Understanding Happiness
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Happiness Stories
Happiness Ideas
Happy Ways and Methods
Understanding Happiness
See Small Happiness
Prevent Unhappiness
Happy versus Sorrow
Searching for Happiness
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INTRODUCTION – SEE
SMALL PREVENT BIG
What can we learn from
failure?
Too often we look at
failure as the worst thing to happen in the world. But what we should do
is see the value.
During the experience of
failure we gain many new concepts, ideas, disciplines and techniques, yet
we know there was a weakness. Please don’t allow the evaluation of failure
to rid you of the new qualities.
Failure doesn’t mean
total loss but 80% of the way to success. Allow this short story to
illustrate how we can gain from failure.
FAILURE
There was this museum
laid with beautiful marble tiles, with a huge marble statue displayed in
the middle of the lobby. Many people came from all over the world just to
admire this beautiful marble statue.
One night, the marble
tiles started talking to the marble statue. Marble tile: "Marble statue,
it's just not fair, it's just not fair! Why does everybody from all over
the world come all the way here just to step on me while admiring you? Not
fair!"
Marble statue: "My dear
friend, marble tile. Do you still remember that we were actually from the
same cave?"
Marble tile: "Yeah!
That's why I feel it is even more unfair. We were born from the same cave
and yet we receive different treatment now. Not fair!" he cried again.
Marble statue: "Then, do
you still remember the day when the designer tried to work on you, but you
resisted the tools?"
Marble tile: "Yes, of
course I remember. I hate that guy! How could he use those tools on me, it
hurt so badly."
Marble statue: "That's
right! He couldn't work on you at all as you resisted being worked on."
Marble tile: "So???"
Marble statue: "When he
decided to give up on you and start working on me instead, I knew at once
that I would be something different after his efforts. I did not resist
his tools, instead I bore all the painful tools he used on me..."
Marble tile: "Mmm..."
Marble statue: "My
friend, there is a price to everything in life. Since you decided to give
up half way, you can't blame anybody who steps on you now."
(Unknown Author)
QUOTE: "Fall down seven
times, stand up eight.” (Confucius)
Why is today’s newsletter
called, “SEE SMALL PREVENT BIG?”
If you see the small
things that trouble you and know that eventually they are a contributory
factor to the big problems; why tackle the big scenario as everyone seems
to choose as their first step, when all you need to tackle are several
small problems?
Address the small and the
big may never happen!
If for example you are in
a frustrated mood and feel a little downtrodden, see this as a small
problem and address it, otherwise later in the day you’ll create a big
problem.
If you’ve encountered an
angry driver on the road; don’t take your own anger into the next hour.
Address it or your own anger may multiply.
See the small problems
and calm your mood down to being acceptable once more.
Consider this… When was
the last time a big problem arrived on your doorstep? Did you or did you
not have several opportunities to dissipate the swell?
Let’s assume you have an
angry neighbour. Eventually a full blown argument ensues. But why? You’ve
allowed all the ‘small’ occurrences to go unresolved or unchallenged. Deal
with the small and the big may never happen.
Many speak of little
opportunity in their life. Start to SEE the small and you’ll prevent the
big. Each day you have opportunities to stop a stampede of problems.
Wisdom considers ‘fate’
to be an opportunity. Fate seems to highlight an opportunity, you will
either move on from an experience of fate or you will take a backward
step. If you can identify the ‘small’; practice resolving these smaller
issues and you’ll always be moving forward.
Fate has an uncanny way
of helping to highlight small problems, you must allow every experience
whether fate or not to guide you. SEE SMALL PREVENT BIG
2. STORY 1
BROKEN EGGS AND SHATTERED
GLASS
. . . with my sincere
thanks to those late night pranksters!
On a recent Saturday
evening at around midnight, my wife and I were just about to turn out the
light and go to sleep when we heard the sounds of a group of people
talking in the street, outside our home. Then out of the blue came two
loud thuds above our bedroom window, followed by the noise of laughter and
people running away down our street.
