Value

Pedro had a friend who would keep losing his pens. So Pedro gifted him an ordinary pen but told him that it had been used by a great personality. Months later, the pen remained with the owner who took all precautions to not lose it.

 The pen was ordinary but the owner believed it to be valuable because he had been told of its history. The value had increased in his perspective. Now, he was careful to transcend his earlier carelessness.

 This is something that happens to us in life. We are careful with the things we value most. Hence it is important to attach value to all things of priority. Then we will not be careless with them.

 If we value our health, we will be careful of what we eat. If we value friends, we will treat them with concern. If we value time, we will be careful the way we spend it. So on and so forth

 attach value and soon you will find

carefulness is now on your mind!

 - Pravin K. Sabnis

Defeat

 Everyone knows the Disney Corporation as one of the most lucrative companies in existence, with high standards of quality and continuous innovations.

 Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper job early in life because he ‘lacked imagination’. After a few failed businesses, his upbeat attitude kept him going forward. He would say, ‘a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you’.

 So often, so many of us are who are halted in our tracks by situational failures. But it is pertinent to note that the big achievers are the ones who are not deterred by defeat.

 Winners are motivated to move on even in defeat. They treat it is as a challenge and turn it into a resolve to put in better efforts. They are not discouraged by judgemental comments on their capabilities.

 Defeat is only when we give up. Every failure is just another learning experience, if we treat it as so. No drawback can hold you back, if you keep stepping ahead. One can even turn dispiriting comments into fuel for the fire in the belly. Like Disney did!

 Don’t let failure turn into defeat

Keep going forward to the feat!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Don't Delay

 One Sunday it was snowing heavily and no one turned up for the services at the church. Only a herder of cows reached in the freezing snow. The pastor waited for some more time and eventually said, ‘Let’s cancel as it is only two of us!’

 The herder said, ‘When I go to feed my cows, I whistle out for them to come. Most of the time, all the cows turn up. But sometimes, only one turns up and that time I will make sure that I don’t leave that cow hungry’.

 The pastor realized his mistake and started to deliver the services for close to two hours. He thanked the herder for teaching him a valuable lesson, ‘It’s our duty to finish it, no matter how big or small the need is... Hope you had a good two hours’.

 The herder replied, ‘Well when I go to feed my herd and if only one turns up for the food. I will make sure that I don’t force it to eat all the food I bought for the whole herd’. 

 Two lessons emerge from the story: don’t delay the start and don’t delay the end. The first is about rewarding the ones who come on time. The second is about not making it worse by being long winded and ignoring the needs and wants of those you deal with.

 Too often, so many of us delay the start, waiting for late comers. And instead of brevity, we choose to prolong the misery by force feeding. We must choose to be on time as well as be time conscious, especially about the time of the audience.

 Don’t delay the start, respect the early one

Don’t delay the end, so everyone has fun!

 - Pravin K. Sabnis

Sore Loser

Sally loves to be first at everything! She is first in line at school. She is first out the door at recess. She is first at dinner finishing her mac 'n' cheese!

 Unfortunately, Sally dislikes losing and this can lead to hot tempers and hurt feelings. She even gets the nickname ‘Sally Sore Loser’ from her classmates at school.

 With the help of her teacher and her mother, Sally learns the rules for being a good winner and a good loser. She learns to say to herself, ‘I've won if I had fun!’

 The story about Winning and Losing by Frank J Sileo was written for children obsessed with winning. Such a child, melts down when it perceives to have lost at something. The message was that as long as you're having fun, everyone wins.

 Actually having fun means you won. However, one does not think one had fun if one perceives a loss, so therefore it is a loss. So while destinations are important, we must not forget the journey to that destination and the many joys it brings.

 So often, so many of us have fun doing something, yet we end up as sore losers. We must reclaim the joy of the journey. We must not sacrifice that happiness at the altar of self-centred competitiveness.

 Recall fun you had by being a mover

Don’t let joy go by being a sore loser!

 - Pravin K. Sabnis