Ability Forum

srividyaa · Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 7:35 pm Post subject: A Proud Red Rose...........

One beautiful spring day a red rose blossomed in a forest. Many kinds of trees and plants grew there. As the rose looked around, a pine tree nearby said, "What a beautiful flower. I wish I was that lovely." Another tree said, "Dear pine, do not be sad, we can not have everything."

The rose turned its head and remarked, "It seems that I am the most beautiful plant in this forest."

A sunflower raised its yellow head and asked, "Why do you say that? In this forest there are many beautiful plants. You are just one of them." The red rose replied, "I see everyone looking at me and admiring me." Then the rose looked at a cactus and said, "Look at that ugly plant full of thorns!" The pine tree said, "Red rose, what kind of talk is this? Who can say what beauty is? You have thorns too."

The proud red rose looked angrily at the pine and said, "I thought you had good taste! You do not know what beauty is at all. You can not compare my thorns to that of the cactus."

"What a proud flower", thought the trees.

The rose tried to move its roots away from the cactus, but it could not move. As the days passed, the red rose would look at the cactus and say insulting things, like: This plant is useless? How sorry I am to be his neighbor."

The cactus never got upset and he even tried to advise the rose, saying, "God did not create any form of life without a purpose."

Spring passed, and the weather became very warm. Life became difficult in the forest, as the plants and animals needed water and no rain fell. The red rose began to wilt. One day the rose saw sparrows stick their beaks into the cactus and then fly away, refreshed. This was puzzling, and the red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds got water from the cactus. "Does it not hurt when they make holes?" asked the rose.

"Yes, but the cactus does not like to see any birds suffer," replied the pine.

The rose opened its eyes in wonder and said, "The cactus has water?"

"Yes you can also drink from it. The sparrow can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help."

The red rose felt too ashamed of its past words and behavior to ask for water from the cactus, but then it finally did ask the cactus for help. The cactus kindly agreed and the birds filled their beaks with water and watered the rose's roots.

Lesson to learn from the Story: Thus the rose and all of us learned a lesson and never judged anyone by their appearance again.

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srividyaa · Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 12:52 pm Post subject: THIS IS LIFE

When there is no friend,
When life is on the dead end,
When world is not a paradise,
When your confidence dies,
Tell yourself - Go on, THIS IS LIFE!

When things don't go right,
When there is no ray of light,
And its too hard to survive,
Tell yourself - Go on, THIS IS LIFE!

When there is competition to face,
When you are lagging behind in the race,
When you've lost faith in God,
When you're betrayed by a fraud,
Tell yourself - Go on, THIS IS LIFE!

When others don't respect you,
When you're not amongst the admirable few,
When for a question, you can't find a solution,
When all you're sure about, is confusion,
Tell yourself - Go on, THIS IS LIFE!

When your destination is miles apart,
When you don't know where to start,
When all you see around is pain,
When your hardwork is in vain,
Tell yourself - Go on, THIS IS LIFE!

Even though all this happens
just have faith in self & face the life with smile,
things will surely change one day
because as said "THIS IS LIFE!

srividyaa · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:08 pm Post subject: Golden Words

Remember:-

a true friend never talk about ur weaknesses,

a true enemy never talk about ur strenghts,

an angry friend never lies,

and an enemy that shows love never speak truth.

srividyaa · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:15 pm Post subject: Things r not always black r white

In life, a lesson learned in your past that you will never forget completely.

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When I was in elementary school, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class. I have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson learned that day.

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I was convinced that I was right and he was wrong - and he was just as convinced that I was wrong and he was right. The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson. She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other.

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In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. White, he answered.

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I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the color of the object.

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The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, White. It was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side was it black.

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My teacher taught me a very important lesson learned that day You must stand in the other person’s shoes and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their perspective

srividyaa · Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:46 pm Post subject: Do You Still Have Hope

If you can look at the sunset and smile,
then you still have hope...

If you can find beauty in the colors of a small flower,
then you still have hope...

If you can find pleasure in the movement of a butterfly,
then you still have hope...

If the smile of a child can still warm your heart,
then you still have hope...

If you can see the good in other people,
then you still have hope...

If the rain breaking on a roof top can still lull you to sleep,
then you still have hope...

