If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced-Van Gogh

A business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him. "I can see that something is troubling you," he said. After listening to the executive's woes, the old man said, "I believe I can help you." He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying, "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time."Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world! "I can erase my money worries in an instant!" he realized.

But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought. With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again. Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check.

At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man. "I'm so glad I caught him!" she cried. "I hope he hasn't been bothering you. He's always escaping from the rest home and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller."And she led the old man away by the arm.

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he'd been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him. Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.

Butterflies in Spring

When I was a little girl, hardly 7 years old, I used to run around in our back-garden trying to catch butterflies. During spring, there would a lot of tiny, grey-blue butterflies there, sitting on the daisies which spotted the fresh grass. I would slowly walk up to them and as soon as their wings would close, I used to catch them between my thumb and fore-finger, looking at them closely before letting them fly away.

Once I went there as usual and caught a butterfly. However, when I tried to let it fly away, I saw to my horror that its wings had broken. I let the poor creature loose, ashamed and guilty of causing its death and still am to this day. I was in fact so ashamed of it that I never even told anyone about my experience. I remember that day clearly even today but I do not know why. Perhaps it was one of the chains in our life which form a part of us. And to this day I have never caught another butterfly.

Reflecting about that incident I thought how vulnerable we all are, just like that butterfly. It was so easy for me to destroy it, even though unknowingly, and it was terrible holding its crushed wings. We all are exposed to the same degree of hurt. Often when we trust someone a lot, make them an inevitable part of our lives, they are the ones to hurt us. People who have been injured once try and avoid experiencing it again but it is quite impossible to hold yourself aloof from all forms of affection. Sorrow and joy are so interwoven together that life would be tasteless without both. If it were not bitter, we would not appreciate its sweetness, if it were not cold, we would not appreciate warmth. Each day teaches us something new, each experience makes us stronger.

Our weakness rests in those we care for. We call them our strength and yet they are the ones who represent the frailty of our emotions. We are like that butterfly, our wings are easily crushed by those who apparently care for us and by those we trust. The reason for this sorrow is because we have high expectations from the ones we love. How often do we say "I did not expect…" That one word is the cause of all the grief and it highlights our fragility. Why keep expectations? Why make yourself susceptible to distress, when you can easily avoid it by not anticipating anything.

It is hard, I know that, but it is the only way to safeguard our own sanity and our own mental peace. Even after knowing this, I sometimes find myself expecting things from others. It is strange, even after trying to school myself not to expect, I still do that! I think we all do exactly this as perhaps it is hard to detach yourself to such an extent from someone you love. Perhaps that is why I am hurt so much by those who mean a lot to me. Perhaps that is why I wonder how long before I completely break down? Perhaps someday I too will be like those crushed butterfly wings...

Control your destiny or somebody else will-Jack Welch

There was once a King and he told his Chief Minister that he believed Destiny was larger and more dominant but the Minister disagreed and devised an experiment to see who was correct.In a large bag, he mixed grains and loose jewels and diamonds. He then securely tied the bag and threw it into a dark room. He next had two men brought forward and locked them up in the dark room for three days. One man sat down in a corner while the other groped about till he found the bag. He tore it open and began eating the grains. Sometimes he would get what he thought, stones and impurities and those he would throw to the corner where the other man sat. After three days the door was opened and in walked the King and the Minister. The King walked to the man in the corner and said triumphantly that the man had jewels in both his hands. Actually what the other man thought to be stones and impurities were gems and the inactive man had collected them. The Minister walked to the active man and opening his fists saw that while in one he had jewels in the other he had grains. The Minister said "This man has eaten for three days and also collected enough jewels. He is healthy, well fed and richer in the bargain too. The man who just waited for destiny to take action is half-starved though he may be holding jewels in both hands."The King had to agree that Destiny is not more dominant than Karma. The starved man could also have been well fed had he taken the pains to find the food. Just like that you may have a rich field. If the farmer tends to it properly, then plants will grow and after harvesting he will sell the produce and buy things from the money. If he left the field as it is, saying it is fertile and rich and will give returns on its own, then it never will. You need to utilize the fertility, work hard to reap the fruits of the gifts and talents talents bestowed upon you. The richness, fertility and creativity have been bestowed through destiny but to make use of them and utilize them, we need to work=karma. There is great potential in each and everyone of us but it will not be of any use to us or others if we do not try to realize it by working to perfect it.