Trouble tree

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family.
As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands

After opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His face was wreathed in smiles, and he hugged his two small children and then gave his wife a kiss. Afterward, he walked me to my car. We passed the tree, and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier. “Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning, I pick them up again.” “Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

Moral: Work life balance is important. We should not carry office or work related stress to home and ensure that pressure is not affecting the family.

Crazy but not stupid

One truck driver was doing his usual load delivery at a mental hospital, by parking his vehicle beside an open drain. He discovered a flat Tyre when he was about to return from the mental hospital. He jacked up the truck and removed the flat Tyre to fix the spare one.
When he was about to fix the spare Tyre, he accidentally dropped all the four bolts in the open drain. As he cannot fish the bolts in the open drain, he started to panic as to what should be done? Just then, one patient happened to walk past him and asked the driver as to why he was looking troubled.

Live and Work

Father was a hardworking man who delivered bread as a living to support his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work attending classes, hoping to improve himself so that he could one day find a better paying job. Except for Sundays, Father hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted to provide his family with the best money could buy.

Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often desired to spend more time with his family.

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed, and with distinctions too! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor which paid handsomely.

Like a dream come true, Father could now afford to provide his family with life’s luxuries things like nice clothing, fine food and vacation abroad.

However, the family still did not get to see father for most of the week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to the position of manager. In fact, to make himself a worthily candidate for the promotion, he enrolled for another course in the Open University.

Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

Father’s hard work paid off and he was promoted. Jubilantly, he decided to hire a maid to relieve his wife from her domestic tasks. He also felt that their three-room flat was no longer big enough, it would be nice for his family to be able to enjoy the facilities and comfort of a condominium. Having experienced the rewards of his hard work many times before, Father resolved to further his studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see much of him. In fact, sometimes Father had to work on Sundays entertaining clients. Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

As expected, Father’s hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful condominium overlooking the coast of Singapore. On the first Sunday evening at their new home, Father declared to his family that he decided not to take anymore courses or pursue any more promotions. From then on he was going to devote more time to his family.
Father did not wake up the next day.

Moral: Live your life to the fullest, work life balance is important. Balance both work life and family life else you will lose either one of it.

13/6/2013- Blood Donation Camp (CTS)

Many a times I get messages, mails and on social networking sites about people needing blood, but I cant help them as the place might be far away or due to time, place constraints.

So I though donating blood on a regular basis would give me some satisfaction at least (almost every 3 months).

Most of the good organizations organize such events. This time it was Cognizant Technology Solutions (my employer).

It was a bright sunny day, and I was very enthusiastic from the morning itself to donate blood, as this is only my second time after being forced by my friend Aniket Patil to start donating blood. Now when I reached office I read my mails and checked the timing for the blood donation (was from 10:00 AM-5 PM). So this time I decided to encourage people to donate blood as Aniket did. I asked a lot of people, my friends, my colleagues around, but no one was interested, saying that I don't have enough blood or I have never given the blood before. But I decided if no one, I must go again and donate some blood so as to feel myself motivated/ responsible towards the people in the country.

The attitude of finding the common ground..!!

There was a father who left 17 camels as an asset for his three sons. When the father passed away, his sons opened up the Will.

The Will stated that the eldest son should get 1/2 (half) of total camels while the middle son should be given 1/3rd (one-third) and the youngest son should be given 1/9th (one-ninth) of the total camels. As it was not possible to divide 17 into half or 17 by 3 or 17 by 9, the three sons started to fight with each other. So, the three sons decided to go to a wise man.

The wise man read the Will patiently, after giving due thought, brought one camel of his own and added the same to 17. That increased the total to 18 camels. Now, he started reading the deceased father’s Will.

Half of 18 = 9. So he gave the eldest son 9 camels.

1/3rd of 18 = 6. So he gave the middle son 6 camels.

1/9th of 18 = 2. So he gave the youngest son 2 camels.

 Now add this up: 9 plus 6 plus 2 is 17 and this leaves one camel, which the wise man took away.

Moral: The attitude of negotiation and problem solving is to find the 18th camel i.e. the common ground. Once a person is able to find the 18th camel the issue is resolved. It is difficult at times. However, to reach a solution, the first step is to believe that there is a solution.

If we think that there is no solution, we won’t be able to reach any !!!

 

Presence of Mind

A businessman went to a shoe store to purchase a new pair of shoes. He was a prominent person in that town. After selecting a pair of shoes with size 8 he asked the salesperson to pack it.  The salesperson had just started his career and joined the shoe store a few days back.

The businessman soon discovered that he had left his wallet at home. He told the salesperson that he would take the shoes with him and make the payment the next day. The salesperson being new to business excused himself in order to discuss this matter with the store manager.  The manager knew that the customer is an eminent businessman; however, was reluctant to deliver the shoes without payment. At the same time, he was not ready to lose a sale too. He advised the salesperson to handle the situation in the best manner possible and left the place.

The salesperson stood there frozen for few minutes unable to decide. He then returned to the customer, started packing the shoes and handed the package to the customer.

 The next day the customer arrived at the store with the shoes he had purchased, made the payment for his purchase and told the salesperson that "After opening the package I found one shoe with size 8 and the other with size 7.  Maybe you packed them by mistake. Can I have the shoes with size 8 please?"  The salesperson apologized for the inconvenience caused and replaced the wrong size shoe with the correct one. The customer collected his shoes and left the store with satisfaction.  

The manager happened to overhear their conversation and realized that the salesperson had used his presence of mind and handled the situation very well. They didn't lose their business as well as the customer.

Moral:

It is by presence of mind in untried emergencies that the native metal of a man is tested. If an individual has a calm state of mind, his attitude and views will be calm and tranquil even in the presence of great agitation.