Wet Pants !

Welcome to 125^th Monday Musings !

Hope you had a great Diwali !

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There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet.

He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened.

It’s never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it.

When the girls find out, they’ll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop.

He puts his head down and prays this prayer, "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I’m dead meat."

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water.

Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy’s lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord !"

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy.

The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out.

All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk.

The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else –Susie.

She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. "You’ve done enough, you klutz! "

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "You did that on purpose, didn’t you ?"

Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too”

Moral of the story :

May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good. ,Each and everyone one of us are going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can.

Never miss an opportunity to help other, never be afraid to help other in their time of need, You never know when you may need a shoulder to lean on.

Top of that, the act of helping other should be done without any expectation, A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

Our prime purpose in life this life is to help others, and If we can’t help them at least don’t hurt them ~ Dalai Lama

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

The Bird with Two Heads !

Welcome to 124^th Monday Musings !

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Once upon a time, there lived a strange bird named Bharunda.  bird lived on a banyan tree near the banks of a river.

The strangeness of the bird lies in the fact, that he had two necks, but shared a common stomach.

One day, the bird was wandering on the banks of the lake and found a red-golden fruit, which appeared delicious at the first sight.

One of the two heads mumbled, “Oh what a fruit. I am sure the heavens have sent it for me. I am so lucky.”

He started eating the fruit with immense pleasure and claimed that it was the most delicious fruit he had ever eaten.

Hearing this, the other head said,” O dear, let me also taste the fruit you are praising so much”.

The first head laughed and replied "You know that we've only one stomach, whichever head eats, the fruit will go to the same stomach.

So, it makes no difference whether I eat it or you eat it.

Moreover, I'm the one who found this fruit. So I've the first right to eat it".

The other head became silent and disappointed after hearing the first head. This kind of selfishness, on the part of the first head pinched him very much.

Later one day, the other head found a tree bearing poisonous fruits.

He took the poisonous fruit and told the first head, “You deceitful fellow. I will eat this poisonous fruit and avenge your insult which you have done to me”.

The first head yelled, "Please don't eat this poisonous fruit. If you eat it, both of us will die, because we've a common stomach to digest it."

The other head replied, “Shut up! As I have found this fruit, I have the every right to eat it.”

The first head started crying, but the other head didn’t bother and ate the poisonous fruit. In the consequence of this action, both of them lost their lives.

Moral of the story :

Sharing of a good thing with others is always good !

The moral of story is not only sharing the good things, but if you try understand in depth, you can apply it anywhere in your personal life, professional life. It doesn’t mean that you keep everyone happy .

But surely a better judgment is requirement, don’t do anything unethical to keep one happy, but don’t make anyone heartbroken. Never eat more than you can lift and Don't burn bridges. You'll be surprised how many times you have to cross the same river.

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Never leave your dreams behind !

Welcome to 123^rd Monday Musings !

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This is a true story of a Hollywood star !

The fun began on January 17th 1962, Jim was born to Kathleen and Percy and the youngest of 4 he grew up in a house filled with laughter and fun.

His parents often suffered from ill health and the young Jim would clown around to bring smiles to their faces and to stand out from his siblings, Rita, Pat and John. A skill he was to take to school in return for his good behavior.

The laughter however took a blow when Percy lost his safe job as an accountant when he was 52, plunging the family into dire financial straits.

This was a huge blow for the mild mannered Percy who had given up musical dreams in favor of family security.

They lost their home and when Jim was in 8th grade the family was forced to enter one of their bleakest periods, as they agreed to work as factory caretakers and cleaners, in return for secured accommodation.

This meant Jim too, who struggled with working an 8 hour evening shift with schoolwork.

Inevitably the A grade student began to fail and this showed in his behavior in the community. He decided he had no option but to leave school.

Eventually the family decided the hostility between fellow factory workers and their general unhappiness was too much to bear and they moved into a VW camper van.

Despite the cramped space the family was happier again and Percy and Jim began to explore Jim's comedic talents.

His father would help him put together stage acts and drive him to Toronto to debut at the comedy club YukYuk’s. This never took off which made him start doubting his abilities.

Things became even worse when his family started experiencing financial difficulties which made it hard for them to support his ambitions.

