. Once a little puppy, seeking shelter from the heat of the day, squeezed into a crack under the door of this house. The puppy slowly climbed the old wooden stairs, bumped into the half-open door and slowly entered.
To his great joy, he discovered that there were a thousand puppies inside the room, who were examining him as carefully as he was studying them. The puppy wagged its tail and began to raise the snuggled ears. A thousand puppies have done the same. He smiled and barked happily at one of them. And he was even more surprised: a thousand puppies happily answered him. The puppy rested, and his acquaintances rested with him.
When the puppy left the house, he thought: "What a nice place, I will come here more often."
Some time later, another stray puppy entered the same house and the same room, only when he saw a thousand other puppies, he felt threatened, because they looked at him aggressively. He growled and saw a thousand puppies growl at him. When the puppy ran out of the room in fear, he thought: "What a terrible place, I will never come back here again!"
An old sign hung from the roof of the house that read "House of a Thousand Mirrors."
All the faces of the world are mirrors. The face we wear inside, we show this world - sometimes against our will. The world returns to us what we bring to it: our gestures, actions, impulses. If we want the world to smile at us ...

Wish tree

It is said that many years ago a traveler, walking along the road under the blazing sun of India, with all his heart longed to rest under a tree that would give him a lot of shade. And so it happened. Soon he saw in the distance a huge spreading tree that stood alone in the middle of the wasteland. Drenched in sweat and adjusting his legs, tangled with fatigue, the pilgrim happily reached the desired shade.
Finally I can rest, he thought, settling under the branches that almost touched the ground. - What more could you want?
Spreading on the ground under his shelter, he tried to induce sleep, but the ground was solid, and the more the traveler tried to settle down and rest, the more solid the ground on which he lay seemed.
"If I had a bed!" He thought. At the same moment, a huge bed with silk sheets and pillows, worthy of a Sultan, appeared before him. Exquisite fabrics, the finest skins covered him. It so happened that the traveler, unaware, sat down under the mystical tree of desires. This wonderful tree could turn into reality any desire conceived under its canopy.
The traveler happily stretched out on the bed. “Oh, how good I am! It is a pity that hunger is bothering, ”he thought. At the same moment, a splendidly served table appeared in front of him with the most exquisite dishes, among which were exotic fruits, oriental sweets, wines on the finest tablecloths embroidered with gold and silver threads. Everything was exactly what this man's dreams were during long nights spent alone among the roads and days of his wanderings.
The more the traveler ate, the more food ended up on the table, and each subsequent dish was even tastier and more refined than the previous ones. In the end he gave up:
“I can't take it anymore,” said the pilgrim.
And at the same moment the table disappeared into thin air.
"This is amazing!" He thought. He was overwhelmed with a feeling of complete happiness. “I'm not going anywhere from here. I will stay here and be happy forever. "
But soon a terrible thought flashed through his head: “Of course, these places are also known to predatory animals. What happens if one of them discovers me? It would be terrible to die, just having found happiness ... "
This thought only flashed through the traveler for a split second, but that was enough. In fulfillment of his desire, at the same moment a terrible tiger appeared and tore apart the pilgrim.
So the tree of desires again remained alone, and is still there, waiting for a person with an absolutely pure heart, in which there is neither fear nor distrust.

Four wives

One sultan had four wives. Most of all he loved his fourth wife - the youngest and most affectionate. The Sultan adorned her with rich clothes and the most exquisite jewelry, he gave the best to her.
He also loved his third wife - an exceptional beauty. Going to another country, he took his third wife with him so that everyone could see her beauty, and was always afraid that one day she would leave him and run away to someone else.
The Sultan also loved his second wife - cunning and sophisticated in intrigue. She was his confidant and always showed goodwill, patience and respect. Whenever the Sultan had problems, he trusted their second wife, and she helped her husband get out of a difficult situation, go through difficult times.
The Sultan's first wife was the oldest and inherited from his deceased elder brother. The woman was very devoted to her husband and did everything possible to preserve and increase the wealth of both the Sultan himself and his entire country. Despite this, the sultan did not love his first wife, and even the fact that she deeply loved him did not touch him. He paid no attention to her.
Somehow the Sultan fell ill and felt that his days were numbered. I remembered my life full of luxury and thought: "Now I have four wives, but when I die, I will be left alone." And he asked his fourth wife:
“I loved you more than anyone else. I gave you all the best, took care of you with special diligence. Now that I am dying, are you ready to follow me into the realm of the dead?
- And don't think! - answered the fourth wife and left without another word. Her answer hit the man's heart like a well-thrown dagger.
Saddened, the Sultan asked his third wife:
“I've admired you all my life. Now that I am dying, are you ready to follow me into the realm of shadows?
- No! - answered his third wife. - Life is so beautiful! When you die, I think to get married!
The Sultan became sad - his heart had never known such pain. Then he asked his second wife:
- I always came to you for help, and you always helped me and was the best advisor for me. Now that I am dying, are you ready to follow me to where the pale shadows groan and pray to the ruler of souls for mercy?
“It's a pity, I can't help you this time,” said the second wife. “The most I can do is bury you with honor.
Her answer struck the Sultan like a thousand thunders and lightning.
At that moment, he heard a voice:
- I will go with you and follow where you go to the end!
The Sultan looked in the direction from which the voice was coming and saw his first wife - emaciated and grief-stricken, almost unrecognizable.
Amazed, the Sultan said:
- I should have been more attentive to you while I could!
We each have four wives. Our fourth wife is our body; no matter how much time and effort we put into looking good, it will leave us when we die. Our third wife is our career, social status, money, wealth. When we die, they will go to others. Our second wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they helped us here, the most they can do for us is to escort us to the grave.
And our first wife is our soul, often ignored by us because of the pursuit of luck, power, wealth and pleasure. Despite this, the soul is the only one who accompanies us wherever we go. Treating it with care and attention, protecting and developing it, we can give the world and ourselves the greatest gift.