If the sight of a rainbow still makes you
stop and stare in wonder,
then you still have hope...

If the soft fur of a favored pet still
feels pleasant under your fingertips,
then you still have hope...

If you meet new people with a trace of excitement and optimism,
then you still have hope...

If you give people the benefit of a doubt,
then you still have hope...

If you still offer your hand in friendship to others
that have touched your life, then you still have hope...

If receiving an unexpected card or letter still brings
a pleasant surprise, then you still have hope...

If the suffering of others still fills you with pain and frustration,
then you still have hope...

If you refuse to let a friendship die, or accept that it must end,
then you still have hope...

If you look forward to a time or place of quiet and reflection,
then you still have hope...

If you still buy the ornaments, put up the Christmas tree
or cook the turkey, then you still have hope...

If you still watch love stories or want the endings to be happy,
then you still have hope...

If you can look to the past and smile,
then you still have hope....

If, when faced with the bad, when told everything is futile, you can still look up and end the conversation with the phrase... yeah....BUT.. Then you still have hope...

Hope is such a marvelous thing. It bends, it twists, it sometimes hides, but rarely does it break... It sustains us when nothing else can... It gives us reason to continue and courage to move ahead, when we tell ourselves we'd rather give in...

Hope puts a smile on our face when the heart cannot manage... Hope puts our feet on the path when our eyes cannot see it... Hope moves us to act when our souls are confused of the direction....

Hope is a wonderful thing, something to be cherished and nurtured, and something that will refresh us in return... And it can be found in each of us, and it can bring light into the darkest of places...
Never lose hope...

srividyaa · Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:29 pm Post subject: Dreaming ur Dreams

Don't ever be reluctant to show your feelings when you're happy, give in to it. When you're not, live with it.

Don't ever be afraid to try to make things better you might be surprised at the results.

Don't ever take the weight of the world on your shoulders. Don't ever feel threatened by the future, take life one day at a time.

Don't ever feel guilty about the past what's done is done. Learn from any mistakes you might have made.

Don't ever feel that you are alone there is always somebody there for you to reach out to.

Don't ever forget that you can achieve so many of the things you can imagine. ... It's not as hard as it seems.

Don't ever stop loving don't ever stop believing, don't ever stop dreaming your dreams.

srividyaa · Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 7:25 pm Post subject: Things to b taught in school

Things I wish they had taught me in school  By -Rohit Mehta

1. The 80/20 rule.
This is one of the best ways to make better use of your time. The 80/20 rule – also known as The Pareto Principle – basically says that 80 percent of the value you will receive will come from 20 percent of your activities.

So a lot of what you do is probably not as useful or even necessary to do as you may think.

You can just drop – or vastly decrease the time you spend on – a whole bunch of things.

And if you do that you will have more time and energy to spend on those things that really brings your value, happiness, fulfilment and so on Limited


2. Parkinson’s Law.
You can do things quicker than you think. This law says that a task will expand in time and seeming complexity depending on the time you set aside for it. For instance, if you say to yourself that you’ll come up with a solution within a week then the problem will seem to grow more difficult and you’ll spend more and more time trying to come up with a solution.

So focus your time on finding solutions. Then just give yourself an hour (instead of the whole day) or the day (instead of the whole week) to solve the problem. This will force your mind to focus on solutions and action

3. Batching.
Boring or routine tasks can create a lot of procrastination and low-level anxiety. One good way to get these things done quickly is to batch them. This means that you do them all in row. You will be able to do them quicker because there is less “start-up time” compared to if you spread them out. And when you are batching you become fully engaged in the tasks and more focused.

A batch of things to do in an hour today may look like this: Clean your desk / answer today’s emails / do the dishes / make three calls / write a grocery shopping list for tomorrow.

4. First, give value. Then, get value. Not the other way around.
This is a bit of a counter-intuitive thing. There is often an idea that someone should give us something or do something for us before we give back. The problem is just that a lot of people think that way. And so far less than possible is given either way.

If you want to increase the value you receive (money, love, kindness, opportunities etc.) you have to increase the value you give. Because over time you pretty much get what you give. It would perhaps be nice to get something for nothing. But that seldom happens

5. Be proactive. Not reactive.
This one ties into the last point. If everyone is reactive then very little will get done. You could sit and wait and hope for someone else to do something. And that happens pretty often, but it can take a lot of time before it happens.

