The Boy & The Apple Tree

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow... He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

Time went by... the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy. “I am no longer a kid, I don’t play around trees anymore.” The boy replied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them.” “Sorry, but I don’t have money...but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.” The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. “Come and play with me,” the tree said. “I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?” “Sorry, but I don’t have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house.” So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said. “I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” “Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time. The tree was happy, but it was not true.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you...” the tree said.

“I don’t have teeth to bite,” the boy replied.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you...” the tree said.

“I don’t have teeth to bite,” the boy replied.

“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years.” The boy replied. “Good! Old tree roots is the best place to lean on and rest. Come, Come sit down with me and rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears...

This is a story of everyone. The tree is our parent. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad... When we grown up, we left them, and only came to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could to make you happy. You may think that the boy is cruel to the tree but that’s how all of us are treating our parents.

The Stone in Your Life

One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

As he stood in front of the group of overachievers he said, OK, time for a quiz. He pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth jar and set it on the table in front of him.

He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, Is this jar full?

Everyone in the class yelled, Yes. The time management expert replied, Really? He reached

under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.

He then asked the group once more, Is this jar full?

By this time the class was on to him. Probably not, one of them answered. Good! he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, Is this jar full?

No! the class shouted. Once again he said, Good. Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, What is the point of this illustration? One eager student raised his hand and said, The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!

No, the speaker replied, thats not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is if you dont put the big rocks in first, youll never get them in at all. What are the big rocks in your life? Time with your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these big rocks in first or youll never get them in at all.

The old man and the butterfly

There was a wonderful old man who loved everything. Animals, spiders, insects...

One day while walking through the woods, the nice old man found a cocoon. He decided to take the cocoon home to watch its beautiful transformation from a little cocoon to a beautiful butterfly.

One day the cocoon started to move. It moved frantically! The old man felt sorry for the little butterfly inside. He watched it struggle and struggle!

Finally the old man rushed to its aid with a scalpel and gently slit the cocoon so the butterfly could emerge.

Just one slice was all it took, and the butterfly broke free from its cocoon only to wilt over in a completely motionless state.

The old man did not know what to think. Had he accidentally killed the little butterfly? No, it was still moving a little bit. Maybe it was sick.

He was quite perplexed. He decided the best thing he could do for the butterfly was to place it gently back into its cocoon.

He did so, and placed a drop of honey on it to seal the cocoon, leaving the butterfly to nestle in its natural state.

The next day he noticed that the cocoon was moving again. It struggled and struggled.

Finally the butterfly broken free from its cocoon and stretched its wings out. Its beautiful wings were filled wonderful colors! It took off! It was flying!

And that wonderful butterfly flew and flew till it was almost out of the old man's sight. What a joy, he exclaimed! But then he started to think. What did I do wrong by trying to help that beautiful little butterfly out at first? The old man went to the library and read every book he could find on butterflies and cocoons.

Finally the answer appeared. The butterfly has to struggle and struggle while inside the cocoon. That's how it gets its strength. That's just what they are designed to overcome in order to be strong and beautiful.

Build your life wisely!

An elderly carpenter(木匠)was ready to retire. He told his employers of his plans to leave the house building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and children. His employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter said yes, but it was obvious that his heart was already not in his work. He built it impatiently and used poor materials. It was unfortunate for a wonderful career to end like that.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front door's key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house. It's my gift to you.” The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. Therefore, build it wisely!

A carpenter felt regretful when he knew the last house he had built impatiently was a gift for his retirement, which reminds us that we should build our life wisely.

It is absolutely unwise of the carpenter to end up his career in this way. Treating his last job carelessly made him lose not only a good house but also his fame as an outstanding house builder. There is no doubt that we shouldn't treat our life as the carpenter did. A saying goes,

"How you treat life, and how life treats you! If we are unwilling to face or deal with our life correctly, it will reward us nothing.

Then how can we build our life wisely? It's fairly simple. The only answer is to be serious. Only when you treat all the matters happening in your life seriously can you learn and gain a lot, which is beneficial as well as wise.