Inspiration 365 Days!

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A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.

“Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.”

“Well,” said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.”

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An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He had been a fine craftsman building many houses over his career. All the house owners were proud to live in the beautiful houses he built.

The carpenter told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business. He wanted to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. Sure he would miss the paycheck each week, but he had some savings and the children were all grown up. They would chip in so he and his wife could get by.

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Four young monks who were also intimate friends decided to practice silent meditation. They promised one another to observe seven days of silence.

On the first day everything went well. All the four monks managed not to utter a single word. When the night came, they gathered in a room to continue their meditation.

It was a windy night. Even though the monks had closed the doors and windows, gusts of wind still managed to creep into the room. With each gust, the fire of the oil lamp flickered. The youngest monk became more and more worried that the light might go out. He had to bite his lips to suppress his gasp of anxiety at every gust.

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A son and his father were walking on the mountains.

Suddenly, the son fell, hurt himself and screamed, “AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!” To his surprise, he heard a voice repeating somewhere in the mountain: “AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Curious, he yelled, “Who are you?” He received the answer, “Who are you?”

And then he screamed to the mountain, “I admire you!” The voice answered, “I admire you!”

Angered at the voice kept on repeating what he said, the son screamed, “Coward!” He received the answer, “Coward!”

He looked to his father and asked, “What’s going on?”

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“What are you doing with that roll of gold wrapping paper?” screamed the father at his 3 year old daughter. He was tired after putting in extra hours on Christmas eve so he could earn a little extra. Money was tight and even a roll of gold wrapping paper meant money.

“Daddy, I’m wrapping…” the young girl, sitting under the Christmas tree and holding a half decorated box, started to explain.

“I don’t care what you’re doing! You’re wasting those wrapping papers. Go to your bed now!”

“But daddy…”

“Go!”

It was a hot afternoon. A poor boy was going from door to door selling goods to pay his way through school. He was hungry. But he found he had only one thin dime left as the business wasn’t too good. So he decided he would ask for a meal at the next house.

However, when a lovely young woman opened the door, he lost his nerve. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”

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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.

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One day a father and his rich family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family.

When they got back from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“Very good Dad!”

“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.

“Yeah!”

“And what did you learn?”

A king in Africa had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life, whether positive or negative, and remarking, “This is good!”

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns. For after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.

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The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

“There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.

“One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.

“Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.