Black door

One country was ruled by a king who had his own oddities. When he took prisoners in the war, he collected them in one huge hall. Everyone was herded to the center, and the king began his speech:
- I'll give you one chance! Look to the right corner of the hall!
The prisoners turned their gaze to the right and saw the warriors, armed with drawn bows and arrows and ready to act at any moment.
- Now, - continued the king, - look to the left corner of the hall!
Turning to the left, the prisoners saw a terrible black door. Huge, heavy, it was hung with parts of human bodies, and in place of the handle was a hand from a corpse. Even imagining this door was terrible, much less looking at it.
Then the king went to the center of the hall and shouted:
- And now choose what you want: die, pierced by the arrows of my archers, or open the black door and stay locked behind it ?! Decide! Everyone has a choice.
All prisoners did the same when it came time to choose: they came closer to the terrifying black four-meter door, looked at the corpses, human blood and skeletons and decided: "Better death by arrows!"
One by one, they looked first at the black door, then at the archers of death and announced to the king:
“Better death by arrows than opening this door and being locked behind it.
Thousands of warriors chose death by arrows, none chose the black door.
But now the wars are over. One of the death archers was sweeping a huge hall when the king entered. The soldier, trembling with fear and burning with curiosity, respectfully addressed the king:
- Your Majesty! I was always gnawed at curiosity, do not be angry with me for asking, but ... what is hidden behind this black door?
The king replied:
- You remember, I always gave the prisoners the right to choose. Now go and open this door.
The soldier, trembling with fear, carefully opened the door - and saw a bright ray of sun falling from behind it on the floor. He opened the door wider, and light hit his eyes, and the wonderful scent of meadow grasses and flowers filled his lungs. The archer saw that a black door opened into a field where a wide road began, and realized that a terrifying obstacle opened the way to freedom.
We all carry a black door in our minds - these are our fears. But if you take a step, just a step towards fear, you can find a ray of sunshine that illuminates our lives.

The newlyweds, who loved each other deeply, lived very poorly. One day the husband suggested to his wife:
- Expensive! I will leave home to look for work, I will go as far as I can to find something better. And when I earn enough to offer you a decent and more comfortable life, I'll come back. I don’t know how long I’ll spend away from home. I only ask you that you wait for me and in my absence be faithful to me, just as I will be faithful to you.
So, being very young, they parted. The young man walked for many days until he came across a farm, the owner of which was in need of an assistant. The guy offered his services and was accepted. The only thing the young man asked the owner about was to let him go when he felt that it was time to return.
“I don’t want to receive my salary,” the young man said. - I ask the gentleman to put money into my account until the day I quit. On the day when I leave, you will give me the money you earned.
The owner agreed, and the young man worked for him for twenty years without vacation or rest. After twenty years of work, he approached his master and said:
- Master! I want to take my money and go home.
The owner replied:
- Well, you and I had an agreement and I will fulfill it, but first I want to make you one proposal. I will give you your money and you will leave, or I will give you three pieces of advice and will not give you money and you will leave. If I give money, I will not give advice, and vice versa. Go to your room and think, and then give the answer.
The worker thought for two days, and then he found the owner and said:
- I want three pieces of advice.
The owner recalled:
- If I give advice, I won't give you money.
And the man confirmed:
- I want some advice.
Then the owner said:
- Never cut roads, shorter and more unknown paths can cost you your life.
Never show curiosity about what seems bad, curiosity can be fatal to you.
Never make decisions in moments of hate and pain, you may regret it, but it will be too late.
After that, the owner said to his employee:
- Here are three loaves of bread for you. Two to eat on the road, and the third to eat with your wife when you get home.
The man took the loaves, thanked the owner and went home along the road of twenty years of his life from home and his wife, whom he loved so much.
At the end of the first day of the journey, he met a man who greeted him and asked where he was going. The young man, who had already become a mature man, replied that he was going far, twenty days on this road. The man told him that this path is very long and he knows a shorter one, which can be reached in a few days, and showed him this path. The worker, pleased with the newfound opportunity to see his wife as soon as possible, took a shortcut when he remembered the first advice of his former master. Then he returned to the familiar road. A few days later, he learned from others that a short road led into an impenetrable forest and bog.
A few days later, tired, he stumbled upon a roadside hotel, paid for the night and, having washed, went to bed. In the morning he woke up, awakened by strange screams. He jumped up and in one leap was at the door, from behind which these screams were heard. When he touched the door to open it, he remembered the second tip. I returned to my room and went to bed to sleep. In the morning, having had coffee, he was about to leave when the innkeeper asked if he had heard screams at night, and he replied that he had. The innkeeper asked if he was curious to know why these screams were coming from, and he said no. Then the owner said:
- You are the first of the guests who leaves here alive, because my only son suffers from fits of madness at night, screams all night and, if someone comes in, pounces, kills and buries in the barn.
The man continued his long journey, yearning to get home as soon as possible. After many days and nights of walking, towards evening I saw smoke coming out of the chimney of his little house between the trees, quickened my pace and saw the silhouette of my wife between the bushes. It was getting dark, but he had time to see that she was not alone. He came a little closer and saw a man at her feet, whom she stroked through his hair. His heart was filled with hatred and bitterness, and he was about to run in and kill them both without regret when he remembered the third advice. He took a deep breath, slowed down his pace, then stopped, thought and decided to spend the night in this place, and the next day to make a decision. At dawn, his heart cooled down, he decided: “I will not kill my wife! I will return to my master and ask him to accept me back. Only before that I want to tell my wife that I have always been faithful to her. "
He went to the door of the house and knocked. When his wife opened the door and recognized him, she threw herself on his neck and threw her arms around him. He wanted to rip her hands off, but he couldn't. Then, with tears in his eyes, he said: "I was faithful to you all my life, and you betrayed me!"
- How! I have never betrayed you, I have been waiting for you and have been faithful to you all these twenty years! The woman exclaimed.
- And who, then, is the man whom you caressed last night?
And she answered:
“That man is our son. After you left, I felt like I was pregnant. He is now 20 years old.
Then the husband entered, saw and hugged his son and told them his whole story while the wife was preparing dinner. After tears of joy at meeting and talking, they sat down at the table, and the man began to share the last bread.
When he broke the loaf, all the money he had earned fell out.

