Life Lessons 101

I enjoy listening to stories or anecdotes that relate to life and that can teach me something. I have found that the people around me are great sources for these stories whether it’s from listening to the radio, reading a funny story passed along, or just being aware of people around you even when you are standing in line waiting for something.  I think that a lot of life lessons can be achieved in those waiting moments if you just take the time to be present, aware, and plugged in to your surroundings.  That’s the good stuff.  I’m telling you.  The stuff that you can pick up and carry with you in the moments that you take to be still and really pay attention are golden.  So I have decided to share what I've heard and hope you enjoy these stories and anecdotes just as much as I do.

Pancakes

A mom is making pancakes while her two sons look on in anticipation. Soon they start bickering over who gets the first pancake. The mom seizes the teaching moment and turns to the boys and says, "You know boys, if Jesus were here, he would let his brother have the first pancake."

At which point the one brother turns to the other and says, "Cool. You be Jesus."

Lesson: Sometimes we have to put our own wants and needs aside for someone else but in the end it’s ultimately rewarding.    

Horse

In a rural area a farmer was tending to his horse named Buddy, and along came a stranger who despartely needed the farmer's help. The stranger had lost control of his vehicle and ran it off into a ditch. The stranger asked the farmer if his horse could somehow pull the vehicle out of the ditch for him and told the farmer that the vehicle was small. The farmer said he would come, bring his horse, and take a look, but could not promise he could help if his horse might be injured in some way from attempting to pull the vehicle out of the ditch. The farmer did see that the stranger was correct and that the vehicle was small, so the farmer took a rope and fixed it so that his horse, Buddy, would be able to pull the vehicle out of the ditch. The farmer then said, "Pull, Casey, Pull," but the horse would not budge. The farmer then said, "Pull, Bailey, Pull," but the horse would not budge again. The farmer then said, "Pull, Mandy, Pull," and again the horse would not move. The farmer then said, "Pull, Buddy, Pull," and the horse pulled until the vehicle was out of the ditch. The stranger was so very grateful, but asked the farmer why he called the horse by different names? The farmer said, "Buddy is blind, and I had to make him think he had help pulling the car out of the ditch or he would not have pulled."

Lesson: don't wait on others in order to accomplish something or you may always be in a ditch. Sometimes we won't attempt to do something if we know we don't have help.

Frog

One day two frogs were hopping in and out of a watering hole and accidentally hopped in an extremely deep hole. They tried to leap out, but to no avail had no success, so they began to yell and croak until other frogs heard them and came to help. The other frogs looked over into the hole and said the hole was too deep for them to help, but both frogs kept leaping up the sides of the hole. The other frogs, leaning over the hole and waving their front legs, began to yell to the frogs to just give up and die and that there was no hope of them getting out of the hole, but both frogs kept leaping and trying to get out of the hole. They leaped for hours and one of the frogs just gave up he was so exhausted and died. The other frog in the hole kept leaping, but the other frogs, leaning over the hole, kept yelling and waving their front legs for him to stop and give up, but the frog kept leaping trying to get out of the hole. Finally the frog leaped so high that he was able to leap to the top of the hole and used his back legs to push himself up out of the hole. The other frogs said even though we told you to give up that there was no hope of you getting out of the hole you kept leaping. The frog that got out of the hole thanked the other frogs for egging him on - the other frogs didn't know that this frog was deaf.

Lesson: Sometimes you have to turn a "deaf ear" to what others tell you is impossible.

Compromising Situation

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.” After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 dollars and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks,…

“Who was that?” “It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replies. “Great!” the husband says, “Did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”

Lesson:  It’s always better to go into any situation with the full story.  Perspective can be priceless.