God's Calculation

Once two persons were sitting near a temple and chit chatting. It was getting dark and cloudy. By then another person came there and asked if he can join them. They said 'oh with pleasure'.

They were talking as friends. Then it started to rain. They were stuck. The third guy felt hungry and told the other two. Oh, we too are hungry they said.

He has 3 rotis (Breads) and I have 5 rotis (Breads) - Let all of us share -  said the second guy. Then a question arose as to how to share 8 rotis among three of them.

The first person suggested that let's make three pieces out of each roti. Then 3x8 we will have 24 pieces. Then we three can have 8 pieces each.

Everyone liked the idea. They made 24 pieces and ate 8 pieces each and satisfied their hunger and all slept off.

In the morning the third person thanked the two persons for allowing him to spend time with them and felt grateful to them for sharing rotis and being helpful. Out of happiness he gave 8 gold coins to them and left his way.

After he left first person said ok, let's share 4 coins  each and let's go. The second person said since I shared 5 rotis I should get 5 gold coins and you gave 3 rotis you should get only  3 gold coins. Slowly the arguments grew and ended up in big fight. They went to the Village Head for justice. The Head said leave the coins with me and I will think over and give judgement next day.

In the night God appears in the dream of the Village head and asks him what justice he is going to deliver in the morning. Village head said the second person's stand of 5:3 appears logical to him. 

To that God laughed and said you did not carefully  analyse their narration. God said as per My justice first person must get one gold coin only  and second person must get 7 gold coins!!  Village head was surprised.

God explained first person no doubt made nine pieces out of his three rotis but  ate off 8 pieces himself and shared one piece only. Second person made 15 pieces and gave away 7 pieces for sharing. Hence 1:7 sharing is My calculation and My Justice. Next day Village Head accordingly delivered the Justice and explained the rationale.

From the above story we need to understand the way we look at things and God looks at things is totally different. From what we have and from out of it  how much we are willing to share with others is what God looks at.

Keep Your Dream

I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.

The last time I was there he introduced me by saying:

“I want to tell you why I let Jack use my horse. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.”

“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.”

“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after class.'”

“The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, `Why did I receive an F?'”

“The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.'”

“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’ Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all.

He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.'”

Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.”

He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week. When the teacher was leaving, the teacher said, ‘Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.'”

“Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.”

Attitude Towards Dream

At age 5 his Father died.
At age 16 he quit school.
At age 17 he had already lost four jobs.
At age 18 he got married.
Between ages 18 and 22, he was a railroad conductor and failed.
He joined the army and washed out there.
He applied for law school he was rejected.
He became an insurance sales man and failed again.
At age 19 he became a father.
At age 20 his wife left him and took their baby daughter.
He became a cook and dishwasher in a small cafe.
He failed in an attempt to kidnap his own daughter, and eventually he convinced his wife to return home.
At age 65 he retired.
On the 1st day of retirement he received a cheque from the Government for $105.
He felt that the Government was saying that he couldn’t provide for himself.
He decided to commit suicide, it wasn’t worth living anymore; he had failed so much.
He sat under a tree writing his will, but instead, he wrote what he would have accomplished with his life. He realized there was much more that he hadn’t done. There was one thing he could do better than anyone he knew. And that was how to cook.
So he borrowed $87 against his cheque and bought and fried up some chicken using his recipe, and went door to door to sell them to his neighbors in Kentucky.
Remember at age 65 he was ready to commit suicide.

But at age 88 Colonel Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Empire was a billionaire.
Moral of the story: Attitude. It's never too late to start all over.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT'S ALL ABOUT YOUR ATTITUDE. NEVER GIVE UP NO MATTER HOW HARD IT GETS.
You have what it takes to be successful. Go for it and make a difference. No guts no glory. It's never too old to dream.

Living of Life

The last words of Steve Jobs -
I have come to the pinnacle of success in business.
In the eyes of others, my life has been the symbol of success.
However, apart from work, I have little joy. Finally, my wealth is simply a fact to which I am accustomed.
At this time, lying on the hospital bed and remembering all my life, I realize that all the accolades and riches of which I was once so proud, have become insignificant with my imminent death.
In the dark, when I look at green lights, of the equipment for artificial respiration and feel the buzz of their mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of my approaching death looming over me.
Only now do I understand that once you accumulate enough money for the rest of your life, you have to pursue objectives that are not related to wealth.
It should be something more important:
For example, stories of love, art, dreams of my childhood.
No, stop pursuing wealth, it can only make a person into a twisted being, just like me.
God has made us one way, we can feel the love in the heart of each of us, and not illusions built by fame or money, like I made in my life, I cannot take them with me.
I can only take with me the memories that were strengthened by love.
This is the true wealth that will follow you; will accompany you, he will give strength and light to go ahead.
Love can travel thousands of miles and so life has no limits. Move to where you want to go. Strive to reach the goals you want to achieve. Everything is in your heart and in your hands.
What is the world's most expensive bed?  The hospital bed.
You, if you have money, you can hire someone to drive your car, but you cannot hire someone to take your illness that is killing you.
Material things lost can be found. But one thing you can never find when you lose: life.
Whatever stage of life where we are right now, at the end we will have to face the day when the curtain falls.