How much is the time

Imagine that there is a bank that credits $ 86,400.00 to your account every morning, and every evening debits the entire balance that you have not used during the day. What would you do? Of course, every penny would be withdrawn from the account every day until the end of the day.
Each of us has such a bank. This bank puts 86,400 seconds into our account every morning. Every night, this bank withdraws from our account and attributes to losses the amount of time that was not used for something good. This bank does not allow savings and does not keep any balances. Every day a new account is opened for us, and every night the balance of the day is destroyed. If we do not use the deposit during the day, these are our losses. Nothing can be returned, nothing can be changed, there is no carryover of balances to tomorrow.
We can only live on a real deposit of today. And it's best to spend as much as possible on health, happiness, and success. Time is running. We use it to the maximum during the day.
The value of time can be really felt, felt. Any student will tell you how much a year of study costs when he takes the annual exam.
Any mother will tell you how much the first month of the life of the child she gave birth to is worth.
Any child will tell you how much one day costs while waiting for Santa Claus to bring him a present tomorrow.
Any lover will tell you how much it costs an hour to wait before seeing your beloved.
Any passenger who misses the train will tell you how much one minute costs.
Anyone who has survived an accident will tell you how much one second costs.
Any champion will tell you how much one hundredth of a second is worth.
Time waits for no one. Therefore, it would be nice to learn to value time, every moment of it, especially when there is someone very close and dear nearby. Time is the only irreplaceable value, nothing is given to us so easily and is not so expensive.
Time waits for no one. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a present, which is called that.

Chance

One man woke up in the middle of the night and saw an Angel nearby. He told the man that a wonderful future awaits him: he will have the opportunity to become rich, achieve respect and honor in society and marry a beautiful woman. The man lived his life in anticipation of the promised benefits, but nothing happened. He died poor and alone. When he ascended to the gates of heaven, he saw the very Angel who had visited him during his lifetime, and cried out:
“You promised me wealth, universal respect and a beautiful wife. I've spent my whole life waiting for this, and nothing has come true!
“I didn’t make that promise to you,” the Angel replied. - I promised that you will have an opportunity, a chance to become rich, respected and loved.
The man was surprised:
“I don’t understand what you mean by that?”
- Do you remember how once the idea of ​​starting your own business came to you, but out of fear of being defeated, you refused and never tried to implement it again?
The man nodded in agreement.
- A few years later the same idea occurred to another, and he was not afraid of failure. Remember, he turned into one of the richest people in the country! You must remember, the Angel continued, the terrible earthquake that destroyed the city to the ground. Thousands of people were left under the rubble of houses. At that time, you had the chance to participate in the search for the missing and rescue the survivors from the rubble, but you did not want to leave your home unattended for fear that looters might loot it. So you ignored the call for help and stayed at home.
The man, feeling a burning shame, nodded.
“This was your chance to save the lives of hundreds of people and earn their respect,” Angel continued. “And finally, do you remember the beautiful woman with red hair that you liked so much? You found her incomparable, beautiful and believed that you had never seen more beauty in your life. And despite this, you thought that such a woman would not marry you. And in order to avoid rejection, he never offered her anything.
The man nodded again, but now tears were rolling down his cheeks.
- Yes, my friend, she could be your wife, - said the Angel, - and with her you would be happy, you would have beautiful healthy children, your family would flourish and prosper ...
All of us are given chances every day, but very rarely, because of our fears and indecision, we use them.

Diogenes and Alexander

When Alexander the Great was traveling to India, he met Diogenes on his way. It was a winter morning, a cool wind was blowing, and Diogenes lay naked on the bank of the river on the sand and sunbathed. He was very handsome. When the soul is beautiful, physical beauty becomes unearthly. Alexander could not believe that a person could be so beautiful. In awe of this handsome man, he said to him:
- I am overwhelmed by your beauty, can I do something for you?
Diogenes said:
- Move a little to the side, because you are blocking the sun for me. I don't need anything else.
Alexander said:
- The next time I have the opportunity to appear on earth, I will ask God not to make me Alexander anymore, but to make me Diogenes.
Diogenes laughed and replied:
- And who prevents you from being such now? Where are you in a hurry? For months I have been watching your army move, where are you going and why?
Alexander replied:
- I am going to India to conquer the world.
- And what are you going to do after that? Diogenes asked.
Alexander replied:
- Then I will rest.
Diogenes laughed and said:
- You're crazy. I'm relaxing now. I have not conquered the world and do not see the need for this. If you want to relax, why not do it now? Who told you that before you rest, you need to conquer the whole world? If you don't rest now, you will never be able to rest. And you will never be able to conquer the whole world. You will die in the middle of the journey. Everyone dies in the middle of the journey.
Alexander thanked Diogenes and said that he would think about it, but now he cannot stop.
And he died in the middle of the journey. He could not return home, he died on the way.
And a strange story has been told since then: Diogenes died on the same day as Alexander.

