Be positive

This is a story of two brothers. One was a drug addict and a drunker who frequently beat up his family. The other one was a very successful businessman who was respected in society and had a wonderful family. Some people wanted to find out why two brothers from the same parents, brought up in the same environment, could be so different.

The first one was asked, "How come you do what you do? You are a drug addict, a drunk, and you beat your family. What motivates you?" He said, "My father." They asked, "What about your father?" The reply was, "My father was a drug addict, a drunk and he beat his family. What do you expect me to be? That is what I am."

They went to the brother who was doing everything right and asked him the same question. "How come you are doing everything right? What is your source of motivation?" And guess what he said? "My father. When I was a little boy, I used to see my dad drunk and doing all the wrong things. I made up my mind that this is not what I wanted to be."

Both were deriving their strength and motivation from the same source, but one was using it positively and the other negatively. Negative motivation brings the desire to take the easier way which ends up being the tougher way.

Have a Positive Weekend!!

Copper Coin

Gandhi went from city to city, village to village collecting funds for the Charkha Sangh. During one of his tours he addressed a meeting in Orissa. After his speech a poor old woman got up. She was bent with age, her hair was grey and her clothes were in tatters. The volunteers tried to stop her, but she fought her way to the place where Gandhi was sitting. "I must see him," she insisted and going up to Gandhi touched his feet. Then from the folds of her sari she brought out a copper coin and placed it at his feet. Gandhi picked up the copper coin and put it away carefully.
The Charkha Sangh funds were under the charge of Jamnalal Bajaj. He asked Gandhi for the coin but Gandhi refused. "I keep cheque worth thousands of rupees for the Charkha Sangh," Jamnalal Bajaj said laughingly "yet you won't trust me with a copper coin." "This copper coin is worth much more than those thousands," Gandhi said.
"If a man has several lakhs and he gives away a thousand or two, it doesn't mean much. But this coin was perhaps all that the poor woman possessed. She gave me all she had. That was very generous of her. What a great sacrifice she made. That is why I value this copper coin more than a crore of rupees."

Just Go and Do It!

When we were young, we had dreams and expectations. We imagine things, we keep thinking about what we want to be, what we want to do, what makes us proud and happy and what will we become.

We grew up, and things seemed like having its own way. We accept our success or failures and we move on. The rapid change, the need to do the urgent things, the works, the pressures and the failures, all kill part of our visions.

Things have changed, but they cannot really take away the dreams. We still have to dream on, to visualize our desires, our wants, our vision of our future, even when we are considered too old for such things.

Cornel Sanders started his business when he was sixty, and started the whole successful KFC business. The main thing is not the age - whether being too old, or too young, but it is the desire to dream on, and the courage to realize it.

Vivid visualization, taking it to sleep, thinking constantly about it, talking about it, planning it, adding all the spices to our dreams will make us a bit closer to the realization of our dreams.

Entrepreneurship starts with a dream, a simple wish of tiny restaurant operation, or a huge business of real-estate development, or a modest training center for English education, or just any other self-employed money learning fun.

The ability to dream on is one of the fine quality of human race that other species do not possess. So dream on, and put a deadline: make it a giant dream, a tiny one, an old everlasting one, a newfound one, a hobby related one, a change of life one, a religious one, a stupid one, a stroke-of-genius one, or just whatever...... just continue to dream on........ Then, Just Go and Do It!

What needed to change

A few years ago, British Rail had a real fall-off in business. Looking for marketing answers, they went searching for a new ad agency - one that could deliver an ad campaign that would bring their customers back.

When the British Rail executives went to the offices of a prominent London ad agency to discuss their needs, they were met by a very rude receptionist, who insisted that they wait.
Finally, an unkempt person led them to a conference room - a dirty, scruffy room cluttered with plates of stale food. The executives were again, left to wait. A few agency people drifted in and out of the room, basically ignoring the executives who grew impatient by the minute. When the execs tried to ask what was going on, the agency people brushed them off and went about their work.

Eventually, the execs had enough. As they angrily started to get up, completely disgusted with the way they'd been treated, one of the agency people finally showed up.
"Gentlemen," he said, "your treatment here at our Agency is not typical of how we treat our clients - in fact, we've gone out of our way to stage this meeting for you. We've behaved this way to point out to you what it's like to be a customer of British Rail. Your real problem at British Rail isn't your advertising, it's your people. We suggest you let us address your employee attitude problem before we attempt to change your advertising."

The British Rail executives were shocked - but the agency got the account! The agency had the remarkable conviction to point out the problem because it knew exactly what needed to change.

