Baggage - From a middle school teacher. I introduced something called ‘The Baggage Activity.’ I asked the kids what it meant to have baggage, and they mostly said it was hurtful stuff […]
Balloons - A professor gave a balloon to every student, who had to inflate it, write their name on it and throw it in the hallway. The professor then mixed all the […]
Creation – A Sioux Indian Story - The Creator gathered all of Creation and said, “I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realization that they create their […]
Cup of Zen - How about the Zen story, “A Cup of Tea”?Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.Nan-in served tea. He […]
Decide Ahead of Time - The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally […]
Dirty Laundry - A young couple moved into a new house. The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside. “That laundry is not […]
Donkey in the Well - One day a farmer’s donkey fell into an abandoned well. Terrified, the animal cried for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the […]
Elephant and the Blind Men - Six blind men lived in a village. One day the villagers told them, “An elephant is coming to the village today.”They were each curious about what an elephant might be […]
Full Jar - A philosophy professor once stood before his class with a large empty jar. He filled the jar with large rocks and asked his students if the jar was full. The […]
Hermit Crab-Nature - Nature has a beautiful way of displaying civilization in its creatures. Hermit crabs rely on shells to protect themselves from predators and the elements. These crabs use the scavenged shells […]
Hole in the Sidewalk – A Poem - The Romance of Self-Discovery by Portia Nelson CHAPTER 1 I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. I am lost… I am […]
Holes in the Fence - There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he […]
Knowledge - A scientific convention was held at a lakeside resort. After the first day’s proceedings, a mathematician, a physicist, an astronomer and a molecular biologist hired a boatman to row them […]
Make a Difference - Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before […]
Most Important Lesson - During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last […]
Naked Truth - The Lie said to the Truth, “Let’s take a bath together, the well water is very nice. The Truth, still suspicious, tested the water and found out it really was […]
Pottery - A pottery teacher split her class into two halves. To the first half she said, “You will spend the semester studying pottery, planning, designing, and creating your perfect pot. At […]
Rabbit’s Ph.D Thesis - Scene It’s a fine sunny day in the forest, and a rabbit is sitting outside his burrow, tippy-tapping on his typewriter. Along comes a fox, out for a walk. Fox: […]
Rich Man, Poor Man - One day a wealthy father took his son on a trip to the country so that the son could see how the poor lived. They spent a day and a […]
Sales Advice - A young Salesperson was disappointed. He had lost an important sale. In discussing the matter with the Sales Manager, the young man shrugged. “I guess,” he said “it just proves […]
Six Little Stories with Lots of Meaning - Once all the villagers decided to pray for rain. On the day of the prayer, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That is faith. […]
Teaching with Dignity - An old man meets a young man who asks: “Do you remember me?” And the old man says no. Then the young man tells him he was his student, And […]
The Brick - A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked […]
The Cornfield - There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something […]
The Fisherman and the Banker - An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large […]
The Jeep - A father said to his daughter “You have graduated with honors, here is a Jeep I bought many years ago. It is pretty old now. But before I give it […]
The Ripple Effect - he Master was walking through the fields one day when a young man, a troubled look upon his face, approached him. “On such a beautiful day, it must be difficult […]
The River - A group of people are standing at a river bank and suddenly hear the cries of a baby. Shocked, they see an infant floating–drowning–in the water. One person immediately dives […]
The Rules by Cherie Carter-Scott - 1. You will receive a body. You may love it or hate it, but it will be yours for the duration of your life on Earth. 2. You will learn […]
Time - Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of […]
Two Boats and a Helicopter - A traveling preacher finds himself in a tremendous rainstorm. Within a few hours the hotel he is staying in becomes flooded. As the water rises, the preacher climbs to the […]
Two Wolves - There is a Cherokee legend about an elderly brave who tells his grandson about life. “Son,” he says, “Within all of us there is a battle of two wolves. One […]
What is Fortune - A long, long time ago, there was a kind old man who lived on the plains outside the Great Wall of China. The gentle old man had only two passions […]
Witches - One of my friends told me about a powerful lesson in her daughter’s high school class. They were learning about the Salem Witch Trials, and their teacher told them they […]