Nugget # 15 Life lesson from a Cracked pot!

Dear friend, Is there some imperfection/ inherent flaw in yourself that you secretly wish would just go away so that you could get on more smoothly with your life? Well, I used to always feel like there was this inconvenient crack(something different in me that made me feel like the odd one out/ the ugly duckling) in the vessel of my life.I was so ashamed of  it that I would try to hide it with whatever I could – plaster / band-aid / glue, but no matter what I did, the crack would still be there…it would always remain… I was always focussed on trying to get rid of  that crack as I naively believed that then only I would be able to enjoy my life. Until one day, I realized how life was just slipping by and that I was fighting a losing battle because that vessel; crack and all was ME !   I needed to celebrate it for what it was and not allow that small crack to hold me back from being all that I could be. Who knows…..perhaps it maybe that little crack that turned out to be my biggest blessing after all!

Enjoy this beautiful story; (author unknown) to illustrate what I just said:   

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. ‘I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.’ The old woman smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?’ ‘That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.’  ‘For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.’ Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. So friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

Nugget of Life: Let us never be ashamed of that crack in us. It is what makes the ‘M’ in “Me” and the “U” in “You”. We are all made “with a crack” on  purpose, allow goodness to flow through it and continue to be a blessing to those around!

 

 

Copyright & Permissions: © Sparky Laurie and ‘NUGGETS OF LIFE’, 2011.Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sparky Laurie and ‘NUGGETS OF LIFE’ with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Nugget # 14 Life Lessons from REGINA BRETT : A STRING OF 50 PEARLS

Hi … this week I’d like to share with you the best email I have ever received.I call it STRING OF 50 PEARLS. It is actually a column in the Plain Dealer written by a 90 year old woman named Regina Brett.

To quote Regina: “To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:”  

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.                                                                       15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.                                                                                    19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

I found them totally priceless and hope you too did!

NUGGET OF LIFE : Since Experience is a comb which Nature gives us when we are bald. We might as well, borrow another’s comb by learning from their experiences and walk with combed hair while we still have got some! 😉

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers,

Sparkylaurie

 

Nugget # 7 Life is like a box of Chocolates!

“Life is like a Box of Choco­lates… You Never Know what you’re Gonna Get!”-Forest Gump

CHOCOLATE!!!What a yummy topic to write about! I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate? The apt question would be: which types of chocolate do you like best?

Is it Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, white chocolate, Orange/ Mint/ Strawberry/ Coffee Chocolate, Chocolate with hazelnuts/almonds? Coconut Chocolate like Bounty, chocolate with dates in the middle, fruit and nut chocolates, Unsweetened chocolate, patchi, galaxy, ferrero chocolate, crackle chocolates with rice crisps, candy coated chocolates like M& M, Chocolate with caramel filling like Mars/Snickers, chocolate wafers like Kitkat, chocolate flakes, chocolate chips, chocolate waffles, chocolate truffles, Swiss chocolate, Belgian Chocolate, French Chocolate, Mexican chocolate…..the list goes on….

Opening a box of assorted chocolates always provides us with a feast for the eyes- we find a wide range of chocolates of different shapes sizes and colors. Only when we taste, will we know the type chosen. Just like the uncertainty till one bites into the chocolate and the surprise one gets on realizing its flavor, life too offers us a wide variety of experiences-all in different shapes, sizes and colors. Some are our immediate favorites, some we may like, some we may learn to like, some we may not like and some we may spit out but until and unless we take the risk and open the box and start the tasting, the truth is we will never know which ones we like best.

Life offers each one of us a box of the best of chocolates. You may not like the one I like best and I may not like your favorite, but that’s alright. These chocolates are to be enjoyed, not to be compared or ranked bcoz the truth is we have all been given different boxes and different palates.

The worst thing in the world that we can do is to keep our box aside and watch others enjoying their chocolates. Start tasting what you have got. Some you may like, some you may not, but one thing is certain and that is the Master Chocolatier who knows you very well has hidden the one you like best ONLY in your box. Once we grab hold of this Nugget of Life, we can learn to enjoy our life like never before!

Happy tasting!

NUGGET OF LIFE: Enjoy your own special box of Chocolates, the best one for you is definitely in your box!

