Here's an interesting story from Chicken Soup For The Soul about True love.

Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the well-known German composer, was far from being handsome. Along with a rather short stature, he had a grotesque hunchback.

One day he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Frumtje.  Moses fell hopelessly in love with her.  But Frumtje was repulsed by his misshapen appearance.

When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered his courage and climbed the stairs to her room to take one last opportunity to speak with her.  She was a vision of heavenly beauty, but caused him deep sadness by her refusal to look at him.  After several attempts at conversation, Moses shyly asked, "Do you believe marriages are made in heaven?"

"Yes," she answered, still looking at the floor. "And do you?"

"Yes I do," he replied. "You see, in heaven at the birth of each boy, the Lord announces which girl he will marry.  When I was born, my future bride was pointed out to me.  Then the Lord added, 'But your wife will be humpbacked.'

"Right then and there I called out, 'Oh Lord, a humpbacked woman would be a tragedy.  Please, Lord, give the hump and let her be beautiful.'"

Then Frumtje looked up into his eyes and was stirred by some deep memory.  She reached out and gave Mendelssohn her hand and later became his devoted wife.

~Barry and Joyce Vissell "Chicken Soup For The Soul"

Here's a very short and inspiring story on how to deal with obstacles in life.

The Obstacle In Our Path

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway.

Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock.

Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.

Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables.

On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road.

After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.

As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been.

The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

The peasant learned what many others never understand.

~~o~o~o~~

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.

From indianchild website

In 1957 a ten-year-old boy in California set a goal. At the time Jim Brown was the greatest  running back ever to play pro football and this tall, skinny boy wanted his autograph.  In order to accomplish his goal, the young boy had to overcome some obstacles.

He grew up in the ghetto, where he never got enough to eat.  Malnutrition took its roll, and a disease called rickets forced him to wear steel splints to support his skinny, bowed-out legs.  He had no money to buy a ticket to get into the game, so he waited patiently near the locker room until the game ended and Jim Brown left the field.  He politely asked Brown for his autograph.  As Brown signed, the boy explained, "Mr. Brown, I have your picture on my wall, I know you hold all the records. You're my idol."

Brown smiled and began to leave, but the young boy wasn't finished.  He proclaimed, "Mr. Brown, one day I'm going to break every record you hold" Brown was impressed and asked, "What is your name, son?" The boy replied, "Orenthal James. My friends call me O.J."

O.J. Simpson went on to break all but three of the rushing records held by Jim Brown before injuries shortened his football career.  Goal setting is the strongest force for human motivation.  Set a goal and make it come true.

~Dan Clark

Chicken Soup for the Soul

A selfish fox once invited a stork to dinner at his home in a hollow tree. That evening, the stork flew to the fox's home and knocked on the door with her long beak. The fox opened the door and said, "Please come in and share my food."

The stork was invited to sit down at the table. She was very hungry and the food smelled delicious! The fox served soup in shallow bowls and he licked up all his soup very quickly. However, the stork could not have any of it as the bowl was too shallow for her long beak. The poor stork just smiled politely and stayed hungry.

The selfish fox asked, "Stork, why haven't you taken your soup? Don't you like it?"

The stork replied, "It was very kind of you to invite me for dinner. Tomorrow evening, please join me for dinner at my home."

The next day, when the fox arrived at the stork's home, he saw that they were also having soup for dinner. This time the soup was served in tall jugs. The stork drank the soup easily but the fox could not reach inside the tall jug. This time it was his turn to go hungry.

~The Moral of the story is, Do not do unto others what you Don't want others do unto you.

~Taken from EzSoftTech stories

One New Year's Eve, out on the cold streets, the Little Match Girl  was selling matchsticks to people passing by. The little girl hadn't sold a single match all day. All the people were in a hurry and passed by without even looking at her. The little girl was afraid to go home without selling any matchsticks, because her father will surely get angry.

She began to light her matchsticks trying to keep herself warm. As she lighted each matchstick, a new fantastic image appeared in front of her, only to disappear as the matchstick lost its flame. The first image was that of a hot iron stove, something that she has been denied all evening. The next was a fully-decorated table, complete with a stuffed goose that jumped up from the table and ran toward her. The third, and final, image was a beautiful Christmas tree complete with candles and ornaments. The tree then vanished, leaving Christmas lights to rise higher and higher, till they became the stars in the sky.

Suddenly, a shooting star appeared across the sky, and the Little Match Girl remembered her grandmother, who once said that such an event meant that another soul was dying . Upon lighting another matchstick, she was faced with the image of her deceased grandmother, who had loved her in the past. Realizing that the grandmother would disappear when the matchstick burnt out, the Little Match Girl quickly lighted all of her matches in an attempt to prolong the event. Her grandmother appeared before her more radiant and beautiful than ever.

The grandmother lovingly embraced the Little Match Girl and together they ascended to heaven. Back on Earth, her lifeless body was found in the snow, smiling and holding a bunch of matchsticks in her hand.

Adapted from the experience festival site.