A teacher came to her student, Tom, who has been looking gloomy lately and asked, "Tom, Why do you look so sad? Isn't the world such a beautiful place? Where has your smile gone to?"
"Teacher, I have a lot of problems recently and it's very hard for me to keep smiling. It seems like the problem will never end." Tom answered.
The teacher smiled back and said, "Tom, bring me a cup of water and two handful of salt, and let me cheer you up."Tom went with low-spirit and brought back what his teacher asked him to do.
"Now, try to put a handful of salt into this cup of water," said the teacher."Then, try and taste the water." Tom did and he grinned because the water was very salty."How does it taste?" the teacher asked."It' salty and my stomach feels queasy" Tom answered with a grinned.
The teacher then brought Tom to a lake nearby."Take the remaining salt and pour it into this lake." the teacher commanded.Tom pour the remaining handful of salt into the lake, without a word.
"Now, try to drink the water from this lake," said the teacherTom slowly kneel down and using both hand forming a small cup, took the water from the lake and put it into his mouth.While he was drinking, the teacher asked "How does it taste now?""Fresh, it's very fresh" said Tom while wiping his mouth."Do you taste the salt that you poured in just now?" the teacher continued "Not at all" Tom answered.
The teacher then said, "Tom, every problem in our life is like a handful of salt. It's just as simple as that.Much or little pain that you experience in life has been determined for you. It is fix, it will not more or less pain. This applies to every human being born in this world. There's no one, even if he or she is a guru, can be free from pain and problems in life.
But, the 'saltiness' from the pain that you experience is very much depend on the size of the 'heart' that contain it. So, in order not to feel miserable, stop being a cup. Expand your heart to the size of the lake."
"A person's world is only as big as their heart"
-Tanya A. Moore-
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Priority in life
One day, an expert of time management was speaking to a group of business students and to drive home a point, he used an illustration I'm sure those students will never forget. As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered over achievers, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon jar and set it on a table in front of him. He produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is the jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he asked, "Really?"
He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.
Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time, the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied.
And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in, and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.
Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted.
Once again he said, "Good!"
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?
"One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"
"No!" the speaker replied. "That is not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
What are the 'Big Rocks' in your life? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others?
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all.
As we step into a new year of 2008, all of us want to start everything right, prioritize our schedules right. Take time to reflect on this short story. Ask yourself this question: What are the 'Big Rocks' in my life? Family or business? And remember to put those in your jar first.
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he asked, "Really?"
He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.
Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time, the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied.
And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in, and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.
Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted.
Once again he said, "Good!"
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?
"One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"
"No!" the speaker replied. "That is not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
What are the 'Big Rocks' in your life? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others?
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all.
As we step into a new year of 2008, all of us want to start everything right, prioritize our schedules right. Take time to reflect on this short story. Ask yourself this question: What are the 'Big Rocks' in my life? Family or business? And remember to put those in your jar first.
"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keepit, but you can spend it. Once you've lost ityou can never get it back."
-Harvey MacKay-
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Failure, a stepping stone to success
All of us want to have success and we will welcome success with open arms. On the other hand, many people are trying hard not to fail and they are afraid to be a failure.The truth is that success and failure come in as a "package" which can't be seperated.How can you experience success if you never experience how it is to be a failure, right?Only when you triumph over your failure, you can tell yourself that you've achieve success.
When we make a mistake or fail in something, we will feel disappointed,sad and confuse.Very often we are angry to ourselves.If we have those kind of feelings, it is alright for us to express our sadness through tears, sharing with family members or friends that we trust, may be shout aloud at an open field or any other expressions.All of that are normal because as a normal person, we all have feeling and emotion.
What's not right is when we put ourselves down into continual sadness and depression.And we can't bring ouselves up to move on, We become afraid of more failures to come if we move on.
We should not be afraid when failure come, because we know that failure is part of success and failure is the best teacher. More than that there are many positive things that we can learn from our failures.
We all heard of these sayings many many times, in fact so many times that we treat it as void. We didn't really value what is the real meaning behind it.
Of course it is always easier to say than to do it. But remember that We should not be afraid of failure. Instead, we need to know how we should react when failure come.Let's really take some time to ponder on few things that we can do:
Admit.
First of all we need to admit that we are failing.
Because if you don't, it's impossible to move on to the next step.You won't be willing to listen to any other advise because you think you are still going to success when you know exactly that you are failing.There are many signs when we are failing, for example: bad performance review, communication problem, relationship problem, temper problem, etc.
Evaluate.
After admitting that we are failing, next step is to evaluate ourselves, where we have done wrong.Evaluation can be done by looking back at things that we have done and then analyse where the problem lies.
