THINK ‘OUTSIDE OF THE BOX’

There is no problem without a solution.  Many of the problems can be solved thinking logically and doing it step by step. But there are certain problems which cannot be solved logically and they can be solved only by thinking outside of the box.  The story below is used to prove the importance of lateral thinking.   Lateral thinking which is thinking outside the box, requires a lot more creativity.  Lateral thinking is generative, logical thinking is selective.

Many years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden.  As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.

What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? How can you save her from not marrying the ugly money lender and at the same time save her father from jail?

What are the logical answers and what is the answer as per lateral thinking?

You may leave your answers in the comment box or send it to gvkallumpuram@gmail.com

DETERMINATION: THE KEY TO SUCCESS

We live in a success-oriented world and the society praises the people who are 'successes' in life – be it in science, technology, religion, politics, sociology, education or any other field for that matter.  But it is a fact that there are so many fall-outs. The reasons for fall-outs are lack of determination and willingness to chase their dreams. When we look at the people who have succeeded in life in their own ways, we will find that they were people of determination and who were willing to chase their dreams.  In spite of their failures in many attempts they persisted on their attempts and eventually became ‘successes’.  The people behind the so called success stories were ‘failures’ till their success; but in spite of their ‘failure’, they persisted and pressed on.  When we see their success, we tend to forget the pain and toil behind it.

The secret of success is beautifully stated by St. Paul in his letter to Philippians. He says, “ Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  ‘Religion’ was his business and he shares the key for his success. You take any area which you feel like you are ‘called’ and follow the principle of St. Paul: “forget the past” – whether it was a failure or success,  “strain toward what is ahead” – whether you feel it is impossible to achieve and “press on toward the goal” – this is the only way of success.

  

It is read that Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times (the number of attempts is differed – from 1,000 to 10,000 – so let us read it as so many times) before creating the electric bulb.  His response to his repeated failures is important: “I have not failed. I have found those 10,000 ways does not work.” Albert Einstein didn't speak until he was four years old. Many people thought he was just a flop. He never spoke for the first three years of his life; and throughout elementary school, many of his teachers thought he was lazy and wouldn't make anything of himself. He always received good marks, but his head was in the clouds, conjuring up abstract questions people couldn't understand. But he kept thinking and, the result is part of history: he eventually developed the theory of relativity, which many of us still can't comprehend. Bill Gates' first business failed. His first company, Traf-O-Data (a device which could read traffic tapes and process the data), failed miserably. When Gates and his partner, Paul Allen, tried to sell it, the product wouldn't even work. Gates and Allen didn't let that stop them from going on trying. Here is how Allen explained how the failure helped them: “Even though Traf-O-Data wasn't a roaring success, it was seminal in preparing us to make Microsoft’s first product a couple of years later”   

These success stories must encourage us to succeed in work, business and life. The lessons we should learn are:

1.      Rejection should never stop you.

2.    Failure is not a problem at all.

3.    People who reject you know nothing.

4.    ‘Belief in yourself’ is the key to success in life.

AFTER LIFE, WHAT?

Following is a beautiful story in Malayalam, written by an author unknown. Since it is worth sharing, I translated it to English.

Two children in the womb of the mother started a conversation.

 The first one asked the other, “Do you believe that there is a life after delivery?”

The second one answered, “There should be continuity after this state. So I believe that there is a life after the delivery. May be, the changes that come in us is a preparation for the new life to come.”

“Foolishness!” quipped the first, “there is no life after the delivery. Even if there is, how shall it be?” The second one answered, “I don’t know how it shall be.  May be, it shall be more bright and we may be able to walk with our feet, eat with our mouth and shall be able to use all the parts of the body fully.”

“Mere stupidity! How is it possible to walk with our feet? How can we eat with our mouth? Are we not getting enough nutrients and vitamins through the umbilical cord? But its length is too short and we cannot move freely.  If we think logically, it is impossible to have a life after birth.”

The second one said, “I feel that the circumstance there shall be different from what we are having now. The umbilical cord itself may not be needed to live outside the womb.”

“Never!” the first one continued the argument, “may I ask you – let us assume that there is a life after this – then why no one returns? Birth is the end of everything. After that it shall be darkness, silence and frozenness! Nothing and nothing else.”

“I don’t know,” the second one said, “but I am sure that we shall see our mother and she shall protect us.”

The first one commented, “Mother? Do you really believe in mother? I feel like laughing when I think of your stupidity.  If mother is a reality, where is she now?”

“We are surrounded by her.” said the second, “We are part of her and we live in her.  If she is not there, our world also would not have been here.”

“But I can’t see the mother.  My reasoning does not permit me to believe what I cannot see,” said the first to which the second one replied, “at times, when we are silent and concentrate, we can feel her presence and hear her call us from the above.”

BE FAITHFUL TO YOUR COMMITMENT

At the time of adversities and troubles we commit our lives and belongings to God.  But, once it is fulfilled, we find ways to escape from the commitment made- we either tend to ignore it or justify our avoidance.

A ship was caught up in a storm in the sea. All were panicked and they started praying intensely. There was a wealthy man among them and he also prayed loud:   "If you save us today Lord, I shall sell my property and distribute the proceeds to the poor."  After a few minutes the storm stopped.  He regretted about his commitment. Since everyone in the ship has heard, he could not go back from his promise.   He published that he is going to sell the property.  He tied a cat in front of the house and priced it to be 10 million rupees and priced the property to be Re.10.  There was one condition that both shall be sold together only.   It was sold as per his instruction because both together it was worth it. The rich man pocketed Rs. 10 million and distributed ten rupee to the poor.  Thus he kept the commitment.

Are we different when we make a commitment to God? Are we willing to keep our commitment or find ways of by-passing it?