A more useful and beneficial way is to be proactive, to simply be the one to take the first practical action and get the ball rolling. This not only saves you a lot of waiting, but is also more pleasurable since you feel like you have the power over your life. Instead of feeling like you are run by a bunch of random outside forces.

6. Mistakes and failures are good.

When you are young you just try things and fail until you learn. As you grow a bit older, you learn from – for example – school to not make mistakes. And you try less and less things.

This may cause you to stop being proactive and to fall into a habit of being reactive, of waiting for someone else to do something. I mean, what if you actually tried something and failed? Perhaps people would laugh at you?

Perhaps they would. But when you experience that you soon realize that it is seldom the end of the world. And a lot of the time people don’t care that much. They have their own challenges and lives to worry about.

And success in life often comes from not giving up despite mistakes and failure. It comes from being persistent.

7. Don’t compare yourself to others.

The ego wants to compare. It wants to find reasons for you to feel good about yourself (“I’ve got a new bike!”). But by doing that it also becomes very hard to not compare yourself to others who have more than you (“Oh no, Bill has bought an even nicer bike!”). And so you don’t feel so good about yourself once again. If you compare yourself to others you let the world around control how you feel about yourself. It always becomes a rollercoaster of emotions.

A more useful way is to compare yourself to yourself. To look at how far you have come, what you have accomplished and how you have grown. It may not sound like that much fun but in the long run it brings a lot more inner stillness, personal power and positive feelings.

8. 80% to 90% of what you fear will happen never really come into reality.

This is a big one. Most things you fear will happen never happen. They are just monsters in your own mind. And if they happen then they will most often not be as painful or bad as you expected. Worrying is most often just a waste of time.

This is of course easy to say. But if you remind yourself of how little of what you feared throughout your life that has actually happened you can start to release more and more of that worry from your thoughts.

9. There are opportunities in just about every experience.

In pretty much any experience there are always things that you can learn from it and things within the experience that can help you to grow. Negative experiences, mistakes and failure can sometimes be even better than a success because it teaches you something totally new, something that another success could never teach you.

Whenever you have a “negative experience” ask yourself: where is the opportunity in this? What is good about this situation? One negative experience can – with time – help you create many very positive experiences.

What do you wish someone had told you in school or you had just learned earlier in life?

Unnimaxx · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:36 pm Post subject:

From Making a Living to Creating a Lifestyle by Jim Rohn

(excerpted from The Day That Turns Your Life Around)

After having struggled for so long, it took a shift in attitude for my family and me when success started to happen. When I started making a little extra money at age 25, Schoaff taught me to also let it serve as a new inspiration for lifestyle. Take my family to dinner after Id had two or three pretty good weeks and it looked like it was going to continue. I would say, Today we get to order from only the left-hand side of the menu, we dont have to look at the right-hand side. Didnt cost much, just a little extra. But you cant believe the effect on the family, wow, that these are new days.

Its called changing your life as well as changing your skills and earning more money. Its best to invest some of that early money in lifestyle. Go to the movies. Take two vacations instead of one. Just some little extra things that now the family gets inspired by this new commitment to earning more and becoming more and learning more, taking some night classes, whatever you have to do. Now you make it more worthwhile for the family by thinking of lifestyle changes that now become very exciting. Go to the concerts. My parents said dont miss anything. Dont miss the play, the music, the songs, the performances, the moviewhatever is happening.

When I started making some extra money, I opened up an account for my wife and I called it the No Questions Asked Account. I said, Here is the checkbook for a new account and its called no questions asked. Ill just keep putting money in there and you spend it for whatever you wish. It was life-changing. It wasnt a fortune. But she didnt have to ask for money anymore. I could sense that it was a little embarrassing at times when she had to ask me for money. I thought, thats not good, so the first time I get a chance, heres what Im going to do. And sure enough, I did it. The No Questions Asked Account. You cant believe what that did. It was absolutely amazing.

With that little extra money, work at creating lifestyle. Social friendships, church, community, country. All those things that make a composite of our overall life. Start furnishing that with new vigor, vitality, money, whatever it takes to expand your life into what I call the good life as well as economics.

