Food for thoughts.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together..

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO.. I have decided to choose one of you. "The young executives were Shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you.
I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one
I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still
nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at
the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!

His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.

"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new
Chief Executive Officer!"

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

* If you plant hard work, you will reap success

* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

A MOTHERS LOVE

A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his Mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:
For cutting the grass: $5.00 
For cleaning up my room this week: $1.00 
For going to the store for you: $.50 
Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: $.25 
Taking out the garbage: $1.00 
For getting a good report card: $5.00
For cleaning up and raking the yard: $2.00 
Total owed: $14.75
Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he'd written on, and this is what she wrote:
 For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me:
No Charge For all the nights that I've sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you:
No Charge For all the trying times, and all the tears that you've caused through the years:
 No Charge
For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead:
No Charge
For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose:
No Charge Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is:
No Charge. When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, "
Mom, I sure do love you." And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: "PAID IN FULL".

Watercress: The Miracle Food.

UK Scientists say watercress is the new super food, able to prevent certain types of cancer. According to a study published this week in The British Journal of Nutrition, the consumption of a three ounce portion of watercress reduced the presence of a key tumor growth factor six and eight hours after eating the watercress in healthy patients who had previously been treated for breast cancer. The study was conducted by the Cancer Research Center at the School of Medicine,  Southampton General Hospital in the United Kingdom. The study concluded watercress is as therapeutic as traditional drug treatments with tamoxifen and herceptin, commonly used chemotherapy drugs.
The study also said that through regular consumption, watercress "has the potential to confer valuable protection against cancer in general." "Watercress has the ability to turn off HIF1, a signal sent out by cells calling for blood supply," said noted aging scientist Dr. Nicholas Perricone.  When HIF1 becomes incorrectly regulated, otherwise harmless precancerous clusters of cells have the opportunity to grow to form invasive tumors.  "Scientists have been looking for anti-angiogenesis agents for years because if we can turn off the blood supply, we can kill the cancer," said Perricone.  "And it looks like watercress can do that." Another study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in February of 2007 showed that, in addition to reducing DNA damage, a daily dose of watercress increased the ability of cells to further resist DNA damage that may be caused by free radicals.
In the study, 60 men and women, half of whom were smokers, consumed their usual diet plus 85 grams of raw watercress daily for eight weeks. Blood samples were analyzed for plasma antioxidant status and DNA damage in lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Watercress consumption significantly reduced lymphocyte DNA damage. In the time of the Romans, Greeks and Persians watercress was used as a natural medicine, prescribed for migraines, anemia, eczema, kidney and liver disorder and tuberculosis.  

TOILETPAPER

I was at the temple when I had a sudden stomachache. I dashed to the nearest restroom... and to my expectations, being a busy day with hundreds of people, it was out of toilet paper. I struggled to the next available toilet- a less "popular" one, searching desperately in each cubicle. Thank goodness there was a roll with a few scanty rounds of paper on it. I had an urge to rip it all out, to use all of whatever was left. But the thought struck me that there might be another poor fellow out there facing the same problem I did. Brimming with gratitude to the last person who saved some paper for me, I used slightly less than half of what was left...
About two hours later.... Surprise, surprise... I was hit by another stomachache! Once again, I dashed to the restroom- the first which I approached earlier. Nope, it hasn't been stocked up with fresh rolls of paper yet. Feeling rather hopeless, I returned to the less "popular" one, almost convinced there would be no paper left... Surprise, surprise... in the same cubicle I used, whatever remained of the paper still remains. The "others" that I had thought of saving paper for turned out to be myself! I became the "others!" Guess what I did? Brimming with gratitude to the last person who saved some paper for me, even though it was me, I used only half of what was left...
What is the moral of the story? It pays to be grateful- to have a heart of gratitude to all the blessings in life- even if it is mere toilet paper in a public toilet. We should never "squander" our blessings by taking them for granted. Whatever goes around comes around in the name of karma. It pays to be kind, to have Compassion for others- because you never know who it could be! In the end, being kind to others is being kind to yourself too.
From: zeph@TheDailyEnlightenment.com;

A beautiful model......

 

A flower from Bali.