The 3 Trees

Once Upon A Time, there were 3 trees in the forest. One day, they tell each other about their hopes and dreams. The first tree said: "Someday I want to be a treasure chest. I will be filled with gold, silver and various precious stones and everyone will admire the beauty. "

Then the 2nd tree said: "One day I would become a large ship. I will carry kings & sail to the ends of the world. I will be a strong ship & secure everyone close to me. "

Then the 3rd tree told his dream: "I want to grow into the tallest tree ever seen. People would look at me and think how I was close to reaching Heaven and God. I will be the largest tree of all time & people will remember me. "

After several years praying that their dreams come true, a group of loggers chopped them down and took them elsewhere.
The first tree was brought to a carpenter. He was very happy because he knew he would have been made into a treasure chest. But, his prayer didn't become a reality because the carpenter made him into a box for fodder. He was put in a barn and each day, was filled with straw.
The second tree was brought to the shipyard. He thought that his prayer became true. But, he was made into a fishing boat. His dream of becoming a large ship to transport the kings has ended.
The third tree was cut into large pieces of wood and was left sitting in the dark. All their dreams didn't came true.
Year after year changed & the trees had forgotten their dreams. Then one day, a husband and wife arrived at the stables. The wife gave birth and put the baby in a box feeder made from the first tree. People came & worshiped the baby. Finally, the first tree knew that he was holding the greatest treasure of all time.
A few years later ... a group of men got into the custom-made fishing boats, made from the 2nd tree. In the middle of the lake, a major storm came.The second tree thought he was not strong enough to protect the people inside. But one man stood up and said to the storm: "Shut up! Calm down!" And the storm stopped. Then he knew that he had carried the King of kings.
Finally, someone came & took the 3rd tree. A man carried the tree, while people taunted him. The man was then nailed in this timber and died on it. The 3rd tree finally realized that he was so close to God because Lord Jesus was crucified with him.
When things are not the way you wanted, remember that God has a plan for you. If you believe in Him, He will give great blessings. The trees wished to get what they want, but not in a way they imagined.
The same goes for us, we are not aware what plan God has for us. We only know that His way is the best for us, forever.

Sorry it's a bit late, but Happy Easter...

True Strength

There is strength in love, and people who can give love is strong, because they can beat their desire for self-serving.

There is strength in laughter, and people who laughed with delight is strong, because they would never mourn with challenges and trials.

There is strength in peace, and people who are filled with peace and happiness is strong because they never waver, and are not easily swayed.

There is strength in generosity, and people who are generous is strong because they never held their mouth and hands from doing good for others.

There is strength in kindness, and people who are good is strong because they would always be able to do good to everyone.

There is strength in loyalty, and people who are faithful is strong because they can beat their personal passions and desires with their loyalty to God and others.

There is strength in gentleness, and people who are gentle is strong because they can refrain themselves from having revenge.

There is power in self-control, and people who can control themselves is strong because they can control all worldly desires.

That's where where all the True Strength is ...

Realize that you also have enough strength to overcome all your problems. No matter where, or how heavy and complicated it may be.

Step by Step with God

This is my step
Every step that I took,
I took with him
I will go through and
I won't stop
I won't go back
And I will keep walking
Until the finish
I won't give up
I won't fall down
I always believe in God
Because I have God
Who gave me strength
To keep walking until
The finish

Edwin
SMAK 5 Penabur, Jakarta

The True Peace

One day, The Emperor of Japan held a contest and would provide a reward to anyone who can paint about "peace". There are many artists that tried hard to win the race. The Emperor walked around to see the results of their work. Finally, there were only two paintings left that he really liked best. But the Emperor had to choose between the two. He inspected both paintings thoroughly.

The first painting depicted a calm lake. The Lake's surface is like a perfect mirror that reflects the peace of the mountains towering around it. Plastered on top, a blue sky with white clouds drifting. Everyone who sees this painting would have thought, this is the best picture about "peace".

The second painting describes the mountains. The mountains looked rough and bare. Above it, a dark and red sky that signifies a storm. On the side of the mountain there is a waterfall rushing and foaming. But it did not show calmness and peace. However, the Emperor saw something interesting. In the middle of the waterfall's noise, grows small bushes on the sidelines of a stone. In the bushes, lies a mother sparrow's nest & the eggs are laid and incubated.

"Which painting won the contest?", everyone wondered. Japan's Emperor chose the second picture. "Why?", everyone asked. The Emperor replied, "Because 'peace' does not mean you should be in place without any disturbance, trouble or worries. But 'peace' is a calm and peaceful heart, eventhough you are in the midst of the turmoil and remarkable chaos. A peace of heart is the true peace."

(Source: Hands of God)

3 Easy Ways to Overcome Shyness

There are some easy ways to overcome shyness even though it may feel impossible sometimes to beat the awful feelings that occur when you are being put on the spot or when you get tongue tied. Struggling with how to overcome shyness is often an uphill mental battle and more often than not it is actually a battle against your self. Shyness is typically caused by too much self awareness and self conscious.

To overcome shyness, you need to be able to relax in social situations and shift your focus from yourself and on to what is going on around you. In this article you will learn 3 very powerful but still easy ways to overcome shyness by relaxing socially and react to situations with excitement instead of fear.

1) Make an effort out of deliberately catch yourself when you are focusing negatively on yourself. This may be thoughts like worries about what others think about you, if what you said came across as stupid or if somebody thinks your clothes or haircut is bad. If you have any of these or other negative thoughts about yourself, tell yourself to stop those thoughts immediately.

Nothing good comes out of worrying and thinking about negative stuff will only hurt you more. The more you are able to catch yourself with thoughts like that, the more you are able to stop them. Eventually this process will become automatic and you will be less tense and therefore less shy.