We both jumped out of
bed, I turned on the external lights and rushed outside unsure of what had
caused the two thuds or what damage I could expect to see. The silence of
the night was broken by the distant sound of people laughing and at that
moment I was of a mind to chase after them, however, running bare-footed
on the road in the dark is not a very wise thing to do.
I could hear dripping
noises on the driveway and the flood light above our garage helped me to
identify just what had happened. Our home had been the victim of an egg
bombing!
Being faced with the
prospect of cleaning up this sticky mess in the early hours of the morning
was not a pleasing thought, on top of which I was less than impressed that
we had been singled out for this annoying prank. I decided that it was too
late to clean up the mess, as it would disturb our neighbours, so it could
wait to the morning.
Early next morning with a
bucket of warm water and scrubbing brush in hand, and with the extension
ladder placed on the front wall, I was now ready to wash off what was now
two dry yellowish, egg grit impregnated, 1 metre long patches above our
front bedroom windows.
My task was made even
more challenging by the two large canvas awnings which protect our bedroom
windows from the heat and glare of the afternoon sun. My annoyance with
the late night pranksters was again building to the level of the night
before.
After retracting each of
the awnings, something we rarely do except when there is are very high
winds, I then climbed the ladder to clean up the first patch of egg stain
and then move the ladder to clean the second patch.
As I climbed the ladder
for the second time, I noticed that the glass in a small window just under
the roof line was very badly cracked. On closer inspection the crack ran
around over half of the outer edge of the window pane. As the awning
protected the window, it was clear to me that the damage had not been
caused by the egg bombing. As I carefully placed my hand on the glass, I
discovered that the pane of glass was very loose and had the window been
closed with any force, it would have most likely shattered and the glass
dropped to the drive way, some seven metres below.
Just a few metres away,
we have a basketball ring and on most days of the week there are up to six
young people who play in the immediate area, including both my sons. My
thoughts immediately turned to what could have happened if the broken
glass in the window had gone undetected for much longer and then suddenly
shattered. The likelihood of my two sons and their friends being
seriously injured was extremely high.
After quickly washing the
remaining egg stain off the front wall and with the help of Tom, my
youngest son, I got to work with some heavy duty masking tape and secured
the cracked window as best I could. Within 24 hours the cracked window had
been replaced and all was back to normal, except for the small bits of egg
shell I kept finding on the front drive way and stuck to our garage doors.
Over the next few days, I
realised that had our home not been bombarded by those eggs late on that
Saturday night, I may not have discovered the broken window pane before it
shattered and came down all over our drive way.
Even though it had been
an annoyance at time, the broken eggs and the stains were cleaned up very
quickly, however, the pain that could have been caused by the shattering
of glass would never gone away and would have haunted my wife and myself,
forever and a day.
The cold shudder that ran
down my spine when I first discovered the cracked window and the thought
about the consequences of someone being seriously injured or even killed,
made me realise just how very lucky we had been.
Frequently in life, the
small things that happen to us may have a negative impact and cause some
form of pain, sadness, discomfort or personal aggravation. It is often
said that we should not 'sweat the small stuff' and always look for the
positive outcome or the silver lining in those dark clouds of the current
circumstance, even though at the time that is not always an easy thing to
do.
My personal experience
with the egg bombing on that Saturday evening reminded me that in most
cases there is always a flip side to everything that happens to us and
that often the flip side can provide a positive outcome or an even greater
benefit, if not now, then at some time in the future.
From now on whenever I
see or break an egg, I will think of the egg bombing incident and say a
thank you to those late night pranksters. Equally, I will always be
reminded of Jean-Paul Sartre's quote:
'What is important is not
what happens to us, but how we respond to what happens to us'
(Keith Ready - July 2005
)
***** o0o*****
Happiness Stories
Happiness Ideas
Happy Ways and Methods
Understanding Happiness
See Small Happiness
Prevent Unhappiness
Happy versus Sorrow
Searching for Happiness
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3. STORY 2
NOT EVERYTHING IS LOST
If you have ever been
discouraged because of failure, please read on.