Please treasure your family love, love for your spouse, love for your friends...
Treat everyone well and stay friendly with your neighbors.

Live Life Young

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.

“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.
She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…”

“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk non-stop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium.
As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success.
You have to laugh and find humor every day.
You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.
We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!
There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.
If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old.
If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change.

Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”

She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.”
She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be .

When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it!

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS
OPTIONAL.

We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.
Have a great life!!!

Live young, live life everyday......

Passion For Dream

This was told by Dr. Rajdeep Manwani  who happened to be Dravid's classmate.

My Respect for RAHUL DRAVID HAS GONE UP BY SEVERAL NOTCHES...

"Rahul Dravid never attended classes regularly. He was always seen practising in the nets. One day he came to class and started writing notes with his  gloves on.We were feeling uncomfortable seeing him writing with the gloves. I don't know how he might have felt. Everyone was  laughing, talking, whispering, Rahul Dravid continued writing for that full hour.
After one hour was over, I and Rahul Dravid had a common friend ,Adarsh,
so he came up to Adarsh and said,
''Adarsh, Can I borrow your accounts notes because exams are  nearing and I haven't written many notes. So can I borrow it and xerox it and give it to you back''
Adarsh replied  ''Rahul ,I'll give you the notes but could you tell me why were you wearing gloves on? You came to class wearing gloves and you continued wearing it, you were wearing the gloves even when the teacher was  dictating notes, Is it to impress Anupama?(Anupama was the most beautiful girl in their class!).
Rahul Dravid said ''No...no ,she is already impressed, I don't have to impress her.''

''Then why did you wear the  gloves through all this time?''I asked

Rahul Dravid said to  me something that day which is very interesting.

He replied ''You know something Adarsh ,the last two Ranji matches which I played, I had the old gloves and the old gloves were very loose. So because the gloves were loose, when the bowler bowled , the ball just went past my gloves and it created the snick sound. The wicket keeper caught it, he appealed and both the times even though I didn't touch the ball, I was given caught behind. I thought to myself ' no this can't continue' and  so ,I bought  these  gloves and I want to get accustomed to wearing these new gloves. I want my hands to sweat into these new gloves .  So for the next 48 hours, I  will wear  these gloves continuously because the next Ranji match which is a semifinal, is in two days. I want my hands to sweat in and get adjusted to the gloves. I am not going to remove the gloves even when I am sleeping,even when I am eating,even when I am coming to class because I want to do well in the next match and I want my hands to be comfortable in those gloves".

The very next match, that was their semifinals against Saurashtra  and he scored a century. In the finals,Karnataka played against Delhi that year, he scored another century and based on those two performances he got selected for the Indian cricket team which went to England, and surprisingly in the first test match in England, he scored 90 odd runs(England vs India, 2nd Test ) when Sourav Ganguly scored century and the rest as they say is history.

There are two important lessons I learnt from that incident.

One,  passion , if you want to excel in anything  in life ,there has to be  a passion, Rahul was willing to wear those gloves for 48 hours whether it was uncomfortable or it was hot. He was sweating in those gloves but he was willing to wear those gloves for 48 hours continuously because he wanted to excel in what he wanted to do and the second important thing was responsibility.
He took responsibility on himself for his own performance, I have never seen Rahul complain a single  time neither did  he argue against any Umpire decision. He never said  for one once  that the wicket keeper is so unethical. He knew that he didn't touch the ball,  even then they  appealed and he got out. He took responsibility for his own life. He had a very strong internal locus of control. Internal locus of control simply means that I will not blame the external circumstances for what is there in my life, I will take responsibility for what is happening in my life. He took responsibility, what can I do to change the situation. Forget the  Umpiring decisions that has gone wrong, forget what wicket keeper has done but what can I do to make the situation better and the only thing I can do is to change my gloves and perform to the best of my ability.