Never Give-up in Life

One day a young lady was driving along with her father. They came upon a storm, and the young lady asked her father, “What should I do?”

He said “keep driving”. Cars began to pull over to the side, the storm was getting worse.“What should I do.” The young lady asked?

“Keep driving,” her father replied. Few feet ahead, she noticed that eighteen wheelers were also pulling over.
She told her dad, “I must pull over, I can barely see ahead. It is Terrible, and everyone is pulling over!”
Her father told her, “Don’t give up, just keep driving!”. Now the storm was getting more dangerous and terrible, but she never stopped driving, and soon she could see a little more clearly.

After a couple of miles she was again on Dry land, and the sun came out. Her father said, “Now you can pull over and get out.”
She said “But why now?” He said “When you get out, look back at all the people that gave up and are still in the storm, because you never gave up, your storm is now over.”

Moral: This is a testimony for anyone who is going through “hard times”. Just because everyone else, even the strongest, gives up, You don’t have to. If you keep going, soon your storm will be over and the sun will shine upon your face again!

A Dumped Dog's Prayer

Don't close the door! Don't push me away.
Why are you lea...ving? Don't make me stay.
Slow down the car, I can't keep up. I am no longer young.
This pavement is hot and my pads are cut running after your car long after it has vanished.
I've got to quit running or my heart will pop.
Every muscle is aching. Why don't you stop?
I'm so hungry and thirsty. Darkness is near.
But I shouldn't leave, he will come for me here.

Several weeks have passed, I am dead on my feet.
They call me a nuisance because I eat off the streets.
Every car that passes, I chase it to see
If it's my master coming for me.
Though I approach those that come near
With trust in my eyes and no sign of fear.
With hate in their voices and a cold, heartless stare,
They threaten to kill me - they don't even care.
Batter my body with rocks that they throw,
I will not leave, he will come, don't you know?

Overtaken with weakness, my body is numb.
I'm sick and so lonely. Oh please, let him come!
I will go back where he first threw me out.
I'll wait for him there, he will come, no doubt.
My thoughts are fading. My chest feels like lead.

I'm sleepy, so sleepy - I can't lift my head.
It's so quiet, so peaceful -- all remains still.
There is my master at my home on the hill.
Yes, I can see him, he's calling my name.
His voice is so gentle, his hands are the same.
He decided he wants me. Things will be fine.
I really do love him, that master of mine.
My tail wags with pleasure. I can't catch my breath.
He came in my dreams, but so did my DEATH!!

~ Advocate for Saving Dogs

How leaders should manage failure? ... A true story

(Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum , Philadelphia , March 22, 2008)

Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Answer by Dr. Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India ‘s satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India ‘s ‘Rohini’ satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources — but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 — I think the month was August — we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to
the control center for launch. Four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist. One minute later, the program threw the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts — I had four or five of them with me — told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal . It was a big failure.

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am , and the press conference — where journalists from around the world were present — was at 7:45 am at ISRO’s satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India ]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure — he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite — and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, ‘You conduct the press conference today.’

I learnt a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from experience.

The Cracked Pot

Thought of putting this one in my blog. Its a beautiful story I read somewhere...probably in of those chain mail forwards. Nevertheless the story is a good one and here it goes.....

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water, at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts" the pot said.

The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?” “That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”

Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

Encouragement and Its Wonders

This is a story from the times of World War II.

Two men, both seriously wounded in the battle fields of Normandy, occupied the same hospital room. The first man had broken his spine while Para-dropping from a plane over the battle field that would paralyze him for the rest of his life, while the second man had many grievous wounds caused by shrapnel’s. The second man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the rooms only window claimed the man to his new room partner, the first man. The first man had to spend all his time flat on his back due to his spinal injury. The men struck a friendship and talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. This motivated him to concentrate on recovering and gaining control of his paralyzed body.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a military band parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved to the bed where his erstwhile friend slept. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Summoning all his willpower and strength he slowly, painfully, propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real beautiful world outside that his friend used to describe. To his utter amazement, he found that he faced a blank wall. When the doctors and the nurses saw him moving, they declared it a miracle of sorts. But the man appeared distraught and sad. The man finally asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate to lie and described such wonderful things outside this window

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Moral: A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success

Mistake Worth Doing!!!

There were two childhood buddies who went through school and college together 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. The voice came again, "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 him." The captain reluctantly let him go. Harry crawled through the darkness and dragged Bill back into the trench. They found that Bill was dead. 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."'

MORAL:

Good relationships are hard to find and once developed should be nurtured.

