Less : More

Enhance your Roses, not Thorns

If I ask you to count your strengths then list may cross five or even it may reach ten. Now if I ask about your weaknesses. How many weaknesses do you think, you have? A couple of or say three or at the most five.

We are born with weaknesses as well as strengths. These could be physical or internal. We humans have the tendency to enhance or flaunt our strengths and suppress our weaknesses. But when it comes to others, we may start enhancing theirs weaknesses and suppress strengths. We always look others mistakes and weaknesses like searching thorns in flowers and start criticizing.

Let me tell you one story of a man who planted a small beautiful rose plant in his garden. He used to water it faithfully. One day he examined it closely.

He saw the bud that would soon blossom. Suddenly, small minute thorns caught his eyes. He scanned the plant thoroughly. It had a few small thorns on it. As he touched those small thorns, it jabbed. He amazingly thought, ‘How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?’

Saddened by this thought, he stopped watering the plant, and before it was ready to bloom, it weakened and languished.

Source:http://www.stuffwiththing.com/2012/11/every-rose/

Just like rose, we humans are born with fragrant flowers and sharp thorns. There are roses and thorns in our soul.

Roses are our talents, strengths like inspiring, optimistic, friendly etc. and our loving heart which pumps fragrant energy and bring confidence in us just like sunflowers get energy from the rays of rising sun.

Thorns are our faults, our weaknesses like fearful, moody, undisciplined, stubborn etc.

These roses and thorns varies from person to person.

Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns i.e. defects. Hence we conclude, nothing good can possibly come from us. And we stop watering the good within us and eventually it dies within us. We never realize our or others potential and start criticizing and complaining. Finally, it gives birth to pessimism.

If someone don’t see roses in them then we must scratch and enhance their strengths and water them rather than criticizing.

One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find the roses within others.

This is the characteristic of Love, to look at a person, and knowing his faults, recognize the nobility in his soul and help him realize that he can overcome his faults. If we show him the rose, he will conquer the thorns. We call it building confidence.

Our duty is to enhance roses in others, not thorns. Only then we can achieve the love we should feel for each other; only then can we bloom in our own garden.

Keep Smiling…. 🙂

Thanks,

Aviral

Scratch your weakness and make it Strength

We all are god’s blessed child.

We are born with extreme incredible capabilities and we have strength to change the world. If you think you have weakness and you always try to hide that from others then you must read the story which I read from one of the app in my smart phone.

A 10-year-old boy joined judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a calamitous car accident.  The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master.

The boy was doing well and enjoying his training. It’s already been three months of training but boy was bit confused with his master. The master has taught him just one single move throughout in his three months training.

“Sir,” the boy asked hesitantly, “Am I not doing well enough?”

Master replied proudly, “Yes, you are doing great and you have improved a lot.”

Boy continued, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”

Master smiled at him and replied politely to his disciple, “This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you will ever need to know, so don’t worry and concentrate on your training.”

Boy couldn’t get his master’s voice but believing in his teacher, he kept training.

Several months later, the master took the boy to the first tournament.

Surprisingly himself, the boy easily won first two matches and entered in third round which was a bit difficult. In third round, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy cleverly used his one move to win the match.

He was in the final. This time his opponent was bigger, stronger and much experienced. It seemed to be one-sided match. For a while, the boy appeared to be over matched. Concerned that the little boy may get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the master intervened.

“No”, the master insisted, “Let him continue.”

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him.

The boy has won the match and the tournament.

He was Champion.

On the way towards home, the boy and his master reviewed the move used and strategies in every match and master gave him the feedback.  Then boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

Boy asked, “Master, how did I win the match and finally the tournament with only one move?”

“You won for two reasons son,” he replied with satisfaction on his face.

“First, you have almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”

The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.”

–Ernest Hemingway

Moral – Sometimes we feel that we have certain weakness which we try to hide from others and blame god for disabilities and weaknesses. Unfortunately, we weave such circumstances around us and we never think that our weakness can become our strength one day.

Each one of us is special and god’s gifted capabilities. So never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it!

Keep Smiling… 🙂

Thanks,

Aviral