Paradoxical Win-Lose
Few centuries ago, a Law teacher came across a student who was willing to learn but was unable to pay the fees.
The student struck a deal saying, "I will pay your fee the day I win my first case in the court."
Teacher agreed and proceeded with the law course. When the course was finished and teacher started pestering the student to pay up the fee, the student reminded him of the deal and pushed days.
Fed up with this, the teacher decided to sue the student in the court of law and both of them decided to argue for themselves.
The teacher put forward his argument saying, "If I win this case,as per the court of law, the student has to pay me as the case is about his non-payment of dues. And if I lose the case, student will still pay me because he would have won his first case. So either way I will have to get the money."
Equally brilliant student argued back saying, "If I win the case, as per the court of law, I don't have to pay anything to the teacher as the case is about my non-payment of dues. And if I lose the case, I don't have to pay him because I haven't won my first case yet, So either way, I am not going to pay the teacher anything."
This is one of the greatest paradoxes ever recorded in history.
JUDGE YOURSELF!
Once upon a time there was a painter who had just completed his course. He took 3 days and painted beautiful scenery. He wanted people's opinion about his caliber and painting skills.
He put his creation at a busy street-crossing. And just down below a board which read -"I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. Please put a cross wherever you see a mistake."
While he came back in the evening to collect his painting he was completely shattered to see that whole canvass was filled with Xs (crosses) and some people had even written their comments on the painting.
Disheartened and broken completely he ran to his master's place and burst into tears.
This young artist was breathing heavily and master heard him saying, “I’m useless and if this is what I have learnt to paint I'm not worth becoming a painter. People have rejected me completely. I feel like dying"
Master smiled and suggested "My Son, I will prove that you are a great artist and have learnt flawless painting. Do as I say without questioning it. It WILL work."
Young artist reluctantly agreed and two days later early morning he presented a replica of his earlier painting to his master. Master took that gracefully and smiled.
They reached the same street-square early morning and displayed the same painting exactly at the same place. Now master took out another board which read -"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. I have put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please do a favor. If you see a mistake, kindly pick up the brush and correct it."
Master and disciple walked back home.
They both visited the place same evening. Young painter was surprised to see that actually there was not a single correction done so far. Next day again they visited and found painting remained untouched. They say the painting was kept there for a month for no correction came in!
It is easier to criticize, but DIFFICULT TO IMPROVE!
So don't get carried away or judge yourself by someone else’s criticism and feel depressed...
JUDGE YOURSELF! YOU ARE YOUR BEST JUDGE!! YOU WILL BE TRULY HAPPY!
Niagara Syndrome
A man was traveling in a boat. Cool waters, dense trees swaying overhead along the banks of the river on either side, the twittering of the birds, gently wafting breeze, all this enchanted him and he was absorbed in the beauty of the place.
He allowed the boat to float of its own accord, along with the flow of the river. He never even glanced at the direction in which the boat was going. As the boat was floating effortlessly, he did not have to use the oars. It was very comfortable for him to travel in the boat without spending any energy and he was very happy.
After a while, the wind rose and boat began to move faster. The lazy fellow was now very happy.
`Oh, wow! My journey is very fast!’ he roared in pleasure. A little later, there was a distant roar, faintly audible. `Great, now nature is playing an orchestra for me!’
Suddenly the boat began to flounder and started to capsize towards a waterfall. Only when the boat slid down the roaring waterfall, did he realize what was happening. The river on which he was traveling was thundering downwards from a vast height in the form of Niagara waterfall!
Even as he tried in vein to control the boat with his oars, it was too late. There was no use for the oars. He could not prevent himself from falling down into the waterfall.
The lethargic mentality of this person is called `Niagara Syndrome.’
If you don’t plan, you will perish.
Change
Albert Einstein had just administered an
examination to an advanced class of
Physics students.
As he left the building, he was followed
out by one of his teaching assistants.
