?♥? KNOW WHERE YOU ARE ?♥?

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village. 
A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked 
How long it took him to catch them?. 


"Not very long." they answered in unison. 
"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" 

The fishermen explained that their small catches were 
sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?" 

"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children,
and take siestas with our wives.
In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, 
have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.

We have a full life." 
The tourist interrupted, 
"I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! 
You should start by fishing longer every day. 
You can then sell the extra fish you catch.
With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat." 
"And after that?" 

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, 
you can buy a second one and a third one
and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middle man,
you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants
and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City,   
Los Angeles, or even   New York City! 
[ 
From there you can direct your huge new enterprise." 
"How long would that take?"  

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.   

"And after that?"   

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting, " 

answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big,
you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"     

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen. 
"After that you'll be able to retire, 
live in a tiny village near the coast,
sleep late, play with your children,
catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife
and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."   

"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. 

So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the Mexicans. 
And the moral of this story is:


Know where you're going in life....  
you may already be there

♥* In My Wallet *♥

A small but touching story with a deep message.

A ticket collector in a train found an old worn out wallet in a compartment full of many people. He looked inside to find the name of its owner. There was no clue. All that there was in it, was some money and a picture of Jesus Christ. He held it up and asked, 'Who does this wallet belong to?'

An old man said, 'That's my wallet, please give it to me.' The ticket collector said, 'You'll have to prove that it is yours. Only then I can hand it over to you.' The old man smiled a toothless smile and said. 'It has a picture of Jesus Christ in it.' The ticket collector said, 'That is no proof; anyone can have a picture of Jesus Christ in his wallet. What is special about that? Why is your picture not there in it?'

The old man took a deep breath and said, 'Let me tell you why my picture is not there in it. My father gave this wallet to me when I was in school. I used to get a small sum as pocket money then. I had kept a picture of my parents in it.

When I was a teenager I was greatly enamored by my good looks. I removed my parent's picture and put in, one of my own. I loved to see my own face and my thick black hair.

Some years later, I got married. My wife was very beautiful and I loved her a lot. I replaced my own picture in this wallet with a picture of her. I spent hours gazing at her pretty face.

When my first child was born, my life started a new chapter. I shortened my working hours, to play with my baby. I went late to work and returned home early too. Obviously, my baby's picture occupied the prized position in my wallet.'

The old man's eyes brimmed with tears as he went on.. 'My parents passed away many years ago. Last year my wife too left her mortal coil. My son, my only son is too busy with his family. He has no time to look after me. All that I had ever held close to my heart is far, far away from my reach now.

Now I have put this picture of Jesus Christ in my wallet. It is only now that I have realized that He is the eternal companion. He will never leave me. Alas! If only I had realized this before. If only I had loved the Lord all these years, with the same intensity as I loved my family, I would not have been so lonely today!'

The collector quietly gave the wallet to the old man. When the train stopped at the next station, the ticket collector went to the book stall at the platform and asked the salesman, 'Please give me a small picture of Jesus Christ? I need one to put in my wallet!'

♥* A Lesson for Life *♥

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The pig sympathized, but said “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The cow said “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many! people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone     is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember:

• When one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
• We are all involved in this journey called life.
• We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.
• Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s tapestry.