The Most Beautiful Heart

One day, in a heavily crowded place, a young man began shouting.

“People, look at me. I have the most beautiful heart in the world.”

Many people looked at him and were stunned to see his beautiful heart in a perfect shape, without any flaw. It
looked quite amazing. Most of the people who saw his heart were mesmerized by the beauty of his heart, and praised
him.

However, there came an old man who challenged the young man, “No my son, I have got the most beautiful heart in
the world!”

The young man asked him, “Show me your heart, then!”

The old man showed his heart to him. It was very rough, uneven, and had scars all over. In addition, the heart was
not in shape; it appeared like bits and pieces joined in various colours. There were some rough edges; some parts
were removed, and fitted with other pieces.

The young man started laughing, and said, “My dear old man, are you mad? See, my heart! How beautiful and
flawless it is. You cannot find even a bit of imperfection in my heart. See, yours? It is full of scars, wounds, and
blemishes. How can you say your heart is beautiful?”

“Dear boy, my heart is just as beautiful as your heart is. Did you see the scars? Each scar represents the love I
shared with a person. I share a piece of my heart with others when I share love, and in return I get a piece of heart,
which I fix at the place from where I have torn a piece!” said the old man.

The young man was shocked.

The old man continued, “Since the pieces of heart I shared were neither equal nor in the same shape or size, my
heart is full of uneven edges and bits and pieces. My heart is not in shape because sometimes I do not get love in
return from those to whom I gave it. Your heart that looks fresh and full with no scars indicates that you never
shared love with anybody. Isn’t that true?”

The young man stood still and did not speak a word. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He walked to the old man, tore a
piece of his heart and gave the piece to the old man.

Many give importance and respect to physical beauty. Yet, real beauty is not physical!
Money Vs Family
He works for more than 16 hours a day. The kids cannot see him as he will leave home early in the morning before they
wake-up and reach home around midnight when kids would sleep every day. The entire family eagerly wait to spend quality
time with him and the kids miss him so much.

The children were too curious about Sundays as his father would spend the entire day with them. Unfortunately, to meet the
increasing household expenses and educational expenses, Rama took a weekend job to work even on Sundays. The kids
were very shattered and even Rama’s wife and parents too!

The typical routine continued for several weeks and year passed. All the hard work of Rama earned a lot of benefits and he
was offered promotion with attractive increment.

The family moved to a new house, got better clothes and ate healthy foods. However, as usual, Rama continues to earn
more and more money. One day his wife asked him ‘why are you running for money? We can be happy with what we have
now.’

Rama replied, ‘I want to give the best available in the world to all of you and want you to stay happy always.’

Two years passed and Rama hardly spent time with his family. The children yearned to have their father at home.
Meanwhile, the sincere efforts of Rama reaped him a fortune. He was offered partnership and share in profits. He continued
to earn more and more wealth.

Now, Rama’s family is one of the richest families in the city. They have all the facilities and luxuries. Still, Rama’s children
strove to meet their father as he was hardly seen at home.

His children turned teens and they are no more kids. Now, Rama earned enough wealth to provide a luxurious life to his
next five generations.

Rama’s family went to their beach house to spend their vacation. His daughter asked, ‘Dad will you please spend one day at
home and stay with us here?’

Rama replied, ‘Yes darling, tomorrow for sure, I will join you for the lunch and be with you all for next few days. I’m tired
of work and need refreshment!’

The entire family became very happy.

Unfortunately, the next day, none in Rama’s family were alive as they were washed out in Tsunami!

Rama was too busy even to hear the news about Tsunami. When he tried to reach his beach house, he saw sea and water
everywhere and screamed for his family, He could not even find the dead bodies of his family.

He can never have them again, cannot even see them and even by paying millions he cannot get them back to life!

He remembered his wife’s words, ‘Why are you running for money? We can be happy with what we have now.’

Money can’t buy everything!

Money Can’t Buy Everything

Nick was a 10 year old boy. He was the only son to his parents. Nick’s father was a very busy businessman who could not
spend time with his son. He came home after Nick slept, and was off to office before Nick woke up in the morning. Nick
yearned for his father’s attention. He wanted to go outdoors and play with his father just like his friends did.

One day, Nick was surprised to see his father at home in the evening.

“Dad, it is a big surprise to see you at home,” Nick said.

“Yes son, my meeting was cancelled. So I’m at home. But after two hours I have to catch a flight,” his father replied.

“When will you be back?”

“Tomorrow noon.”

Nick was in deep thought for a while. Then he asked, “Dad, how much do you earn in a year?”

Nick’s father was taken aback. He said, “My dear son, it’s a very big amount and you won’t be able to understand it.”

“Ok dad, are you happy with the amount you earn?”

“Yes my dear. I’m very happy, and in fact I’m planning to launch our new branch and a new business in a few months. Isn’t
that great?”

“Yes, dad. I’m happy to hear that. Can I ask you one more question?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Dad, can you tell me how much you earn in a day or even half a day?”

“Nick, why are you asking this question?” Nick’s father was perplexed.

But Nick was persistent. “Please answer me. Can you please tell me how much you earn in an hour?”

Nick’s father gave in and replied, “It will be around $ 25/- per hour.”

Nick ran to his room upstairs, and came down with his piggy bank that contained his savings.

“Dad, I have $50 in my piggy bank. Can you spare two hours for me? I want to go to the beach and have dinner with you
tomorrow evening. Can you please mark this in your schedule?”

Nick’s father was speechless!

The greatest gift a parent can give his child is time. Money can’t buy everything!

