A man was hiking through the forest when he suddenly saw a puppy stuck in a hole, struggling to get out.

The man reached his hand down the hole, trying to rescue the puppy.  The puppy was afraid and bit the man.

He ignored the pain and continued to try to rescue the puppy.  Again and again the puppy would bite him.

A young boy came upon the scene, and after watching for a few minutes said, “Quit trying to save that dog.  He’s mean and you’re just going to keep getting bit.”

The man ignored the boy and kept reaching in – and finally he pulled the puppy out of the hole.   The man turned to the boy and said, “It was the puppy’s instincts and fear that made him bite.  I wanted to help because it was the right thing to do, regardless of how the puppy treated me.”

Can you apply this situation to your life?  Do you show compassion and respect for others, even if they do not show it to you?

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Mark and his family were visiting a local zoo.  As they passed the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge animals were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg.  Mark could see that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds.  But for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why the elephants made no attempt to get away.  “When the elephants are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them,” the trainer said.  “At that age, it was enough to hold them. As they grew up, they were conditioned to believe they cannot get away.  They still believe the rope can hold them, so they never try to break free.”

Mark was amazed. These animals could break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they didn’t try.  The elephants were stuck right where they were.

How many of us go through life believing that we cannot do something, only because we failed at it before?

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Treat others how you want to be treated. It’s the Golden Rule.

This sign of respect can be traced throughout time, throughout the world.  Here are a few examples:

Confucius:  What you do not want done to yourself, do not do unto others.

Aristotle: We should behave to others as we wish others to behave to us.

Judaism: What you dislike for yourself, do not do to anyone.

Hinduism: Do nothing to thy neighbor which thou wouldst not have him do to thee thereafter.

Islam: No one of you is a believer unless he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.

Buddhism: Hurt not others with that which pains thyself.

Christianity:  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Notice that the Golden Rule is about “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you” instead of “do unto others so they will do unto you”.   Good character requires us to show respect to others because of their value as another human being,  not a strategy for getting what we want.

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A daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable.  It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on the stove.

Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.

Turning to her, he asked. “What do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she replied.

“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.

He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“I’m not sure I understand the point,” she said.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water.  However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its interior until it was put in the boiling water and the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

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