Last Updated on January 6, 2023

Sometimes in life, we come across challenges that will test our character. We’ll face problems that will shake us to the very core. A good story is one way to find the strength within us, the strength that we never knew we had! Motivate yourself; explore the limitless possibilities that lie ahead with these short stories with positive message explained:

10 Short Stories with Positive Message

It’s Little Things

There was a man taking a morning walk at or the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun rays, they would die. The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly.

Right behind him, there was another person who couldn’t understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, “What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?” This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, “It makes a difference to this one.”

What difference are we making? Big or small, it does not matter. If everyone made a small difference, we’d end up with a big difference, wouldn’t we?

Moral of the Story: It’s the little things that make a huge impact in our lives. Sometimes we ignore the small things that are already in front of us because we lose sight of what is important. A small act of kindness, actions that seem insignificant for most people could mean the world to another person!

Meaningless Goals

A farmer had a dog who used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it. One day a neighbor asked the farmer “Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?” The farmer replied, “That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one.”

Moral of the Story: Do you know anyone who, just like the dog in the story, is pursuing meaningless goals in life? Life is too short to chase after things that don’t make an impact on our lives. Live each day as if it’s your last, pursue your goals with passion!

How would You Like to be Remembered?

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About a hundred years ago, a man looked at the morning newspaper and to his surprise and horror, read his name in the obituary column. The newspapers had reported the death of the wrong person by mistake. His first response was shock. Am I here or there? When he regained his composure, his second thought was to find out what people had said about him.

The obituary read, “Dynamite King Dies.” And also “He was the merchant of death.” This man was the inventor of dynamite and when he read the words “merchant of death,” he asked himself a question, “Is this how I am going to be remembered?” He got in touch with his feelings and decided that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered. From that day on, he started working toward peace. His name was Alfred Nobel and he is remembered today by the great Nobel Prize.

Moral of the Story: Alfred Nobel redefined himself and changed for the better because he came face to face with the realization that what he did in life will stay in the minds of people around him forever. This goes long before he’s gone. That’s why he took a step back and reassessed his life. How many people do you know who would do the same? More importantly, ever wondered what your legacy will be? How would you like to be remembered?

The Obstacles in Our Path

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid 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. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one’s condition.

Moral of the Story: Most of us perceive roadblocks as problems that hinder us from achieving our goals in life but look at these challenges this way: they are there to help you become a better person. These challenges will lead you to success! Instead of avoiding the inevitable, face it head on. Who knows? You might find treasure underneath all your struggles the same way the peasant found a bag of gold coins underneath the rock he just pushed out of the way!

Everyone is Important

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During Mark’s first month of college, the professor gave his students a pop quiz. He was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until he read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely, this was some kind of joke. He had seen the housekeeper several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would he know her name? He handed in his paper, leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward the quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They each deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say ‘hello’”. Mark never forgot that lesson. He also learned her name was Dorothy. Everyone in your life is everyone just like the people you give importance to.

Moral of the Story: Everyday, we meet people that will, at some point or another, make an impact in our lives. Some of these people, we don’t think much about simply because they’re always in the background. They don’t put too much attention on themselves. But every person we meet is important because he or she will make a difference in our life. Treasure those who are around you.

Everyone has a Story in Life

A 24-year-old boy seeing out from the train’s window shouted, “Dad, look the trees are going behind!”

Dad smiled and a young couple sitting nearby, looked at the 24-year old’s childish behavior with pity, suddenly he again exclaimed, “Dad, look the clouds are running with us!”

The couple couldn’t resist and said to the old ma, “Why don’t you take your son to a good doctor?” The old man smiled and said, “I did and we are just coming from the hospital, my son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today.

Moral of the Story: Sometimes we make a judgment too quickly not realizing that people act in certain situations because they are going through something. Every single person in the world has his or her own battles to face. Don’t judge too harshly. Instead, be kind and try to understand where a person is coming from.

Unnecessary Doubts

A boy and a girl were playing together. The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl had some sweets with her. The boy told the girl that he would give her all his marbles in exchange for her sweets. The girl agreed. The boy kept the biggest and the most beautiful marble aside and gave the rest to the girl. The girl gave him all her sweets as she had promised. That night, the girl slept peacefully. But the boy couldn’t sleep as he kept wondering if the girl had hidden some sweets from him the way he had hidden his best marble.

If you don’t give your hundred percent in a relationship, you’ll always keep doubting if the other person has given his/her hundred percent. “I did and we are just coming from the hospital, my son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today.

Moral of the Story: Trust and sincerity are important in a relationship. If you keep doubting your partner then the growing sense of distrust will eventually cause discord in your relationship. Always do things with the best of intentions and you’ll be rewarded for it.

The Carpenter

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer/contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.”

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points, we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.”

Moral of the Story: The life you live right now is the result of all the attitudes and choices you made in the past. If you’d like to live the life you’ve always dreamed of, now’s the best time to start making positive changes in your life. Remember, your future will depend on the choices you make right now so tread carefully.

A New Ending

No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

There isn’t promise of days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but can promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

Disappointments are like road bumps, they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterward. Don’t stay on the bumps too long. Move on! When you feel down because you didn’t get what you want, just sit tight, and be happy.

There’s a purpose to life’s events, to teach you how to laugh more or not to cry too hard. You can’t make someone love you, all you can do is be someone who can be loved, and the rest is up to the person to realize your worth. It’s better to lose your pride to the one you love, than to lose the one you love because of pride. We spend too much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those we already love, when instead we should be perfecting the love we give.

Moral of the Story: A true friend will be with you through thick or thin so never abandon an old friend. Stay true to those who love you because friendship only gets better with time!

The Man Who Sold Good Hot Dogs

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There was once a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs.  He was hard of hearing so he had no radio – he had trouble with his eyes, so he read no newspapers and of course, he didn’t look at television.  But he sold very good hot dogs. He put up signs on the highway telling everyone how good they were, he stood on the side of the road and cried out to all that past ‘”buy a hot dog, they are the best in town.”

And people bought his hot dogs and he increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of all the extra business. He finally got his son to come and help him out with his business.

Then something happened, his son who had been well educated said, “Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio or reading the newspapers or watching television? There’s a big recession happening right now. The current business situation is terrible in this country – we have problems with unemployment, high living costs, strikes, pollution, the influence of minorities and majorities, the rich, the poor, drugs, alcohol, capitalism and communism.”

Whereupon his father thought, “well my son’s been well educated, he reads the papers, listens to the radio and watches television, so he ought to know.”

So his father cut down on his meat and bun orders, took down all his advertising signs and no longer bothered to stand by the side of the road to promote and sell his hot dogs and his hot dog sales fell almost overnight. “You’re right, son,” the father said. “We certainly are in the middle of a recession.”

Moral of the Story: What you say to others, no matter how insignificant it may seem, may have profound repercussions later on. In the story, the hotdog seller was selling his products so briskly his son came home to help his out. But when the vendor’s son commented on the economic crisis of the country, the hot dog sales dropped significantly.