1. There was once a man and woman who had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. Two interesting stories Story-1 Shoe box

2. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

3. For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.

4. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box.

5. When he opened it, he found two crocheted doilies and a stack of money totaling $25,000. He asked her about the contents.

6. "When we were to be married," she said, "My grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doily."

7. The old man was so moved, he had to fight back tears. Only two precious doilies were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness. "Honey," he said, "that explains the doilies, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?"

8. Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling the doilies."

9. The gardener's badge story Story 2

10. A landscape gardener ran a business that had been in the family for two or three generations. The staff were happy, and customers loved to visit the store, or to have the staff work on their gardens or make deliveries – anything from bedding plants to ride-on mowers. For as long as anyone could remember, the current owner and previous generations of owners were extremely positive happy people.

11. Most folk assumed it was because they ran a successful business. In fact it was the other way around... A tradition in the business was that the owner always wore a big lapel badge, saying Business Is Great!

12. The business was indeed generally great, although it went through tough times like any other. What never changed however was the owner's attitude, and the badge saying Business Is Great! Everyone who saw the badge for the first time invariably asked, "What's so great about business?" Sometimes people would also comment that their own business was miserable, or even that they personally were miserable or stressed.

13. Anyhow, the Business Is Great! badge always tended to start a conversation, which typically involved the owner talking about lots of positive aspects of business and work, for example:

14. The pleasure of meeting and talking with different people every day The reward that comes from helping staff take on new challenges and experiences The fun and laughter in a relaxed and healthy work environment The fascination in the work itself, and in the other people's work and businesses

15. And so the list went on. And no matter how miserable a person was, they'd usually end up feeling a lot happier after just a couple of minutes listening to all this infectious enthusiasm and positivity. It is impossible to quantify or measure attitude like this, but to one extent or another it's probably a self-fulfilling prophecy, on which point, if asked about the badge in a quiet moment, the business owner would confide: " The badge came first. The great business followed."