Life does not wait

The Great Master, seeking to explain to his disciples the true state of meditation, said:
“If you say a word, I will assign you thirty blows with my stick. But if you do not utter a word, you will also receive thirty blows with my stick. Now talk, talk!
One disciple came forward and was just going to bow to the Master, but was hit.
The disciple protested:
“I didn’t say a single word, and you didn’t allow me to say a word. What is the blow for?
The master laughed and said:
“If I wait for you, your speech, your silence… it's too late. Life cannot wait.

Vessel of life

Once a sage, standing in front of his disciples, took a large glass vessel and filled it to the brim with large stones. Having done this, he asked the disciples if the vessel was full. All confirmed - yes, full. Then the sage took a box with small stones, poured it into the vessel and gently shook it several times. Pebbles rolled into the gaps between the large stones and filled them. After that, the sage again asked the disciples if the vessel was now full. They confirmed again - full. Finally, the sage took a box of sand from the table and poured it into the vessel. The sand of course filled in the last gaps between the stones.
“Now,” the sage turned to his disciples, “I would like you to be able to see your life in this vessel. Large stones represent important things in life: your path, your faith, your family, your loved one, your health, your children - those things that, even without everything else, can still fill your life. Small pebbles represent less important things, such as work, home, or hobbies. Sand is life's little things, everyday vanity. If you fill your vessel with sand first, then there will be no room for larger stones. It is the same in life: if you spend all your energy on small actions, then there will be nothing left for the big ones. Therefore, pay attention, first of all, to important things, find time for your children and loved ones, watch your health. You still have plenty of time for work, for home, for celebrations and everything else. Watch out for your big stones - only they have a price, everything else is just sand ...

Your cross

One man considered his life to be unbearably difficult. One day he came to God, told about his misfortunes and asked:
- Give me, Lord, another fate, another cross, easier!
God looked at the man with a smile, took him to the storehouse where the human crosses lay, and said:
- Choose!
After a long search, the man finally chose the lightest and smallest cross and turned to God again:
- Can I take this one?
- Take it, - answered the Lord. - But this is your own share.

Embroidery

When I was little, my mother embroidered a lot. I sat next to her on a small chair and asked what she was doing. She answered me: "I am embroidering."
When I was little, I could only see my mother's work from below. I always complained that I saw only ugly mixed threads.
She smiled at me from above and affectionately said: "Son, go for a walk, play a little, when I finish, I will put the embroidery on my knees and you will look from above."
I asked myself why the embroidery seemed so ugly and confused to me, and why does my mother need these dark threads at all. But then my mother called me: "Son, go, you can already see!" I happily ran in and was incredibly surprised at how beautiful the embroidery on the front side was. Mom showed me a beautiful flower or a magnificent sunset - and I could not believe my eyes: from below - an untidy accumulation of threads, and from above - such beauty. My mother then said: “My son, from below everything seems confusing and messy, but you did not know that upstairs I had my own plan, I had a beautiful drawing. Now look from above, how beautiful it is! "
It's the same in life. Not knowing the universal plan, we think that everything is going wrong, everything is bad. In fact, everything that happens is part of the divine embroidery. From above it is clearer how to embroider a beautiful pattern.

Love today

Yesterday? It was. Tomorrow? It is not known whether it will be. And tomorrow it may be too late - for love, for forgiveness, for the beginning of a new life.
Tomorrow may be too late to ask for forgiveness, to say, "Sorry, it was my mistake."
Your love may become unnecessary tomorrow. Your forgiveness may not be appropriate tomorrow. Your return tomorrow may be unwelcome. Your embrace may be empty tomorrow. Because tomorrow it might be late.
Don't leave the words for tomorrow: “I love you! I miss you! Forgive me! Sorry! This flower is for you. You look really good!" Don't leave a smile, hugs, tenderness, work, dream, help for tomorrow ...
Don't leave the question for tomorrow: “Can I help you with something? Why are you so sad? What's the matter? Listen, come here, let's talk! Where is your smile? Will you give me one more chance? Why don't we start over? Do you know that you can count on me? "
Remember, tomorrow may be late, very late ... It often happens. Go, look, ask, insist! Try again. It only exists today. Tomorrow might be late, believe me.

Treasure hunter

One professional treasure hunter, a sailor who devoted his life to traveling and searching for treasures through old maps, legends about pirates and unknown routes, who spent all his energy and money on this, but never found anything worthy of being called a treasure, finally got old. And having grown old, he settled in his simple house on the seashore, in a small fishing village, where he was born and where he returned to rest in between travels. He still dreamed of how he would heal if he found the treasure. But I understood that these were only dreams. On the night he died, the sea rose to embrace him for the last time - so high that it flooded the local cemetery located not far from the coast to the very crosses.
Being in an emergency situation, neighbors and friends of the treasure hunter decided to bury him in the courtyard of his own house. When they were digging a grave, they came across something solid. Stone? No, it was a chest. When they lifted it up and opened it, they saw that it was full of gold coins. A whole fortune is in the courtyard of a treasure hunter who has scoured all the seas in search of this and never tried to look under his feet.
So in life, we never see the treasures that are next to us.