And it doesnt always take a lot of money. How much is a movie? Even for a person of modest means. $8 or $10? It might cost $60 million to make it and it only costs $8 to see it.

When I discovered those kinds of concepts at age 25 you can imagine it was hard for me to sleep nights that first year. I got so excited about changing everything. And one discipline leads to another. One change leads to another. Feeling good about yourself and starting to make the turn to do something youve never done before, then it starts to work, wow, and then you get excited about changing other areas of your life as well.

Now after you have made your fortune, the money and extravagance might not seem as big a deal. And fortunately you can then create even more powerful opportunities, in particular, opportunities for benevolence, philanthropy and giving.

Now Im certainly not saying to focus only on external pleasures and rewards. Your relationships, health and spirituality are all of more consequence.

But in the beginning, when the rewards of your hard work begin paying off, make sure and treat yourself and those closest to you to a new world of lifestyle and celebrations

Unnimaxx · Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:05 pm Post subject: BE ORIGINAL!

A 45 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital.
While on the operating table she had a near death experience.

Seeing God she asked 'Is my time up?'

God said, 'No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days to live.'

Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a
face-lift, liposuction, and a tummy tuck. She even had
someone come in and change her hair colour and brighten her teeth!

Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as well
make the most of it.

After her last operation, she was released from the hospital.

While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an
ambulance.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded, 'I thought you said I had
another 43 years? Why didn't you pull me from out of the path of the
ambulance?'

(You'll love this!!!)

God replied: 'I didn't recognize you'

SO BE ORIGINAL!!!

srividyaa · Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:40 pm Post subject: Forgiveness

One day, the sage gave the disciple an empty sack and a basket of potatoes. "Think of all the people who have done or said something against you in the recent past, especially those you cannot forgive.

For each of them, inscribe the name on a potato and put it in the sack."The disciple came up quite a few names, and soon his sack was heavy with potatoes."Carry the sack with you wherever you go for a week," said the sage. "We'll talk after that."At first, the disciple thought nothing of it. Carrying the sack was not particularly difficult.

But after a while, it became more of a burden. It sometimes got in the way, and it seemed to require more effort to carry as time went on, even though its weight remained the same.After a few days, the sack began to smell. The carved potatoes gave off a ripe odor. Not only were they increasingly inconvenient to carry around, they were also becoming rather unpleasant.Finally, the week was over. The sage summoned the disciple. "Any thoughts about all this?""Yes, Master," the disciple replied. "When we are unable to forgive others, we carry negative feelings with us everywhere, much like these potatoes.

That negativity becomes a burden to us and, after a while, it festers.""Yes, that is exactly what happens when one holds a grudge. So, how can we lighten the load?""We must strive to forgive.""Forgiving someone is the equivalent of removing the corresponding potato from the sack. How many of your transgressors are you able to forgive?""I' ve thought about it quite a bit, Master," the disciple said. "It required much effort, but I have decided to forgive all of them.""Very well, we can remove all the potatoes. Were there any more people who transgressed against you this last week?"The disciple thought for a while and admitted there were. Then he felt panic when he realized his empty sack was about to get filled up again."Master, " he asked, "if we continue like this, wouldn't there always be potatoes in the sack week after week?""Yes, as long as people speak or act against you in some way, you will always have potatoes.""

But Master, we can never control what others do. So what good is the Tao in this case?""We're not at the realm of the Tao yet. Everything we have talked about so far is the conventional approach to forgiveness. It is the same thing that many philosophies and most religions preach - we must constantly strive to forgive, for it is an important virtue. This is not the Tao because there is no striving in the Tao." "Then what is the Tao, Master?""You can figure it out.

If the potatoes are negative feelings, then what is the sack?""The sack is... that which allows me to hold on to the negativity. It is something within us that makes us dwell on feeling offended.... Ah, it is my inflated sense of self-importance. ""And what will happen if you let go of it?""Then... the things that people do or say against me no longer seem like such a major issue.""In that case, you won't have any names to inscribe on potatoes. That means no more weight to carry around, and no more bad smells. The Tao of forgiveness is the conscious decision to not just to remove some potatoes... but to relinquish the entire sack."

srividyaa · Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:12 pm Post subject: Just Be UP And Doing........