However Jim never quit on his dreams

They however moved into a new home and Jim went back on stage with more confidence and better polished act. He found himself opening mic nights and later became a regular paid comedian in the shows.

His star was now beginning to shine.

He moved to LA shortly after, where he would park on Mulholland Drive every night and visualize his success.

One of these nights he wrote himself a check for $10,000,000 for “Acting Services Rendered,” which he dated for Thanksgiving 1995.

Jim kept on following his dreams

Jim did side roles in many low budget Hollywood movies, then came "Earth Girls are Easy".

Despite being an unimpressive movie Jim made an impression on co-star Damon Wayans who recommended Jim to his brother for a new show "In Living Color".

This was to be his big chance. The role led to Jim’s Unnatural Act in 1991 and led to a role in Fox's Emmy nominated TV film "Doing Time on Maple Drive".

A serious role in which he played a young man with a serious drinking problem, it showcased Jim's straight acting talents but he continued with "In Living Color", sticking with comedy for the meantime. (As being comedian was his dream)

And after doing a string of side roles in many low budget Hollywood flicks, Jim shot to fame with the “Ace Ventura Series”, and the rest as they say is history.

After his success, Jim actually wrote himself a $10 million cheque. When his father passed away in 1994, he slipped the cheque into his father’s pocket in the casket before burial

I think by now you have figured out that I am talking about “Jim Carrey” the actor who deliver many successful Hollywood movies ‘The Mask’,’ Dumb and Dumber’, ‘Liar Liar’, ‘The Truman Show’ and’ Bruce Almighty’ are my all-time favorites

Moral of the story :

Never leave your dream behind !

"If you have a dream, don’t just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it a reality."

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

The 'Chosen Ones' Choose Themselves !

Welcome to 122^nd Monday Musings !

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This is a true story of a famous author, and it's not hard to guess that  about whom I am talking !

The lady whom we know as a successful billionaire, didn’t have an easy life to reach there.  Her name is Joanne.

Joanne’s earlier life was not easy,  she had a difficult relationship with her father and they hadn’t spoken in years,

At 25, Joanne lost her mother, having seen her mother die after suffering a long time from multiple sclerosis moves to Portugal for a job and met her then future husband. but the marriage collapsed after six months.

After her divorce she moved from Portugal to Edinburgh, Scotland near her sister. The failed marriage with Portugal TV journalist Jorge Arantes caused her so much misery that she suffered clinical depression and she went as far as to contemplate suicide.

Trying to survive in Scotland, she tried her luck in a career in teaching English as a foreign language. However, in order to get the post, she needed further postgraduate certification, which required her to study full-time for one year. She matriculated herself into this course She had to rely on  benefits through the state welfare support

This is the time when she saw herself as a failure. She had a failed marriage, she had no permanent work, and she had a young daughter to take care of.

But during this rock-bottom time, she realized she still had a wonderful daughter, an old typewriter, and an idea that would become the foundation for rebuilding her life.

Joanne had interest in writing , even she wrote a story when she was 6 years old.

During her welfare support she started writing a story book.

She fought to provide for her daughter and while doing so, she completes her first book, This was produced on an old manual typewriter, and much of it was written in cafes, because she had to take her young daughter out on walks to get her to fall asleep to then give her the time for creativity.

So Joanne completed her book but still it was not end of her struggle,

She started approaching publishers, but every publisher she approached has rejected her manuscript. She didn’t give up , she almost approached 12 publishers but no result

A year later she was given the green light by Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury, who agreed to publish the book but insisted she get a day job cause there was no money in children’s books. Also insisted to use her initials name because it was thought that young boys wouldn't read a fantasy series written by a female.

And Joanne had no middle name, so she used, her paternal grandmother's name Kathleen as her middle name.

So her name full name became Joanne Kathleen Rowling , and Initials were J.K. Rowling.

Do I need to tell you which book she wrote, It was “Harry Potter“

Rest is history !

Moral of the story :

According to Forbes, Rowling is the first author in history to earn more than $1 billion from writing book

Here’s how J.K. Rowling describes this process of dealing with the hardships of her life…

Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
— J.K. Rowling, 2008 Harvard Commencement Address

The “Chosen Ones” Choose Themselves

We often assume that successful people got to where they are because they went to the right school or knew the right person or had the right genetics or stumbled into the right job at the right time.

