Why Walk When You Can Fly

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons from Arabia. They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.

Months passed and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.

The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch. Having tried everything else, the king thought to himself, "May be I need someone more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem." So he cried out to his court, "Go and get a farmer."

In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his court, "Bring me the doer of this miracle."


The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?"

With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, " It was very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting."

We are all made to fly -- to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable, the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.

So let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight.

-- From the Book "Why walk when you can fly"

Little spark of love and humanity

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe, that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered
down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now
had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay" Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was
cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world".

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

Who Counts

One of my friend had sent this in a mail to me almost 3 years back,was kept as precious in mail box,today thought lets share this strong,nice quotes of Theodore Roosevelt which is worth admiring ...

It is not the critic who counts,
not the man who points out
how the strong man stumbles
or where the doer of deeds
could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man
who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly,
who errs and comes short again and again.

Because there is no effort
without error and shortcomings,
who knows the great devotion,
who spends himself in a worthy cause,
who at the best knows in the end
the high achievement of triumphand
who at worst,
if he fails while daring greatly,
knows his place shall never be
with those timid and cold souls
who know neither victory nor defeat.

ತುಂಗಾತೀರದಿ ನಿಂತ ಸುಯತಿವರನ್ಯಾರೆ

ತುಂಗಾತೀರದಿ ನಿಂತ ಸುಯತಿವರನ್ಯಾರೆ ಪೇಳಮ್ಮ | ಪ |
ಸಂಗೀತಪ್ರಿಯ ಮಂಗಳ ಸುಗಣತರಂಗ ಮುನಿಕುಲೋತ್ತುಂಗಕಾಣಮ್ಮ | ಅಪ |

ಚೆಲುವ ಸುಮುಖ ಫಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ತಿಲಕ ನಾಮಗಳು ನೋಡಮ್ಮ
ಜಲಮಣಿಯ ಕೊರಳಲ್ಲಿ ತುಳಸುಮಾಲೆಗಳು ಪೇಳಮ್ಮ
ಸುಲಲಿತ ಕಮಂಡಲು ದಂಡವನೇ ಧರಿಸಿಹನೆ ನೋಡಮ್ಮ
ಕ್ಷುಲ್ಲ ಹಿರಣ್ಯಕನಲ್ಲಿ ಜನಿಸಿದ ಪ್ರಹ್ಲಾದನು ತಾನಿಲ್ಲಿಹನಮ್ಮ | ೧ |

ಸುಂದರ ಚರಣಾರವಿಂದಕೆ ಭಕುತಿಯಲಿಂದ ನೋಡಮ್ಮ
ವಂದಿಸಿ ಸ್ತುತಿಸುವ ಭೂಸುರವೃಂದ ನೋಡಮ್ಮ
ಚಂದದಲಂಕ್ರತಿಯಿಂದ ಶೋಭಿಸುವಾಂದ ನೋಡಮ್ಮ
ಹಿಂದೆ ವ್ಯಾಸಮುನಿಯೆಂದೆನಿಸಿದ ಕರ್ಮಂದಿಂಗಳರಸಘದಿಂದ ರಹಿತನೆ |೨ |

ಅಭಿನವ ಜನಾರ್ಧನ ವಿಠಲನ ಧ್ಯಾನಿಸುವ ನೋಡಮ್ಮ
ಅಭಿನಂದಿಸಿದವರಿಗೆ ಅಖಿಲಾರ್ಧವ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುವ ನೋಡಮ್ಮ
ನಭಮಣಿಯಂದದಿ ವಿವಿಧದಿ ಶೋಭಿಸುವ ನೋಡಮ್ಮ
ಶುಭಗುಣಗಣನಿಧಿ ರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರ ಗುರು ಅಬುಜ ಭವಾoಡದಿ ಪ್ರಬಲಕಾಣಮ್ಮ |೩ |

Harvest your failures

This entire content is from the book "Success built to Last – Creating a life that Matters” written by Jerry Porras,Stewart Emery,Mark Thompson" . I found it very much inspiring and put it in this blog so internet browsing people can read it . All credits goes to them.

Extraordinary individuals take one step back and two steps forward with most every challenge – and sometime two steps back to one step forward. They harvest useful lessons and knowledge from what doesn’t work, and they display a remarkable resiliency; an ability to bounce back from adversity.

They don’t just think positively, but rather practice the ability to respond and move ahead, often despite how they feel in the moment, whether the setback was their own foolish fault or just an unlucky break. They generally did not blame others for their circumstances, but instead focused their attention on actions within their control that they could take to solve or manage the problem.