Great achievement often requires long, tortuous, bitter experiences, powerful enough to drive one to despair. But one must rise above disappointments, Neglect and sorrow and renew the pledge of devoted action.

There is just no choice. We cannot wait for things to happen to us; we must make them happen to us. We cannot wait for fortune to smile on us and bless us with a distinguished result or a rewarding job. We must act and compel fortune to smile on us. Few ever win who wait, says the poet, and who won't concede he is right.

Sure there is lots of trouble, Sure there are heaps of cars, Burdens that bend us doubt. Worries that come to wear. But we must keep pursuing Something, and see it through; Still to be up and doing Is all that there is to do. Though you would like to idea, Wait for the world to right, Keep your hand on the bridle, Fight when you have to fight. Women are won by wooing. Fortune is won the same, And to be up and doing Is all there is to the game. Few ever fail by trying, Few ever win who wail. All of your sitting, sighing Never will conquer fate.

Whatever path you're either be up and doing
Or soon you'll be down and done.

Don't look at a thing; start it.
Don't put it off a day; start it.

Don't pretend you must think over; start it.
Don't start half-heartedly; put every thing you can muster into your start

srividyaa · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:19 pm Post subject: Great things for Life

1.Smile well and often, it makes people wonder what you've been up to.

2. Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

3. Progress always involves risk. You can't steal second with your foot on first.

4. Never let your memories be greater than your dreams.

5. Every success is built on the ability to do better than good enough.

6. What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

7. Sometimes people don't hear you until you scream...

8. A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

9. The most difficult thing for people to say in 25 words or less is good-bye.

10. Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.

11. Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?

12. I use not only the brains I have, but all I can borrow.

13. Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

14. When you're through changing, you're through.

15. Don’t compromise yourself. You're all you've got.

16. The person who would like to make his dreams come true must stay awake.

17. A strong, positive attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.

18. There is only one way to get anybody to do anything… That is by making the other person want to do it.

19. Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.

srividyaa · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 7:33 pm Post subject: Love ur Life

However much your boss may have stressed you out last week. Refresh yourself with these tips to enjoy the week 5 steps to loving your life ahead.
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Do what really makes you happy
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Mounting obligations and hectic schedules can make it all too easy to lose track. But whether it's the little things in life that make you smile, or the joy of working toward a larger goal, focusing on your happiness each day can help protect your emotional wellbeing and your physical health.
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Enjoy distractions
When you're adding items to your to-do list, don't forget the good stuff. If you look forward to reading in bed, going out to breakfast, taking long walks, listening to music, or just sitting quietly outside, make time for at least one of your favourite diversions every day.

Consider crossing out pesky items on your list that you keep saying you're going to do but haven't gotten to in over a year, like alphabetizing your bills or organizing your sock drawer. Or get rid of a time-consuming chore that isn't enhancing your life one bit.
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Be kind to yourself
We all have low-energy days, but if you can resist the urge to skip your daily workout when you're feeling low, you'll be rewarded both now and later. Try this trick: Tell yourself that you need to do only 10 minutes of exercise. Once you're up and moving (and feeling better) you'll most likely want to finish your workout. Even if you can't push past the 10-minute mark on the occasional bad day, you'll feel good about doing at least a little something. Sticking with an exercise plan helps you feel good about yourself, strengthens your immune system, and enhances production of mood-boosting hormones.
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Bust that stress
Defuse daily hassles by practicing stress-reduction strategies. Try taking deep-breathing breaks throughout the day, inhaling through your nose and then exhaling slowly through your mouth.

Repeating this action three or four times allows more oxygen to get into your bloodstream, creating a feeling of calm. Progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, and meditation also are effective ways of reducing tension, stress, depression, and anxiety. And a brisk 10-minute walk will do far more to dissipate your stress and lift your spirits than eating the bad-for-you snacks you might crave when feeling frantic.
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Share your skills for happiness
Volunteer at a local school, club, or community organization. Not only will sharing your unique talents and expertise benefit others, but research shows that volunteering can make you happier and improve your wellbeing, too. Feeling engaged and involved in your local community is good for your emotional health. It's also an opportunity to learn new skills and meet new people. Win-win.
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Connect with loved ones
Unwind and share a few laughs with your family or friends at least once or twice each month. The openness and trust you share with the important people in your life can help give you the perspective you need to cope with everyday challenges. These regular connections will also have a positive impact on your health, especially when you share a good laugh. Laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, and releases endorphins that can ease pain.
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Also, don't neglect relationships at work. Colleagues and coworkers can provide valuable support and keep your blood pressure under control during stressful situations. .
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Feeling satisfied and fulfilled with your life is an essential part of your emotional and physical well-being. As you grow to appreciate your time, independence, self-assurance, skills, and relationships, you will be amazed at just how good you feel, both in body and in spirit.

