REFLECTIONS ON LIFE

One day a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor handed out the question paper, with the text facing down as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the page and begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions….just a black dot in the center of the page.  The professor seeing the expression on everyone’s face, told them the following: “I want you to write what you see there.” The students confused, got started on the inexplicable task. At the end of the class, the professor took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them with no exceptions, described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc. etc. etc. After all had been read, the classroom silent, the professor began to explain: “I am not going to grade ...

While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground. "That's my son over there," she said, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater who was gliding down the slide. "He's a fine looking boy" the man said. "That's my son on the swing in the grey sweater." He added.  Then, looking at his watch, he called to his son. "What do you say we go, Todd?" Todd pleaded, "Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more minutes." The man nodded and Todd continued to swing to his heart's content. Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his son. "Time to go now?" Again Todd pleaded, "Five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes." The man smiled and said, "O.K." "My dear, you certainly are a patient father," the woman responded. The man smiled and then said, "My older son Tommy was killed by a drunk driver last year ...

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.  She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling.  It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water.  In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.  In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.  She dished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.  She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee into a bowl.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  She did and noted that they were soft.  She then asked her to take a...

There was  a father and his young son who were walking through the mountains. Suddenly, the son fell, hurting his leg on a rock. He screamed, 'AAhhhh!' To his surprise, he heard a voice repeating, 'AAhhhh!'  This made him even more curious. So, he yelled, 'Who are you?' Back came the same answer, 'Who are you?' Feeling a bit perturbed by this response, he yelled out, 'Coward!' Back came the same reply, 'Coward!' He looked at his father and asked: 'What's going on?' His father smiled and said: 'Son, pay attention.' Looking across the valley, his father yelled to the mountain, 'I admire you!' The voice answered: 'I admire you!' Again the man cried out: 'You are a champion!' The voice replied, 'You are a champion!' The boy was amazed, but he was very confused. So, his father explained... 'You are only hearing an echo, the sound of our voices bouncing back fr...

Two old men, both very sick were in the same hospital room. One of them, Walter had a serious illness. He was in the bed next to a window and during the afternoon, he sat down for an hour or two. The other man, Frank was in hospital for only a week and his bed was far from the window and doctors told him not to stand up,  only to go to the toilet that was next to him. He felt really sad,  he couldn’t see outside  because the window was far, so  every afternoon when Walter was sitting, Frank asked him about what he could see outside and he described a park with a beautiful lake, children playing and people walking across the trees and this description makes Frank very happy. He noticed that more than any doctor or medicine, Walter’s description save him from depression. One day, unfortunately, Walter passed away. Frank was very sad because more than a friend Walter was a brother to him, so he remember the beautiful descriptions he used to say, so he aske...