Am I A Fool?

You might have been approached by people on the street who asked for money for some reasons (e.g. to buy a ticket to go home because he lost his wallet etc.) Sometimes you might struggle whether you should give help or not. You know that if you lend the money, it's very unlikely you will get it back (you don't want to leave your contact to a person you don't know anyway). You might have seen or heard from the news that there are plenty of people who lie in order to cheat for money. Although the amount of money may not be too much, you might think you would become a fool if you are cheated by one of those. What will you do?

Imagine the person isn't a liar and we turn him down. He might panic and feel desperate. He might have missed something very important, the result of which may be very serious (e.g. he needs to go home urgently because his child is very sick etc.) In that case, we might have unknowingly done something very seriously wrong just because we decline to help. On the other hand, if the person is indeed a liar and we are cheated. It is only he who has done wrong and not us. If a person lies to cheat for money, he must be in need of money for some reasons, be they good or bad. He might need the money because he could have been out of job for long and he needs food for his family, in which case we would have done something for good sake. He might need the money desperately to buy drugs, in which case we might feel guilty as we could have helped in crimes. But to think further, if he doesn't get the money from us, he would turn to others anyway. Worse still, he might resort to other violent means like theft and robbery if he is really desperate, in which case we could instead have helped to avoid serious crimes by being cheated. We might be seen by others as being fooled, but we know we are not foolish as we know exactly what we are doing after all considerations.

Hence, don't bother too much about ourselves for being a fool. Concern more on others as in most cases our help could have made quite a difference to others. If we look to ourselves first, the matter may become an ugly one. If we look to others first, the same matter may look much brighter.

Moving Forward to a New 2013

Sorrow looks back
Despair looks down

Worry looks around

Hope looks forward

Faith looks up
Love looks everywhere

Wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Harmonious New Year
of
2013
May God bless you all

Tonight We Love

Last week, I casually came across an oldie which is one of my favourites for over 50 years. This song is adapted from a very beautiful classic piece - Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, and was sung by a very beautiful girl (in my mind) with a very beautiful name and a very beautiful voice - Caterina Valente.

(extract from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUH6PVu5kf0)

Squares

How many squares are there are in this diagram?

The answer is :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpkBjMams54

Word Puzzle

Can you figure out what these words all have in common?

1. Assess
2. Banana
3. Dresser
4. Grammar
5. Potato
6. Revive
7. Uneven

It's not that they all have at least 2 double letters. What else?

The answer is:

Take the first letter, place it at the end of the word, and then spell the word backwards, it will be the same word.

Quote of The Week

I saw this quote on the wall when I was waiting in a medical clinic last week:

You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,

sing like there's nobody listening,

love like you'll never be hurt,

and live like it's heaven on earth.

Management Training - Relationship Management

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.
Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Moral -
1. Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
2. Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
3. When you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut.

Management Training - The Power of Bullshit

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "It's full of nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.
He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral - Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Management Training - Know Your Place

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The eagle answered, "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested.
All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral - To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Steve Jobs - The Three Stories

Steve Jobs was delivering his commencement speech to the graduates of Stanford University in 2005, in which he shared 3 stories of his experience:

1. Connecting the Dots
2. Love and Loss
3. Death

They are all very good stories and inspirational and they provide valuable lessons to be learnt.

(extract from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc)