Story of a Tea Cup

"There was a time when I was just a dumb lump of red clay. Then one day my master came. He took me, brought me home, rolled and pounded me on a wooden table. Again and again, he poked his fingers into me until finally I yelled out: 'Don't do that! Leave me alone!' But he only smiled and gently said: "Not yet!"

Then, whoommmm! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly spun around and around and around until I lost all my sense of direction: 'Stop it; don't you see that I'm getting sick? Quickly, take me from the spinning wheel!' But the master only nodded in understanding and quietly said: "Not yet!"

Then he placed me carefully into an oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door: 'It is hotter than hell - I'm burning to ashes. Please get me out of here before it is too late.' I could only read his lips as he shook his head from side to side and silently pronounced, "Not yet!"

After I had cooled down he carefully picked me up, looked at me and brushed some dust away. Then he brought the colors! The fumes were horrible! 'Please... You have no mercy! Please, Stop it!' But he only shook his head and said: "Not yet!"

An hour or later he came back and placed a mirror before me and said: "Look at yourself!" And I did.What I saw amazed me. 'That's not me!' I said. 'It is too beautiful...' With a very compassionate voice he spoke: "This is what you are meant to be," and then he explained: "I know it hurt you when I rolled and kneaded you on the table. But if I had not gotten the air out of you, you would have broken. I knew you must have lost all your sense of orientation when I was spinning you. But without this you would never have come into this form. I know the fumes of the colors were intolerable when I painted you all over. But if I had not done that, you would not have had any color in your life."

God is the potter and we are the clay. He will mold us and will expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we will become a perfect piece of His liking.
**Thanks morningquote

Wonderful Story to Share with..WOW!!!

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were u the one who changed my sign this morning? What did u write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what u said but in a different way."

What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day & I cannot see it."

Do u think the first sign & the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

I have done some research regarding blind people and their achievements and came across this guy BLIND BOY FULLER. What a fantastic charisma and willpower to be in the mainstream of music industry even if he is blind.. We are born almost perfect but do we have the courage that he have?..Ask yourself.....For more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Boy_Fuller

Moral of the Story :

Be thankful for what you have.
Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.
***Thanks morningquotes

25 Of the Most Inspiring Quotes Ever Spoken

An inspiring quote may be just what you need to turn your day around. Here are 25 of the most inspiring quotes ever spoken or written.

1)I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” –Muhammad Ali

2)“You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief  that you can’t have it.” –Robert Anthony

3)“There is no man living that can not do more than he thinks he can.” –Henry Ford

4)“Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I will give you a man who will make history. Give me a man without a goal, and I will give you a stock clerk.” -J.C. Penny

5)“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” –Dr. Forrest C.Shaklee

6)“It’s not about time, it’s about choices. How are you spending your choices?” –Beverly Adamo

7)“Success…seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” –Conrad Hilton

8)“That’s precisely the question everyone should be asking—why the hell not? – Why not you, why not now…” –Timothy Ferriss

9)“Intolerance of your present creates your future.” –Mike Murdock

10)“The dreamers are the saviors of the world.” – James Allen

11)“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it’s a matter of choice.” –Anonymous

12)“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

13)“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” –Vince Lombardi

14)“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” –E.E. Cummings

15)“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” –George Eliot

16)“How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.” –Trina Paulus

17)“Do not let what you can not do; interfere with what you can do.” –John Wooden

18)“One man with courage makes a majority.” –Andrew Jackson

19)“Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” –Henry Ford

20)“Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of  value.” –Albert Einstein

21)“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so. For glory gives herself only to those who have always dreamed of her.” –Charles De Gaulle

22)“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven.” –John Milton

23)“You can not retain a true and clear vision of wealth if you are constantly turning your attention to opposing pictures, whether they be external or imaginary.” –Wallace D. Wattles

24)“Every great story on the planet happened when someone decided not to give up, but kept going no matter what.” –Spryte Loriano

25)The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

**After all, life is just once... do good, be good and strive to be the best!!! you are always the best!!!



Thank You...



