The 99 Club

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content.

One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy. The King asked the servant, "Why are you so happy?"

The man replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much - just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies."

The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the King's woes and the servant's story, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of The 99 Club."

"The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired.
The advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is, place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep."
When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house. When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... So many gold coins!

He began to count them. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins. He wondered, "What could have happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!"
He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive. Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.

From that day, the servant's life was changed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked.

Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he sought his advisor's help, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club."

He continued, "The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never content, because they're always yearning and striving for that extra 1 telling to themselves: "Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life."

We can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the minute we're given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us; all these as a price for our growing needs and desires. That's what joining The 99 Club is all about.

Memory and Salt

I arrive in Madrid at eight o'clock in the morning. I will only be here a few hours, so it's not worth phoning friends and arranging to see them. I decide to go for a walk alone in my favourite places, and I end up sitting smoking a cigarette on a bench in the Retiro Park.

'You look miles away,' says an old man, joining me on the bench. 'Oh, I'm here,' I say, 'but I'm sitting on this same bench with a painter friend of mine, Anastasio Ranchal, twelve years ago in 1986. We are both watching my wife, Christina, who has had a bit too much to drink and is trying to dance the flamenco.'

'Enjoy your memories,' says the old man. 'But don't forget that memory is like salt: the right amount brings out the flavour in food, too much ruins it. If you live in the past all the time, you'll find yourself with no present to remember.'

Desert Pete

A thirsty desert traveler comes upon a strange site. Before him stands a rundown hut. Nearby is a well, the only source of water for miles around. Attached to the pump is a thin baking powder can with a message inside, written in pencil on a sheet of brown wrapping paper. This is the message...

This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker washer into it and it ought to last five years. But, the washer dries out and the pump has got to be primed. Under the white rock I buried a bottle of
water, out of the sun and the cork end up. There‘s enough water in it to prime this pump, but not if you drink some water first. Pour in about 1/4, and let her soak to wet the leather. Then pour in the rest medium fast, and begin to pump. You‘ll get water.The well never has run dry. Have faith. When you get watered up, fill the bottle, and put it back like you found it for the next feller. Signed, Desert Pete
P.S.Don’t go drinking up all the water first! Prime the pump and you can get all the water you want.

Now consider that you are the person who comes up to the well and are very thirsty. What will you do? You really have two choices. Drink a little water immediately, or obey the note and find limitless water for yourself and future travelers.

One of the greatest lessons the note in the can gives us is that we must (no options here) give before we can receive. Countless people have given of faith so that we might live and grow. And the only thing which matters is that which lives on after we are gone. The note in the can points us to think of those who will travel after us. This struggle between selfish motives which can leave behind destruction and death, and a higher, better motive of thinking of others first has been going on for a long time.

Desert Pete certainly thought of you and me. And if we can think of the next person, we will, too.

God Listens

A Sufi master was standing on his doorstep when he saw a teacher passing by with his pupils. "Where are you off to?" he asked. "We are going to pray that God puts a stop to corruption for He always heeds the prayers of children,"answered the teacher.

"A good education would have put an end to that already. Teach youngsters to be more responsible than their parents and uncles."The teacher felt offended - "What an example of lack of faith! The prayers of children can change anything!"

"God listens to those who pray. If only he listened to the prayers of children, there wouldn't be a single school in the whole country, for there is nothing they hate more than their teachers."

How big is God ?

A boy asked his Dad, "Dad, how big is God?"

Looking up at the sky, the father saw an aeroplane and asked his son, "How big is that aeroplane?"

The boy responded, " It's small, Dad! You can hardly even see it!"

Then the father took his son to an airport hanger. Standing in front of one of the aeroplanes, the father asked, "And now, how big is the aeroplane?"

The boy responded, " Oh Daddy, this plane is enormous."

At this point, the father said to him, "That's how it is with God. How big he is depends on the distance between you and Him. The closer you are to him, the bigger he is in your life"

9×1=7

One day a school teacher wrote on the board the following:

9×1=7
9×2=18
9×3=27
9×4=36
9×5=45
9×6=54
9×7=63
9×8=72
9×9=81
9×10=90

When she was done, she looked to the students. They were all laughing at her, because the first equation she had written was wrong.

The teacher said, "I wrote that first one wrong on purpose, because I wanted you to learn something important. This was for you to know how the world out there will treat you. You can see that I wrote 9 equations correct, but none of you even noticed it; you all stopped at the first mistake you saw, laughed and criticized me, just for the one wrong thing I did.

The world may not appreciate a million goods you do, but will surely criticize the one wrong thing you do... Don't get discouraged, rise above the laughter and the criticism, and stay strong and focused.

Yusra Mardini, the Refugee Olympian

Yusra Mardini braved a Mediterranean crossing in a leaky dinghy to flee from war-torn Syria, a year ago. Now, the teenage swimmer has braved the 100m butterfly heat in Rio on Saturday, to launch an "amazing" Olympic experience.

Mardini clocked in 1min 09.21sec, just off her entry time of 1:08.51 on Saturday. She will compete is a second individual event Wednesday when she swims the women's 100-meter freestyle. Although she was 41st-fastest in an event led by world record-holder Sarah Sjostrom's 56.26sec meaning she didn't qualify for the semi-finals, Mardini said it was a thrill to line up against the world's best.

"Everything was amazing. It was the only thing I ever wanted was to compete in the Olympics. I had a good feeling in the water so I'm happy for that," said the 18-year-old, who is representing the first ever Olympic refugee team.




Mardini was a competitive swimmer in Syria until she fled the war with her sister last August and survived a hazardous crossing on the Aegean Sea to reach Europe. The Mardini sisters had been among Syria's brightest swimming stars and their family had been moving around to avoid the fighting so they could continue swimming. But the war intensified and eventually the decision was made to leave altogether.

The sisters joined a wave of Syrian refugees who left Damascus last summer. They made their way to Lebanon and then Turkey, where they paid smugglers to take them to Greece. Their first attempt was thwarted when Turkish coastguards drove their boat back so they tried again, boarding a small inflatable dinghy at dusk.

All but three of the 20 people crowded on the dinghy couldn't swim. Within half an hour, the boat was taking on water.

The passengers' bags were thrown overboard in an effort to stay afloat as wind churned up the Aegean Sea. But it wasn't enough. As a last resort, the Mardini sisters and another strong swimmer jumped into the water to give the boat more buoyancy.

For 3 and-a-half-hours, they clung to the side of the small boat until it reached the Greek island of Lesbos. A week long overland trek followed through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary. They had to hide from police in cornfields to reach Hungary. Eventually, the sisters made it to Austria and then Germany, where they have since been joined by the rest of their family in Berlin.

"I've only been back swimming for two years so we're only now getting back to my levels of before. But I'm pleased," added Mardini, who has settled in Germany with her family.

"It's an incredible feeling and I'm happy to see all the great swimmers here," she said. "Competing with all these great champions is exciting."

In March, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach announced he would choose 5 to 10 refugee athletes to compete at the Games. Each Refugee athlete is being hosted by a National Olympic Committee. Mardini is being hosted by Germany, while Anis is being hosted by Belgium.

Irrespective of her eventual result, Mardini's is a story the reflects the spirit of sport and the Olympic Games.