Point of View

A teacher teaching Maths to seven-year-old Boy asked him, "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"

Within a few seconds, boy replied confidently, "Four!"

 The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three).

 She was disappointed. "Maybe the child did not listen properly," she

 thought. She repeated, "Boy, listen carefully.. If I give you one

 apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"

 Boy had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him, he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four."

 The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that Boy liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him lose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?"

 Seeing the teacher happy, young Boy calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young boy inquired, "Three?"

 The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?"

Boy Promptly answered, "Four!"

 The teacher was aghast. "How boy, how?" she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.

 In a voice that was low and hesitating young boy replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."

 Moral: "When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect, don't think they are wrong. There may be an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion. Most of the times, we do not try to understand the view of the other person and we find them wrong, but in reality it is just the matter of giving other person a chance to explain."

If ever get puzzled, give yourself a second chance by just changing your Point of View. Other side may not be that dull or bright.

What is Destiny?

It is often said that, "We people, are doing or achieving things as per our carved Fate or Destiny". But, now the big question is, who carves our destiny? Is it the Almighty or We, ourselves define what to do & what not to?

This has been an ongoing debate for almost like centuries & I’m no one to make a clear cut distinction between them. But I've been trying to convince people around me to believe in their KARMA instead of praying to someone who may or may not exist. There is short story which may pour some light on this topic.

Once, A great Japanese warrior named Nobunaga decided to attack the enemy. Although, he had only one-tenth the number of men the opposition commanded. He knew that he would win, but his soldiers were in doubt.

On the way he stopped at a Shinto shrine and told his men: “After I visit the shrine I will toss a coin. If heads comes, we will win; if tails, we will lose. Destiny holds us in her hand.”

Nobunaga entered the shrine and offered a silent prayer. He came forth and tossed a coin. Heads appeared. His soldiers were so eager to fight that they won their battle easily.

“No one can change the hand of destiny,” his attendant told him after the battle.

“Indeed not,” said Nobunaga, showing a coin which had been doubled, with heads facing either way.

Well, one can still say that, "it was his destiny to have a double-headed coin". But, it was the KARMA of Nobunaga & his soldiers that helped them win the battle.

Development

We often view development as something that happens to us, not something we have complete control over. The way I see it, my development resides 100% with me & it's up to me how much time I dedicate to it.

Our development is always important but it should never be urgent, there has to be a proactive approach towards it.

It all starts with taking Pride in yourself, in your role in the organisation, your team, your group wherever you are & having a passion for what you do every day. Find what motivates you & drives you. Once you do that, then you can inspire those around you - your friends, family, colleagues or even your bosses to drive them to do their best too. The combination of taking ownership & having a positive focus makes People grow & when that happens, it creates even more opportunities to learn & develop.

Development is our responsibility. It will not happen automatically, if we do not dedicate time to it. Exceeding expectations is a great first step toward your development. But the second step of keeping your own expectations low is equally important. It is also important to mention that doing the task in hand well is not always enough. You must be sure that others are aware of what you are doing & what are you up to. All of this requires one thing: Time.

Remember though, you are not alone. To have a structure, robust, challenging development plan we need someone with proper understanding of this philosophy. There are people, who'll talk to you about this stuff, will make you go forward. Take advantage of this social sponsors. Advises are on offer for free, but not the idea. Start connecting with people around who inspire you & whom you inspire. The world is flat & green, take advantage of this to support your development.