Butterfly

Once a butterfly pupa fell into the hands of a man. He watched for hours as the butterfly struggled to squeeze its body out of the small hole in the cocoon. Time passed, the butterfly tried, but to no avail. It seemed that she was completely exhausted and could no longer ... Then the man decided to help the butterfly. He took the scissors and cut the cocoon to the end. The butterfly easily came out of it, but its body was atrophied, and its wings were folded and compressed. The man continued to watch her, he expected that at any moment she would spread her wings and fly.
But that did not happen. Until the end of its days, the butterfly remained with a deformed body and glued wings. She was never able to spread her wings and fly.
The person did not know that the hard cocoon and the incredible efforts made by the butterfly to exit the small hole were necessary for the body to take the correct shape and so that forces would enter the wings through the strong body, and she was ready to fly as soon as she was freed from the cocoon.
Everything has its time. Don’t help if you don’t know how or don’t ask. Do not interfere with the nature of things that you did not create. Otherwise, someone's road to hell may be paved with your good intentions.

Parables about love

An unsolved mystery

One boy was born with an incurable disease. At seventeen, he could die at any moment. He was always in the house under the supervision of his mother, but such a life became unbearable, and finally the young man decided to go outside, at least once, no matter what it cost him.
He walked around many shops and, passing by the musical, saw a beautiful girl. It was love at first sight. The young man opened the door and entered, looking only at the girl. Slowly approaching, he went to the counter behind which the girl was standing. She looked the boy in the eyes, smiled and asked:
- Can I help you with something?
The young man thought that this smile was the most beautiful one he had ever seen. Barely choosing his words, he said:
- Yes, um, um ... I would like to buy a disc, - and without looking he took the first one he came across and handed him the money.
- You want me to wrap it up for you? - the girl smiled.
The young man nodded, the girl entered the office at the back of the store and left with a disc wrapped in a gift bag. The young man took it and left.
Since then, he came to this store every day and bought one disc. The girl always wrapped it up, the young man carried away and hid the next package in the closet.
He was too shy, and even though he really wanted to, he could not ask her out on a date. His mother noticed that her boy fell in love, and supported, encouraged her son. In the end, the young man, plucking up courage, decisively went to the store, bought one disc and, when the girl went to wrap it up, quietly left his phone number in the window and ran away.
The next day, the phone rang in the young man's house, a girl from a music store called. The mother answered the phone, the girl asked to invite her son to the phone. The woman burst into tears and asked through her tears:
- You do not know? He died yesterday.
There was a long silence, interrupted by the mother's sobs.
A few days later, the mother entered her son's room. Opening the closet, she came across many boxes, wrapped in gift paper. She took out several bags and sat down on the bed to open and see what was in them. When she opened the first one, a note fell out of the plastic box: “Hello! I really like you. Invite me somewhere. Sofia". Feeling emotional, the mother, one by one, began to open all the packages and in each of them she found notes in which the same thing was written, only in different words.
This is life: don't wait too long to tell someone about your feelings. Tell me today it might be late tomorrow.

Teacher, what is love?

In one of the elementary grades, one of the children asked:
- Teacher, what is love?
The teacher felt the attention of all the other children and had to give an honest answer. Since it was before recess, she took the whole class to the park behind the school and asked each of the students to bring something that could awaken a feeling of love in him.
The children scattered, inspired by the task, and when they returned, the teacher said:
- I want everyone to show what he brought with him.
The first student said:
- I brought this flower, isn't it beautiful?
When it was the turn of the second, he said:
- I brought this butterfly, look what multi-colored wings it has! I will add it to my collection.
The third student said:
- I brought this chick that fell out of the nest, isn't it wonderful?
So, one by one, the children showed what they had collected in the park.
Finishing the exposition, the teacher noticed that one girl did not bring anything and felt uncomfortable because of this. The teacher turned to her:
- Didn't you find anything?
The girl, embarrassed, replied:
- Sorry, teacher, I saw a flower, felt its smell, thought to pick it, but then decided to leave it so that its aroma spreads in the park. I also saw a butterfly, light, bright, but she seemed so happy that I did not have the courage to catch it. I saw a chick falling from the nest between the branches, but, climbing a tree, I saw his mother's gaze, full of sadness, and preferred to return him to the nest. But I brought with me the scent of the flower, the feeling of freedom of the butterfly and the gratitude of the mother of the chick. How can I show what I brought?
The teacher gave the girl the highest mark and explained to the children that love can only be brought in your heart.

