Who is this person?

One day not too long ago the employees of a large company in St. Louis , Missouri returned from their lunch break and were greeted with a sign on the front door.

The sign said: "Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym." 

At first everyone was sad to hear that one of their colleagues had died, but after a while they started getting curious about who this person might be. The excitement grew as the employees arrived at the gym to pay their last respects. 
Everyone wondered: "Who is this person who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he’s no longer here!" 

One by one the employees got closer to the coffin and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood over the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. 
There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself. There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: 
"There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is  YOU ." 


YOU are the only person who can revolutionize your life. 
YOU are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success.
YOU are the only person who can help yourself. 


Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your company changes. 


Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that YOU ARE the only one responsible for your life.

I KNEW YOU WOULD COME

There were two childhood buddies who went through school and college and even joined the army together. War broke out and they were fighting in the same unit. One night they were ambushed. Bullets were flying all over and out of the darkness came a voice, "Harry, please come and help me." Harry immediately recognized the voice of his childhood buddy, Bill. He asked the captain if he could go. The captain said, "No, I can't let you go, I am already short-handed and I cannot afford to lose one more person. Besides, the way Bill sounds he is not going to make it." Harry kept quiet. Again the voice came, "Harry, please come and help me." Harry sat quietly because the captain had refused earlier. Again and again the voice came. Harry couldn't contain himself any longer and told the captain, "Captain, this is my childhood buddy. I have to go and help." The captain reluctantly let him go. Harry crawled through the darkness and dragged Bill back into the trench. They found that Bill was dead. Now the captain got angry and shouted at Harry, "Didn't I tell you he was not going to make it? He is dead, you could have been killed and I could have lost a hand. That was a mistake." Harry replied, "Captain, I did the right thing. When I reached Bill he was still alive and his last words were 'Harry, I knew you would come.

Good relationships are hard to find and once developed should be nurtured. We are often told: Live your dream. But you cannot live your dream at the expense of others. People who do so are unscrupulous. We need to make personal sacrifices for our family, friends, and those we care about and who depend on us

Success

A young man asked Socrates the secret to success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. They met. Socrates asked the young man to walk with him toward the river. When the water got up to their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and ducked him into the water. The boy struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until the boy started turning blue. Socrates pulled his head out of the water and the first thing the young man did was to gasp and take a deep breath of air. Socrates asked, 'What did you want the most when you were there?" The boy replied, "Air." Socrates said, "That is the secret to success. When you want success as badly as you wanted the air, then you will get it." There is no other secret.

A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishment.

Just like a small fire cannot give much heat, a weak desire cannot produce great results...

BEWARE OF HALF-TRUTHS OR MISREPRESENTATION OF TRUTHS

There was a sailor who worked on the same boat for three years. One night he got drunk. This was the first time it ever happened. The captain recorded it in the log, "The sailor was drunk tonight." The sailor read it, and he knew this comment would affect his career, so he went to the captain, apologized and asked the captain to add that it only happened once in three years which was the complete truth. The captain refused and said, "What I have written in the log is the truth." The next day it was the sailor's turn to fill in the log. He wrote, "The captain was sober tonight." The captain read the comment and asked the sailor to change or add to it explaining the complete truth because this implied that the captain was drunk every other night. The sailor told the captain that what he had written in the log was the truth.

Both statements were true but they conveyed misleading messages;

The Soap Box

One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the  case  of the  empty  soap  box,  which  happened  in  one  of  Japan's  biggest  cosmetics companies.  The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soap box that was empty.

Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which  transported all  the  packaged  boxes  of  soap  to  the  delivery department.  For  some  reason,  one soap  box  went  through  the assembly line empty. Management  asked  its  engineers  to  solve  the  problem.  Post-haste, the  engineers worked  hard  to  devise  an  X-ray  machine  with  high- resolution  monitors  manned  by two  people  to  watch  all  the  soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty.

   No  doubt,  they  worked  hard  and  they  worked  fast  but  they  spent whoopee amount to do so. But when a workman was posed with the same problem, did not get into complications  of  X-rays,  etc  but  instead came  out  with  another solution.

He  bought  a  strong  industrial  electric  fan  and  pointed  it  at  the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.

Moral of the story: Always look for simple solutions. Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problem. So, learn to focus on solutions not on problems. "If you look at what you do not have in life, you don't have anything; if you look at what you have in life, you have everything.

