This too shall pass

Once upon a time, there lived a Jewish king named Solomon. In a grumpy mood, he thought of teaching Benamiah Ben Yehoyada, his minister, a lesson. So he assigned to him a seemingly impossible task. He ordered Benamiah to find him a magic ring with extraordinary features. And that was - if you were happy and wore the ring, you would feel sad, and vice-versa. If you were joyous and wore it, you would feel absolutely sad!
Solomon gave him a six month timeline for the search. Deep down in their hearts both Solomon and Benamiah knew that such a ring did not exist in this universe. Benamiah prayed hard for a miracle. A little before the deadline was over, and having walked for all over for such a ring, he decided to go to one of the poorest places in Jerusalem.
There he saw an old merchant who was spreading ut his goods on a carpet. Benamiah was quite intrigued. He thought, "Let me take a chance with him." Therefore, he asked the merchant whether he had a magic ring that could make a happy person forget his happiness and a sad person forget his sorrow. The merchant smiled. He took a gold ring from his wares and etched four words on it. Benamiah took the gold ring. When he read the inscription he was extemely happy. He felt that his mission was accomplished. He went back to Solomon. Solomon and all his ministers began making a mockery of Benamiah, teasing him as he would have returned empty-handed. Benamiah smiled and offered the gold ring o His Majesty. As soon as Solomon read what was written, he stopped being a tease. The words were "this too shall pass". Suddenly, Solomon felt that everything in life was ephemeral and nothing lasts forever....

Luck and Persistence

"He worked by day, And toiled by night
He gave up play and some delight.
Dry books he read New things to learn,
And forged ahead Success to earn.
He plodded on with faith and pluck
And when he won they called it luck!"

Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are important.

I Am With You

This is one of my favourite stories. My mom used to tell it to me whenever I used to be down. Somehow it still manages to lift me up.
There was a guy who always used to see 4 shadows for his 2 legs. He would wonder, "Two of them are mine, whose are the other two?" And his mother would say, "The other two legs that you see are of the God himself. Wherever you go he is with you". And the boy would be happy just believing that the God himself is with him.

The boy grew up to be a man and like every other mortal he was once surrounding with problems, grief and gloom. He looked down only to find that one set of shadows were no longer there. He could figure out two legs, just two of them. He was devastated and cried up to the lord himself. "How are you different than these people God. You also left me when I am in trouble?"

For the first time in his life, he heard the voice, "Son, you see my legs in the shadow. You are in my lap."