Correction and Change.
We then study the result of our evaluation. Write down some corrections and necessary changes that we can do to help us get up from our failures.
Planning.
Then we can make a proper planning. Plan to anticipate possible problems that can occur, and if possible use them as a stepping stone to achieve our success.
Action.
A proper plan have to be executed. Planning without action have no value. So, having planning all, next step is to execute it, that is action.
Life goes on even if you fail, so Let's continue to move on after every failure.
Many famous people around the world, people who change the world's history are people who achieved their success after a few failures. They have proven that failure and success come as one package.They have learned something important from their failures. So, if failures come, don't lose heart, don't be discouraged, learn something out of it and use it as a stepping stone to achieve your next success.
Many wise people use failures as a motivation to reach their success.When failures come, they didn't sit down, look around, and regret their life. But they stand up and try to fix their mistakes until they achieve what they wanted.
How about you?
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall"
-Oliver Goldsmith-
When we make a mistake or fail in something, we will feel disappointed,sad and confuse.Very often we are angry to ourselves.If we have those kind of feelings, it is alright for us to express our sadness through tears, sharing with family members or friends that we trust, may be shout aloud at an open field or any other expressions.All of that are normal because as a normal person, we all have feeling and emotion.
What's not right is when we put ourselves down into continual sadness and depression.And we can't bring ouselves up to move on, We become afraid of more failures to come if we move on.
We should not be afraid when failure come, because we know that failure is part of success and failure is the best teacher. More than that there are many positive things that we can learn from our failures.
We all heard of these sayings many many times, in fact so many times that we treat it as void. We didn't really value what is the real meaning behind it.
Of course it is always easier to say than to do it. But remember that We should not be afraid of failure. Instead, we need to know how we should react when failure come.Let's really take some time to ponder on few things that we can do:
Admit.
First of all we need to admit that we are failing.
Because if you don't, it's impossible to move on to the next step.You won't be willing to listen to any other advise because you think you are still going to success when you know exactly that you are failing.There are many signs when we are failing, for example: bad performance review, communication problem, relationship problem, temper problem, etc.
Evaluate.
After admitting that we are failing, next step is to evaluate ourselves, where we have done wrong.Evaluation can be done by looking back at things that we have done and then analyse where the problem lies.
Correction and Change.
We then study the result of our evaluation. Write down some corrections and necessary changes that we can do to help us get up from our failures.
Planning.
Then we can make a proper planning. Plan to anticipate possible problems that can occur, and if possible use them as a stepping stone to achieve our success.
Action.
A proper plan have to be executed. Planning without action have no value. So, having planning all, next step is to execute it, that is action.
Life goes on even if you fail, so Let's continue to move on after every failure.
Many famous people around the world, people who change the world's history are people who achieved their success after a few failures. They have proven that failure and success come as one package.They have learned something important from their failures. So, if failures come, don't lose heart, don't be discouraged, learn something out of it and use it as a stepping stone to achieve your next success.
Many wise people use failures as a motivation to reach their success.When failures come, they didn't sit down, look around, and regret their life. But they stand up and try to fix their mistakes until they achieve what they wanted.
How about you?
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall"
-Oliver Goldsmith-
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Anxious for nothing
You can't change the past
But you can destroy your now by worrying your future
If you fill your heart with past regrets and future worries
You'll never be grateful for your now
If you think about yesterday without regrets and tomorrow without fear
You are on your way to success
Don't wait for the perfect timing to start doing something
You may never start doing something at all
Start today
Start from where you are and with what you already have
Never think why we choose someone to love
But know that it's love that choose us to love someone
Friendship one soul in two different body
True friendship is like health
We will only appreciate it the moment we lost it
A friend is one who can listen to a song in your heart
And sing it out when you forget the lyrics
Friends are God's hands protecting us
Respect must not always end up into friendship
But never regret to meet a stranger
Regret only if the person regret to meet you
Make friends with those who value justice
They are the light in your joy and your shield in your pain
But you'll never have a friend
If you are hoping for someone without mistake
Because everyone is a good person in nature if you can see their kindness
And everyone is interesting if you can see their uniqueness
But everyone will look boring and ugly if you can't see both
It is the same with wisdom
It is like a fluid
It will be useful if you use it properly
Smart people can fail because they think too much
But you'll be succesful if you do the right thing at the right time
And true wisdom does not only come from our mind
But from our heart
Nobody is perfect
Those who want to learn from mistake are wise
It is sad to see people who insist that they are right
When they know themselves that they are wrong
What has happened in the past and what is going to happen in the future
Is nothing compare to what we are going to do now
"Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere."