“Excuse me, sir,” said the shy assistant, not quite sure how
to tell the great man about his blunder.
“Yes?” said Einstein.
“Um, eh, it's about the test you just handed out.”
Einstein waited patiently.
“I'm not sure that you realize it, but this is the same test you
gave out last year. In fact, it's identical.”
Einstein paused to think for a moment, then said, “Hmm,
yes, it is the same test.”
The teaching assistant was now very agitated. “What should
we do, sir?”
A slow smile spread over Einstein's face. “I don't think we
need to do anything. The answers have changed.”
It’s not always the things we expect to change that
change.
Don’t focus on perfection
John C Maxwell, recently shared this story from the book, Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, written by David Bayles and Ted Orland:
A ceramics teacher announced on the first day of school that he was dividing his class into two groups.
All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.
His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an “A,” forty pounds a “B,” and so on.
Those being graded on “quality,” however, needed to produce only one pot – albeit a perfect one – to get an “A.”
Well, came grading time a curious fact emerged: the works of the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity.
It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.
The message here is a simple one.
To do better work, produce more work.
Don’t focus on perfection, but on continued development and in doing so, you will be able to improve your skills and stand out from the crowd.
What area of your life do you need to be making more mistakes in so that you can keep learning?
What am I going to do about it?
Many years ago, there were two neighbouring farmers, Fred and Luke, who lived on the edge of a beautiful old forest.
One morning they woke up to find that many of the trees in the forest had been chopped down.
Fred was outraged and immediately went to his neighbour to express his anger.
“Can you believe this has happened? he yelled, “Who could have done this?”
“I have no idea,” responded Luke calmly.
“Well, I’m going to let everyone know about this travesty, are you coming with me?” Fred asked.
“No thanks.” responded Luke.
“Aren’t you going to do something?” Fred asked.
“I will.” replied his neighbour.
Fred stormed off and went into the local village where he told everyone he met about what had happened.
“Can you believe it?” he asked bewildered townsfolk. “Dozens of trees, just cut down and taken away overnight. It’s outrageous!”
Of course the villagers nodded their heads and showed the appropriate amount of sympathy to the farmer.
“But do you know what the worst thing about this is?” Fred said, “Luke won’t do anything about it. If he was as angry as me, he would be here with me telling everyone as well.”
Fred got home and visited his neighbour again.
“Luke, I’m going to write a letter to the mayor to complain about the trees being chopped down. Are you going to help me?”
“No thanks.” Luke replied.
“Aren’t you going to do something?” Fred demanded.
“I will.”
Fred stormed off to write his letter to the mayor.
The next morning, Fred went back to his neighbour’s house, but there was no answer at the door. Fred looked around the property and eventually found Luke in the clearing where the trees had been felled.
“What are you doing? There are still people who haven’t heard about the trees being cut down.”
“I’m planting new trees,” replied Luke.
“Why?” asked a confused Fred.
“Because complaining won’t bring them back.”
Sometimes, life doesn’t always go to plan.
Bad things happen to everyone, sometimes even genuine tragedies.
We’ve become very good as a society at complaining about the injustices that we see. When our expectations aren’t met, we are quick to ring someone, update our Facebook status, write an email or perhaps even a blog.
But real change doesn’t happen via a complaints department, it happens through meaningful action.
It happens through Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus in the 1950’s.
It happens through Wangari Maathai planting millions of trees in Kenya.
It happens when we focus less on the problem and more on the solution.
It happens when we stop confusing habitual complaining with deeds.
It happens when we change the question we ask ourselves when things go wrong from, “Who can I tell?” to “What am I going to do about it?”
The Cry of the Desert
Paolo Coelho] recently shared this story on his blog .
As soon as he arrived in Marrakesh, Morocco, a missionary decided he would stroll through the desert at the city’s boundary every morning. On his first stroll he noticed a man lying on the sand, caressing the ground with his hands and leaning his ears towards the earth.