A Brilliant Conversation

Read this one from forwarded mails from a friend of mine, and wish to share with u all. maybe it will enlighten ur day :D

An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to his Class on the problem Science has with GOD, the ALMIGHTY. He asked one of his new Christian students to stand and...


Professor : You are a Christian, aren't you, son?
Student : Yes, sir..
Professor : So, you believe in GOD?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor : Is GOD good?
Student : Sure.
Professor : Is GOD ALL - POWERFUL?
Student : Yes.
Professor : My Brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn't. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?


(Student was silent)


Professor : You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is GOD Good?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Is Satan good?
Student : No.
Professor : Where does Satan come from?
Student : From...GOD.. .
Professor : That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this World?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And GOD did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Professor : So who created evil?


(Student did not answer)


Professor : Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the World, don't they?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor : So, who created them?


(Student had no answer)


Professor : Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe the World around you. Tell me, son...have you ever seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor : Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor : Have you ever Felt your GOD, Tasted your GOD, Smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Professor : Yet you still believe in HIM?
Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith.
Professor : Yes, Faith. And that is the problem Science has.


Student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?
Professor : Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as Cold?
Professor : Yes.
Student : No, sir. There isn't...


(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events)


Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat, a Little Heat or No Heat. But we don't have anything called Cold. We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as Cold.
Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat. We cannot Measure Cold. Heat is Energy. Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Absence of it.


(There was pin-drop dilence in the Lecture Theatre)


Student : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as Darkness?
Professor : Yes. What is Night if there isn't Darkness?


Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the Absence of Something. You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light... But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and its called Darkness, isn't it? In reality, Darkness isn't. If it is, you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn't you?


Professor : So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student : Sir, my point is, your Philosophical Premise is flawed.
Professor : Flawed? Can you explain how?


Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality. You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD. You are viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can't even explain a Thought. It uses Electricity and
Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that Death cannot exist as a Substantive Thing.
Death is Not the Opposite of Life: just the Absence of it Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your Students that they evolved from a Monkey?


Professor : If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?


(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the
argument was going)


Student : Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and Cannot even prove that this Process is an On-Going Endeavor, Are you not teaching your Opinion, sir? Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher?


(The Class was in uproar)


Student : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?


(The Class broke out into laughter)


Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?... No one appears to have done so. So, according to the Established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have No Brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?


(The Room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable)


Professor : I guess you'll have to take them on Faith, son.
Student : That is it sir...Exactly!

The Link between Man & GOD is FAITH.
That is all that Keeps Things Alive and Moving.

Just to let you know, I googled this story and found that the student was none other than greatest brain of 20 the Century...........ALBERT EINSTEIN.

Making a Difference

There was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his journal writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?"

The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"

"The sun is up, and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach, and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

Moral

: There is something very special in each and every one of us. We have all been gifted with the ability to make a difference. We must each find our starfish. And if we throw our starfishes wisely and well, the world will be blessed.

Boss and The Flat Tyre

I had become a Team Leader, but it was just a designation that allowed others to hold me responsible for all the evils plaguing the project. Nevertheless I was happy about it and called up my parents to tell them about it. My Dad, though happy for me said he wanted me to listen to a story before I hung up. This is a story my father had recounted to me when I had become a Team Lead for the first time. The story taught me a lot and I follow it in my everyday life. Its a true story of none other than Ratan Tata.

                                          *______________*

One of Mr. Ratan N Tata's first assignments was the stewardship of the ailing electronics company in the Tata portfolio - Nelco.

Story goes that a team of senior managers from Nelco was driving to Nasik along with RNT. Halfway into the journey, the car had a flat tyre, and as the driver pulled up, the occupants - including Mr. Tata - got off for a comfort break, leaving only the driver to replace the tyre.

Some of the managers welcomed the forced break, as it allowed them a much-needed chance to light up a smoke. Some used the opportunity to stretch, and smile, and share a joke. And then, one of them suddenly noticed that Mr. Tata was not to be seen, and wondered aloud where Ratan Tata might have vanished.

While his colleagues were taking a break, Ratan Tata was busy helping the driver change tyres. Sleeves rolled up, tie swatted away over the shoulder, the hands expertly working the jack and the spanner, bouncing the spare tyre to check if the tyre pressure was ok. Droplets of sweat on the brow, and a smile on the face.

In that moment, the managers accompanying Ratan Tata got a master class in leadership they haven't forgotten. And that's a moment that the driver of that car probably hasn't forgotten either.

Ideas for action:
Practise leadership in small things
Seek to find opportunities to lead in everyday moments.
Build your leadership skills, one baby step at a time.

THE COFFEE CUP

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old University Lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

The lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said:

"If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other’s cups."

"Now, if Life is the coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life itself doesn't change." "Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

Moral:  Don't let the cups drive you...enjoy the coffee instead!