STRUGGLE

A biology teacher was teaching his students how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. He told the students that in the next couple of hours, the butterfly would struggle to come out of the cocoon. But no one should help the butterfly. Then he left.
The students were waiting and it happened. The butterfly struggled to get out of the cocoon, and one of the students took pity on it and decided to help the butterfly out of the cocoon against the advice of his teacher. He broke the cocoon to help the butterfly so it didn't have to struggle anymore. But shortly afterwards the butterfly died.
When the teacher returned, he was told what happened. He explained to this student that by helping the butterfly, he had actually killed it because it is a law of nature that the struggle to come out of the cocoon actually helps develop and strengthen its wings. The boy had deprived the butterfly of its struggle and the butterfly died.

Apply this same principle to our lives. Nothing worthwhile in life comes without a struggle. As parents we tend to hurt the ones we love most because we don't allow them to struggle to gain strength

A POUND OF BUTTER

                There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to the baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting a pound and he found that he was not. This angered him and he took the farmer to court. The judge asked the farmer if he was using any measure. The farmer replied, amour Honor, I am primitive. I don't have a proper measure, but I do have a scale." The judge asked, "Then how do you weigh the butter?" The farmer replied "Your Honor, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker."

What is the moral of the story? We get back in life what we give to others. Whenever you take an action, ask yourself this question: Am I giving fair value for the wages or money I hope to make? Honesty and dishonesty become a habit. Some people practice dishonesty and can lie with a straight face. Others lie so much that they don't even know what the truth is anymore. But who are they deceiving? Themselves

Why are Goals Important?

On the best sunny day, the most powerful magnifying glass will not light paper if you keep moving the glass. But if you focus and hold it, the paper will light up. That is the power of concentration.

A man was traveling and stopped at an intersection. He asked an elderly man, "Where does this road take me?" The elderly person asked, "Where do you want to go?" The man replied, "I don't know." The elderly person said, "Then take any road. What difference does it make?"

How true. When we don't know where we are going, any road will take us there.

Suppose you have all the football eleven players, enthusiastically ready to play the game, all charged up, and then someone took the goal post away. What would happen to the game? There is nothing left. How do you keep score? How do you know you have arrived?

Enthusiasm without direction is like wildfire and leads to frustration. Goals give a sense of direction. Would you sit in a train or a plane without knowing where it was going? The obvious answer is no. Then why do people go through life without having any goals?

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SMART Goals

If you ask most people what is their one major objective in life, they would probably give you a vague answer, such as, "I want to be successful, be happy, make a good living," and that is it. They are all wishes and none of them are clear goals.

Goals must be SMART

1. S--specific. For example, "I want to lose weight." This is wishful thinking. It becomes a goal when I pin myself down to "I will lose 10 pounds in 90 days."

2. M--must be measurable. If we cannot measure it, we cannot accomplish it. Measurement is a way of monitoring our progress.

3. A--must be achievable. Achievable means that it should be out of reach enough to be challenging but it should not be out of sight, otherwise it becomes disheartening.

4. R--realistic. A person who wants to lose 50 pounds in~30 days is being unrealistic.

5. T--time-bound. There should be a starting date and a finishing date.

Please comment your opinion on this and add something yours...

Change our vision

There was a millionaire who was bothered by severe eye pain. He consulted so many physicians and was getting his treatment done. He did not stop consulting galaxy of medical experts; he consumed heavy loads of drugs and underwent hundreds of injections.

But the ache persisted with great vigour than before. At last a monk who has supposed to be an expert in treating such patients was called for by the millionaire. The monk understood his problem and said that for some time he should concentrate only on green colours and not to fall his eyes on any other colours.

The millionaire got together a group of painters and purchased barrels of green color and directed that every object his eye was likely to fall to be painted in green colour just as the monk had directed.

When the monk came to visit him after few days, the millionaire's servants ran with buckets of green paints and poured on him since he was in red dress, lest their master not see any other colour and his eye ache would come back.

Hearing this monk laughed said "If only you had purchased a pair of green spectacles, worth just a few rupees, you could have saved these walls and trees and pots and all other articles and also could have saved a large share of his fortune.

You cannot paint the world green." Let us change our vision and the world will appear accordingly. It is foolish to shape the world, let us shape ourselves first. Let’s change our vision..!!

Where is the happiness?

One day, the young lion asked his mom:
"Mom, where is the happiness?" Mom replied:
"It's on your tail." So the young lion keeps on
chasing after his tail. But after a whole day of
trying, he failed to get the happiness that was
on his tail. Then he told his mom about this,
his mom smiled and said: "Son, you don't really
need to chase after your happiness, as long as
you keep going and moving forward, your
happiness will always be with you.."
Wish everyone of you find your happiness.