“He is mad,” the missionary said to himself. But he saw the man every morning during his walks and after a month, intrigued by that strange behaviour, he decided to approach the stranger.
He knelt beside him and asked, in broken Arabic, “What are you doing?”
“I keep the desert company and offer solace for its loneliness and its tears.”
“I didn’t know the desert was capable of crying.”
“It cries every day, because it dreams of being useful to mankind and turning into a huge garden where people could cultivate flowers and tend sheep.”
“Well then, tell the desert it accomplishes its mission very well,” said the missionary. “Every time I walk here, I am able to understand the true dimension of the human being, as its open space allows me to see how small we are before God. When I look at its sands, I imagine the millions of people in the world who were born equal and am reminded that life isn’t always fair towards everyone. Its mountains help me meditate and as I see the sun rising on the horizon, my soul fills with joy and I feel closer to God.”
The missionary left the man and went back to his daily chores. To his surprise, he found him the next morning at the same place, in the same position.
“Did you tell the desert everything I told you?” he asked.
The man nodded.
“And even so it keeps crying?”
“I can hear each of its sobs,” answered the man, his head tilted towards the ground. “Now it is crying because it spent thousands of years thinking it was completely useless and wasted all this time blaspheming God and its own destiny.”
“Well, then tell the desert that despite having a short lifespan, we human beings spend much of our days thinking we are useless. We rarely find the reason for our destiny and think God has been unfair to us. When a moment finally arrives in which we are shown the reason why we were born, we think it is too late to change and keep on suffering. And as the desert, we blame ourselves for the time we have wasted.”
“I am not sure the desert will bother to hear it,” said the man. “It is used to suffering and it can’t see things differently.”
“So then let us do what I always do when I feel people have lost faith. Let us pray.”
I have two prayers for you today.
The first is that you would find your purpose in life and live it with passion and excellence.
The second is that you don’t mourn that it took so long to find, regret your past and think that it’s too late, but that you are able to rejoice that you’ve found your purpose and do all that you can to live the meaningful life that God has planned for you.
Just Jump
There was a man who had always dreamed of sky-diving.
Since he was a young boy he had wanted to do it and eventually he booked himself in for the big event.
He completed the mandatory training on the day and was feeling nervous, but excited.
“This is it, this is it.” He repeated to himself over and over again as the plane took off.
As the plane rose higher in the air, he could feel more fear enter his body and he began to visibly shake.
Then the moment came when it was time for him to make the leap from the plane.
He got to the edge of the door and just as he was about to launch himself, he backed away.
The instructors had seen this all before, so they encouraged him back to the gaping door and started a countdown for him.
“5… 4… 3… 2… 1… now!”
But again he backed away from the edge.
“Just jump!” the instructors implored.
But the man just shook his head and sat down disconsolately.
The other skydivers jumped from the plane, leaving the man behind, with a lone instructor to keep him company.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to jump?” the instructor asked.
“I want to, but I just can’t.” the man said mournfully.
“Are you sure? Why not just give it one more try?”
“I want to, but I just can’t.”
“You told me that you’ve been looking forward to this moment for your entire life. You know that you’ll regret it until you do it.”
“I know.” replied the man, his eyes welling with tears.
He never got another chance.
And the instructor was right. He regretted it for the rest of his life.
I don’t know what your dreams are, but I want to encourage you today to jump when you get the chance to fulfill them.
If you’ve always dreamed of starting your own business doing what you love…
Just jump!
If you’ve had aspirations to return to college and get some extra qualifications…
Just jump!
If you’ve always wanted to write a book or start a blog…
Just jump!
Yes, you’ll be afraid.
Yes, the emotions may be almost overwhelming when you get to the edge of the door.
But if you don’t jump now, you may never get another chance and you risk living with regret for the rest of your life.
The Silver Smith
There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says: He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.
This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up.
He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.
She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined?
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."
Who is teaching Whom?
