Open Your Mind to Prosperity

In a 15th century religious reformist’s book, there is this little story that happened when he was young. This story changed his entire life.

One day, under a scorching sun, he passed by a huge worksite. The workers were moving bricks with sweat streaming down their backs. He did not know why they were doing it. He asked the first worker: “What are you doing?” The worker said gruffly: “Can’t you see? I am doing hard labour moving bricks.”

The young man still could not understand, so he asked the second worker: What are you doing?” This worker was milder and friendlier than the first one. He arranged the bricks in his hands and took a look and said: “I am putting up a wall.”

The young man went to ask the third worker: “What are you doing?” This worker’s face radiating with gentleness looked up, wiped away his sweat and told him proudly: “You are asking me? I am building a church!” We can see that the three workers were doing exactly the same job. But they had three levels of interpretation of their job.

The first level, he is a pessimist. In everything he does, he finds a reason to say this is hard labour that life gives me. He is right in a way. We need to work. We can see that work is tough. This is a reality.

The attitude of the second worker is a “professionalism” attitude. You know you are putting up a wall which is part of a product. This is your salary, your job function, your job title. You know that you have a duty to fulfill in your job. So you won’t perform below the baseline of your professionalism. But you don’t aspire to things at a higher level of attainment. What is this level? This is the level that Confucius describes as ‘qi” (implement). If you exist as an implement, you are qualified.

The third level is the level of idealist. You know that every brick, every drop of sweat now will eventually lead to a church. You know you have a final dream. You are embarking on this journey to realize this dream. Every step you take has a value. What you give will eventually be rewarded. When you are on such journey, whatever you do will never make you a mere implement. It is a simple principle. But it has a deeper meaning. After satisfying the requirements of a superior man at the various levels mentioned before, when you come to the stage of actual applications, do not be content with what you are doing, delve into the interpretation of the job at hand. See how it relates to your life, to your dream. See whether you, at your present position in society, will be able to build up a church. Perhaps your personal effort helps in building a church or perhaps having the dream of building a church helps you succeed as an individual.

The superior man is Confucius idea of what a man of good moral character should be. In Lun Yu, which contains only 20,000 words, the term jun zi (superior man) appears more than 100 times. Even today, people still aspire to the standard of the superior man.

How can we become a superior man?

In Bible, there are three things that are irretrievable. They are: an arrow that has been shot out, words that have been uttered and opportunities that have been missed.

Like water splashed, words uttered are difficult to recover. You can’t take them back. So a truly superior man would rather get something done first. This is the standard set by Confucius. “A superior man is ashamed of talking more than doing.” This has since become the Chinese idiom yan guo qi xing (more talk than action). If a man talks more than he does, a superior man would regard it as a shame.

So a superior man is always harmonious easy to get along with and respectful. Under this premise, he finishes calmly what he intends to do. The strength of a superior man is always the strength of his action and not the strength of his words. A truly superior man after understanding something thoroughly aspires to achieve on even higher standard. He does not tie himself down to a fixed job or a minor role. He is flexible. He progresses with times. He constantly adjusts himself according to major changes in society. Because he improves constantly, he enjoys a good position. This is what Confucius says: “A superior man is unlike an implement.” A superior man does not exist in this world merely as an implement. What is meant by being an implement? This means, as a qualified man, you just follow the rules and do a good job in your given position. In other words, idealism is a higher level of attainment than professionalism. For a superior man, what he does is not as important as the motive behind what he does. Man is a strange animal. We let thinking decide our action. In other words, attitude decides everything. Day in day out, we do more or less the same things. But reasons differ as to why we do certain things.

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Two woodcutters went to the same mountain daily to chop woods. The first one set off very early in morning and came back in the night time. The second woodcutter set off in the afternoon after he finished his lunch and came back before night time.

The first woodcutter managed to chop less than a basket of wood. The second woodcutter managed to chop baskets of wood.

One of their fellow villagers was very puzzled, he followed the first woodcutter and found that he was working very hard in chopping the tree and did not idle around. The next day this fellow villager went to see the second woodcutter and found that he was working very hard in sharpening his axe. On the third day afternoon, the fellow villagers went to see them chop the trees. He saw the first woodcutter chopped the tree four times but the tree did not fell down whereas the second woodcutter chops the tree once and the tree fell down immediately.