You can't decide the length of life, but you can
control how you want to live it.
You can't control the weather, but you can control your mood.
You can't change your look, but you can smile.
You can't control others, but you can control yourself.
You can't foresee tomorrow, but you can utilize today wisely.
You can't win everything, but you can try your very best to achieve that.

Hope everyone can face the daily life positively and always happy...

Growing Good Corn

There was a Nebraska farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade

the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.

So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to be at peace must help their neighbors to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured

by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

Moral : If we want to be happy, we should help us neighbor be happy.

The Garbage Truck

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded and missed the other car by just inches!

The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly.

So I asked, "Why did you just do that? That guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" That is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
So... "Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't."

Life is ten percent of what you make it and ninety percent of how you take it!

Three Bulls

A young man wished to marry the farmer's beautiful daughter. He went to the farmer to ask his permission. The farmer looked him over and said,

"Son, go stand out in that field. I'm going to release three bulls, one at a time. If you can catch the tail of any one of the three bulls, you can marry my daughter."

The young man stood in the pasture awaiting the first bull.

The barn door opened and out ran the biggest, meanest-looking bull he had ever seen. He decided that one of the next bulls had to be a better choice than this one, so he ran over to the side and let the bull pass through the pasture out the back gate.

The barn door opened again. Unbelievable. He had never seen anything so big and fierce in his life. It stood pawing the ground, grunting, slinging slobber as it eyed him. Whatever the next bull was like, it had to be a better choice than this one. He ran to the fence and let the bull pass through the pasture, out the back gate.

The door opened a third time. A smile came across his face. This was the weakest, scrawniest little bull he had ever seen. This one was his bull. As the bull came running by, he positioned himself just right and jumped at just the exact moment. He grabbed... but the bull had no tail!

Life is full of opportunities. Some will be easy to take advantage of, some will be difficult. But once we let them pass (often in hopes of something better), those opportunities may never again be available.

 

So always grab the first opportunity.

Financial Management (Humor)

Managing with less money

A beggar to another beggar: I had a grand dinner at Taj yesterday.
How? The other beggar asked.
First beggar: Some one gave me a Rs 100/- note yesterday.
I went to Taj and ordered dinner worth Rs 1,000/-, and enjoyed the dinner.
When the bill came, I said, I had no money.
The Taj manager called the policeman, and handed me over to him.
I gave the Rs 100/- note to the police fellow, and he set me free.
A wonderful example of financial management indeed

நீதிக் கதை!!!!

ஒரு சலவை தொழிலாளிகிட்ட ஒரு நாயும், கழுதையும் இருந்துச்சு. ஒரு நாள் அந்த சலவை தொழிலாளி ராத்திரி நல்லா தூங்கிட்டுருக்கும்போது வீட்டுக்குள்ள கதவை உடைச்சிட்டு ஒரு திருடன் வந்துட்டான். சலவை தொழிலாளி நடப்பது தெரியாமல் நல்ல உறக்கத்திலிருக்க, திருடனைப்பார்த்த நாய் குரைக்காமல் கம்முன்னு இருந்துச்சு.

சரியா சோறே போடறதில்லை, இவனுக்கு நாம ஏன் உதவி பண்ணனும்னு நாய் குரைக்கவில்லை.

 அதைப்பார்த்த கழுதை என்னடா இவன் கம்முன்னு இருக்கான், குரைச்சு முதலாளியை எழுப்புவான்னு பார்த்தா சும்மா இருக்கான், சரி நாமளாவது சத்தம் போட்டு முதலாளிக்கு திருடன் வந்ததை அலர்ட் பண்ணுவோம்னு கத்த ஆரம்பிச்சுது. சத்தம் கேட்டதும் கள்ளன் ஓடிவிட்டான். சத்தத்தில் தூக்கத்தில் இருந்து எந்திருச்ச சலவைதொழிலாளி ஒரு கட்டையை எடுத்து பளார்னு கழுதை தலைல ஒரே அடி. கூறுகெட்ட கழுதை நேரங்காலம் தெரியாம கத்திகிட்டு இருக்கேன்னு கழுதையை திட்டிவிட்டு திரும்பவும் படுத்துகிட்டான்.

நீதி : ஆபிஸ்ல என்னவேலை கொடுத்திருக்கோ அதைமட்டும்தான் செய்யனும் ஓவரா சீன் போட்டா இப்படித்தான்.
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இந்தக்கதை மற்றொரு கோணத்தில்...

