Some Inspirational Stories

The Horseman

It was a bitter, cold evening. The old man’s beard was

glazed by winter’s frost while he waited for a ride across the river. The wait
seemed endless. His body became numb and stiff from the frigid north wind. He
heard the faint, steady rhythm of approaching hooves galloping along the frozen
path.

Anxiously, he watched as several horsemen rounded the bend. He let the first one
pass by without an effort to get his attention. Then another passed by… and
another. Finally, the last rider neared the spot where the old man sat like a snow
statue.

As this one drew near, the old man caught the rider’s eye and said, “Sir, would
youmind giving an old man a ride to the other side? There doesn’t appear to be a
passageway by foot.”

Reining his horse, the rider replied, “Sure thing. Hop aboard.”

Seeing the old man was unable to lift his half-frozen body from the ground, the
horseman dismounted and helped the old man onto the horse. The horseman took
the old man not just across the river, but to his destination, which was just a few
miles away.

As they neared the tiny but cosy cottage, the horseman’s curiosity caused him to
inquire, “Sir, I notice that you let several other riders pass by without making an
effort to secure a ride. Then I came up and you immediately asked me for a ride.
I’m curious why, on such a bitter winter night; you would wait and ask the last
rider. What if I had refused and left you there?”
The old man lowered himself slowly down from the horse, looked the rider straight
in the eyes, and replied, “I’ve been around here for some time. I reckon I know
people pretty good.”

The old-timer continued, “I looked into the eyes of the other riders and
immediately saw there was no concern for my situation. It would have been useless
even to ask them for a ride. But when I looked into your eyes, kindness and
compassion were evident. I knew, then and there, that your gentle spirit would
welcome the opportunityto give me assistance in my time of need.”

Those heartwarming comments touched the horseman deeply.

“I’m most grateful for what you have said,” he told the old man. “May I never get
too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with
kindness and compassion.”

SAND AND STONE

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point
of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the
face. The one who got slappedwas hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in
the sand: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.”

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath.
The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the
friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on
a stone: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.”

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you,
you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”

The other friend replied: “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand
where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something
good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Father, Son and a Crow

 An old man was sitting in the courtyard of his house along with
his son who had received a high education. Suddenly a crow perched on a wall of
the house. The father asked the son: What is this? The son replied: It is a crow.
After a little while the father again asked the son: What is this? The son said: It
is a crow.

After a few minutes the father asked his son the third time: What is this? The
son said: Father, I have just now told you that this is a crow. After a little while
the old father again asked his son the fourth time: what is this?

By this time some expression of irritation was felt in the son’s tone when he
rebuffed his father: Father! It is a crow, a crow. A little after the father again
asked his son: What is this? This time the son replied to his father with a vein of
temper. Father: You are always repeating the same question, although I have told
you so many times that it is a crow. Are you not able to understand this?

The father went to his room and came back with an old diary. Opening a page he
asked his son to read what was written. What the son read were the following
words written in the diary:

Today my little son was sitting with me in the courtyard, when a crow came there.
My son asked me twenty-five times what it was and I told him twenty-five times
that it was a crow and I did not at all feel irritated. I rather felt affection for my
innocent child.

The father then explained to his son the difference between a father’s and a son’s
attitude. While you were a little child you asked me this question twenty-five times
and I felt no irritation in replying to the question twenty-five times and when
today I asked you the same question only five times, you felt irritated, annoyed
and impatient with me.
How Poor Are We Really

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a

trip to the country with the purpose of showing his son how the poor people live so
he could be thankful for his wealth. They spent a couple of days and nights on the
farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It
was great, Dad.” “Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. “Oh yeah”
said the son. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool
that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.”
“We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.”
“Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.” “We have a
small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.” “We
have servants who serve us, but they serve others.” “We buy our food, but they
grow theirs.” “We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends
to protect them.”

With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks dad for
showing me how poor we are.”

The Most Beautiful Heart

 One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town
proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.

A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There
was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful
heart they had ever seen.

The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Why your heart
is not nearly as beautiful as mine.”

