The Cooling Stream

A man made a living selling balloons at a fair.
He had all colors of balloons, including red, yellow, blue, and green.
Whenever business was slow, he would release a helium-filled balloon into the air and when the children saw it go up, they all wanted to buy one. They would come up to him, buy a balloon and his sales would go up again.
He continued this process all day.
One day, he felt someone tugging at his jacket. He turned around and saw a little boy who asked, "If you release a black balloon, would that also fly?"
Moved by the boy's concern, the man replied with empathy, "Son, it is not the color of the balloon; it is what is inside that makes it go up."

• Our attitude determines our future.
• Good attitude gives good impressions and improve our relationships.
  
• Good attitude can open doors to million of opportunity.
  
• In life, it doesn't matter how smart we are or how many facts and figures we know. What other people care about is your right attitude.

An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came, flying and buzzing near his ear. The elephant waved it away with his long ears. Then the fly came again, and the elephant waved it away once more.

This was repeated several times. Then the elephant asked the fly, "Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can't you stay for a while in one place?"

The fly answered, "I am attracted to whatever I see, hear or smell. My five senses pull me constantly in all directions and I cannot resist them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still?"

The elephant stopped eating and said, "My five senses do not rule my attention. Whatever I do, I get immersed in it. Now that I am eating, I am completely immersed in eating. In this way I can enjoy my food and chew it better. I rule and control my attention, and not the other way around."

• If our five senses are in control of our mind and attention, then our mind is in constant unrest. If we are in charge of our five senses and attention, then our mind becomes calm.
• Control your attention, and you control your mind.
  

• Don't worry or complain. Don't respond or react immediately.
  Take extra time to evaluate the issue, the problem or the situation before taking any action.

• Don't become involved in their situation.
  If you must, try to see and solve their problems from an outsider's point of view.
  

• Set up a formal meeting to hash out issues constructively, or
  
• Invite each team member to have a one-on-one conversation with you.

1. In any and every situation, find every means to do thing constructively and amiably.
2. Life is too short for gossiping or taking your frustrations out on your co-workers and subordinates.
   

Father : "I want you to marry a girl of my choice."
Son : "I will choose my own bride!"
Father: "But the girl is Bill Gates's daughter."
Son : "Well, in that case...ok"


Next, Father approaches Bill Gates.
Father: "I have a husband for your daughter."
Bill Gates: "But my daughter is too young to marry!"
Father: "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."
Bill Gates: "Ah, in that case...ok"

Finally, Father goes to see the president of the World Bank.
Father: "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."
President: "But I already have more vice-presidents than I need!"
Father: "But this young man is Bill Gates's son-in-law."
President: "Ah, in that case...ok"

This is how business is done!

• In good time, if you want to be successful in business, make and build more connections.
  
• But what happens during economic downturn? Many companies have declared bankruptcy. Many people have been retrenched.
  
• "If the blind leads the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." -- Matthew 15:14 Bible. That is why any human relationship without God is meaningless.
• Enjoy your work and your life in the shadow of God. Pray often. God will prosper your way with Him despite the circumstances.
  

1. Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. The tortoise and hare both agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champion. The hare woke up and realised that he had lost the race.
   
   Lesson: Slow and steady wins the race.
   



Fast and consistent wins the race.

2. The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realised that he had lost the race because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.
   
   This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.
   
   Lesson: Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady.
   


3. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there is no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. The tortoise and hare started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river.
   
   The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.
   
   Lesson: First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.
   
   In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you.
   
   If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
   


4. The tortoise and hare, by this time, had become good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better. So the tortoise and hare decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.
   
   They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. Both the tortoise and hare felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they had felt earlier.
   
   Lesson: It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.
   
   Teamwork is letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.
   
   The stories continue ...