Two Ugly Bricks

A story about a scientist that decided to be a pastor. One day,together with other pastors, they decided to build a church.Because they are not very rich, they decided to build it with their own expenses and their own effort.So they need to learn how to build a building.
Without much experiences, this pastor find it very hard to build a wall. When he started to put on a brick on cements, knocked a little bit at one end to make it even, he realized that the other end started to pop up. The tried to make it even but the other end started to pop up!
But as a pastor, he has all the times and patient that he needed. He make sure every bricks is placed correctly. And finally, he successfully build one side of the wall using the bricks and cement.He turned to the other side of the wall to see the result and at that moment he realized....Oh No...he has accidentally arranged 2 bricks. The rest of the bricks are arranged neatly, but these 2 bricks seems out of place. They looked ugly. They spoilt the whole wall...
And by then the cement has already harden and it’s hard to rearrange the two bricks, so the pastor ask the head pastor if he may tear down the whole wall and rebuild a new one. The head pastor told him that it’s not necessary, let wall be like it is.
When the pastor brought his first guests to visit the church, he always tried to avoid bringing them to the wall that he made. The pastor doesn’t like it if people look at it. So one day, 3 or 4 months after the built the wall, the pastor walked with a guest around the church and suddenly the guest commented ”that’s a beautiful wall”.
”Sir,” the pastor responded, ”do you left your glasses in your car? Don’t you see the 2 ugly bricks that make the whole wall look ugly?”
What the guest said then has changed the pastor’s view to the wall, to his life, and more aspect in his life. The guest said, ”Yes, I can see the 2 ugly bricks, but I also see the rest of 998 good and nice bricks.”
The pastors was dumbfounded. For the first time in more than 3 months, he can see other bricks except the 2 ugly bricks. Above, below, at the left side, and at the right side of the 2 ugly bricks are nice and good bricks which are more than the 2 ugly bricks. All these while, the pastor’s eyes only focused on the 2 mistakes that he had done...he was blinded by it. That’s why the pastor doesn’t like the wall or let other people see the wall. That’s why he wanted to destroy it. Now he can see nice bricks and the wall doesn’t look very ugly after all. The bricks become like what the guest say ”A nice and beautiful wall”.
The wall still exist up to today, many years after the incident, but the pastor has forgotten where the 2 ugly bricks are located. He can’t see the mistake anymore.

Many people decided to end their relationship or divorce because all they can see in their partnet are the ”two ugly bricks”. How many of us fell into depression and suicidal thoughts because all we can see are ”two ugly bricks”? In reality, there are many, far more good bricks but at that moment we can’t see it. In fact, everytime we see it, our eyes only focused on the things that we have done wrong. All that we see are mistakes that we have done, and we thought it’s a mere mistake and because of that we want to get rid of it. And many times, unfortunately, we really destroy a ”nice and beautiful wall”.
All of us have ”two ugly bricks” in our life, but there are more nice and good bricks inside us. Once we can see the nice and good bricks, we will not be as ugly as we think. Not only that we can have peace with ourselves, but with our partner.
I have friends who work in building construction. They told me a secret about their profression: ”All of us work in construction building always make a mistake,” he said, ”But we always tell our customer that it’s ”unique feature” that no other houses will has. We then charged extra for the ”unique feature”!!!”
So, this ”unique feature” in your house, can be, initially a mistake. In the same way, what you think as a mistake in you, your friend, your spouse, or in life in general, can be a ”unique feature”, which enrich your life, when you don’t focus on it....

“Wisdom is learning what to overlook.”
- William James -

Carrot, Egg, and Coffee

Let's imagine you are boiling water on 3 separate container.
In the first container, you put in few carrots. In the second container, you put in few eggs. And in the third container, you put coffee powder.
Heat up all 3 containers for 15 minutes and then take out all 3 items for the containers. Carrot that was hard now is soften; Egg that was soft inside now is harden; And Cofee powder is now gone, but, the color of the water has changed and it has a nice smell of coffee.

Now let's think about our work. Work is not always easy, it's not always comfortable, sometimes work can even be very hard and demanding. Our situations do not always turn out to be what we wanted. People treated us not the way we hoped. We worked hard, but didn't get the optimal result. What happened when we face difficulties?

Let's think back on the 3 containers. Boiling water is like problems in our work.
We can be like carrot, we start a work strong and firm but we have to come out soft and helpless. We becoming very tired and lose hope, we quit. Lost our self confidence. DON'T BE LIKE CARROT!!!
We can be like egg, we start work with a mild and sensitive heart but we end up very egoistic and indifference. We hate other people, we hate ourselves. There's no more warmth in our life. DON'T BE LIKE EGG!!!
We can be like coffee powder. Water didn't change the coffee powder, but it's the coffee powder that changed the water. The water changed because of coffee powder. See, smell, and drink it. The hotter the water, the better the taste of the coffee. We can be like coffee powder. We try to make something good out of the challenges that we face. We learn new things. We gain new knowledge, wisdom and new skills. We grow with experiences. We made our world around us be a better place. In order to be successful, we have to try...try...and try again. We must believe in what we do. We should not give up, we have to be patient. We must always keep our spirit high. Problems and difficulties give us an opportunity to be a stronger and better person. We can decide to be carrot, egg, or coffee powder.
LET'S BE LIKE COFFEE POWDER!!!


"We are exactly where we have chosen to be"
-Vernon Howard-

How to stay young

1. Throw out nonessential numbers
This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That’s why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends
The grouches pull you down. (Keep this in mind if YOU are one of those grouches.)

3. Keep learning
Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, and whatever. Never let the brain get idle. An idle mind is the devil's workshop. And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4.Enjoy the simple things

5.Laugh often, long and loud until you gasp for breath
And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with HIM / HER.

6.Surround yourself with what you love
Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, or whatever. Make a spot your refuge. Keep good relationship with God.

7.The tears happen
Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us in our entire life, is yourself. LIVE while you are alive.

8.Cherish your health
If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, GET HELP.

9.Don't take guilt trips
Take a trip to the mall, even to the next country, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10.Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity


"Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter"
- unknown -