When we are working, are we using the correct method to do our work or are we like the first woodcutter; working very hard but less result? It is important to review our work flow and remember to sharpen our tools.

Yes, animals are more deluded because of their capacity of their physical body, but occasionally some of them might be able show us the love that we have forgotten on our ‘busy road’. Just like this story.

this is real touching…

Hey, wake up! wake up!

A dog was knocked down by a car and died on the middle of the road. Later, another dog is seen beside the corpse of the dog, he tried to wake his friend up using his leg.

Let’s move to the safer side of the road…i will move you to the safer side!

When his attempts to wake his friend failed, he tried to push his friend to the side of the road. But the weight of his friend was proven too heavy for him.

Anyone help, tell me what to do.

Though the traffic is busy and dangerous, he just will not go away from his friend. Just stand beside his friend howling and crying.

A lot of people saw this incident and feel very touched. Even a dog can show his loyalty and love to his friend. How about us, do we show loyalty to our firends?

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn’t fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn’t dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can’t do this. It’s too hard. It’s too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumble, bee no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result is Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’

As you iterate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic.

Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, No gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

A well-known poet Sadi once gave an account of this incident: Once, Sadi was too poor to buy a pair of shoes for himself. He could only walk bare-footed to the church. Before he stepped into the church building, he felt utterly sad and unfortunate. However, he happened to see in church a person who had no legs at all. Immediately, he realized that he wasn’t the most unfortunate person in this world. He stopped feeling distressed about being so poor to even afford a pair of shoes. He then wrote this, ‘in the eyes of the well-fed, roasted goose is like green grass; in the eyes of the hungry, carrots are delicacies to them.’

An old woman’s only son fell sick and passed away. She was grief-stricken and asked the master, ‘Do you know of any way to make my son come back to life?’ The master told her, ‘I have a way. However, you must first get a cup of living water for me. This cup of water must come from a family that has never experienced pain and bitterness before. Once I’ve got this cup of water, I can make your son alive again.’ The old woman was very happy and went immediately to find this cup of water. However, no matter where she went to, whether to the villages or to the towns, she realized that very family had some kind of pain or bitterness of their own. In the end, she became a very busy person, busy comforting the pain and bitterness that other people was suffering. Soon, she had forgotten about the matter of finding the cup of living water. It was through her enthusiasm in giving that her pain and grief of losing her son left her heart gradually.

Whatever the circumstance, look around you and you will find that there is someone out there who is at a worse situation than you. You will then realize that you are actually quite fortunate and blessed.

A team of mountain climbers was all ready to conquer a tall mountain of 6000 meters height above sea level. They formed a subgroup and set up tents at the bottom of the mountain, at 2000 meters above sea level, waiting for the weather to turn better. The group included very experienced professional mountain climbers with very strong bodies.
Finally the sky became clear with a little breeze. The group set off following their leader, a team member with many years of experience.

It was complete serenity and quietness below their feet. The glacier at the top of the mountain was sparkling under the sunlight. Everyone was enjoying the beauty of nature and the joy of mountain climbing. They constantly kept in contact with the base station and talked to their families at homes, describing to them the beautiful scenery they saw up here.

As the group were slowing approaching the main peak, the weather suddenly changed. Grey clouds rolled quickly over and soon covered the whole sky. Strong wind started blowing and was picking up speed. The temperature dropped drastically. A few of the very experienced mountain climbers knew that things were turning out bad and requested everyone to retreat. However, the time they took along the way was too long that night was approaching. From past experience, they were unable to get down the mountain. They could only wait for the rescue team to come and help them.

The wind became very strong. Many of their coats were torn by the roaring wind. Even the gloves fell off…..
To add to their misfortune, one member’s leg was hit by a flying stone and was bleeding profusely. As the wind got fiercer, the temperature dropped to freezing cold. The injured member cried in pain, ‘I’m very cold….’ The blood that flowed out quickly froze. One of the member said, ‘The sky isn’t totally dark yet. Let me carry him down the mountain. He could perhaps be saved.’ ‘Anything might happen along the way! Wait for the rescue team. They’ll be arriving soon.’ Everyone persuaded him. However, he still went ahead to carry the injured member on his back and fought hard to find his way to the bottom of the mountain.

