1. How to Hunt a Monkey

“Do you know how hunters of old used to trap monkeys?” A man asked his child.

“Rather than chasing them up a tree or shooting arrows from below, they’d put a heavy glass jar with a narrow neck on the floor, which had the monkeys’ favorite food inside.

They’d then step back and hide, waiting for the unsuspecting animal to approach.

When it did, the monkey would reach inside, clench a fist around the food, and try to pull it out. However, the narrow neck of the jar would stop the poor monkey from getting its hand out!

It’d pull and pull, but to no avail. There was simply no way to get its hand out of the jar without releasing the food.

Rather than letting go, though, the monkey would persevere, refusing to drop its dinner.

The hunters would then approach and catch it to enjoy a meal of their own.”

“Don’t be like that monkey,” warned the man, “In life, to fight another day and grow as person, you must know when to quit, when to move on, and when to let go of whatever’s holding you back.”

Moral of the story:

Sometimes you have to let go and give up what you have now in order to receive something better in the future. Don’t let stubbornness be your downfall

2. The Value of Money

At the beginning of a new school year, a class teacher stands up in front of her students holding a $100 bill.

She tells them, “Put your hands up if you want this money”.

Every hand in the room goes up, to which the teacher says, “I am going to give this money to someone here, but first, let me do this…”

She takes the bill and crumples it up in her hands, before asking, “Who still wants it?”

The hands stay up.

The teacher then drops the bill on the floor, stomps and grinds it into the ground, and picks it back up. “How about now?” she asks again.

The hands stay up.

“Class, I hope you see the lesson here. It didn’t matter what I did to this money, you still wanted it because its value stayed the same. Even with its creases and dirtiness, it’s still worth $100.”

She continues, “It’s the same with us. There will be similar times in your life when you’re dropped, bruised, and muddied. Yet no matter what happens, you never lose your value.”

Moral of the story:

Life’s hardships are inevitable and we’ll all be put through the ringer at some point, often through no fault of our own.

Don’t let these challenges alter your feelings of self-worth. You’ll always be enough; you have something unique and special to give and offer the world.

3. The Two Wolves

An old Cherokee chief sat down to teach his grandson about life.

“There’s a fight going on inside me,” he tells the young boy, “a fight between two wolves.”

“One wolf is evil. It’s full of malice, anger, greed, self-pity and false pride. The other is good. It’s full of peace, love, joy, kindness, and humility.”

“This same fight is going on inside you and everyone else on the face of the earth.”

The grandson was quiet, pondering this revelation for a moment before asking, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”

The old man smiled and replied, “The one you feed.”

Moral of the story:

Good and evil exist within each of us. It’s our responsibility to own that reality and do whatever we can to nurture the good.

4. The Story of the Grateful Starfishes

One morning, an elderly man was walking along the beach when he noticed a young boy picking something off the sand and throwing it into the sea.

As he got closer, the man realized the child was throwing stranded starfishes that had washed up on the shore back into the breaking waves.

Approaching the boy, the man asked what he was doing.

“The starfish will die if they’re still on the shore when the sun rises,” he replied.

Perplexed, the old man said, “But that’s pointless! There are countless miles of beach and thousands of starfish. It doesn’t matter how many you return to the water, you can’t make a difference.”

Unfazed, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and tossed it into the sea.

“It matters to this one,” he said.

Moral of the story:

No matter the odds of success or the scale of the challenge, your actions can make a difference. It’s better to light a candle than curse the dark.

Every little counts. Doing something to make a positive change is always better than nothing

5. The Elephant and the Rope

One day a man walked past a camp of elephants.

Looking closer, he was surprised to see that these mighty animals weren’t held in cages or kept in chains.

The only thing stopping them from escaping?

A thin rope tied from one of their legs to a simple pole in the ground.

Confused as to why they didn’t use their strength to break the rope, he asked the trainer why they weren’t attempting to run away.

To this the trainer replied,

“As baby elephants, we use the same system. But, at that age, the rope is strong enough to stop them from escaping. They grow up like this, believing they can never break the rope, so even as adults they stay put.”

In other words, these powerful, magnificent and intelligent elephants didn’t believe they could free themselves, so they never tried.

Moral of the story:

Our personal beliefs are powerful beyond measure and often dictate our outcomes. They can work for or against us.

Identify your limiting beliefs so you can push against them.

6. The Baker and the Butter

A long time ago, a baker and a farmer lived in the same small English village.

These two men had a friendly arrangement in place, where the farmer would sell a pound of Butter to the baker each day.

One morning, the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he’d received the correct amount.

To his surprise, he discovered that the farmer had sold him less butter than he’d paid for.

Angry about the unfairness, he took the farmer to court.

At the hearing, the judge asked the farmer whether he used any measure to weigh the butter.

“Your honour, I am but a lowly farmer and do not own a proper measure. I simply use an old-fashioned scale,” he replied.

“How do you weight the butter then?” Enquired the judge.

To this the farmer answered:

“Your honor, long before the baker started buying butter from my farm, I’ve been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when he brings me the bread, I place it on my scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it’s the baker.”

Moral of the story:

Karma’s a bitch! Be kind and fair to others and you’ll enjoy the rewards.

7. The Group of Frogs

As a group of Frogs was traveling through the woods, two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs crowded around the pit and saw how deep it was, they told the two frogs that there was no hope left for them.

However, the two frogs decided to ignore what the others were saying and they proceeded to try and jump out of the pit. 

Despite their efforts, the group of frogs at the top of the pit were still saying that they should just give up. That they would never make it out.

Eventually, one of the frogs took heed to what the others were saying and he gave up, falling down to his death. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die.

He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?”

The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

Moral of the story:

People’s words can have a big effect on other’s lives. Think about what you say before it comes out of your mouth. It might just be the difference between life and death.

COURTESY: WealthyGorilla