Invisible enemy

There was a prince in one old fortress. He devoted his whole life to fighting his enemies, but he could not deal with the last of them. He was caught, beaten, mortally wounded in fights, but if the enemy had even the slightest chance, he recovered and became even stronger.
Finally the day came when the prince was confident that he would win. His worst enemy fell into a trap and was in custody. All that remained was to wait for him to be delivered to the fortress.
The prince examined his soldiers: alone, impatient, brandishing a huge hammer, the blow of which no one had yet sustained; the other, with clean hands, a sleek face and a sweet smile, seemed to pose no danger, but his poison drove many to the grave. In the service of the prince were stone giants, snow queens and many other dangerous creatures, but the prince continued to send messengers and look for someone who would cope with his enemy for sure.
And now another challenger appeared before him. It was a pity to look at him, he did not look like a warrior, but like an obedient peasant in a straw hat. It was impossible to remember his face, it was so ordinary.
“I will kill your enemy,” he told the prince.
Other warriors began to openly taunt him.
- Show your art! - ordered the prince.
The peasant put on an iron glove, put his hand into his bag filled with millions of tiny arrows-needles, pulled out several and threw them at one of the prince's soldiers. No one noticed how the arrows flew and penetrated the soldier's armor, he felt nothing, and the needles went under the skin.
The little man said to the prince:
“I’m never in a hurry, I’ll be back in six months and I can kill your enemy as I killed your soldier.
The soldier stood on his feet and did not feel anything, but after a while he began to pour out imperceptible drops of blood that poured from invisible millions of wounds, and they could not be healed due to the fact that no one saw them. The soldier died six months later.
The inconspicuous man who killed him appeared before the prince exactly at the promised time and was accepted into his guard, and the prince's enemy was finally taken from distant provinces and taken to the fortress.
And then the doors opened, and the soldiers took the prisoner to the center of the hall. He was a man of extraordinary beauty. The prince was even breathless with hatred.
Neither the long exhausting journey, nor the rough beatings to which his enemy was subjected, could spoil his amazing face, beautiful not in external beauty, but in internal luminous power.
This man seemed to be radiating from within and pouring out his light on everyone present.
The prince, with a twisted face with anger, got up from the throne, approached the prisoner, bent down to his ear and hissed:
- All your life you mocked me, humiliated me, did what you wanted with things and people that belonged to me! You withstood all my attacks. Bad Temper with his hammer has weakened you a little. The beauty of Ambition impressed you, but did not poison you, just as Disease, Poverty and my other subjects did not kill.
The prince chuckled wryly and began to walk around the prisoner, enjoying the moment of his triumph.
- You thought you can do everything ... um ... how are you there ... Love ... Love! He repeated the prisoner's name in disgust. - Who do you imagine yourself to be? Who are you? You don’t know that I own everything on this earth! Do you know that I am much smarter and stronger than these little people whom you protect so much? Love! What a sickening name! “Nothing can compare with Love! Love can do everything! Love breaks boundaries! " - the prince scoffed. - Rubbish! Insignificance! This is my world, my time! - The prince flopped down on the throne. - Your end has come! Bring the mercenary!
The order was carried out with lightning speed: an imperceptible figure of the performer immediately appeared in the hall. He went to the place where Lyubov stood, looked at him phlegmatically.
- Do it! - ordered the prince.
The warrior slowly put on a glove, reached into his bag and pulled out a million needles. He waved his hand to launch them when the prince shouted:
- Stop! Before you do this ... What's your name?
The inconspicuous warrior spoke only one word:
- Routine.

Wealth, success and love

One woman, leaving her house, saw three old men with long white beards sitting in front of her house.
They were unfamiliar to her, and the woman said:
“I don’t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please enter the house and agree to share the bread with me.
"Is there a man in the house?" - asked the old people.
“No,” the woman said, “he went out.
“Then we can't go in,” they replied.
Towards evening, when the husband returned home, the woman told him what had happened.
“Go and tell me I'm already home and invite them to come in,” the man said.
The woman went out and invited the elders into the house.
“We will not enter the house together,” they replied.
- You can ask why?
One of the old men explained, pointing at each one in turn:
- His name is Wealth, and the name of the other is Success, and my name is Love. Now come back and consult with your husband which of us you want to invite.
The woman entered and told her husband everything she had heard. The man was delighted and exclaimed:
- How good! Let's invite Wealth! Let him enter our house and fill it with prosperity.
The wife was not sure if she agreed with her husband:
- My dear! Why don't we invite Success?
- Isn't it better to invite Love? - joined their daughter, who heard everything and came running from the backyard. - Imagine, then our house will be filled with love!
“Let's listen to our daughter’s advice,” the husband said to his wife. - Come out and invite Love to be our guest.
The woman came out and asked three old men:
- Which one of you is Love? Please go through and be our guest.
Love got up and went to the house. The remaining two got up and followed him.
The surprised woman turned to Wealth and Success:
- I only invited Lyubov, why do you also come in?
The old men answered:
- If you called only Wealth or only Success, the other two would be outside the door. But you called Love, and wherever she goes, we accompany her.

Seven wonders of the world

The teacher asked his students to list the seven wonders of the world on a separate sheet. Later, he asked everyone to read their lists in front of the class. The children got up in order and called:
- Egyptian pyramids!
- Taj Mahal!
- Panama Canal!
- Chinese Wall!
One girl sat in silence and did not seem to want to speak and was embarrassed to give her work. The teacher asked if she was having difficulty completing the assignment.
“Yes,” the student said shyly. - I have doubts, there are so many miracles in the world that it's hard to choose.
The teacher asked her to read what she chose:
- And we will listen, maybe we can help you with something.
The girl hesitated, but then she read:
- I think that the seven wonders of the world include: the ability of people to think, speak, do things, see, hear, help, and the most important of all - to love.
The class was silent for a long time.
All these wonders of the world are completely in our power, it is very important to remember this.

Real love

Passing a group of students, the teacher heard them discussing the problem of marriage. It was clear that they were against marriage. Their main argument was that romanticism in a couple's relationship is the main link, and when it dries up, it is better to end the relationship than to drown in monotony.
The teacher stopped, listened carefully to all opinions and invited the students to listen to one story from his life.
“My parents lived together for fifty-five years,” the teacher began. “One morning my mom was walking down the stairs from the bedroom to the kitchen to make breakfast for my father when she had a heart attack and fell. Her father heard, ran out of the bedroom, grabbed her, picked her up as best he could, dragged her to the car, rushed to the hospital at full speed, while her heart was breaking in agony. When I arrived, it was late, she died.
During the funeral, he did not speak, his gaze was lost. I hardly cried. In the evening we, all the children, gathered around him. Pain and melancholy were spread in the air, we recalled beautiful incidents from our life together. He asked my brother, a theologian, to talk about death and eternity. My brother started talking about life after death. My father listened with great attention. And soon he asked:
- Take me to the cemetery.
- Dad! - we exhorted him. - It's already eleven at night! We cannot go to the cemetery at a time like this!
He gave us an unseeing look, raised his voice:
- Do not argue with me, please! Don't argue with a man who just lost his wife, with whom he lived for fifty-five years.
There was silence. We didn't argue anymore. We went to the cemetery, asked permission from the watchman, and with a lantern we got to the grave.
My father hugged the grave, prayed and told us, his children, who, without moving, watched what was happening:
“It's been a good fifty-five years, you know. No one can talk about true love if they have no idea what it means to live life with such a woman!
He paused and wiped his face.
- We were together in everything. Joy and sadness when you were born, when I was kicked out of my job, when you were sick. We were always together. We shared joy when they saw how our children were making progress, cried together when you were unhappy, prayed together in many waiting rooms of hospitals for our relatives, supported each other in moments of pain, hugged and forgave each other if one of them broke down ... Children, now she is gone. And I'm glad, you know why? Because she left before I did. She didn't have to go through the pain of my funeral, she didn't have to be alone after I left. Everything fell to me, and I thank God for that. I love her so much that I would not want her to worry about me.
When my father finished speaking, my brothers and sisters and I had time to wash our faces with tears. We all hugged him, and he consoled us:
- Everything is fine, children, we can go home, today was a good day.
That night I realized what true love is.
You talked about romance; but it has nothing to do with eroticism. What could be more romantic than the union of two hearts, when each of them is ready to sacrifice everything for the other?
When the teacher finished his story, the students could not argue with him. The teacher taught them probably the most important lesson in life.

