Saturday, March 19, 2011












from here
:)

Thursday, March 17, 2011

This is a true story that had happened in 1892 at Stanford University . Its moral is still relevant today.


 A young, 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not know ing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea. A friend and he decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education.


 They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital. A deal was struck. And the boys began to work to make the concert a success.


The big day arrived. Paderewski performed at Stanford. But unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total col lection was only $1600. Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to honour the cheque soonest possible.


"No." said Paderewski. "This is not acceptable." He tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two boys "Here's the $1600. Please deduct whatever expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for your fees. And just give me whatever is left" The boys were surprised, and thanked him profusely.


It was a small act of kindness. But it clearly marked out Paderewski as a great human being. Why should he help two people he did not even know? We all come across situations like these in our lives.
And most of us only think "If I help them, what would hap pen to me?"
The truly great people think, "If I don't help them, what will happen to them?" They don't do it expecting something in return. They do it because they feel it's the right thing to do.

Paderewski later went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately when the World War began, Poland was ravaged. There were over 1.5 mil lion people starving in his country, and no money to feed them. Paderewski did not know where to turn for help. He reached out to the US Food and Relief Administration for help. 


The head there was a man called Herbert Hoover - who later went on to become the US President. Hoover agreed to help and quickly shipped tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people. A calamity was averted.


 Paderewski was relieved. He decided to go across to meet Hoover and person ally thank him. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly interjected and said, "You shouldn't be thanking me Mr. Prime Minister. You may not remember this, but several years ago, you helped two young students go through college in the US . I was one of them."

The world is a wonderful place. What goes around usually comes around.  

Sunday, March 13, 2011

When writing the story of your life, don't let anyone else hold the pen.
-author unknown
Don’t feed your mind with negative thoughts. If you do, you will come to believe them. 
- Catherine Pulsifer


One of the highest rated comment:

To all the people who keep asking if the boy made it:
You are the boy.  The video is about going for your dreams. Don't be like the dad who just stood on the roof and watched from afar. Don't be like the mom who just pretended what it must be like to live the dream. Go for it. With everything.
Did the boy make it? You are the boy, so you decide. Will you make it?
Brick Walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

Imagination should be used, not to escape from reality, but to create it!
-Inspirational Book Club
don't let one sad story, one sad town, one shallow person or one broken heart keep you locked inside. live out. #lifeisgood -Joshua Paul Kay