Motivational stories

 The Storyteller's New Coat

The storyteller yearned for a new coat. He could not perform without one, in fact he simply could not live without one.

So he searched for one. Day and night, far and wide. He searched so hard that he forgot to tell the wonderful stories that he knew, lost the skill, lost the knack. Forgot to sit over a roaring fire and begin:

"Once upon a time"

But then one day, while he was wandering the Wandsworth High Road, he found it, the perfect coat. And my, was it perfect?

The collar was perfect. The buttons were perfect. The pockets? Why the pockets were perfectly perfect! It was a perfect coat. It would be perfect for telling his stories in!

The storyteller bought it there and then, he placed it on is back and admired himself in the mirror. Collar up, collar down. Hands in pockets hands out of pockets. It was perfection!

It was then the storyteller realised that to be a perfect storyteller, why he would have to have new boots. How could he perform the perfect story in the perfect new coat and still wear these worn out old shoes.

So again he searched, again he forgot to tell his wonderful stories.

Well he searched in Bridenorth, Bulgaria and Bongeroo. He searched in Thailand, Tobermory and Timbuktu. He searched in Nashville, Nova Scotia and Nambia! But it was on the little island of Puckermara that he found the perfect boots.

And my, were they perfect? He bought them there and then. He stamped up and down in them he marched like a soldier and danced like a cowboy......Yee Haa.....They were perfection, the most perfect pair of boots the storyteller had ever worn.

And the storyteller stood in front of the mirror, he admired his perfect new boots, he admired his perfect new coat and he was just about to go and tell his stories when he realised that to be a PERFECT storyteller, why he would have to have a new hat.

How could he perform in the perfect new coat and the perfect new boots without a perfect new hat? So again he searched for the hat. Forgetting to tell his stories. All the hats he tried were no good. They were all too ordinary, too sophisticated, too dull or too plain, but then on a market stall in Marrakech he found it. The perfect hat. Tall and thin, black silk that gently caught the breeze, with a Peacocks feather in the side.

Well he bought it there and then and placed it on his head and looked as fine as any dandy who could possibly tell a tale.

And the storyteller looked at himself in the mirror, admired his perfect new hat, his perfect new boots, his perfect new coat and he readied himself to go!

It was then that the storyteller realised he had forgotten all of his stories. So obsessed had he become with finding the perfect new coat, the perfect new boots, the perfect new hat, that he had forgotten all his stories, every single one, every single line, every word. He was a storyteller without a tale!

In the autumn the storyteller sold his new coat to pay for food for his belly.

In the winter the storyteller sold his new bots to pay for wood for his fire.

In the spring the storyteller sold his new hat to buy a new book of tales.

And in the summer the storyteller began to tell again!

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Don't Change The World

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather.

Definitely, this would need thousands of cows’ skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.

Then one of his wise servants dared himself to tell the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don’t you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?” The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a “shoe” for himself.

There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story: to make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.

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Make a Difference!

There was a young boy taking a morning walk at the beach.  He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun rays, they would die.  The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. 

The boy took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water.  He did that repeatedly. 

Right behind him there was an older man who couldn’t understand what the boy was doing.  He caught up with him and asked, “What are you doing?  There are hundreds of starfish you can’t possibly help all of them.  What difference can it make?” 

The boy did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water,

and said,

“It makes a difference to this one.”

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The very old lady story

A very old lady looked in the mirror one morning. She had three remaining hairs on her head, and being a positive soul, she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she braided her three hairs, and she had a great day.

Some days later, looking in the mirror one morning, preparing for her day, she saw that she had only two hairs remaining. "Hmm, two hairs... I fancy a centre parting today." She duly parted her two hairs, and as ever, she had a great day.

A week or so later, she saw that she had just one hair left on her head. "One hair huh...," she mused, "I know, a pony-tail will be perfect." And again she had a great day.

The next morning she looked in the mirror. She was completely bald.

"Finally bald huh," she said to herself, "How wonderful! I won't have to waste time doing my hair any more.."

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Socrates and Success

A young man wanted to know the formula for achieving success. He went around asking a lot of people but could not find a satisfactory answer. He finally came to the eminent philosopher Socrates and asked him.

Socrates realized that the young man would never be satisfied with a simple answer. So Socrates told the young man to take a walk with him along the riverbank. They walked for a while and then suddenly Socrates pushed the young man into the river and held him down under the water.

The young man gasped for breath and struggled to free himself. Socrates held him down for a few more seconds till he was almost blue in the face. Socrates then released him. The young man crawled to the riverbank and lay there exhausted.

He was very angry with Socrates and told him, "You almost killed me. Why?"

Socrates smiled and said, "When you were underwater what was the single most important thing that you badly wanted?"

"Air", said the young man. "Why?" asked Socrates?

"That is a stupid question. I needed air to survive. I needed it badly", said the young man. "It is the same with success. Unless you have the burning desire and craving to achieve you cannot attain success", said Socrates.
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