A second
bunch of ten motivational anecdotes to free up our thinking to make the most of
the pandemic or at the least survive it unscathed.
A good place to start is in our own thinking. How do we model
it for these times? Perhaps looking at mistakes we make based on Aesop Fables
kind of stories is perhaps one way. So here goes …
1. Are
we given to judging situations based on how we think it should be?
Ø A 24-year old traveling with his father
on the train exclaimed the passing sights aloud, “Papa, see how fast the trees
are going by”; “Papa, see we are racing with the clouds”. After a bit of this continued
excitement, one fellow passenger could not help be solicitous and asked the rather
adult boy’s father, why he does not show the boy to a neurologist. The boy’s
father said we are just returning from the hospital. The boy just got his sight
restored which he had lost in his childhood.
2.
Do we feel compelled to choose among the options given to us or do we challenge
ourselves to explore outside of the choices?
Ø With the death of the debtor, the loan
shark who wanted to marry the debtor’s daughter gave her two possible outcomes based
on the white or black pebble she picked from the bag in which he had cunningly
put two black pebbles picked from the ground of white and black pebbles which
was noticed by the girl but not the judges overseeing the loan shark’s offer to
the girl. The possible outcomes were: pick black and the debt would be waived
but she would have to marry the loan shark; pick white and the debt would be waived
and she would not have to marry the loan shark. Faced with the choices and what
had transpired the girl had three choices to make.
·
Refuse
to pick a pebble from the bag
·
Take both
pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan-shark for cheating
·
Pick a pebble
from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her
father’s freedom
The girl picked the pebble from the bag
and pretended that it had slipped from her hand. After profusely apologizing
she said asked the judges to pick the other pebble from the bag to decide her
fate. It was black so the one she dropped had to be white. Not loosing her wits
won her freedom
3.
How do we react when ‘mud’ is thrown on us especially if we have been very
successful or have crazy ideas?
Ø This is the story of the donkey who
fell into the pit. No matter what the owner of the donkey tried to do to pull
the donkey out of the pit, it was no avail. Not wanting the donkey to suffer he
attempted to bury the donkey. As he shoveled mud on the donkey, the donkey
shook it off and climbed over the growing mound of mud and was soon free and
grazing again
4.
“The measure with which we
give is the measure that will be poured out us”. Do we take this factor into
account in our thinking when we are being ‘charitable’ or ‘helpful’ in our
professional or personal life?
Ø
A farmer regularly
sold butter to a baker. One day, the baker decided to weigh the butter to see
if he was getting the exact amount that he asked for. He found out that he
wasn’t, so he took the farmer to court. The judge asked the farmer if he uses
any measure to weigh the butter. The farmer replied, “Yes, I do Your Honour. I have
a scale, but no proper measure. So, I use the pound of loaf of bread that I buy
from the baker as the measure and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone
is to be blamed, it’s the baker.”
5.
Do we allow ourselves to be weighed down by our circumstances because we
cannot stop thinking about it?
Ø Addressing her student in the science
lab where the class was being conducted, the professor showed the class a
half-full glass and asked them how much it weighed? She got number of answers. But
that was not the point she was making. She said right now the glass feels
light, if she were to hold it for perhaps 10 minutes, and then 30 minutes, then
for half-a-day, what was light and easy to hold would become so heavy at the
end of half-a-day that she would be willing to give up all her wealth to be
relieved of this burden. Spend time ‘thinking’ with productive outcomes; not
worrying which only leaves one depleted
6.
How often do we think of people in our life who have given us a ‘leg up’
when we needed it, to return the favor should their present circumstances
demand it?
Ø A blind girl had a boyfriend whom
she loved immensely and her only desire was to see him. One day someone donated
eyes to her and she was able to see. When she looked at her boyfriend, she
found that he was blind. She was disappointed and showed it quite explicitly.
The boy withdrew from her but left a note behind. “Please do take care of my
eyes”
7.
Have we developed an ‘entitlement’ mindset that we get upset that we are
not given what we have asked for or demanded?
Ø A
man walked to the top of a hill to talk to God. The man asked, ‘God, what’s a
million years to you?’ and God said, ‘A minute.’ Then the man asked, ‘Well,
what’s a million dollars to you?’ and God said, ‘A penny.’ Then the man asked,
‘God…can I have a penny?’ and God said, ‘Sure… in a minute
8.
‘We know what got us here is
not going to get us there’ succinctly stated by CEO coach Marshal Goldman. So,
what are we doing with our education and talent that are no more relevant to
the times?
Ø A mother and a baby camel were lying
around under a tree. Then the baby camel asked, ‘Why do camels have humps?’ The
mother camel considered this and said, ‘We are desert animals so we have the
humps to store water so we can survive with very little water. ‘The baby camel
thought for a moment then said, ‘Ok…why are our legs long and our feet rounded?
‘The mama replied, ‘They are meant for walking in the desert.’ The baby paused.
After a beat, the camel asked, ‘Why are our eyelashes long? Sometimes they get
in my way.’ The mama responded, ‘Those long thick eyelashes protect your eyes
from the desert sand when it blows in the wind.’ The baby thought and thought.
Then he said, ‘I see. So, the hump is to store water when we are in the desert,
the legs are for walking through the desert and these eye lashes protect my
eyes from the desert dust storms, then why do we need all these great assets in
the Zoo?
9.
Have we trained our mind to always tell the truth when telling a lie may
get us out of trouble but not out of a habit of transgression committed or from
lying?
Ø One night four college kids stayed out
late, partying and having a good time. They paid no mind to the test they had
scheduled for the next day and didn’t study. In the morning, they hatched a
plan to get out of taking their test. They covered themselves with grease and
dirt and went to the Dean’s office. Once there, they said they had been to a
wedding the previous night and on the way back they got a flat tire and had to
push the car back to campus. The Dean listened to their tale of woe and
thought. He offered them a retest three days later. They thanked him and
accepted his offer that time. When the test day arrived, they went to the Dean.
The Dean put them all in separate rooms for the test. They were fine with this
since they had all studied hard. Then they saw the test. It had 2 questions:
Your Name _______________(1 Points)
Which tire burst? __________ (99
Points).
10. One last one: even when the whole world
gives up can we train our mind to continue to believe in what we have to offer
and persist until we succeed?
Ø An elderly person was living off of $99
social security checks. At 65 years of age, he decided things had to change. So,
he thought about what he had to offer. His friends raved about his chicken
recipe. He decided that this was his best shot at making a change. He left
Kentucky and travelled to different states to try to sell his recipe. He told
restaurant owners that he had a mouth-watering chicken recipe. He offered the
recipe to them for free, just asking for a small percentage on the items sold. He
heard NO over 1000 times. Even after all of those rejections, he didn’t give
up. He believed his chicken recipe was something special. He got rejected 1009
times before he heard his first yes. With that one success Colonel Hartland
Sanders changed the way Americans eat chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken,
popularly known as KFC, was born.
No comments:
Post a Comment