Achieving what you set
out to do is not the important thing. Let me explain. Two young brothers
decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. As they were working, a
couple of older boys stopped by to watch. "What are you doing?" asked one
of the visitors. "We plan to dig a hole all the way through the earth!"
one of the brothers volunteered excitedly. The older boys began to laugh,
telling the younger ones that digging a hole all the way through the earth
was impossible.
After a long silence, one
of the diggers picked up a jar full of spiders, worms and a wide
assortment of insects. He removed the lid and showed the wonderful
contents to the scoffing visitors. Then he said quietly and confidently,
"Even if we don't dig all the way through the earth look what we found
along the way!"
Their goal was far too
ambitious, but it did cause them to dig. And that is what a goal is for -
to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen; in other words, to
set us to digging!
But not every goal will
be fully achieved. Not every job will end successfully. Not every
relationship will endure. Not every hope will come to pass. Not every love
will last. Not every endeavour will be completed. Not every dream will be
realized. But when you fall short of your aim, perhaps you can say, "Yes,
but look at what I found along the way! Look at the wonderful things which
have come into my life because I tried to do something!"
(Unknown Author)
4 RESPONDING TO YOUR
QUESTIONS
QUESTION: “I’m 42 years
old and consider my level of education as satisfactory, but my employers
don’t seem to offer me chances of advancement in my career. It is as if
they know I duly qualified, but it is the experience of life and ability
to lead that I don’t possess. Please advise?”
ANSWER: In wisdom you
improve through practicing what you learn.
Your employers may need
to see two qualities within your person. Firstly it would appear that you
need some sort of management course as a qualification, and secondly the
respect from your fellow workers.
Yet many may argue that
promotion doesn’t always need qualification.
Lead by example and gain
respect. You’ll need to tread onto new territory by going outside your
comfort zone. Wisdom alone will shine through as you will show a calmness
under pressure.
COMFORT ZONE
About 10 years ago, I
started a job as a trainer for a Telemarketing agency. In one of my first
classes the head trainer told a very motivating story that I would like to
share with you.
He began by drawing a
diagram of a stick man standing in the middle of a circle. To make it more
interesting, he drew things like a house, a car, and a few friends inside
the circle. He asked the question "Can anyone tell me what this is?"
In a long silence, one
guy decided to throw out "the world?"
The trainer said "That's
close this is your Comfort Zone. Inside your circle you have all the
things that are important to you, such as your home, your family, your
friends, and your job. People feel that inside this circle they are safe
from any danger or conflict. Can anyone tell me what happens when you step
out of this circle?"
A strong silence came
over the room. The same eager guy abruptly announced "You are afraid".
Another guy said "You make mistakes".
The silence continued and
the trainer smiled and said, "When you make mistakes what can the result
be?"
The first guy shouts "You
learn something."
"Exactly, you are
learning." The trainer turned to the board and drew an arrow pointing from
the stick man directly to the outside of the circle. He continued, "When
you leave your Comfort Zone you put yourself out there, in front of the
world to be in a situation that you are not comfortable with. The end
result is that you have learned something that you did not already know,
you expand your knowledge to become a better person." He turned again to
the board and drew a bigger circle around the original circle, and added a
few new things like more friends, a bigger house etc. "The moral of the
story is that if you stay inside your Comfort Zone you will never be able
to expand your horizons and learn. When you step out of your Comfort Zone
you will eventually make your circle bigger, to challenge your mind and
grow to be stronger, and all in all a better person."
(Megan Gebhardt)
5. PHILOSOPHICAL TIPS &
QUOTES
“Great spirits have
always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
(Albert Einstein)
“We are still masters of
our fate. We are still captains of out souls.” (Winston Churchill)
“Nothing great was ever
achieved without enthusiasm.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Bye for now.
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Courtesy:
www.wisdom-and-philosophy.com
***** o0o*****
Happiness Stories
Happiness Ideas
Happy Ways and Methods
Understanding Happiness
See Small Happiness
Prevent Unhappiness
Happy versus Sorrow
Searching for Happiness
***** o0o*****
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