 

 

Copyright & Permissions: © Sparky Laurie and ‘NUGGETS OF LIFE’, 2011.Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sparky Laurie and ‘NUGGETS OF LIFE’ with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Nugget # 3 LIFE IS LIKE A CAFETERIA

 “Life is like a Cafeteria. You take your tray, select your food and pay at the other end. You can get anything you want as long as you’re willing to pay the price. If you wait for people to serve you, you will wait forever. Life is like that too. You make the choices and pay the price.”-Author Unknown

Life is like a cafeteria!

Just like a good cafeteria will offer you a wide range of delicious food to choose from, life offers us a myriad of opportunities to choose from. The options are there before us and we need to grab hold of what we want before it is too late! Why do some succeed while others only remain to watch others succeed? This is not due to the lack of opportunity or availability of resources but due to the differences in response.

Inspired by the above quote, let me introduce you to 10 kinds of people standing in a Cafeteria line and each responding differently leading to his /her failure or success :

1) The person who doesn’t really know what he wants: Is it a sweet/savory, vegetarian /non vegan dish that he would like?-These kinds of people will never be satisfied simply because they don’t know what they really want. They need to spend some time and find out what they really want and then go get it and pay the price.

2) The person who knows what he wants but is not willing to take a risk for fear of appearing foolish or being mistaken: These people never achieve anything coz they believed their fears and not their heart to follow their dreams.

3) The one who selects exactly what the person in front of him took, not bcoz he wants that but bcoz he has minimized his risk by avoiding to make his own choices- This refers to those who play it safe in life by going with the current, doing what everyone else is doing and so avoid the risk of criticism or failure. These people appear to be doing great on the outside,however, in their hearts they know that they haven’t got what they really wanted as they have settled for something less!

4) Those who wait too long ,so that by  the time they have made up their mind, the bell rings and the cafeteria closes ! – Life is too short and uncertain to take forever to make our choices. I’d say enjoy what you can, while you can!

5)Those who go to the other extreme and make hasty ,irrational choices and buy too many of the same kind too quickly, thus ruining their chance of trying another delicacy-This refers to those kinds of people who thrive on instant gratification of the senses ,never considering the other options available and thus make foolish choices which they regret later.

6)Those who do not have enough money and so borrow from others and enjoy what they  like but later conveniently  forget to return the money.-This one is about those kind of people who forget to be grateful. The point to emphasize here is not the money but the ingratitude. You can pay back every dime and still have an ungrateful heart.

7)Those who have loaded pockets but miserly hearts and decide to go hungry rather than part with cash-In spite of having money,this type choose to go hungry,leaving just as they came.It is indeed ironical that sometimes the poor actually are richer than the rich.This refers to the miserly attitude of some people who never enjoy anything even if they can.

8)Those who come and check out their options,intend to buy but postpone their decision for a later time This refers to those kinds of workaholics who make enough money to buy the whole cafeteria and yet leave hungry! True, they may be too busy to sit down for a whole meal but they could surely have managed a few moments for a quick sandwich which would have given them more strength in their work. This refers to those people who are fun lovers at heart but spend all their life postponing and never end up having fun. They have everything in LIFE but sadly,they have no LIFE!

9)Then we can find the kind that come in check out the MENU and start finding fault and criticizing everything .They brag about the great cafeteria they could have run but the truth is they never do anything and they also leave hungry.-This refers to the those people who always find fault and criticize others who try to reach their dreams.Though these people may have greater ideas and even greater potential ,instead of using what they have and making the best of it,they choose to be negative and leave hungry!

10)And then there are those who check out the available options ,decide what they want, place it on the tray and sit down and enjoy their meal –These are the SUCCESSFUL people who know what they want, get what they want and enjoy what they want!

Question: Ask yourself which of the above 10 persons do I truly represent today by my life choices?Are there any changes that I’d like to make?

NUGGET OF LIFE:  SURVEY YOUR OPTIONS, CHOOSE WISELY AND THEN ENJOY! YOU PAY THE PRICE, SO MAKE SURE YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT!

Copyright & Permissions: © Sparky Laurie and ‘NUGGETS OF LIFE’, 2011.Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sparky Laurie and ‘NUGGETS OF LIFE’ with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.