கழுதை கத்தியதும் எழுந்த சலவைத்தொழிலாளி, கழுதை சும்மா கத்தியிருக்காது காரணாமாகத்தான் கத்தியிருக்கும் என்று எழுந்து பார்த்து திருடன் வீட்டுக்கு வந்ததால்தான் கழுதை கத்தியது எனப்புரிந்துக்கொண்டான். அடுத்த நாள் கழுதைக்கு வகைவகையான சாப்பாடு போட்டான். நாயைக்கண்டுகொள்ளவே இல்லை.

கழுதையோட ஆர்வக்கோளாறும், விசுவாசமும் முதலாளிக்கு பிடித்துவிட இவன் ரொம்ப நல்லவன்டா எவ்ளோ வேலை கொடுத்தாலும் செய்யிறான்னு முதலாளியின் எல்லா வேலைகளையும் கழுதையை செய்ய வைத்தான். நாய் செய்துக்கொண்டிருந்த வேலையும் கழுதையின் மேல் சுமத்தப்பட்டது. நாய் சுகமாக வேலையே செய்யாமல் கழுதையை பார்த்து சிரித்துக்கொண்டிருந்தது. வேலை செய்து அலுத்துப்போன கழுதை இப்போது வேறு வேலைக்கு சிவி அனுப்பிகிட்டிருக்கு...

நீதி: ஆபிஸ்ல ஓவரா சீன்போட்டா இப்படியும் நடக்கலாம்.

Do You Hate Someone?

A kindergarten teacher has decided to let her class play a game.

The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes.

Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates,

So the number of potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates.

So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go (even to the toilet) for 1 week.

Days after days passed by, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes. Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier bags. After 1 week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended....

The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for 1 week?". The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble that they had to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go.

Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said: "This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just 1 week, can you imagine what is it like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime???"

Moral of the story: Throw away any hatred for anyone from your heart so that you will not carry sins for a lifetime. Forgiving others is the best attitude to take!

True love is not loving a perfect person but loving an imperfect person perfectly!!

The Tailor's Needle (Story)

         A tailor was at work. He took a piece of cloth and with a pair of shining, costly, scissors, he cut the cloth into various bits.

Then he put the pair of scissors at his feet. Then he took a small needle and thread and started to sew the bits of cloth, into a fine shirt. When the spell of sewing was over, he stuck the needle on to his turban.

The tailor's son who was watching it asked him: "Father, the scissors are costly and look so beautiful. But you throw them down at your feet. This needle is worth almost nothing; you can get a dozen for an Anna. Yet, you place it carefully on your head itself. Is there any reason for this illogical behavior?"

"Yes, my son. The scissors have their function, no doubt; but they only cut the cloth into bits. The needle, on the contrary, unites the bits and enhances the value of the cloth. Therefore, the needle to me is more precious and valuable. The value of a thing depends on its utility, son, not on its cost-price or appearance."

Similarly, there are two classes of people in the world-those who create dissensions and disharmony, who separate man from man; and those who bring about peace and harmony, who unite people.

The former are generally the rich people, powerful politicians and kings; the latter are generally the poor devotees of God, the penniless wandering monks, and mendicants. The Lord makes use of both to carry on his function of providing the field for the evolution of individual souls. He throws down on the dust the mighty kings and millionaires who create wars and disharmony; and He keeps the poor, pious devotee over His own head. In His eyes the scale of values is entirely different!

Black White (Story)

      
        In life, a lesson learned in your past that you will never forget completely.When I was in elementary school, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class. I have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson learned that day.

I was convinced that "I" was right and "he" was wrong - and he was just as convinced that "I" was wrong and "he" was right.

The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson. She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. "White," he answered.


I couldn't believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the color of the object.


The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, "White." It was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side was it black.

My teacher taught me a very important lesson learned that day: You must stand in the other person's shoes and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their perspective .

The Excellence (Story)

A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?"

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked... The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. "Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside. Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and efficiency...

Philosophy of Life (Story)

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.
A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took them to catch it.

 "Not very long." they answered in unison.

"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"

 The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives.

In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.

 We have a full life."

The tourist interrupted,

 "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!

You should start by fishing longer every day.

You can then sell the extra fish you catch.

With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

 "And after that?"

 "With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.

 You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City!

 From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

 "How long would that take?" 

 "Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist. 

 "And after that?" 

 "Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting, " answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"   

 "Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.

 "After that you'll be able to retire,

live in a tiny village near the coast,

Sleep late, play with your children,

Catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife

And spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends." 

 "With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the Mexicans.

 And the moral of this story is:

Know where you're going in life....you may already be there!