A letter arrived to the old professor’s home where he had retired after teaching and graduating many generations of scholars. The letter came from James, an average student who had struggled to pass the professor’s classes but had finally made it.
Many years after having graduated, James had assumed an important leadership role in his company but felt uneasy at times. James wrote a desperate short question to his professor, whom he consider the wisest person he had ever met, even though he knew he could have done a better job at taking advantage of his former teacher’s lessons.
“Master: I am not sure if you are still at my former Alma matter but I would like to ask you if I could please come back to try to relearn the things that I missed at school so that I can redeem your wise advice and teaching.”
The old professor’s wrinkled hands held the letter up in the air and took off his glasses to stare at the sky for a moment, sigh and grab the old red pen he had always used to mark James’s papers. The red pen was never used to mark James’s papers down, but to provide notes of comments and reflection questions on the pages margins.
The old professor’s note briefly stated:
Dear James,
It will be my pleasure to have you back so that I can continue learning from you.
From which prof u want to relearn?
Truth and Violence
A sage engrossed in his penance, was strictly adhering to two principles.
The first one was there is no religion other than Truth.
The second one was non-violence is the best religion.
One person who was envious of this sage was determined to somehow make this sage to tell an untruth and also to indulge in some
violence.
One day he came towards the hermitage of the sage in the guise of a hunter, chasing a deer. He saw the deer entering the hermitage.
Like an innocent man, he asked the sage whether he saw any deer coming that side.
The sage was in a dilemma. He did see the deer and therefore could not say “no”. But if he revealed the truth, the hunter would
kill the deer and thereby he would be committing a sin.
Sage thought for a second and said told the hunter, “Oh, man! That which saw cannot speak and that which can speak did not see”.
Unable to comprehend the inner meaning of this statement, the hunter left that place.
The inner and significant meaning of the statement was: “Eyes saw the deer but they cannot speak. The mouth which can speak did not
see the deer.”
The truth that one tells should not cause harm to anyone, especially the innocent one. To become nonviolent one need not speak the
untruth. Timely tactful action is good here.
Dont Underestimate
We sometimes underestimate our kids. My 9-year old son, Atharva came to me and asked for the tool kit. He has the habit to make experiment mechanics on his toy cars. He also makes something hybrid instruments, designs from existing toys and broken material. His room is full of material which I would have thrown.
“What will you do with this, another experiment?
"Ok. do whatsoever you want to do but don’t mess up ” His mom
“I want it for fixing the lock of balcony door. It got jammed.” He replied.
“How will you repair the lock?” I asked “Let me do that” He fully ignored me and grabbed the toolkit from me.
He took the toolkit, adjusted the screwdriver, and unscrewed the lock from the door. He got the spring which was malfunctioned. He observed the whole lock and tried to fix it.
“Give it to me. I will fix for you.” I just took it from him.
I tried it unsuccessfully. He was trying to guide me through the whole process. But I could not do it.
He grabbed the kit once again angrily and fixed the spring at appropriate place, fixed the lock on door successfully.
“See you were underrating the kid. He did that.” Mom
“I know. There is always logic in mechanics. You have to place appropriate component at appropriate place and try.” He replied.
“And second thing, you should not underestimate him anymore.” My wife
“I am sorry, I failed to understand you.” I raised my hands.
This is a typical example, how we deal with children at home and juniors/subordinates at office. Atharva has taken an initiative to fix the lock. Then he, himself fixed it. He was not expecting any help from me. He expected only the availability of tool. He knew that he would fix the problem. I would have just observed him and offer him support when he needed.
In corporate environment, typical managers ask the people to take initiative and then they have reservations on their capabilities.
Don’t undermine the capabilities of the people, neither of your kids nor of junior. Second if they come with some initiatives and solutions, trust on their capabilities and offer support only when they needed. Observe their performance what they are doing. I could not fix the problem. Imagine if you step in the job your junior doing and you end up by not resolving the issue.
