Tough Love

Baby giraffes never go to school. But they learn a very important lesson rather early in life. A lesson that all of us would do well to remember:

The birth of a baby giraffe is quite an earth- shaking event. The baby falls from its mother's womb, some eight feet above the ground.

It shrivels up and lies still, too weak to move. The mother giraffe lovingly lowers her neck to smooch the baby giraffe. And then something incredible happens.

She lifts her long leg and kicks the baby giraffe, sending it flying up in the air and tumbling down on the ground. As the baby lies curled up, the mother kicks the baby again and again. Until the baby giraffe, still trembling and tired, pushes its limbs and for the first time learns to stand on its feet.

Happy to see the baby standing on its own feet, the mother giraffe comes over and gives it yet another kick. The baby giraffe falls one more time, but now quickly recover and stand up. Mama Giraffe is delighted. She knows that her baby has learnt an important lesson:

Never mind how hard you fall, always remember to pick yourself up and get back on your feet.

Why does the mother giraffe do this? She knows that lions and leopards love giraffe meat. So unless the baby giraffe quickly learns to stand and run with the pack – it will have no chance of survival. Most of us though are not quite as lucky as baby giraffes.

No one teaches us to stand up every time we fall. When we fail, when we are down, we just give up.

No one kicks us out of our comfort zone to remind us that to survive and succeed, we need to learn to get back on our feet.

If you study the lives of successful people though, you will see a recurring pattern. Were they always successful in all they did? No. Did success come to them quick and easy? No, no! You will find that the common streak running through their lives is their ability to stand up every time they fall. The ability of the baby giraffe!

The Pig and the Horse

There was a farmer who collected horses; he only needed one more breed to complete his collection. One day, he found out that his neighbor had the particular horse breed he needed. So, he constantly bothered his neighbor until he sold it to him. A month later, the horse became
ill and he called the veterinarian, who said:- Well, your horse has a virus. He must take this medicine for three days. I'll come back on the 3rd day and if he's not better, we're going to have to put him down.Nearby, the pig listened closely to their conversation.

The next day, they gave him the medicine and left. The pig approached the horse and said:

- Be strong, my friend. Get up or else they're going to put you to sleep!

On the second day, they gave him the medicine and left. The pig came back and said:
- Come on buddy, get up or else you're going to die! Come on, I'll help you get up. Let's go! One, two, three…On the third day, they came to give him the medicine and the vet said:

- Unfortunately, we're going to have to put him down tomorrow. Otherwise, the virus might spread and infect the other horses.

After they left, the pig approached the horse and said:

- Listen pal, it's now or never! Get up, come on! Have courage! Come on! Get up! Get up! That's it, slowly! Great! Come on, one, two, three… Good, good. Now faster, come on…. Fantastic! Run, run more! Yes! Yay! Yes! You did it, you're a champion!!!

All of a sudden, the owner came back, saw the horse running in the field and began shouting:

- It's a miracle! My horse is cured. This deserves a party. Let's kill the pig!

Points for reflection: this often happens in the workplace. Nobody truly knows which employee actually deserves the merit of success, or who's actually contributing the necessary support to make things happen.

LEARNING TO LIVE WITHOUT RECOGNITION IS A SKILL!

If anyone ever tells you that your work is unprofessional, remember:
amateurs built the Ark and professionals built the Titanic.

The Socrates Triple Filter Test.

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great
philosopher and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?"

That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is TRUTH. "Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and…"

All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of GOODNESS. "Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"No, on the contrary…"

"So", Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of USEFULNESS. "Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No… not really…"

"Well," concluded Socrates, "If what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor useful, why tell it to me at all?"

This is why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem. So, lets use this triple filter each time we hear loose talk about any of our near & dear ones (friends/relatives/colleagues). It will save us time and trouble.

The Bear Story

A bear was walking across  Rainbow Bridge (Old Hwy 40 at
Donner Summit, Truckee) on Saturday when two cars, also
crossing the bridge, scared the bear into jumping over the
edge of the bridge.  Somehow the bear caught the ledge
and was able to pull itself to safety.  Authorities decided
that nothing could be done to help Saturday night so they
returned Sunday morning to find the bear sound asleep on
the ledge.

After securing a net under the bridge the bear was tranquilized,
fell into the net, lowered, then woke up and walked out of the net.

There is a moral to this story you know; this old bear made
a wrong move and found he was hanging by his nails. Somehow
he was able to pull himself up onto the ledge where he saw he
was in a very bad, impossible situation and what did he do?
Yep, he took a nap and sure enough God took care of the
situation while he was asleep.

The moral of the story is that when confronted with a bad
situation, sometimes the best solution is to take a nap and
let God take care of the rest.

I think I'm going to take a nap right now.
God is on the job.

10 Simple Truths For Living a Life You Love

• Produce, do not procrastinate.
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• Manage your energy not your time.
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• Perfection is merely a facade that steers you in the wrong direction.
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• Personal innovation is the key to any type of life success.
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• Thoughts precede actions, which precede change. Care + Commitment = Change. Commitment alone does not equal change. There is a personal component to all that we do.
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• Now is everything. Perseverance is power. Inspiration is everywhere.
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• All that needs to be known dwells inside your own heart. Tap into that knowledge within, and trust that knowledge. Be confident in yourself and your power to choose your own perspective. You have more power than you know what to do with in your life. Harness that potential, and your limits will know no bounds.
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• Invest in yourself. Personal knowledge and self-discovery are invaluable. Don't limit your potential by limiting your personal treasury. You are your greatest ally and asset.
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• From a place of clarity, you can move forward with freedom and creativity. Within clarity, there is no such thing as "stuck."
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• We all hunger for a fulfilling life — a life filled with meaning and purpose — for ourselves and for the people around us.