A Lesson From Seeds

Take a look at an apple tree. There might be 500 apples on the tree, and each apple has more than ten seeds. That's a lot of seeds! You might ask, "Why would we need so many seeds to grow just a few more apple trees?"

Nature has something to teach us here.  It's telling us, "Not all seeds grow into a tree."
The key lesson is - if you really want to achieve success, better be prepared to sow many seeds; try as many times as necessary."


This might mean:

• You may have to attend twenty interviews to get one job. 
• You may need to interview forty people to find one good employee.
• You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house, one car, one vacuum cleaner, one insurance policy, or a business idea.
• And you may have to meet a hundred acquaintances just to find one special friend.

When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed when our efforts do no bear fruit. We stop feeling like victims. We remind ourselves that it is a law of nature, and we need to try again and harder.  We learn how to deal with failure effectively.

In a nutshell, successful people fail more often, and they keep planting more and more seeds till they succeed.

Recharge Your Batteries Daily

We know how important it is to charge our smartphone battery everyday. We depend so heavily on the phone that we dread the situation when the battery runs out and the phone goes dead. Everywhere you can see a familiar sight of people next to a power socket charging their phones. Why don't we watch our own batteries with equal eagerness and recharge them regularly? When it comes to our own well-being, we tend to neglect it to a point that the batteries are about to run out. The most common excuse for this is, "I am too busy right now, will do it next week / month."
It reminds me of the woodcutter, who was working to saw down a tree. He was exhausted from working for hours. Someone noticed that his saw has gone blunt and suggested that he take a break to sharpen the saw. The woodcutter replied, "I don't have time to sharpen the saw, I'm busy sawing!" Are we not a victim of the same syndrome? Why can't we take enough time for improving ourselves on a regular basis so that we are better equipped to tackle the challenges of life? We are sum total of four distinct parts – Body, Mind, Heart, and Spirit and we need to continuously charge our batteries in these four areas. You can call them four dimensions of well-being that need to be nurtured to achieve the right balance. If we ignore any one of these aspects, it will affect our happiness adversely.   Let us find out more about what these parts are and how can we take care of them.
Physical well-being relates to our body and health. We need regular exercise, adequate rest, and healthy diet to stay physically fit. If we ignore our health for a prolonged period, it may cause an illness, reducing our capacity to work.
Mental well-being is about knowledge, thinking, and intellect. We need to recharge our mental ability by reading and learning new things. This helps us do the same job with a deeper understanding, and equips us to take on more challenging tasks.
Another important dimension is Emotional well-being, which includes relationships and trust. The work alone cannot give us a happy and satisfied life. We need to invest in close relationships within our family and friend circle for emotional well-being.
The fourth dimension is spiritual well-being, which is about the meaning in life, purpose, values and religion. When we take time to think and discover our mission in life, it can have a truly energizing effect on all areas of our life.

So, every evening when you plug your phone into the charger, remind yourself that you need to charge your own batteries as well. As you go through your day, find opportunities to recharge yourself in any of the four dimensions. This will pave the way to long lasting happiness.

A Tale of Faith

In difficult times when are about to give up, our faith is really put to a test. We can emerge victorious in such situations if we can manage to hold on just a bit longer. I came across an inspiring story that illustrates this point very well:  

There was once a man who got lost in the desert. The water in his flask ran out two days ago, and he was on his last legs. He knew that if he didn't get some water soon, he would surely perish. The man saw a shack ahead of him. He thought it might be a mirage or hallucination, but having no other option, he moved toward it. As he got closer he realized it was quite real, so he dragged his weary body to the door with the last of his strength.

The shack was not occupied and seemed like it had been abandoned for quite some time. The man gained entrance, hoping against hope that he might find water inside.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw what was in the shack - a water pump. It had a pipe going down through the floor, perhaps tapping a source of water deep under ground.

He began working the pump, but no water came out. He kept at it and still nothing happened. Finally he gave up from exhaustion and frustration. He threw up his hands in despair. It looked as if he was going to die after all.

Then the man noticed a bottle in one corner of the shack. It was filled with water and corked up to prevent evaporation.

He uncorked the bottle and was about to gulp down the sweet life-giving water when he noticed a piece of paper attached to it. Handwriting on the paper read: "Use this water to start the pump. Don't forget to fill the bottle when you're done."

He had a dilemma. He could follow the instruction and pour the water into the pump, or he could ignore it and just drink the water.

What to do? If he let the water go into the pump, what assurance did he have that it would work? What if the pump malfunctioned? What if the pipe had a leak? What if the underground reservoir had long dried up?

But then, maybe the instruction was correct. Should he risk it? If it turned out to be false, he would be throwing away the last water he would ever see.

Hands trembling, he poured the water into the pump. Then he closed his eyes, said a prayer, and started working the pump.

He heard a gurgling sound, and then water came gushing out, more than he could possibly use. He luxuriated in the cool and refreshing stream. He was going to live!

After drinking his fill and feeling much better, he looked around the shack. He found a pencil and a map of the region. The map showed that he was still far away from civilization, but at least now he knew where he was and which direction to go.

He filled his flask for the journey ahead. He also filled the bottle and put the cork back in. Before leaving the shack, he added his own writing below the instruction: "Believe me, it works!"

This story is all about life. It teaches us that we must give before we can receive abundantly. More importantly, it also teaches that faith plays an important role in giving. The man did not know if his action would be rewarded, but he proceeded regardless. Without knowing what to expect, he made a leap of faith.


Whenever you find yourself in a situation with no light at the end of tunnel, take a leap of faith by reminding yourself of the message on the note, "Use this water to start the pump. Believe me, it works!"

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About this Post
Thanks a lot Jagminder Chugh for sending this inspiring story.