Few centuries ago, a Law teacher came across a student who was willing to learn but was unable to pay the fees.
The student struck a deal saying, "I will pay your fee the day I win my first case in the court."
Teacher agreed and proceeded with the law course. When the course was finished and teacher started pestering the student to pay up the fee, the student reminded him of the deal and pushed days.
Fed up with this, the teacher decided to sue the student in the court of law and both of them decided to argue for themselves.
The teacher put forward his argument saying, "If I win this case,as per the court of law, the student has to pay me as the case is about his non-payment of dues. And if I lose the case, student will still pay me because he would have won his first case. So either way I will have to get the money."
Equally brilliant student argued back saying, "If I win the case, as per the court of law, I don't have to pay anything to the teacher as the case is about my non-payment of dues. And if I lose the case, I don't have to pay him because I haven't won my first case yet, So either way, I am not going to pay the teacher anything."
This is one of the greatest paradoxes ever recorded in history.
JUDGE YOURSELF!
Once upon a time there was a painter who had just completed his course. He took 3 days and painted beautiful scenery. He wanted people's opinion about his caliber and painting skills.
He put his creation at a busy street-crossing. And just down below a board which read -"I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. Please put a cross wherever you see a mistake."
While he came back in the evening to collect his painting he was completely shattered to see that whole canvass was filled with Xs (crosses) and some people had even written their comments on the painting.
Disheartened and broken completely he ran to his master's place and burst into tears.
This young artist was breathing heavily and master heard him saying, “I’m useless and if this is what I have learnt to paint I'm not worth becoming a painter. People have rejected me completely. I feel like dying"
Master smiled and suggested "My Son, I will prove that you are a great artist and have learnt flawless painting. Do as I say without questioning it. It WILL work."
Young artist reluctantly agreed and two days later early morning he presented a replica of his earlier painting to his master. Master took that gracefully and smiled.
They reached the same street-square early morning and displayed the same painting exactly at the same place. Now master took out another board which read -"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. I have put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please do a favor. If you see a mistake, kindly pick up the brush and correct it."
Master and disciple walked back home.
They both visited the place same evening. Young painter was surprised to see that actually there was not a single correction done so far. Next day again they visited and found painting remained untouched. They say the painting was kept there for a month for no correction came in!
It is easier to criticize, but DIFFICULT TO IMPROVE!
So don't get carried away or judge yourself by someone else’s criticism and feel depressed...
JUDGE YOURSELF! YOU ARE YOUR BEST JUDGE!! YOU WILL BE TRULY HAPPY!
Niagara Syndrome
A man was traveling in a boat. Cool waters, dense trees swaying overhead along the banks of the river on either side, the twittering of the birds, gently wafting breeze, all this enchanted him and he was absorbed in the beauty of the place.
He allowed the boat to float of its own accord, along with the flow of the river. He never even glanced at the direction in which the boat was going. As the boat was floating effortlessly, he did not have to use the oars. It was very comfortable for him to travel in the boat without spending any energy and he was very happy.
After a while, the wind rose and boat began to move faster. The lazy fellow was now very happy.
`Oh, wow! My journey is very fast!’ he roared in pleasure. A little later, there was a distant roar, faintly audible. `Great, now nature is playing an orchestra for me!’
Suddenly the boat began to flounder and started to capsize towards a waterfall. Only when the boat slid down the roaring waterfall, did he realize what was happening. The river on which he was traveling was thundering downwards from a vast height in the form of Niagara waterfall!
Even as he tried in vein to control the boat with his oars, it was too late. There was no use for the oars. He could not prevent himself from falling down into the waterfall.
The lethargic mentality of this person is called `Niagara Syndrome.’
If you don’t plan, you will perish.
Change
Albert Einstein had just administered an
examination to an advanced class of
Physics students.
As he left the building, he was followed
out by one of his teaching assistants.
