Lesson in Life
1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.
During my second month of college, our professor
gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student
and had breezed through the questions until I read
the last one:
"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times. She was tall,
dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?
I handed in my paper, leaving the last question
blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if
the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers,
you will meet many people. All are significant. They
deserve your attention and care, even if all you do
is smile and say "hello."
I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her
name was Dorothy.
2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 P.M. , an older African American
woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had
broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and
put her into a taxicab.
She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his
address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a
giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached..
It read:
"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway
the other night. The rain drenched not only my
clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying
husband's bedside just before he passed away... God
bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving
others."
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole.
3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those
who serve.
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,
a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and
sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in
front of him.
"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and
studied the coins in it.
"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.
By now more people were waiting for a table and the
waitress was growing impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins.
"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.
The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on
the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice
cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress
came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the
ta! ble. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies..
You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had
to have enough left to leave her a tip.
4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting the stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peas! ant learned what many of us never understand!
Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve
our condition.
5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only
chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.
I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will
save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in
bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did,
seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his
face grew pale and his smile faded.
He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, "Will ! I start to die right away".
Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister all of his blood in order to save her.
It Couldn't Be Done by Edgar A. Guest
Somebody said that it couldn't be done,But with a chuckle repliedThat maybe it couldn't, but he would be oneWho wouldn't say so till he'd tried.So he buckled right in with the trace of a grinon his face. If he worried he hid it.He started to sing as he tackled the thingThat couldn't be done, and he did it.Somebody scoffed: Oh, you'll never do that;At least no one ever has done it;But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,Without any doubting or quiddit,He started to sing as he tackled the thingThat couldn't be done, and he did it.There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,The dangers that wait to assail you.But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,Just take off your coat and go to it;Just start to sing as you tackle the thingThat cannot be done, and you'll do it.
Attitude is Everything
One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son
how poor people live.They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh Yeah" said the son.
"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us -they have friends to protect them.
With this the boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, dad for showing me how poor we are."
Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't have.
It is all based on one's ATTITUDE.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, INDIA!
The meaning of freedom has changes over the years, and the providers of freedom too! Did we ever realize that the founders of Google - Page & Brin actually gave the freedom from ignorance by providing the sum of all global knowledge to us in just a click, the creator of the first hand-held mobile phone - Martin Cooper of Motorola who creation has evolved so much today and hence we have the freedom to talk to almost anywhere in the world from almost anywhere in the world, founder of Twitter - Jack Dorsey, his creation has given us the freedom to broadcast to the world, what we think within moments of we actually thinking. These are just a few names!
While we are duty bound to pay homage to the freedom fighters who liberated us from the oppressing Englishmen, we must also introspect how well we have managed the hard-won "freedom" in the last 65 years. Oh yeah! There is a flip-side to "Freedom" too. With Freedom come responsibility and with responsibility comes accountability. So 65 years down the lane we are responsible and accountable for what we are. Good or bad - our conscience would say it all. For those who's 'conscience' is not yielding - you could take clue from the humorous but enlightening skit by Sangeeth & Team at Circle Office yesterday.
While the debate continues on how well we have utilized or could have utilized the 'freedom' gotten due to those brave hearts like Bhagat Singh & SC Bose, let us make the best of the new found freedom by the geniuses like Page & Brian, Martin Cooper, Mark Zuckerberg for our personal benefit and the society at large!!!
May this Independence Day also serve as a reminder to ourselves on how progressive and competitive a world we are living in, and how much we have to keep fighting every day to preserve this freedom... Freedom is not the end of struggle, on the contrary it is just the beginning!
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