9 Steps to Work Less and Do More

Like most people, my life has been spent balancing my yearning for laziness—tropical islands with fruit-flavored beverages figure heavily in my life goals—with a burning desire to achieve great things, like invent a robotic Bumble Bee. The answer has been finding ways to achieve great things, using as little work as possible. Fortunately, there’s ample room for finding ways to work less and get more done.

Here are nine simple things I’ve learned over the years about how to get results without working too hard. Indeed, there are nine steps because ten steps would be way too much work. If you’re still working towards your own tropical island paradise, I hope these put you speedily—and lazily—on your way.

Step 1. Live on purpose. Stop occasionally and ask, “Why am I doing what I’m doing?” Make sure your tasks align with your higher-level goals. If you’re emailing a friend, ask “Why?” If you’re doing it because you want connection, maybe picking up the phone is a better choice.


Step 2: Stop procrastinating. Easy to say, hard to do. Get a procrastination buddy. Every couple of weeks, declare an “Action day.” Check in hourly for just 2-3 minutes. Make sure you’re each making progress on what you’ve been procrastinating.


Step 3: Conquer your technology. If you’re reading this, you’re probably as addicted to technology as I am. Divorce your technology! Turn off your PDA, and move your computer away from your main workspace. Don’t think of your computer as a place to hang out; use it like a tool, for specific tasks. Get it out when you need it, and put it away when you’re done.

Step 4: Cultivate focus. Declare a part of your day (or a whole day) to be a focus time. Turn off email, unplug your phone, and close your office door. Then defer any non-life-threatening interruptions to a time after your focus time.


Step 5: Stay organized (mentally as well as physically). Organized doesn’t mean neat; it just means that you know where things are when you need them. If you have piles of “this needs a home” stuff in your office, stop and give it a home, even if that home is a pile somewhere. Just make it official, so when you need it something, you know where it is.

Step 6: Don’t waste time. Re-making decisions is a hidden way we waste time. For repeated decisions, pre-decide by creating an “Absolute Yes” list that spells out an automatic “Yes.” For example, “we’ll restock supplies with any pen that has a gel ink and .07mm tip will be suitable.” When it’s time to order supplies, you just grab the first pen that meets the specs.


Step 7: Optimize! Re-examine how you work every now and then. Ask how you can improve your own work habits. If you notice your mind is clearer in the morning, schedule your deep-thought activities before noon. If you notice afternoon is best for you, make that your prime time.


Step 8: Build stronger relationships. Ask for help! When you’re trying to reach a Huge Honkin’ Goal, ask friends and colleagues for help. Build the relationship in advance, however, by being there for them starting today.


Step 9: Leverage. Be on the lookout for ways to get big results from little work. If you can reuse content, create form letters that can be quickly customized, or help large numbers of people by doing work once that can be given to all of them, you’ll be able to reap oversized results from a single effort.

These nine steps are broad categories. You can implement each one in many different ways. You owe it to yourself to get the most out of the work you put in; notice how you do work, and use these principles—and any others you know!—to rearrange your life so you work less and do more.

Thank you to Pick the brain team.

How to choose the right GOAL to you

“Do you know where you going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? Do you know? “ – Diana Ross

We all have our goals and dreams, don’t we? But some of us seem to be more successful at achieving our goals than others. We can chalk it up to natural talent, the right connections or just plain dumb luck. Sometimes those reasons are valid, but more often than not, people who achieve their goals are people who chose the right goals in the first place.

If we really want to be successful in life, we have to choose the goals that are right for us. We are all unique individuals and our goals and our journeys through life should reflect that. If you want success in life, you need to choose goals that are congruent with your values, your strengths, your passions and your desired lifestyle.