“Excuse me, sir,” said the shy assistant, not quite sure how
to tell the great man about his blunder.
“Yes?” said Einstein.
“Um, eh, it's about the test you just handed out.”
Einstein waited patiently.
“I'm not sure that you realize it, but this is the same test you
gave out last year. In fact, it's identical.”
Einstein paused to think for a moment, then said, “Hmm,
yes, it is the same test.”
The teaching assistant was now very agitated. “What should
we do, sir?”
A slow smile spread over Einstein's face. “I don't think we
need to do anything. The answers have changed.”
It’s not always the things we expect to change that
change.
Don’t focus on perfection
John C Maxwell, recently shared this story from the book, Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, written by David Bayles and Ted Orland:
A ceramics teacher announced on the first day of school that he was dividing his class into two groups.
All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.
His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an “A,” forty pounds a “B,” and so on.
Those being graded on “quality,” however, needed to produce only one pot – albeit a perfect one – to get an “A.”
Well, came grading time a curious fact emerged: the works of the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity.
It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.
The message here is a simple one.
To do better work, produce more work.
Don’t focus on perfection, but on continued development and in doing so, you will be able to improve your skills and stand out from the crowd.
What area of your life do you need to be making more mistakes in so that you can keep learning?
What am I going to do about it?
Many years ago, there were two neighbouring farmers, Fred and Luke, who lived on the edge of a beautiful old forest.
One morning they woke up to find that many of the trees in the forest had been chopped down.
Fred was outraged and immediately went to his neighbour to express his anger.
“Can you believe this has happened? he yelled, “Who could have done this?”
“I have no idea,” responded Luke calmly.
“Well, I’m going to let everyone know about this travesty, are you coming with me?” Fred asked.
“No thanks.” responded Luke.
“Aren’t you going to do something?” Fred asked.
“I will.” replied his neighbour.
Fred stormed off and went into the local village where he told everyone he met about what had happened.
“Can you believe it?” he asked bewildered townsfolk. “Dozens of trees, just cut down and taken away overnight. It’s outrageous!”
Of course the villagers nodded their heads and showed the appropriate amount of sympathy to the farmer.
“But do you know what the worst thing about this is?” Fred said, “Luke won’t do anything about it. If he was as angry as me, he would be here with me telling everyone as well.”
Fred got home and visited his neighbour again.
“Luke, I’m going to write a letter to the mayor to complain about the trees being chopped down. Are you going to help me?”
“No thanks.” Luke replied.
“Aren’t you going to do something?” Fred demanded.
“I will.”
Fred stormed off to write his letter to the mayor.
The next morning, Fred went back to his neighbour’s house, but there was no answer at the door. Fred looked around the property and eventually found Luke in the clearing where the trees had been felled.
“What are you doing? There are still people who haven’t heard about the trees being cut down.”
“I’m planting new trees,” replied Luke.
“Why?” asked a confused Fred.
“Because complaining won’t bring them back.”
Sometimes, life doesn’t always go to plan.
Bad things happen to everyone, sometimes even genuine tragedies.
We’ve become very good as a society at complaining about the injustices that we see. When our expectations aren’t met, we are quick to ring someone, update our Facebook status, write an email or perhaps even a blog.
But real change doesn’t happen via a complaints department, it happens through meaningful action.
It happens through Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus in the 1950’s.
It happens through Wangari Maathai planting millions of trees in Kenya.
It happens when we focus less on the problem and more on the solution.
It happens when we stop confusing habitual complaining with deeds.
It happens when we change the question we ask ourselves when things go wrong from, “Who can I tell?” to “What am I going to do about it?”
The Cry of the Desert
Paolo Coelho] recently shared this story on his blog .
As soon as he arrived in Marrakesh, Morocco, a missionary decided he would stroll through the desert at the city’s boundary every morning. On his first stroll he noticed a man lying on the sand, caressing the ground with his hands and leaning his ears towards the earth.