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly
… but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces
put in … but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In
fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were
missing.

The people stared … how could he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought?

The young man looked at the old man’s heart and saw its state and laughed.
“You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine … mine is perfect and
yours is a mess of scars and tears.”

“Yes,” said the old man, “Yours is perfect looking … but I would never trade with
you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love….. I tear
out a piece of my heart and give it to them … and often they give me a piece of
their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart … but because the pieces
aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of
the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away … and the other person hasn’t
returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges … giving love is
taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me
of the love I have for these people too … and I hope someday they may return and
fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?”

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to
the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece
out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.

The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his
old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit …. but
not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than
ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.
They embraced and walked away side by side.

Someone Who Understands

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the
pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving
the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the
Eyes of a little boy.

“Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.” “Well,” said the farmer, as
he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, “these puppies come from
fine parents and cost a good deal of money.” The boy dropped his head for a
moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and
held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?”
“Sure,” said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle, “Here Dolly!” he called.
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of
fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced
with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed
something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared;
this One noticeably smaller.

Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began
hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up…. “I want that one,” the
little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and
said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you
like these other dogs would.” With that the little boy stepped back from the
fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he
revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a
specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see sir, I don’t
run too well myself, and he will needsomeone who understands.” The world is full of
people who need someone who understands.

Window

Once there were these two men that lived in a nursery home. The
first person that registered got a place by the window. The man that sat near the
window would gaze at it for hours. The other man would watch him and wonder what
he was gazing at.

so one day he asks the man, “can you please tell me what you see my friend, as i am
paralyzed and cannot see from where i am sitting” the man smiled and said, “My
friend i see the most beautiful things…i see flowers growing, the sun
shining, childrenplaying, everything is so beautiful.” the paralyzed man soon started
to get jealous and couldnt wait until this man left so he could take his place by the
window.

Every day he would ask this man what he saw and everyday it was the same reply
“its beautiful.” The paralyzed man would get start to feel anticipated and wish this
old man would leave so he could see the same beautiful things.

A day comes along and the paralyzed man realizes his friend is not there anymore.
So he asks the nurse, “Where is the man that sits here by the window.” she tells
him that he had just passed away. The paralyzed man gains a spark in his face, so
he asks the nurse “May i have the place near the window since he is not there
anymore?” she says ofcoarse.
So she places him near the window. He takes a look outside and says “WHAT!?” the
nurse looks at him and asks ” is there something wrong?” the paralyzed man replies,
“why is there a brick wall here, where are all the beautiful things the man
described to me?” the nurse looks at him in confusion and says “The man that used
to sit here was blind.” The paralyzed man began to feel shameful for his friend was
describing the beauty of the world to make him feel happy since he was unable to
see out of the window himself, yet he proved to show that the blindest of all men
was him.

Telling The Truth

“Who did this?” asked my teacher. Thirty children tried to think about not only
what they had done, but also what our teacher may have found out.
“Who did this?” asked my teacher once more. She wasn’t really asking, she was
demanding an answer. She seldom became angry, but she was this time. She held up
a piece of broken glass and asked, “Who broke this window?”

“Oh, oh,” I thought. I was the one who broke the window. I had not done it
intentionally. It was caused by an errant throw of a baseball. I was working on my
knuckleball. It needed more work.
Why did it have to be me? It wasn’t really my fault. If I admitted guilt, I would be
in a lot of trouble.
How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get an
allowance. “My father is going to have a fit,” I thought. I didn’t want to raise my
hand, but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward. I told the truth.
“I did it.” I said no more. It was hard enough saying what I had.

My teacher went to one of our library shelves and took down a book. She then
began walking towards my desk. I had never seen my teacher to strike a student,
but I feared she was going to start with me and she was going to use a book for
the swatting.

“I know how you like birds,” she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden
face. “Here is that field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It
is yours. It’s time we got a new one for the school anyway. The book is yours and
you will not be punished as long as you remember that I am not rewarding you for
your misdeed, I am rewarding you for your truthfulness.”