The Secret of Happiness

Once upon a time, there were three brothers named Samuel, Timothy and Xander, who lived in a cottage by the woods.
They were honest and hardworking. Every day, they would venture into the forest to fell wood. Later, they would sell it in
the market where it would fetch a decent price. Thus, their life continued in this manner.

However, the brothers were always sad and morose. Even though they lived a good life, they were unhappy. Each one
hankered for something or the other and would pine for it.

One day, while Samuel, Timothy and Xander were returning home from the woods carrying their bundle of logs, they saw
an old haggard woman bent low with a sack on her back. As they were kind and compassionate, the brothers immediately
approached the poor woman and offered to carry the sack all the way to her home. She smiled and expressed her
gratefulness, while replying that the sack actually contained apples that she had collected in the forest. Samuel, Timothy and
Xander took turns in carrying the sack, and at last, when they reached the woman’s home, they were very tired indeed.

Now, this old woman was no ordinary person and had magical powers. Pleased with the brothers’ kind and selfless nature,
she asked them whether there was anything she could help them with, as a reward.

“We are not happy, and that has become our greatest cause of concern,” replied Samuel. The woman asked what would
make them happy. Each brother spoke of a different thing that would please him.

“A splendid mansion with plenty of servants would make me happy. There is nothing more that I would want,” said
Samuel.

“A big farm with lots of harvest would make me happy. Then I could be rich without having to worry,” said Timothy.

“A beautiful wife would make me happy. Every day, after returning home, her sweet little face would light me up and make
me forget my sorrows,” said Xander.

“That is fine,” said the old woman, “If these things will give you happiness, you deserve them in every respect for helping a
poor helpless person like me. Go home, and each of you shall find exactly what you have wished for.”

This took the brothers by surprise as they did not know about the woman’s powers. Nevertheless, they took leave and
returned home. But lo behold, beside their cottage, there was a huge mansion with a doorman and other servants waiting
outside! They greeted Samuel and ushered him in. At some distance, a yellow farmland showed itself. A ploughman came
and announced that it belonged to Timothy. Timothy gasped. Just at that moment, a beautiful maiden approached Xander
and coyly said that she was his wife. The brothers were beside themselves with joy at this new turn of events. They thanked
their lucky stars and adapted to their new lifestyles.

The days passed and soon a year was over. The situation was however, now different for Samuel, Timothy and Xander.
Samuel had grown tired of owning the mansion. He became lazy and did not supervise his servants into taking proper care
of the mansion. Timothy, who had built a decent house next to his farmland, found it burdensome to plough the fields and
sow seeds from time to time. Xander too, grew used to his beautiful wife and no longer found any joy in keeping her
company. In short, all of them were unhappy again.

One day, the three of them met up and decided to visit the old woman at her home. “That woman has magical powers which
turned our dreams into reality. However, since we are no longer happy, we must go and seek her help now. It is she who
will be able to tell us the secret to attaining happiness,” said Samuel.

When they came to the old woman, she was cooking stew in a pot. Greeting her, each of the brothers recounted how he had
turned unhappy again. “Please tell us how we can once more be happy,” said Timothy.
“Well,” replied the old woman. “It is all in your own hands. See, when each of you made his wish and it was granted, you
were happy. However, happiness never lasts without a very important thing – content. Earlier, since you were happy but
never really content or satisfied, boredom and misery overcame you and you became sad again. Only if you learn to be
content, can you truly enjoy the bliss of happiness.”

Samuel, Timothy and Xander realized their mistake and went back home. They saw how lucky they were to have the gifts
for which they had once craved. Samuel felt grateful for being the owner of a mansion and began taking good care of it.
Timothy began to plough his land diligently so as to have a good harvest in time. Xander too learnt to appreciate his pretty
wife’s chores in the house and her devotion towards him. Remembering that happiness and content went side by side, never
again did the brothers take their blessings for granted. And thus, they lived happily ever after.

True Wealth
Once upon a time, there lived a very rich and wealthy man in a big town. He led a luxurious life. He always boasted about
his wealth to his friends and relatives.

His son was studying in a distant city and he returned home for vacation. The rich man wanted to show off to his son how
rich he was. But his son wasn’t fond of any luxurious lifestyle. However, the rich man wanted to make his son realize that
his lifestyle was extremely rich and that poor people suffered a lot. He planned a day’s visit to the entire town to show him
the life of the poor people.
The father and the son took a chariot and visited the entire town. They returned home after two days. The father was happy
that his son was very quiet after seeing the poor people honouring the rich man and after witnessing the sufferings of the
poor due to lack of facilities.

The rich man asked his son, “Dear boy, how was the trip? Have you enjoyed it?”

“Yes my dad, it was a great trip with you,” the son replied.

“So, what did you learn from the trip?” the father asked.

The son was silent.

“Finally you have realized how the poor suffer and how they actually live,” said the father.

“No father,” replied the son. He added, “We have only two dogs, they have 10 dogs. We have a big pool in our garden, but
they have a massive bay without any end! We have luxurious and expensive lights imported from various countries, but
they have countless stars lighting their nights. We have a house on a small piece of land, but they have abundant fields that
go beyond the horizon. We are protected by huge and strong walls around our property, but they bond with each other and
surround themselves with their fellow beings. We have to buy food from them, but they are so rich that they can cultivate
their own food.”

The rich father was stunned and speechless, on hearing his son’s words.

Finally the son added, “Dad, thank you so much for showing me who is rich and who is poor. Thank you for letting me
understand how poor we really are!”

True wealth is not measured by money and property! True wealth is created in good friendships and compassionate
relationships.