The Emperors Seed

An Emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different.


He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next Emperor. I have decided to choose one of you".


The kids were shocked! But the Emperor continued. " I am going to give each one of you a seed today, one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed. I will then judge the plants you bring, and the one I choose will be the next Emperor!"


One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully.


Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing.

Seeds

By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Every one else had tall plants and trees, but he had nothing.


Ling didn't say anything to his friends. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the Emperor for inspection.


Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot but his mother said he must be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach but he knew his mother was right.


He took his empty pot to the Palace. When Ling arrived he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kids laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try".


When the Emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants,  trees and flowers have you grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next Emperor".


All of a sudden, the Emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified . "The Emperor knows I am a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!?


When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling", he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The Emperor asked every one to quiet down.


He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new Emperor! His name is Ling." Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't grow his seed. How could he be the new Emperor?


Then the Emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought to me trees and plant and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.


Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the next Emperor!"


Lesson...
It pays to be honest and transparent. You can never say when it might be of use, and you might never say when you are going through an important test. Make it an habit and then, maybe, you might have nothing to lose.

Is your Life Worth Saving?

A boy was drowning in a river and he shouted for help. A man passing by jumped in the river and saved the boy's life.

 As the man was leaving the boy said, "Thank you". The man asked, "For what?" The boy replied, "For saving my life". The man looked into the boy's eyes and said, "Son, make sure when you grow up that your life was worth saving".

Think about this and reflect upon your life.

Little things makes a difference

A man was taking a morning walk on the beach. He saw that hundreds of starfish came in with the tide, and when the tide receded, the starfish were left behind on the beach. With the sun's rays, they would die.

 The tide had just gone out and the starfish were still alive. The man took a few steps, picked up one, and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly.

 Another man came along who couldn't understand what this man was doing. He asked, "What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?". The man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, "It makes a difference to this one".

 If everyone made a small difference, we'd end up with a bid difference, wouldn't we?

How Would You Like to be Remembered?

About a hundred years ago, a man looked at the morning newspaper and to his surprise and horror, read his name in the obituary column. The newspapers had reported his death by mistake. His first response was shock. Am I here or there?

 When he regained his composure, his next thought was to find out what people had said about him. The obituary read, "Dynamite King Dies", and "He was the merchant of death".

This man was the inventor of dynamite and when he read the words "merchant of death", he asked himself, "Is that how I am going to be remembered?"

He decided that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered. From that day on, he started working towards peace. He, the Dynamite King, was Alfred Nobel and he is remembered today by the great Nobel Prizes.

 Just as Alfred Nobel redefined his values, you should step back and do the same.What is your legacy? How would you like to be remembered? Will you be spoken well of? Will you be remembered with love and respect? Will you be missed?