Unnimaxx · Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:34 pm Post subject:

Researchers from Chicago, Harvard and California University have discovered that lonely people tend to spread their outlook on life to others and that over time the whole group of lonely, disconnected people move to the fringes of society.

The researchers also said that before certain relationships are severed, people on the periphery of society transmit feelings of loneliness to their remaining friends, who also then become lonely.

The mechanism seems to work because lonely people have less interactions with others and this in itself leads to the others feeling the same.

Dr John Cacioppo, head researcher from the department of psychology at Chicago University, said: "We detected an extraordinary pattern of contagion that leads people to be moved to the edge of the social network when they become lonely.

"On the periphery people have fewer friends, yet their loneliness leads them to losing the few ties they have left.

"These reinforcing effects mean that our social fabric can fray at the edges, like a yarn that comes loose at the end of a crocheted sweater.

"Because loneliness is associated with a variety of mental and physical diseases that can shorten life it is important for people to recognize loneliness and help those people connect with their social group before the lonely individuals move to the edges."

For the study the team examined records of about 5,000 people who lived in the Farmingham area of Massachusetts.

The team made graphs that charted the subjects' friendship histories and information about their reports of loneliness, and so were able to establish a pattern of loneliness that spread as people reported fewer close friends.

The data showed that lonely people "infected" the people around them with loneliness, and those people moved to the edges of social circles.

The team also found that the next-door neighbours in the survey who experienced an increase of one day of loneliness a week prompted an increase in loneliness among their neighbours who were their close friends.

The loneliness spread as the neighbours spent less time together.

It was reported too that women, who are said to be more likely to need emotional support, were also more likely to report 'catching' loneliness from others than were men.

And that people's chances of becoming lonely were more likely to be caused by changes in friendship networks than changes in family networks.

Dr Cacioppo continued: "Our research also shows that as people become lonely, they become less trustful of others, and a cycle develops that makes it harder for them to form friendships.

The findings are published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

srividyaa · Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 1:50 pm Post subject: Get valued by a Goldsmith

Long times ago, in Egypt lived a famous mystical person name Zun-Nun. A young man came to visit him and asked "Teacher, I do not understand why people like you dress in such a way and very simple, isn't in this era was necessary to dress neatly, not only for performance but also for other reasons?

The mystical only smiled and took his ring from one of his fingers, and said "Young friend, I will answer your question, but first do one thing for me, take this ring and go to the market across this street, can you sell this for one chip of gold?

Having looked at Zun-Nun's dirty ring, the young man became doubtful. "One chip of gold, I am not sure this ring could be sold at that price."
"Try first, young man, who knows you did it." The Young man went to the market quickly. He offered the ring to the textile, vegetable, meat, fish traders, and the others. The fact was that no body was willing to pay for a chip of Gold.

He went back to Zun-Nun residence and reported "Teacher, no body was brave to offer more than one chip of silver."

With a wise smile Zun-Nun said, "Now go to the Gold Shop at the back of this street. Show this to the owner or to the gold trader. Don't give your price just listen how much he will pay for this ring."

The Young man went to the shop mentioned and returned with a different expression from his face. He then reported "Teacher, the traders in the market really do not know the value of this ring, the gold trader offer this ring for one thousand of gold, And the value of this ring was one thousands times from what the traders in the market offer.

Zun-Nun just smiled subtly and spoke softly, "That was the answer of your questions my friend, "Someone cannot be valued only from his dress "The traders in the market" give value like that. But not for "The gold trader"

So remember all the criticism, snide remarks which we get sometimes, are from the traders, they do not recognize the gold and put value to it. So do not lose heart and search for the goldsmiths which will recognize your value.

Similarly do not get fooled by the outer appearances, a brass may look like a gold but is not gold. Dig deep before forming an opinion or judging others.