-Glenn Turner-
But you can destroy your now by worrying your future
If you fill your heart with past regrets and future worries
You'll never be grateful for your now
If you think about yesterday without regrets and tomorrow without fear
You are on your way to success
Don't wait for the perfect timing to start doing something
You may never start doing something at all
Start today
Start from where you are and with what you already have
Never think why we choose someone to love
But know that it's love that choose us to love someone
Friendship one soul in two different body
True friendship is like health
We will only appreciate it the moment we lost it
A friend is one who can listen to a song in your heart
And sing it out when you forget the lyrics
Friends are God's hands protecting us
Respect must not always end up into friendship
But never regret to meet a stranger
Regret only if the person regret to meet you
Make friends with those who value justice
They are the light in your joy and your shield in your pain
But you'll never have a friend
If you are hoping for someone without mistake
Because everyone is a good person in nature if you can see their kindness
And everyone is interesting if you can see their uniqueness
But everyone will look boring and ugly if you can't see both
It is the same with wisdom
It is like a fluid
It will be useful if you use it properly
Smart people can fail because they think too much
But you'll be succesful if you do the right thing at the right time
And true wisdom does not only come from our mind
But from our heart
Nobody is perfect
Those who want to learn from mistake are wise
It is sad to see people who insist that they are right
When they know themselves that they are wrong
What has happened in the past and what is going to happen in the future
Is nothing compare to what we are going to do now
"Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere."
-Glenn Turner-
Friday, January 11, 2008
Welcome to wherever you are
Maybe we're all different
But we're still the same
We all got the blood of Eden running through our veins
I know sometimes it's hard for you to see
You're caught between just who you are and who you want to be
If you feel alone and lost and need a friend
Remember every new beginning is some beginning's end
Welcome to wherever you are
This is your life; you made it this far
Welcome, you got to believe
That right here, right now you're exactly where you're supposed to be
Welcome to wherever you are
When everybody's in and you're left out
And you feel you're drowning in the shadow of a doubt
Everyone's a miracle in their own way
Just listen to yourself, not what other people say
When it seems you're lost, alone and feelin' down
Remember, everybody's different; just take a look around
Welcome to wherever you are
This is your life; you made it this far
Welcome, you got to believe
Right here, right now you're exactly where you're supposed to be
Be who you want to be, be who you are
Everyone's a hero, everyone's a star
When you want to give up and your heart's about to break
Remember that you're perfect; God makes no mistake
Welcome to wherever you are
This is your life, you made it this far
Welcome, you got to believe
Right here, right now you're exactly where you're supposed to be
Welcome to wherever you are
This is your life, you made it this far(I say welcome)
Welcome to wherever you are
This is your life, you made it this far(welcome) you gotta believe
Right here right now, Welcome
When I heard this, I can't believe that this is Bon Jovi's song. I must admit that I have to give credit to him for writing such song. Hmm...actually I'm not very sure if he wrote this song tough, anyway the lyrics are simply amazing and meaningful. You may not like the song but no matter who you are you will find hopes just by reading the lyrics alone.
For anyone who feels lost, down or feels like they don't fit in...just a reassurance that everyone has a purpose. Let' be a more positive person, have a positive attitude towards life. Someone once said "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going!". What truly helps us get through the tough part is our determination and everything we've gone through up until now has made us who we are, and we are welcome as we are.
"Life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it."
- John Maxwell -
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Blessed to be a Blessing
This has been my personal motto in life that to life a live as a blessing to others. I've seen especially in this modern era many people are living a life without considering others' feeling. Have you ever imagine what will happen to this world if everybody just care about their ownself? Everything that you do is for your own purpose and for your own good? In other word, living a selfish life.There are times we'll meet such people or may be we have such friend or worse without realizing it, we ourselves are a selfish person. You may said that you are not, you may said that you are providing for you family, your wife/husband, your kids, and your little dog. But, what about providing those orphans, elderly, disabled, etc?
To me a selfish life is when you feel it's convenient to help or provide to those that you've already known but it's inconvenient to help those that you do not know. I've always believe that God bless us for a purpose and that is to bless others. Yes, we might start from our own family and relatives but eventually we need to be able to bless those outside our circle of influence, and that to me is an even more blessed life. Our blessing might not always be in the form of money, we can bless others with our words of encouragement, our actions, our time, our skills and abilities, and so on as long as all that we do bring smiles on their face. And the moment you see the smile on their face, you can't help but to smile back and that will lift up your spirit and brighten up your life. So, if you think that life is boring, why not start by blessing other people today and you'll find that there are more to explore in life!
"We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count"
-Neil A. Maxwell-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)