The Apple Tree Inspirational Story

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He
loved the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow...He loved the tree and the tree loved
to play with him. Time went by.......

The little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree everyday. One day the boy came
back to the tree and he looked sad. "Come play with me," the tree asked the boy. I am no longer a kid, I
don't ' play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them." "Sorry,
but I don't have money.....but you can pick my apples and sell them. Then you will have money."

The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back
after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

One day the boy returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me" the tree said. I don't
have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me? "Sorry
but I don't have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house." So the boy cut all the
branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back
since then.

The tree was lonely and sad. One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was so delighted.
"Come and play with me!" the tree said. "I am so sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself.
Can you give me a boat? " "Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy." So the
boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a very long long time.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. "Sorry, my boy, but I don't have anything for
you anymore. No more apples for yo u...." the tree said". "I don't have teeth to bite" the boy replied.
"No more trunk for you to climb on" I am too old for that now" the boy said. "I really can't give you
anything.....the only thing left is my dying roots" the tree said with tears. "I don't need much now, just a
place to rest. I am tired after all these years."
The boy replied "Good! Old Tree Roots is the best place to lean and rest on." "Come, come sit down with
me and rest " The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears.
Moral of the Story

This is a story for everyone. The tree is our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom
and Dad...When we grew up, we left them...only come to them when we need something or when we
are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they can to make you
happy. You may think the boy is cruel to the tree but that is how all of us are treating our parents.

Love your parents, no matter where they are.

Self Appraisal

A little boy went to a telephone booth which was at the cash counter
of a store and dialed a number.
The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation:

Boy : "Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?
Woman : (at the other end of the phone line) "I already have someone to cut my lawn."

Boy : "Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price than the person who cuts your lawn now."
Woman : I'm very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.

Boy : (with more perseverance) "Lady, I'll even sweep the floor and the stairs of your house for free.
Woman : No, thank you.

With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store-owner, who was listening to all
this, walked over to the boy.

Store Owner : "Son... I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job."

Boy : "No thanks,

Store Owner : But you were really pleading for one.

Boy : No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the job I already have. I am the one who is working
for that lady I was talking to!"

Fruits of Labour (Hard Work)

There once lived a rich businessman who had a lazy and fun loving son. The businessman wanted his son
to be hard-working and responsible. He wanted him to realize the value of labour. One day he
summoned his son and said: "Today, I want you to go out and earn something, failing which you won't
have your meals tonight."

The boy was callous and not used to any kind of work. This demand by his father scared him and he
went crying straight to his mother. Her heart melted at the sight of tears in her son's eyes. She grew
restless. In a bid to help him she gave him a gold coin. In the evening when the father asked his son
what he had earned, the son promptly presented him the gold coin. The father then asked him to throw
it into a well. The son did as he was told.

The father was a man of wisdom and experience and guessed that the source of the gold coin was the
boy's mother. The next day he sent his wife to her parent's town and asked his son to go and earn
something with the threat of being denied the night meals if he failed.

This time he went crying to his sister who sympathized with him and gave him a rupee coin out of her
own savings. When his father asked him what he had earned the boy tossed the rupee coin at him. The
father again asked him to throw it in a well. The son did it quite readily. Again the father's wisdom told
him that the rupee coin was not earned by his son. He then sent his daughter to her in-laws' house. He
again asked his son to go out and earn with the threat that he shall not have anything for dinner that
night.

This time since there was no one to help him out; the son was forced to go to the market in search of
work. One of the shopkeepers there told him that he would pay him two rupees if he carried his trunk to
his house. The rich man's son could not refuse and was drenched in sweat by the time he finished the
job. His feet were trembling and his neck and back were aching. There were rashes on his back. As he
returned home and produced the two rupee note before his father and was asked to throw it into the
well, the horrified son almost cried out. He could not imagine throwing his hard-earned money like this.
He said amid sobbing: "Father! My entire body is aching. My back has rashes and you are asking me to
throw the money into the well."

At this the businessman smiled. He told him that one feels the pain only when the fruits of hard labour
are wasted. On earlier two occasions he was helped by his mother and sister and therefore had no pain
in throwing the coins into the well. The son had now realized the value of hard work. He vowed never to
be lazy and safe keep the father's wealth. The father handed over the keys of his shop to the son and
promised to guide him through the rest of the life.

Moral of the Story: Some of the life's best lessons come from the hardest situations.
The Carpenter's House

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house
building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. 
He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see
his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter
said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy
workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. 
When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed
the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house, " he said, "my gift to you." 
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done
it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well. 
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less
than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at
the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had
realized that we would have done it differently. 
Moral of the Story 

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board,
or erect a wall. Build wisely.

It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be
lived graciously and with dignity.

The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your life tomorrow will be the result of
your attitudes and the choices you make today.

Emperor's Seed

Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was coming time to choose
his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or one of his own children, he decided to do
something different.

He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It has come time for me to
step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were
shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a
very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from
today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me,
and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!"

There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went
home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil,
and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had
grown.

After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that
were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three
weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing.

By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six
months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees
and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting
for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for
inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to
go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he
knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.

When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were
beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds
laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide
in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one
of you will be appointed the next emperor!"

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

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were
laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and
then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it.
Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

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

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