THE STONE
Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument; and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand, Today my best friend slapped me in the face.
They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone, ‚Today my best friend saved my life.‘
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, ‚After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?‘
The friend replied, ‚When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.‘
Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then, an ntire life to forget them.
Do not value the things you have in your life, but value who you have in your life!
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
THE MOUSETRAP
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. 
„What food might this contain?“ The mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed this warning: „There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!“ The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, „Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but is is o no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.“
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, „There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!“ The pig sympathized, but said, „I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray… Be assured you are in my prayers.“
The mouse turned to the cow and said, „There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!“ The cow said, „Wow, Mr. Mouse, I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.“ So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap… Alone…
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did no see it. It was a venomous snake whose tail was caught in the trap. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. When she returned home she still had a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup. So the farmer took his hatchedt to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.
But his wife’s sickness continued. Friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
But, alas, the farmer’s wife did not get well… She died. So many people came for funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them for the funeral luncheon.
And the mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and you think it doesn’t concern you, remember –
When one of us is threatened,
we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.
REMEMBER – each of us is a vital thread in another person’s tapestry. Our lives are woven together for a reason.
One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a FRIEND.