As Yogi Berra once said."Before we build a better mousetrap, we need to find out if there are any mice out there."

(Source-Unknown)

Zen Master in Jail

A Zen master (Zen Master is a title given to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhism to others) had been put into jail several times. Now, it is one thing to forgive a thief, it is one thing not to think that he is bad, it is another thing to go to jail oneself. And not once, many times – for stealing small things from his neighbours. And the neighbours knew, and they were puzzled: Why does this man steal? and such small things. But the moment he would be out of prison he would steal again, and he would go back. Even the judges were worried. But they had to send him to jail, because he would confess.
He would never say, ’I have not stolen.’
Finally the neighbours gathered together, and they said, ’Sir, don’t steal any more. You are getting old, and we are ready to provide you with all that you need – all your necessities, whatsoever it is. You stop this! We are very much worried, and we are very sad. Why do you go on doing this?
And the old man laughed. And he said, ’I steal in order to get in with the prisoners, and bring them the inner message. Who will help them? Outside, for you prisoners, there are many masters. But inside the jail there is no master. Who will help them, you tell me? This is my way to get in and help those people. So when my punishment is over and I am thrown out, I have to steal something and go back again. I am going to continue this. And I have found there in jail such beautiful souls, such innocent souls – sometimes far MORE innocent....’
Once it happened, one of my friends became a governor of a state in India, and he allowed me to go into jails all over his state. And I went for years, and I was surprised. The people who are in jails are far more innocent than the politicians in New Delhi, than the rich people, than the so-called saints. I know almost all the saints of this country.

They are more cunning. I have found in the criminals such innocent souls.... I can understand this old Zen master’s idea – of stealing, of getting caught, and bringing the message to them. ’I steal in order to get in with the prisoners and bring them the inner message.’

Source: " Zen: The Path of Paradox, Vol 2 " - Osho

Determination

Once, a big fat Mouse and a lively little Mouse were hopping along together, when they had the misfortune of jumping into a pail of fresh milk. They swam for hours and hours hoping to get out somehow; but the sides of the pail were steep and slippery and death seemed to be certain.
When the big Mouse was exhausted he lost courage. There seemed no hope of rescue. 'Why keep struggling against the inevitable? I cannot swim any longer.' He moaned.
'Keep on! Keep on!' urged the little Mouse, who was still circling the pail. So they went on for a while. But the big Mouse decided it was no use.
'Little brother, We may as well give up' he gasped. 'I am going to quit struggling. ‘Now only the little Mouse was left. He thought to himself. 'Well, to give up is to be dead, so I will keep swimming.'
Two more hours passed and the tiny legs of the determined little Mouse were almost paralyzed with exhaustion. It seemed as if he could not keep moving for another minute. But he thought of his dead friend, and intoxicated with determination, the little Mouse kept on swimming around and around the pail, chopping the milk into white waves. After a while, just as he felt completely numb and thought he was about to drown, he suddenly felt something solid under him.
To his astonishment, he saw that he was resting on a lump of butter which he had churned by constant paddling! And so the successful little Mouse leaped out of the milk pail to freedom.

A Rat Story

For centuries rats have been one of the most hated species on the face of the planet. In fact most people are more concerned with the eradication of rat altogether than learning anything about them. I was one in the above list till recently.
I chose to use my bike instead of my car for sometime. I parked my car in front of my house. This time along, I hadn’t started my car even once in that month. After a month when I decided to use the car, I noticed that a rat had a cozy bed in the bonnet of my car. I ignored it and thought I will clean it up some other day. Finally that some other day came a bit too late; probably after a month more. That day, I cleaned up the whole mess.
One day after that as I drove to my office, my car broke down. I left the car in the service station. When I went back to take the car, I realized what the rat had done in anger. He had blown off the fuse by damaging few wires.
All those days, when I had allowed him to be in the car, I used to drive the car. It had not done any damage till then. Once I decided to clear his mess and make no room for his comfort, he had decided to take revenge.
I should have thought about the consequences before acting. If I had thought of the consequences, I would have got rid of the smell in the bonnet, before cleaning up the rat’s home. Rats identify their setup by smell.
Also, I underestimated my tiny enemy. Underestimating is like letting a wolf in your farm. Never underestimate and definitely don’t be too overconfident for you will be arrogant and ignorant. When we view ourselves too highly and others too lightly, destruction occurs. Many huge companies ignored many small companies and eventually the roles have switched.

The lesson from this small incident was; never underestimate and never act without thinking of the consequences.

(Thanks to Raffi for sharing this incident)