Puppies for sale

A store owner was tacking a sign above his door that read "Puppies For Sale." Signs like that have a way of
        attracting small children and sure enough, a little boy appeared by the store owner's sign. "How much are
        you going to sell the puppies for?" he asked. The store owner replied, "Anywhere from $30-$50."
        The little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out some change. "I have $2.37," he said. "May I please look
        at them?" The store owner smiled and whistled, out of the kennel came Lady, who ran down the aisle of his
        store followed by five teeny, tiny balls of fur. One puppy was lagging considerably behind.
        Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said, "What's wrong with that little dog?"
        The store owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the little puppy and had discovered it didn't
        have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame. The little boy became excited. "That is the
        little puppy that I want to buy." The store owner said, "No, you don't want to buy that little dog. If you really

        want him, I'll just give him to you."
        The little boy got quite upset. He looked into the store owner's eyes, pointing his finger, and said, "I don't
        want you to give him to me. That dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I'll pay full price. In
        fact, I'll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month until I have him paid for."
        The store owner countered, "You really don't want to buy this little dog. He is never going to be able to run
        and jump and play with you like the other puppies."
        To this, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg
        supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the store owner and softly replied, "Well, I don't run so good
        myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands!"
 

 - Sent from Inspirational Short Stories (android app), https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inspirational.stories.personality.development

How rich are we?

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!" exclaimed the son. "And what did you learn?" asked the father.
        The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to
        the middle of the garden; they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden; they
        have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard; they have a whole horizon." When the little boy was
        finished, his father was speechless. His son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how 'poor' we are!"
        Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good
        humor and a positive attitude towards life -- you've got everything! You can't buy any of these things. You
        may have all the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the future, etc.; but if you are poor of
        spirit, you have nothing!
   
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Shake it Off And Step Up

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard
        the mule braying. After carefully checking the situation, the farmer felt sorry for the mule, but decided that
        neither the mule nor the well was worth saving. Instead, he called his neighbors and friends together and
        told them what had happened. The farmer asked them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and
        put him out of his misery.
        At first, the old mule was hysterically braying, very upset! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued
        shoveling the dirt into the well, the dirt would hit his back, and a thought came to the donkey. It suddenly
        dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back: he should shake it off and step up!

        This is what the old mule did, shovel after shovel. "Shake it off and step up... shake it off and step up...
        shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself.
        No matter how painful the dirt, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought "panic" and just
        kept right on shaking it off and stepping up! You guessed it! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and
        exhausted, stepped triumphantly right over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him, actually
        end up blessing him. All because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.
 

 - Sent from Inspirational Short Stories (android app), https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inspirational.stories.personality.development

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 must hammer a nail into the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into
        the fence. Over the next few weeks as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily,
        gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to hammer those nails into the
        fence.
        Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father
        suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days
        passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
        The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said "You have done well, my son, but look
        at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar
        just like this one."
        You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is
        still there.
 

This is Good

An old story is told of a king in Africa who 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 (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. After
        taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it, and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the
        friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and immediately
        sent his friend to jail.
        About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to avoid. Cannibals captured
        him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake, and bound him to
        the stake. As they came close to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being
        superstitious cannibals, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So the cannibals untied the king,
        and sent him on his way.
        As he returned home, he was reminded of the incident that had blown off his thumb and felt sadness for his
        treatment of his friend. The king went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he
        said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just
        happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."
        "No," his friend replied, "This is good!" "What do you mean,'This is good'? said the king.
        “How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" questioned the king.
        "If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you." said his friend.