Short Inspirational stories
The
great thing about them is that they’re so easy to digest, and there’s always a
moral at the end of the story.
Whether
they’re true stories or not is another thing, as many of them are legends
supposedly hundreds of years old.
However,
the stories that I’m talking about are so powerful and inspirational that
many of them really do get you thinking and even leave you speechless at times.
I’ve
been reading plenty of these short stories in the past couple of weeks and
found the lessons behind them truly wonderful. So I’ve decided to write out
this article highlighting the 5 most inspirational short
stories I’ve heard.
Next
to the subheadings, in brackets, I’ve put what the story’s lesson is all about,
with a short description of the moral of the story at the end of each section.
1.
The elephant rope
A
gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he spotted that the
elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains.
All
that was holding them
back from escaping
the camp, was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs.
As the man gazed upon
the elephants, he was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just
use their strength to break the rope and escape the camp. They could easily
have done so, but instead, they didn’t try to at all.
Curious
and wanting to know the answer, he asked a trainer nearby why the elephants
were just standing there and never tried to escape.
The
trainer replied;
“When they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie
them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are
conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still
hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The
only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp
was that over time they adopted the belief that it just wasn’t possible.
Moral
of the story:
No matter how much the
world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you
want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most
important step in actually achieving it.
2. Thinking Out of the Box (Creative Thinking)
In a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small
business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan-shark. The loan-shark was a
very old, unattractive looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business
owner’s daughter.
He
decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the
debt he owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt
if he could marry the businessman’s daughter.
Needless
to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.
The loan-shark said that he
would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.
The
daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out a pebble. If it was
black, the debt would be wiped, but the loan-shark would then marry her. If it
was white, the debt would also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t have to
marry the loan-shark.
Standing
on a pebble-strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan-shark bent over
and picked up two pebbles.
Whilst
he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag.
He
then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.
The
daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:
1.
Refuse to pick a pebble from
the bag.
2.
Take both pebbles out of the bag
and expose the loan-shark for cheating.
3.
Pick a pebble from the bag fully
well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her father’s freedom.
She
drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped
it into the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-shark;
“Oh, how clumsy of
me. Never mind, if you look into the bag for
the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”
The
pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan-shark didn’t
want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped
was white, and clear her father’s debt.
Moral of the story:
It’s
always possible to overcome a tough situation throughout
of the box thinking, and not give in to the only options you think you have to
pick from.
As a group of frogs was traveling through the woods, two of
them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs crowded around the pit and
saw how deep it was, they told the two frogs that there was no hope left for
them. However, the two
frogs decided to ignore what the others were saying and they proceeded to try and jump out of the
pit.
Despite
their efforts, the group of frogs at the top of the pit were still saying that
they should just give up. That they would never make it out.
Eventually,
one of the frogs took heed to what the others were saying and he gave up,
falling down to his death. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he
could. Again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die.
He
jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs
said, “Did you not hear us?”
The
frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were
encouraging him the
entire time.
Moral
of the story:
People’s words can
have a big effect on other’s lives. Think about what you say before it comes
out of your mouth. It might just be the difference between life and death.
4. The Obstacle in Our Path (Opportunity)
In
ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. He then hid himself
and watched to see if anyone would move the boulder out of the way. Some of the
king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.
Many
people loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none of them
did anything about getting the stone out of the way.
A
peasant then came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the
boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to push the stone out of
the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.
After the peasant went
back to pick up his vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the
boulder had been.
The
purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King explaining that the
gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.
Moral
of the story:
Every
obstacle we come across in life gives us an opportunity to improve our circumstances,
and whilst the lazy complain, the others are creating opportunities through
their kind hearts, generosity, and willingness to get things done.
A "mouse" was
put at the top of a jar filled with grains He was too happy to find so
much of food around him Now he doesn't need to run around searching for
food and can happily lead his life As he enjoyed the grains, in few days’
time, he reached to the bottom of the jar Now he is trapped and he cannot
come out of it He has to solely depend upon someone to put grains in the
same jar for him to survive He may even not get the grain of his choice
and he cannot choose either If he has to live, he has to feed on whatever
has been put into the jar .
Moral of the story
- Short term pleasures can lead to long-term traps ;
- If things are coming easy and you are getting comfortable, you are getting trapped into survival mode
- When you are not using your potential, you are losing it ;
- If you don't take right action at right time, you will finish what you have and will be in no position to come out.
Excellent stories sir..
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