CYP on VISIONS

memephoto / pixelio.de

“People who have a vision should go see a doctor.”
Helmut Schmidt, former chancellor of Germany

Get challenged by a story – “THE THREE MEN & BLOCKS OF STONE”:

A traveler came by three individuals working with stone.

Curiously to what the workers were doing with the stones, the traveler approaches the first worker and asks, “What are you doing with these stones?”
Without hesitation the workermindlessly replies,
“I am a stone cutter and I am cutting stones.”

Still unsure of what was being done with these stones, the traveler approaches the second worker and asks, “What are you doing with these stones?” Pausing momentarily, the worker glances at the sojourner and explains, “I am a stone cutter and I am trying to make enough money to support my family.”

With two different answers to the same task, the would-be philosopher could not resist questioning the third worker. “Excuse me,” he states “Could you tell me what you are doing with this stones?” The worker stops what he is doing.
Brings his mallet to his side. Deep in thought, the worker slowly brings his gaze to this questioning passer-by and explains, “I am building a cathedral!”

CYP on ELEPHANTS

Get challenged by a story – “THE ELEPHANT AND THE BLIND MEN”:

Get challenged by a story – “THE ELEPHANT AND THE ROPE”:

When still a baby, the elephant is tethered by a very thick rope to a stake firmly hammered into the ground. The elephant tries several times to get free, but it lacks the strength to do so.

After a year, the stake and the rope are still strong enough to keep a small elephant tethered, although it continues to try, unsuccessfully, to get free. At this point, the animal realises that the rope will always be too strong and so it gives up.

When it reaches adulthood, the elephant can still remember how, for a long time, it had wasted its energies trying to escape captivity. At this stage, the trainer can tether the elephant with a slender thread tied to a broom handle, and the elephant will make no attempt to escape to freedom.

Moral of the story:
Just like these elephants, many of us were brought up with a false self-limiting belief of some sort – ‘I’m not good enough’ or ‘why try if I am not going to make it’, or ‘success, riches & freedom are for the chosen ones’, ‘entrepreneurship is not for me’, ‘I’m only destined to do a job I hate & pay the bills’ and many more versions of this same belief that underestimates the capability, talent, and potential within us.

CYP on PENCILS

Simone Hainz / pixelio.de

People still think of me
as a cartoonist,
but the only thing
I lift a pencil for
these days
is to sign
a contract, a check,
or an autograph.”

Walt Disney

Get challenged by Milton Friedman:

Get challenged by Paulo Coelho – “Be like a pencil”:

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked:

‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’
His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:
I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.
‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’

‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.’

‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.’

‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpner. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.’

‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.’

‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. in just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action’

Source: “Like the Flowing River” by Paulo Coelho
Onilne:  http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/12/19/the-story-of-the-pencil/