2) Make it a daily task to greet or talk to a stranger. This is another one of the most effective and easy ways to overcome shyness. When you are standing in line in the grocery store or when you are in a coffee shop, just say hello to the guy standing behind you or to the waiter. It is however important that it is not too uncomfortable for you - a little bit of anxiety to test your limits is okay, but if you make it too hard for yourself, it may only hurt you instead of help you.

If you start doing this every single day, you will shortly notice that it gets easier to be around other people and to have a casual conversation without feeling shy.

3) Start using self hypnosis every day or even several times a day, to re-program your unconscious mind to stop focusing on the negative thoughts and learn how to keep your body and mind feeling relaxed in any social situation. Self hypnosis is probably the quickest of the 3 easy ways to overcome shyness and change the way you respond to other people.

The reason that self hypnosis is so powerful is because it takes you into a state of deep relaxation. When you are in that kind of relaxing state, it is easier for your sub-conscious mind to learn the new positive messages and thinking patterns that enables you to relax and feel good in social situations.

Visit Cure Shyness to get started using self hypnosis right now and learn more about how you can overcome shyness using this highly effective and extremely simple technique.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_C._Simmons

Ellen's Diary

Five years I'm married to Ellen, our days are filled with mismatches. We often fight over small things. Today is Ellen's birthday and we were fighting again because I slept late. Resentment made me not wish her happy birthday or kissed her forehead. This afternoon, three times Ellen had asked me to go home for dinner with me, but her request didn't bother me. I arrived home at midnight, and I saw Ellen fell asleep on the couch. I stopped in front of her. "She was beautiful," I told myself. I sighed and went into the room. On the dresser I saw Ellen's diary. The years she wrote her stories in that brown book and she never allowed me to open it.

I grabbed the brown book & I opened the pages at random.
February 14, 1996 - "Thank you God for everything, it means a lot to me. Vincent, the first and my last boyfriend."
Hmm ... I smiled, Ellen was so sure that I would be the companion of her life.
6 September 2001 - "I accidentally saw Vincent having dinner with another woman, laughing affectionately. Lord, I ask that Vincent won't move to another heart."
October 23, 2001 - "I found a letter of thanks for Vincent, the candle light dinner on the birthday of a woman named Jasmine. Who is she God? Open up my eyes to see what you want."
January 4, 2002 - "I was approached by the woman named Jasmine. She insulted me and said she is having an affair with Vincent. Lord, give me strength."
How could Ellen be strong? She never said anything or cry in front of me, knowing I had betrayed her. My breath stopped, I could not imagine Ellen's feelings.
February 14, 2003 - "Sunday is amazing, I had become Mrs. Vincent W. A. Thank God!"
7 April 2006 - "Vincent was mad at me, I was fast asleep when he got home, so he had to wait in front of the house for a while. I was tired from a day at the mall looking to buy a present for his birthday. God , give peace to Vincent so that he won't be angry with me again ... "
Tears of remorse did not stop flowing. Ellen tried to make me happy, but I scolded her.
15 November 2007 - "Vincent needs to put a coffee table in the living room, he loves to read in that room. Lord, help me save money so I could buy a table, a Christmas present for him."
Ellen had never told the table as a Christmas present and I scolded her again without ever giving him a chance to explain. I think I was no longer able to open the next sheet. I ran out of the room, kissed her forehead and woke up Ellen. "I'm sorry Ellen, I love you. Happy birthday," I said full of love.

Love is always able to teach us to make sacrifices for the happiness of a loved one.

(Source: Hands of God)

Rules of Motivation and Success

Motivation brings success and fortunes. Therefore we pay attention to motivation. If you are in a leadership role as a manager, chances are you are preoccupied with how to motivate others. We talk about motivation. We read about motivation. Most of us remember salient points about motivational theories.But are we motivated to do anything about it ? What can we do ? Can we motivate others ? No , we can not motivate others but we can create the conditions for others to motivate themselves

Seven Rules Of Motivation

1. Set a major goal, but follow a path. The path has mini goals that go in many directions. When you learn to succeed at mini goals, you will be motivated to challenge grand goals.

2. Finish what you start. A half finished project is of no use to anyone. Quitting is a habit. Develop the habit of finishing self-motivated projects.

3. Socialize with others of similar interest. Mutual support is motivating. We will develop the attitudes of our five bes t friends. If they are losers, we will be a loser. If they are winners, we will be a winner. To be a cowboy we must associate with cowboys.

4. Learn how to learn. Dependency on others for knowledge supports the habit of procrastination. Man has the ability to learn without instructors. In fact, when we learn the art of self-education we will find, if not create, opportunity to find success beyond our wildest dreams.

5. Harmonize natural talent with interest that motivates. Natural talent creates motivation, motivation creates persistence and persistence gets the job done.

6. Increase knowledge of subjects that inspires. The more we know about a subject, the more we want to learn about it. A self-propelled upward spiral develops.

7. Take risk. Failure and bouncing back are elements of motivation. Failure is a learning tool. No one has ever succeeded at anything worthwhile without a string of failures.

Motivation Lies With-in

The most important thing to keep in mind about motivation is that we cannot motivate others. Motivation comes from within-people motivate themselves. The only thing a supervisor, a manager, or anybody else can do is to create the conditions for people to motivate themselves

How To Motivate Ourself ?

Each of us have motivational hot spots. We need to keep this in mind while we try to create situations that motivate others. What motivates you or me may be different from what motivates someone else. Be careful. Don't force your motivation preferences on someone else. The safest way is to include all six motivational elements in your undertakings. That way you will connect with everyone's motivational hot spots.