“He is mad,” the missionary said to himself. But he saw the man every morning during his walks and after a month, intrigued by that strange behaviour, he decided to approach the stranger.
He knelt beside him and asked, in broken Arabic, “What are you doing?”
“I keep the desert company and offer solace for its loneliness and its tears.”
“I didn’t know the desert was capable of crying.”
“It cries every day, because it dreams of being useful to mankind and turning into a huge garden where people could cultivate flowers and tend sheep.”
“Well then, tell the desert it accomplishes its mission very well,” said the missionary. “Every time I walk here, I am able to understand the true dimension of the human being, as its open space allows me to see how small we are before God. When I look at its sands, I imagine the millions of people in the world who were born equal and am reminded that life isn’t always fair towards everyone. Its mountains help me meditate and as I see the sun rising on the horizon, my soul fills with joy and I feel closer to God.”
The missionary left the man and went back to his daily chores. To his surprise, he found him the next morning at the same place, in the same position.
“Did you tell the desert everything I told you?” he asked.
The man nodded.
“And even so it keeps crying?”
“I can hear each of its sobs,” answered the man, his head tilted towards the ground. “Now it is crying because it spent thousands of years thinking it was completely useless and wasted all this time blaspheming God and its own destiny.”
“Well, then tell the desert that despite having a short lifespan, we human beings spend much of our days thinking we are useless. We rarely find the reason for our destiny and think God has been unfair to us. When a moment finally arrives in which we are shown the reason why we were born, we think it is too late to change and keep on suffering. And as the desert, we blame ourselves for the time we have wasted.”
“I am not sure the desert will bother to hear it,” said the man. “It is used to suffering and it can’t see things differently.”
“So then let us do what I always do when I feel people have lost faith. Let us pray.”
I have two prayers for you today.
The first is that you would find your purpose in life and live it with passion and excellence.
The second is that you don’t mourn that it took so long to find, regret your past and think that it’s too late, but that you are able to rejoice that you’ve found your purpose and do all that you can to live the meaningful life that God has planned for you.
Just Jump
There was a man who had always dreamed of sky-diving.
Since he was a young boy he had wanted to do it and eventually he booked himself in for the big event.
He completed the mandatory training on the day and was feeling nervous, but excited.
“This is it, this is it.” He repeated to himself over and over again as the plane took off.
As the plane rose higher in the air, he could feel more fear enter his body and he began to visibly shake.
Then the moment came when it was time for him to make the leap from the plane.
He got to the edge of the door and just as he was about to launch himself, he backed away.
The instructors had seen this all before, so they encouraged him back to the gaping door and started a countdown for him.
“5… 4… 3… 2… 1… now!”
But again he backed away from the edge.
“Just jump!” the instructors implored.
But the man just shook his head and sat down disconsolately.
The other skydivers jumped from the plane, leaving the man behind, with a lone instructor to keep him company.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to jump?” the instructor asked.
“I want to, but I just can’t.” the man said mournfully.
“Are you sure? Why not just give it one more try?”
“I want to, but I just can’t.”
“You told me that you’ve been looking forward to this moment for your entire life. You know that you’ll regret it until you do it.”
“I know.” replied the man, his eyes welling with tears.
He never got another chance.
And the instructor was right. He regretted it for the rest of his life.
I don’t know what your dreams are, but I want to encourage you today to jump when you get the chance to fulfill them.
If you’ve always dreamed of starting your own business doing what you love…
Just jump!
If you’ve had aspirations to return to college and get some extra qualifications…
Just jump!
If you’ve always wanted to write a book or start a blog…
Just jump!
Yes, you’ll be afraid.
Yes, the emotions may be almost overwhelming when you get to the edge of the door.
But if you don’t jump now, you may never get another chance and you risk living with regret for the rest of your life.
The Silver Smith
There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says: He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.
This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up.
He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.
She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined?
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."
Who is teaching Whom?