Matrimony

One psychological training brought together married couples with communication problems. The presenter gave them an assignment:
- By next Friday, write down on a piece of paper five defects that your husband or wife needs to fix first and foremost.
After receiving the assignment, all the couples parted. On the way home, one of the spouses-listeners stopped the car, got out, bought five roses, came back and presented them to his wife with a note: “I don’t think of anything that you need to correct. I love you the way you are. " The woman was deeply moved, burst into tears, tenderly hugged her husband ...
It's Friday. The woman kept the roses donated by her husband in the same condition and brought them to class with the note that her husband wrote to her. And when it was her turn to read the list of defects, she explained what had happened.
The other couple smiled tightly as she spoke. They were ashamed, because they brought with them not one at a time, but several sheets filled with complaints and pointed remarks that did not remain unanswered from the opposite side.
But everyone remembered the lesson. Especially the woman who received five red roses, a woman who probably had her faults but now had a powerful incentive to fix them.

There are no accidents

A young priest has arrived in a city in a European country to reopen a dormant church. He was going to get down to business with great enthusiasm, but when he arrived at the place and saw the state of the building, he almost lost heart. It was October, and the priest decided to do everything possible to open the temple for Christmas. He worked without rest: patching up holes in the walls, plastering, painting, mending ... Christmas was approaching, and literally a few days before his arrival, a thunderstorm with snow and rain fell on the city, which prevented people from going outside for two days. When on the third day the priest came to the church, he saw that the water that had seeped through the dome, penetrated the wall and soaked the plaster, which collapsed, forming a hole right behind the altar. The priest cleaned the floor and, dejected, went home with the thoughts of postponing the beginning of the service to another date. On the way, he noticed a small shop with a counter on the street, which apparently opened only today. An ivory tablecloth, hand-embroidered with beautiful flowers with a large cross in the middle, caught his eye. She was perfect to close the hole in the wall. Father immediately bought a tablecloth and turned back towards the church.
Snow began to fall. One elderly woman hurriedly ran across the road right in front of the priest, hoping to get on the departing bus, but she never made it. The priest invited her to go to the church and wait for the next one, which was to come only after 45 minutes: it was warm in the building. An elderly woman entered the church and sat down. The priest at this time was looking for hooks, a ladder and everything else to hang the tablecloth. Finally, he succeeded, so much so that it would be nice to have a look. The tablecloth looked like an expensive carpet and covered all wall defects. Turning around, the priest saw the woman approaching him, looking at the tablecloth as if enchanted.
- Father, where did you get this tablecloth? The woman asked.
The priest told. The woman asked to turn the bottom corner and check if there were any initials EBG on the back - and they were there.
Yes, those were her own initials. And the woman embroidered this tablecloth thirty-five years ago, when she was in Austria. Until the outbreak of World War II, she and her husband lived there, and lived there luxuriously. When the Nazis came to power, the couple had to leave. The wife left first, and the husband was to follow her in a week. On the way, the woman was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. Since then, she has not seen her husband and does not know what happened to their house and to him. I thought he was shot.
The priest took the woman by car to her house and wanted to give a tablecloth embroidered by her in her youth, but the woman flatly refused, saying that she was happy to provide her work for the church. And, thanking the priest, she went up to her apartment on the third floor.
The first service after the revival of the church on Christmas day was great. The church was almost complete. The feeling of the presence of the Holy Spirit and church singing filled her with incredible goodness. At the end of the service, the priest said goodbye to the parishioners at the door. Many said they would definitely return. One elderly man, whom the priest recognized as a neighborhood neighbor, remained seated and gazed ahead in front of him. The priest asked why he didn’t leave. The man asked, where did the priest get this tablecloth that hangs behind the altar - the same was embroidered by his wife many years ago in Austria before the war, and how can two things exist that are indistinguishable from each other? The man told the priest how the Nazis came and he forced his wife to leave the country first for her own safety, and how he was going to follow her, but he was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. And since then he has not seen her for thirty-five years.
The priest asked the man if he would agree to take a walk together, and took the elderly man to the house, where he dropped the elderly woman off three days ago. Then he helped the elderly man up to the third floor and rang the doorbell, anticipating the most beautiful Christmas he could imagine.

