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Stories, myths and legends.
The Window
The Window Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you." Epilogue: There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy. "Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present." Let coaching enable you discover more about yourself and others, acquire new and insightful perspectives and how to make a difference in this world in what ever way you choose.
The £20 note A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a £20 note. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this £20 note?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this £20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple up the £20 note. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth £20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. You are special- Don't EVER forget it." Count your blessings, not your problems. And remember: amateurs built the ark ... professionals built the Titanic. Coaching will help you to discover what is important and valuable to you, and how to get more of what you want…
Old Farmer MacDonald There was an old farmer, Old MacDonald - who had a good size farm in Utah. Old MacDonald had built up his farm over many years and was proud of his achievement. He lived there with his wife and two young daughters, who were both crazy about horses. Every year Old MacDonald did a bit more to improve and enhance his farm, times were hard, but he still managed to put some time and money aside for these improvements - However, he had an old barn in the corner of the yard, which was very dilapidated, for the animals - pigs, horses, cows and sheep, There were holes in the roof where the rain came in, there were big holes in the sides of the old barn, where the bitter North wind blew in - chilling the poor animals sheltering. The dirt floor was full of holes, uneven and uncomfortable to stand or lie on. Every year, Old farmer MacDonald promised to repair the barn, and every year something more important came up, preventing him. It was all a question of priorities. At the end of this year, farm MacDonald had had a particularly good harvest, but like previous years, something else came up, and he did not get round to repairing the old barn. The winter set in and it was one of the hardest, coldest in many years. One particularly bad night the North wind was howling, the rain turned to hail and snow and was unrelenting. Everywhere was frozen solid. The farmer and his daughters got up the following morning to survey a bleak white landscape. They made their way out to the old barn to tend to the animals as usual. The farmer watched as his eldest daughter approached the stall where her favourite horse was - and there was her horse, frozen solid - stone dead. The little girl was heart broken, and the farmer cursed that he had not managed to get around to repairing the barn in time for the winter. That Spring, as soon as the worst of the weather abated, the farmer set about building a "state of the art" barn across the yard from the old barn. It had an insulated tin roof, thick weather resistant walls, and a beautiful soft floor. Each animal had it's own feeding stall, with automatic feeders and fresh water on tap. It was the best barn in the whole state of Utah. The animals were taken to their new barn, and settled in, thinking how much better this barn was than their old barn. The farmer, Old MacDonald knocked down what was left of the old barn, and stacked the timber in the far corner of the yard. All that was left of the old barn, was an imprint in the ground of where it had stood. A few weeks after the new "state of the art" barn was finished the weather took a turn for the worse. A freak snow storm came down on the state of Utah, and as the night closed in, the North wind again started to howl, the snow and ice fell in great quantities and the temperature dropped to well below freezing. Old farmer MacDonald, decided to check on his animals in this terrible storm. He pulled on his wellies and threw on a thick old winter coat, pulling his hat well down to protect him from the elements. As he opened the door, a great gust of wind, nearly prevented him from leaving the farmhouse, but he managed to make his way out and into the yard. He then started to make his way across the yard, bent almost double against the driving wind and snow. Eventually he made it to the new "state of the art" barn, and got inside, where it was warm, dry and providing excellent shelter from the cold icy "polar" weather outside. But, as his eyes became adjusted to the light, he noticed that there wasn't a single animal to be seen. He couldn't believe his eyes and took a few seconds to have a good look in all the stalls, to make sure that the animals were definitely not there! Dazed and bewildered, the Old MacDonald, pulled his hat down and headed back out into the foul weather in search of his poor animals. As he made his way across the yard, he suddenly caught sight of the animals. They were all huddled together, freezing cold, and standing in the outline of the old barn. Old MacDonald carefully led them back to the new barn and settled them in, out of the storm. Which just proves that sometimes, old habits are hard to change.....let coaching ensure you don’t get left out in the cold
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