The price of YOU

A father wanted to teach his teenage children a lesson about self value. He started by holding up a RM50 note. "Who would like to have this RM50?" he asked. Hands started going up.
He said, "I am going to give it to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the RM50 note up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well", he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "Guys, we have all learned a very valuable lesson", he said, "No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth RM50.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless.... and especially to those who love you.

The pursuit of stupidity

Allow me to break the sequence of my storytelling. But first of all, I'd like to congratulate another good Danish friend, AC, for having been offered a job as social worker. I believe the world needs more caring people to work in this challenging field. As for my contribution, I'll stick to writing. And speaking of writing, someone asked me yesterday why I remain as one despite all its financial securities and headaches. My answer to her question was stupidity. I notice a funny pattern in my life that in order to get one thing right, I'll have to make ten stupid mistakes. So, to get two things right, I must commit twenty. Stupidity. Isn't that what defines our thinking and actions? So, here I am making yet another stupid mistake by becoming a writer and writing all the stuffs about human stupidity in simple stories. Oh, Albert Eistein said this once:

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.

She talked to me

To my good friend, TJ from Copenhagen, Denmark, who has just become a social worker, CONGRATULATIONS! Here's a story for you:

A centre for people with physical disabilities was organising an opening of a new wing. A local politician was invited to officiate the ceremony. Several members of the press came too and also distinguished members of the community. In his speech, the politician talked about the government's concern for people with special needs and how he, as an elected representative, would always make sure they get maximum assistance. Next, it was the priest-in-charge's turn to deliver his message. He reminded the community to always have faith in God for He would choose the right people with good heart as leaders. Their speeches were received with loud applause from the invited guests. During reception, one of the reporters interviewed a physically-disabled old man who was the most senior member in the centre.

"Sir, what's your respond to the speeches we heard earlier?"

"For all I know, the politician was actually talking to you guys, the press. He was looking for good publicity. And the priest was talking to the politician for he was hoping to get more of the government's money. But one social worker who was sitting in front turned to to look at me for a moment. She smiled and winked. She talked to me and I understood her."

Sometimes, the simplest gesture can make a big difference. But again, it can be misinterpreted in a different culture.

A young western woman was in Hong Kong recently for a short holiday. She went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch one day and while waiting for the food to be served she saw a skinny stray dog standing outside. She felt pity for the animal and wanted to do something. She called the waiter to her table and asked him to cook some food for the dog, and that she would pay the bill. But because she didn't know a word of Chinese, she made up a sign language by pointing at the dog, her mouth and belly, apparently trying to tell the waiter to feed something to the hungry dog. The waiter nodded and dashed back to the kitchen. After several minutes, he came out with a huge plate of dog meat cooked in soy sauce.

So called faith

One of the things I always find amusing is to hear people talk about faith. Unless tested, well, it's just an empty proclamation...Check this out:

A man accidently fell down a cliff but managed to grab a branch half way the fall. He was still far from safe as the valley below was a few hundred metres away. If he let go, he would certainly fall to his death. But again, there was no way for him to climb back up. In such desperate moment he prayed aloud.

"Lord, please help me in my hour of need," he cried. "You know I'm a man of faith and I believe that you, and you alone, who can help me now."

Suddenly the clouds opened and out came a voice. "Do you really believe that I can help you?"

"Yes! Yes! You know how big is my faith in you," said the man as he struggled to hand on.

"Ok. Now let go of the branch," the voice commanded.

"What? Are you crazy?"

It takes a childlike heart to believe...

A village in Borneo was experiencing a severe drought. Villagers went to see the shaman to pray for rain. "I'll do it," she said. "But all of us must have faith in the ritual I will perform." She then instructed them to bring anything to express their faith. All of them brought religious items except for one young boy. He brought an umbrella.

Change

One of the things we hear a lot during elections is change. Have you ever read this story?

Once upon a time there lived a king who ordered his citizens to carpet every inch of the country's land so he could walk comfortably.

One of his wise ministers came to him and said, "Your Majesty, wouldn't it be easier for you to just wear a pair of slippers?"

Change starts from within...But often it takes maturity to understand what this means. Here's a phrase I stumbled upon some time ago.

When we're young, we're idealistic about changing the world.
When we're old, we want to change the young.

Sounds familiar?

Leaders vs followers

Soon, Malaysians will vote for a Government that would look into their interest as citizens. They will choose leaders who they think have what it takes to represent them; be their voice to be heard. I used to be in the thick of the action during elections when I was still a newspaper journalist, covering the stories and events. I'm interested in only one story now: the foolishness of it all. I found this interesting article that speaks a lot about leadership. Let's ponder a moment:

When leaders make a mistake, they say, "I was wrong."
When followers make mistakes, they say, "It wasn't my fault."

A leader works harder than a follower and has more time;
a follower is always "too busy" to do what is necessary.

A leader goes through a problem;
a follower goes around it and never gets past it.

A leader makes and keeps commitments;
a follower makes and forgets promises.

A leader says, "I'm good, but not as good as I ought to be;"
a follower says, "I'm not as bad as a lot of other people."

Leaders listen;
followers just wait until it's their turn to talk.

Leaders respect those who are superior to them and tries to learn something from them;
followers resent those who are superior to them and try to find chinks in their armor.

Leaders feel responsible for more than their job;
followers say, "I only work here."

A leader says, "There ought to be a better way to do this;"
followers say, "That's the way it's always been done here."

The fish

Two fish were swimming when they saw a piece of meat dangling before them. The younger fish darted toward it with an open mouth. The older fish cried out, “Stop! You can’t see it, but there is a hook inside that meat. It is connected by an invisible line to a pole outside the water. There is a man holding the pole. If you eat the meat, the hook will catch in your jaw and the man will pull you out of the water. He will cut you open with a knife, roast you on a fire and eat you. Then he will throw your remains to his cat.” The young fish stopped. The two of them swam away. But when the young fish was alone, he thought to himself, “Let me investigate for myself how accurate these claims are.” He went back to the meat, swam around it, above and below it. He swam as far as he could in widening circles around the meat. After a long search, he said to himself, “I’ve looked far and wide, and I haven’t found any sign of a man, a pole, a knife, a fire or a cat. In fact, I’ve found no trace of anything outside this water we live in. These must just be stories.” He went back to the meat and ate it. The hook caught in his jaw, he felt himself being yanked out of the water. He saw a pole, a man and a knife, but at that point his knowledge was useless.