Keep Climbing Your Hills

“A challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it.” ― Ray Davis

Today's picture comes from a poster by the great folks at Despair.Com. It gives us a perspective many of us have from time to time. It is both humorous and a realistic look at how it can feel when trying to living out our daily lives.

It is that feeling which says it will never end.

It is a feeling that life will always be an uphill battle and that your climb is worse than anyone else.

Challenges occur daily and we achieve daily more than we want to give ourselves credit for. It is in overcoming the challenges that we will grow and become a better person. Our life improves and what were once seemingly insurmountable obstacles are easily handled.

Stay inspired my friends!

Friday Favorite - Brush With Something

"With the brush we merely tint, while the imagination alone produces colour."
- Theodore Gericault

Once in a while you get the chance to brush with fame. In this case, it was Salman Rushdie. Or so I believed it was him when having breakfast at my hotel in London one morning.

I was on a business trip and due to my frequent hotel stays, the club room is a convenience that makes the trip much easier. I was always asked, why not ask to take a picture, why not engage in a conversation, why not....

But I did not ask and here is why.

In all of my travels, it is very rare that I come within earshot or even see people of fame. For all of the media exposure so many get, there are many others that are average, everyday people like you and me. So it was with great interest that the man sitting one table away from me seemed very familiar.

In my hotel in central London, the business lounge provides breakfast on the top floor for members. This particular morning I chose a later time to arrive. With only three of us in the room, there was no particular reason I sat near this man. The only thing which drove me in that direction was to be close to the television. It also gave me a clear view of the Thames River.

Well then, maybe I did have a reason for sitting where I did.

Something about the presence of the man sitting near me and his familiar face told me he was of some importance or celebrity. After a short while it dawned on me that it could very well be Salman Rushdie. Yes, the famous author who wrote the Satanic Verses which became the scorn of many Muslims. His book was so scorned that in 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, (leader of Iran at the time) issued a fatwa or decree telling all Muslims to kill Rushdie and his publishers.

After the death threats came, Salman Rushdie was placed under police protection by the British government. As of this year (2010), Salman has not been harmed, but it is said that 38 others connected with the book have been killed.

So my mind kept thinking and rationalizing his presence in this place. No body guards or other noticeable protection in place. But I reasoned after so many years, he had slipped back into obscurity and maybe it just wasn't as big of a concern anymore.

But was it really Salman Rushdie?

I never asked because I have always felt there are times of approach and there are times of quiet. This seemed like a time of quiet. We both nodded a good morning to each other and left each other to our quiet and peaceful breakfast.

He may have simply been a person that looked extremely similar to Salman, but I am pretty certain that he was whom I thought. I choose to believe that I had breakfast with Salman Rushdie and we each enjoyed the peaceful quiet of the morning.

All of us need those quiet moments in time.

It helps us to pull ourselves back from the hurried and noise filled life which surrounds us each day. It is a time to reflect on things that matter to us. A time to just let down our guard a little bit and not be looking over our shoulder.

Maybe next time I will ask to be sure, but then it might disappoint me. Then the peaceful and quiet breakfast that I had with Salman Rushdie will disappear forever for both myself and for him. So thank you Salman for giving me a quiet and peaceful breakfast.

Stay inspired my friends.

Tale of Two Pebbles

“We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.” ― Lee Iacocca

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter.

Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let Providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) Pick a black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.
2) Pick a white pebble, she need not marry him and her father's debt would be forgiven.
3) If she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble-strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag.

He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful, analysis and would produce three possibilities:

1. Refuse to take a pebble.
2. Show there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.
3. Pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself to save her father from his debt.

Take a moment to ponder over the story.

The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers. What would you recommend to the girl to do?

What she did was ....

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

'Oh, how clumsy of me,' she said. 'But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.'

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dare not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY?

Most complex problems do have a solution.

Live life filled with positive thoughts and sound decisions. And stay inspired my friends!

I Am Spartacus

"Together we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky." - Sonia Gandhi

I am Spartacus.

Stand next to your brothers.
Stand next to your sisters.

Proclaim it strong and bold.

Together we are strong.

We are Spartacus.



Stay inspired my friends!