Parables about happiness

Happiness is the way

We expect life to get better when we turn 18, when we get married, when we get a better job, when we have a child, a second ...
Then we feel tired, as our children grow up slowly, and we think that when they grow up, we will feel happy. As they become more independent and enter the transitional age, we complain that it is difficult to get along with them, and when they pass this period, it will become easier.
Then we say that our life will get better when we finally buy a bigger house and a better car, we can go on vacation, we retire ...
The truth is, there is no better moment to feel happy. If not now, then when?
It seems that life is about to begin, real life! But there is always one problem on the way, one unfinished business, one unpaid debt, which need a primary solution; and after that, life will begin. And if we look closely, we see that these problems are endless. Of them, in fact, life consists.
This helps us see that there is no path to happiness, happiness is the path. We must appreciate every moment, especially when we share it with someone dear, and remember that time does not wait for anyone.
Don't wait until high school or college starts, when you lose 5 pounds, when you have children, when children go to school, get married, get divorced, New Years, spring, fall or winter, next Friday, Saturday or Sunday, or the moment you die in order to be happy. Happiness is a path, not a destiny.
Work like you don’t need money, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like no one sees you.

Hidden happiness

Once the gods gathered and decided to have some fun. One of them said:
- Let's take something from people?
After much thought, another exclaimed:
- I know! Let's take away their happiness! The only problem is where to hide it so that they don't find it.
The first one said:
- Let's hide him on the top of the highest mountain in the world!
“No, remember that they have a lot of strength, someone can climb up and find, and if they find one, everyone else will immediately know where happiness is,” replied the other.
Then someone put forward a new proposal:
- Let's hide it at the bottom of the sea!
They answered him:
- No, do not forget that they are curious, someone can design a diving apparatus, and then they will definitely find happiness.
“Let's hide it on another planet, away from Earth,” someone else suggested.
- No, - they rejected his offer, - remember that we gave them enough intelligence, someday they will come up with a ship to travel the worlds, and they will discover this planet, and then everyone will find happiness.
The oldest god, who remained silent throughout the conversation and only listened attentively to the speakers, said:
- I think I know where to hide happiness so that they never find it.
Everyone turned to him intrigued and asked:
- Where?
“Let’s hide it inside themselves, they will be so busy looking for it outside that it would never even occur to them to look for it inside themselves.
All the gods agreed, and since then people spend their entire lives in search of happiness, not knowing that it is hidden in themselves.

Enjoy your coffee

One day a group of former classmates, and now highly qualified professionals, successful, respected and rich people, gathered to visit their old beloved professor. They came to his house, and very soon the conversation turned to the incessant stress provoked by work, the modern world, and life in general.
The professor offered coffee to all his students and, having received consent, retired to the kitchen. He returned with a large coffee pot with surprisingly different coffee cups on a tray beside it. The cups were multi-colored, of different sizes. Among this company were expensive porcelain, and ordinary ceramic, and just clay, and glass, and plastic. They differed in shape, decor, ease of handles ... The professor arranged a coffee pot in the middle of the table and suggested that everyone choose their favorite cup and fill it with freshly brewed coffee. When the cups were disassembled and the coffee was poured, the professor cleared his throat a little and quietly, with incredible warm benevolence, turned to his guests:
- Did you notice that the most beautiful and expensive cups were sold first? Are the simplest and cheapest ones left? This is normal, as everyone wants the best for themselves. In fact, this is in most cases the cause of the stress you mentioned. To continue, the cup did not add flavor or quality to the coffee. The cup only disguises or hides what we drink. You wanted coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively looked for something better. Life is coffee. Work, money, social status are just cups that shape and harbor life in something. And the type of cup does not determine or change the quality of the life we ​​lead. On the contrary, if we only concentrate on the cup, we stop enjoying coffee. Enjoy your coffee! The happiest people are not those who have the best, but those who do the best with what they have. Remember.

Perfect world

Once a king announced a high reward to someone who paints a picture of ideal tranquility, an ideal world. Many artists presented their works, the king looked at everything and selected two to determine the winner.
The first showed a very calm lake, which reflected the majestic mountains that surrounded it. Above was a clear blue sky with weightless white clouds. Everyone who looked at the picture felt peace and believed that it depicted an ideal world.
The second picture also depicted mountains, and above them - an angry sky, which burst through with rain, thunder and lightning. The mountain below has turned into a waterfall. There was nothing peaceful about this picture. But upon closer examination of the picture, the king saw behind the waterfall, under the overhanging ledge of the mountain, a small slender tree that grew on a small area. There was a nest on the tree, and in it one could see a bird that was quietly sitting inside ... "Ideal world!" - thought the king and appointed a reward to the second picture, since an ideal world does not mean a place without noise, problems and tremors. To be in peace is to feel calm and balance in your heart and harmony in your soul; the inner world should not be hindered by anything that happens outside.

The elephant thought that ...

One boy really enjoyed going to the circus. Once a circus with animals came to their city, and the child begged his father to take him to the show.
An elephant appeared in the arena. He worked wonders: he lifted weights, juggled, walked on his hind legs. After the performance, the boy looked behind the fence and saw that the elephant was tied with a chain by one leg, and a peg with a chain was driven into the ground. For the elephant it cost nothing to pull out the peg and leave.
- Dad! And why does the elephant not go into the jungle, because he can do it? The boy asked his father. - He's so strong!
- Because he is trained and already used to it. And also because, when they caught him and tied him as a little boy, he was really chained to a chain very tightly. Every day, being small and lonely, he tried to free himself from the chain, beat his foot on the ground, tried to break the chain with the other leg, got tired, was exhausted, and, finally, the day came when he admitted his own powerlessness and resigned himself to his fate and so that it can never break free. And now, when he has grown into a large and powerful elephant, he still thinks that he cannot free himself. He remembers that he cannot, and worst of all, that after that he never tried again, never checked again.

End of introductory snippet.

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