10 Classic Stories That Will Shape Your Life

1. Temper the power to summon success.

A man caught an eaglet in a nest on the peak of a high mountain and took it home, raising it in a chicken coop. The eaglet ate, played, and rested with the chickens. It thought it was a chicken. As the eagle grew older, its wings became full. The owner wanted to train it into a hunting eagle, but because it had been mixing with chickens all along, it had become just like a chicken, having no desire to fly at all. The owner tried various methods, all without effect, finally taking it to the top of the mountain and throwing it out. The eagle fell like a stone, flapping its wings desperately in panic, and thus, it finally flew!

2. Cherish life, and you will walk out of the swamp of setbacks.

There was a person named Abag who lived on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Once, young Abag and his father got lost on the grassland. Abag was tired and scared, and in the end, he could hardly walk anymore. His father took out five coins from his pocket, buried one in the grass, and placed the remaining four in Abag's hand, saying: "Life has five coins, one for childhood, youth, adulthood, middle age, and old age each. You have only used one coin now, which is the one buried in the grass. You cannot throw all five coins away on the grassland; you must use them bit by bit, making each time different, so as not to waste a lifetime. We must get out of the grassland today, and you must also leave the grassland in the future. The world is vast, and while alive, one should travel more places, see more things, and not let your coins go to waste." Encouraged by his father, that day Abag walked out of the grassland. When he grew up, Abag left his hometown and became an excellent captain.

3. Open the closed heart door, and the sunshine of success can dispel the darkness of failure.

There were two brothers, no more than four or five years old. Since the bedroom window was always closed, they thought the room was too dark and envied the bright sunlight outside. The brothers discussed: "We can sweep some sunlight inside." So, the two brothers took brooms and dustpans to the balcony to sweep sunlight. When they brought the dustpan back into the room, the sunlight inside disappeared. They swept many times like this, but there was still no sunlight in the room. Their mother, busy in the kitchen, saw their strange actions and asked: "What are you doing?" They replied: "The room is too dark, we want to sweep some sunlight in." The mother laughed and said: "Just open the window, and the sunlight will naturally come in. Why bother sweeping?"

4. Those with a successful mindset can discover the power of success everywhere.

A spider struggled to climb towards a broken web on the wall. Because the wall was damp, when it climbed to a certain height, it would fall down. It climbed up again and again, falling down again and again... The first person saw it, sighed, and muttered to himself: "Isn't my life just like this spider? Busy but gaining nothing." Thus, he gradually became dispirited. The second person saw it and said: "This spider is really stupid. Why doesn't it detour around the dry place and climb up? I shouldn't be as stupid as it in the future." Thus, he became smarter. The third person saw it and was immediately moved by the spider's spirit of fighting despite repeated failures. Thus, he became stronger.

5. Successful people save themselves.

A person was sheltering under the eaves from the rain and saw Guanyin walking by with an umbrella. This person said: "Guanyin Bodhisattva, please enlighten me and take me along for a bit?" Guanyin replied: "I am in the rain, you are under the eaves, and there is no rain under the eaves, so you don't need my help." This person immediately jumped out from under the eaves and stood in the rain: "Now I am also in the rain, can you enlighten me now?" Guanyin said: "You are in the rain, I am in the rain, I am not wet because I have an umbrella; you are getting wet because you don't have an umbrella. So it's not me saving myself, but the umbrella saving me. If you want to be saved, don't look for me, find your own umbrella!" After saying that, Guanyin left. The next day, this person encountered difficulties and went to the temple to pray to Guanyin. Upon entering the temple, he discovered that there was also someone praying in front of the statue of Guanyin, and that person looked exactly like Guanyin, without any difference. This person asked: "Are you Guanyin?" That person replied: "I am Guanyin." This person asked again: "Then why do you worship yourself?" Guanyin smiled and said: "I also encounter difficulties, but I know that asking others for help is not as good as helping oneself."