A letter arrived to the old professor’s home where he had retired after teaching and graduating many generations of scholars. The letter came from James, an average student who had struggled to pass the professor’s classes but had finally made it.
Many years after having graduated, James had assumed an important leadership role in his company but felt uneasy at times. James wrote a desperate short question to his professor, whom he consider the wisest person he had ever met, even though he knew he could have done a better job at taking advantage of his former teacher’s lessons.
“Master: I am not sure if you are still at my former Alma matter but I would like to ask you if I could please come back to try to relearn the things that I missed at school so that I can redeem your wise advice and teaching.”
The old professor’s wrinkled hands held the letter up in the air and took off his glasses to stare at the sky for a moment, sigh and grab the old red pen he had always used to mark James’s papers. The red pen was never used to mark James’s papers down, but to provide notes of comments and reflection questions on the pages margins.
The old professor’s note briefly stated:
Dear James,
It will be my pleasure to have you back so that I can continue learning from you.
From which prof u want to relearn?
Truth and Violence
A sage engrossed in his penance, was strictly adhering to two principles.
The first one was there is no religion other than Truth.
The second one was non-violence is the best religion.
One person who was envious of this sage was determined to somehow make this sage to tell an untruth and also to indulge in some
violence.
One day he came towards the hermitage of the sage in the guise of a hunter, chasing a deer. He saw the deer entering the hermitage.
Like an innocent man, he asked the sage whether he saw any deer coming that side.
The sage was in a dilemma. He did see the deer and therefore could not say “no”. But if he revealed the truth, the hunter would
kill the deer and thereby he would be committing a sin.
Sage thought for a second and said told the hunter, “Oh, man! That which saw cannot speak and that which can speak did not see”.
Unable to comprehend the inner meaning of this statement, the hunter left that place.
The inner and significant meaning of the statement was: “Eyes saw the deer but they cannot speak. The mouth which can speak did not
see the deer.”
The truth that one tells should not cause harm to anyone, especially the innocent one. To become nonviolent one need not speak the
untruth. Timely tactful action is good here.
Dont Underestimate
We sometimes underestimate our kids. My 9-year old son, Atharva came to me and asked for the tool kit. He has the habit to make experiment mechanics on his toy cars. He also makes something hybrid instruments, designs from existing toys and broken material. His room is full of material which I would have thrown.
“What will you do with this, another experiment?
"Ok. do whatsoever you want to do but don’t mess up ” His mom
“I want it for fixing the lock of balcony door. It got jammed.” He replied.
“How will you repair the lock?” I asked “Let me do that” He fully ignored me and grabbed the toolkit from me.
He took the toolkit, adjusted the screwdriver, and unscrewed the lock from the door. He got the spring which was malfunctioned. He observed the whole lock and tried to fix it.
“Give it to me. I will fix for you.” I just took it from him.
I tried it unsuccessfully. He was trying to guide me through the whole process. But I could not do it.
He grabbed the kit once again angrily and fixed the spring at appropriate place, fixed the lock on door successfully.
“See you were underrating the kid. He did that.” Mom
“I know. There is always logic in mechanics. You have to place appropriate component at appropriate place and try.” He replied.
“And second thing, you should not underestimate him anymore.” My wife
“I am sorry, I failed to understand you.” I raised my hands.
This is a typical example, how we deal with children at home and juniors/subordinates at office. Atharva has taken an initiative to fix the lock. Then he, himself fixed it. He was not expecting any help from me. He expected only the availability of tool. He knew that he would fix the problem. I would have just observed him and offer him support when he needed.
In corporate environment, typical managers ask the people to take initiative and then they have reservations on their capabilities.
Don’t undermine the capabilities of the people, neither of your kids nor of junior. Second if they come with some initiatives and solutions, trust on their capabilities and offer support only when they needed. Observe their performance what they are doing. I could not fix the problem. Imagine if you step in the job your junior doing and you end up by not resolving the issue.