Night had arrived. A snow-storm took place at the mountain. The rescue team was not able to go up the mountain at all. The next day, the rescue team found the frozen bodies of the group, who had waited for them at the original place, closely hugged together. However somewhere at 4000 meters above sea level, they found the injured member and the person who carried him, both of who were alive.
The rescue team said that it was a miracle to be able to survive under this kind of weather. They came to the conclusion that the two of them survived because they had not stopped doing strenuous exercises the whole night.

Some fail when faced with difficulties. It is sometimes unavoidable. The important thing is to be able to stand up to fight again and again, no matter how many times you fail. A person this persistent is bound to gain victory at the end.

Ali went on a short trip with his friends Jimmy and Mark. When the 3 of them went up on a hill, Mark accidentally lost his balance and fell. Just when he thought he was heading towards the bottom of the steep slope, his friend Jimmy quick-wittedly caught hold of his shirt, pulled it with all his might and finally got him up safe. Mark was grateful to Jimmy for saving his life. In remembrance of this, Mark found a rock nearby and carved these words on it, ‘Jimmy saved Mark’s life on XX (day) XX (month) XXXX (year)’.

The three of them carried on with their journey. A few days later, they came by a river when Jimmy and Mark suddenly got into an argument due to a trivial matter. In a fit of anger, Jimmy gave Mark a slap on his face. Mark on the other hand kept himself in control. He did not retaliate. Instead, he ran to the beach and wrote these words with all his strength on the sand, ‘Jimmy slapped Mark on XX (day) XX (month) XXXX (year)’.

This unusual trip finally came to an end. One day, Ali asked Mark curiously, ‘Why did you carve on the rock about Jimmy saving your life but write on the sand about him hitting you?’ Mark replied calmly, ‘I will forever remember and be grateful to Jimmy for saving my life. As for the hitting incident, I will slowly let it disappear from my mind with the movement of the sand.’

Many can remember the kindness they have received from others but cannot let go of the hatred feel for some people. Learn to remember forever the grace and kindness others have shown towards you. Carve them in the rocks and in your heart and use them to motivate you in helping others in future. Forget intentionally all the grudge and hatred you have for others. Let these trivial matters leave your life forever. Your path in life will then get broader and you will experience true happiness.

A family was moving house when they saw 2 rats among their heaps of stuff. Everyone started shouting and got hold of something to hit the rats.

But suddenly, all stopped hitting because they noticed that there was something unusual about the 2 rats – one rat was biting on to the tail of another rat while they shifted and moved around to escape from being hit.

They looked just like 2 children holding hands together to cross the road. Then someone shouted, ‘Look, the rat behind is blind!’ Everyone turned their eyes to the rat and saw a lump-like growth in between its 2 eyes blocking its sight. Everything became clear now. During this critical moment, the ‘healthy’ rat took effort to lead its handicapped friend to a way of escape by putting its tail into the friend’s mouth. It could have left the friend behind and escaped alone. Everyone’s heart softened. Without a word, all stood to one side to make way for the rats to escape.

Think about this: how were the 2 rats related? Were they husband and wife, mother and son or not related at all? Will you do the same as the ‘healthy’ rat if you were met with danger with someone handicapped? Will it make a difference if the handicapped person is a stranger or an enemy?

There was a boy who had quite a bad temper. He got into tantrum so many times in a day that everyone around him got so upset everyday.

One day, his father gave him a box of nails. He told him to hammer a nail on the fence in the backyard every time he had a tantrum. On the first day, the boy hammered a total of 37 nails on the fence.

A few weeks later, the boy gradually learnt to control his anger so the number of nails he put on the fence daily gradually decreased. He even found controlling his bad temper was much easier than hammering a nail on the fence…….. In the end, the boy turned over a new leaf. Throwing tantrum became the least that he would do everyday.

He told his father his change. His father then suggested, ‘If you could hold fast to throwing zero tantrums for the whole day, pull out a nail from the fence.’ The boy tried as hard as he could. After some time, he finally did it! He eventually pulled all the nails out from the fence.

His father held his hand and walked with him to the fence. He said, ‘my son, you’ve done very well! But look at the holes on the fence left behind by those nails. The fence is no longer the same as before. After you’ve thrown your temper at others, your words were just like those nails leaving behind scars on others’ hearts. Doing this is just like stabbing someone’s body with a knife and then pulling the knife out again.’

No matter how many ‘sorry’ you have said to a person, the wound would still be around and may even be around forever. In fact, the hurt that one has done to someone verbally is no lesser than the hurt he has done to him physically