Most of us go right to the lifestyle. “Hey, I want to drive a Jaguar and live in a big house like Joe Blow…he’s a lawyer, so I should become a lawyer, right?” Wrong. Joe has the gift of gab, he has a natural gift for debate and he loves to schmooze at the Country Club. You get nervous when you have to speak in public, you hate conflict and your idea of fun is taking quiet nature walks. Becoming an attorney was a natural choice for Joe. That doesn’t mean it will be for you.

So how do you choose? What do you need to do to make sure that your goals suit you, thus virtually guaranteeing yourself success? You need to ask yourself the following questions:

What are my values?
Your goals must be consistent with your values. For example, if you want to travel, make lots of money and work flexible hours, you could choose to do many things – including becoming a hit-man. But if you value life, and everyone’s right to it, you’re not likely to succeed.
Okay, so that example is a bit extreme, but you get the point, right? Your values will take priority over any other desires you have. So, think about what is most meaningful to you. Organization, cleanliness, beauty and art, social welfare, wealth, compassion, self-expression, family, etc. What are the things that are most important to you? Be honest…nobody is watching. If wealth and beauty are more important to you than family, say so. Becoming an art dealer who travels the world without worries of family obligations would be a much more achievable goal than being an art teacher who tries to work her life around her kids.

What are my strengths?
This doesn’t mean taking an inventory of your skills. Skills are things that you have already learned how to do and, while the skills you have may come into play, new ones can always be developed. Strengths are more or less things that you seem to naturally possess. Some people have the gift of gab, some can seem to solve any problem or puzzle, some have great mechanical ability – they can take any machine apart and put it back together. Your strength might be good judgment, open-mindedness or an ability to gather others together and gain consensus. A great way to figure this out is to take a Strengths Inventory which you can do for free at the Authentic Happiness website. A goal that taps into and utilizes your strengths is a better bet than one that doesn’t.
What do I love doing?

For some of us who have spent a lot of time doing what we should be doing or what we have to be doing, this question can be a tough one. Think about when time flies. Sometimes we get so lost in what we are doing that we lose track of time. This happens when we are doing something we love.

Still can’t think of anything? Think back to when you were ten or so. What did you spend your free time doing? What did you do when school was over, homework was done and it wasn’t dinner time yet? Yes, you may have changed somewhat since then, but taking a little trip back in time can help us to uncover passions that we have abandoned and forgotten. I loved to draw and to read and take walks in the woods. I liked to collect leaves and have picnics. Maybe you loved to build forts. Can you think of ways that these passions could be put to use now? Publishing, writing and illustrating children’s books, painting landscapes, becoming a park ranger? How about carpenter, architect, playground designer, volunteering as a camp counselor?

What do I want my ideal day to look like?
If you like to putter around in the morning and do most of your work late into the evening, you don’t want to become a preschool teacher any more than you would want to tend bar if you like to go to bed no later than 10 p.m. Make sure that the reality of what you think you want to do actually meshes with the way you like to operate. Take some time to outline your ideal day. What types of things would you do and when? Use this schedule as a test for any goals you may be considering. How well will they fit into your day?

What’s required to reach this goal and will I enjoy the journey?
This may be the most important question of all. While it is true that sometimes you have to do some hard work and make some sacrifices to achieve your goals, if everything you must do to achieve your goals is a struggle and a sacrifice, you’re simply on the wrong path. It won’t be long before you start to veer off the road and give up. It’s important to remember that those goals we have will provide only a brief moment of enjoyment when we reach them. We soon adapt to our new life, get bored and look for something else to work towards. It’s human nature. The majority of our time is spent on the journey itself. Remember this. If the journey is not going to be enjoyable, why bother? You will not only likely fail to ever reach your goal, but you will also make your self miserable in the process. Trust me, I know this from years of personal experience.

Achievable goals are well-thought-out goals; goals that match who you are, what you do well and what you want out of life. Not sure where you’re going or why? Don’t know what you can achieve? Stop. Give yourself time to think. Look deep inside. That is where the answers lie. Know yourself first, then choose your goals. Choose wisely and success will be yours.