It’s easier to think about success this way because then you can say that these people were lucky to have certain advantages and you weren’t, and that’s what made the difference.

And the truth is, yes, luck does play a role in life. But luck is just an opportunity. It’s just an open door. You have to decide to walk through it and to make something of it.

The people who end up looking like the “chosen ones” — the best-selling authors, the successful business owners, the elite athletes, the talented artists — are successful first and foremost because they chose themselves before they had any measure of success.

And that’s the piece of success that isn’t as easy to accept because it often means betting on yourself when you feel like a failure.

I think there are many goals in life that require this type of struggle. For J.K. Rowling, it meant choosing to be a writer when she was a poor, single mother without a job. For you, it might mean choosing yourself when…

•                   you have no connections

•                   you are inexperienced and unproven

•                   you are poor and lack resources

•                   you are out of shape and overweight

Successful people don’t wait to be tapped, chosen, appointed, or nominated. They start before they feel ready.

They tell themselves, “It doesn’t matter whether or not it’s my fault that I’m here. This is who I am and it’s my responsibility to do something about it.”

The chosen ones choose themselves !

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Man who didn't give up !

Welcome to 121^st Monday Musings !

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This is a story of ‘Super Star’.

During birth, a wrong gynecological procedure caused him to have one sided paralysis.

At school, his middle class being and his facial paralysis became a think for others to make fun off. He joined body-building because he wanted to frighten those who bullied him.

Slowly he started thinking of a career in movies.

Around 1974, he had a pregnant wife, a dog that he loved a lot, a lot of bills to pay and no success in his movie career.

What he still had was a belief in his dream that he will make it big.

Soon a time came when he went broke. He was heavily under debt.  Restless, anxious, stressed and still loaded with hope that he will make it big.

Things got so bad that he had sold his wife’s jewelry and ended homeless.  Yes, he slept at the New York bus station for 3 days.

Unable to pay rent or afford food. His lowest point came when he tried to sell his dog at the liquor store to any stranger. He didn’t have money to feed the dog anymore. He sold it at $25 only. He says he walked away crying.

Two weeks later, on TV he watched a boxing match between Mohammed Ali and Chuck Wepner.

That match was like a flash of divine inspiration…

For the next 20 hours he sat and wrote the script of what today is a cult movie, (Movie name to be revealed later, to maintain curiosity) ¹

In the words of his own, "After nearly 1500 rejections", he got a production house to offer $125,000 for the script.

Despite the poverty, pains, pregnant wife and lost dog. His dream was to STAR in the movie as the MAIN LEAD.

In an era when heroes were common man and spoke fluently, a body builder with a facial paralysis that made him stammer while speaking. The studio Bluntly rejected his offer, and said They wanted a REAL STAR.

They said he "Looked funny and talked funny".

He left with his script with another failure.

After few weeks later, the studio offered him $250,000 for the script. He refused.   They even offered $350,000. He still refused. They wanted his movie. But NOT him. He said NO. He had to be IN THAT MOVIE.

At that time everyone was pushing him to accept. It would be MAD not to do so.. He was making a fortune.

He still refused.

Someone in the studio really loved his script, and as fortune favors the brave. They finally accepted to $35,000 for the script and him as the lead star.

The rest as they say is history!

The movie was made for $1 million and went to make around $200 million. The movie won Best Picture, Best Directing and Best Film Editing at the prestigious Oscar Awards.

He was even nominated for BEST ACTOR! The Movie was even inducted into the American National Film Registry as one of the greatest movies ever!

Our hero was a "bankable" hero for the next 20yrs, till the late 90's… with his movies having made billions of dollars.

And do You know the first thing he bought with the $35,000?

THE DOG HE SOLD. Yes,  LOVED HIS DOG SO MUCH that he stood at the liquor store for 3 days waiting for the man he sold his dog to.

And on the 3rd day, he saw the man coming with the dog.  He explained why he sold the dog and begged for the dog back.

The man refused. He offered him $100. The man refused. He offered him $500. And the guy refused. Yes, he refused even $1000. And,

Believe it or Not, He had to pay $15,000 for the same, same dog he sold at $25 only! And he finally got his dog back!

And now it’s time to reveal the our star, He is none other than “Sylvester Stallone”

¹The First movie he wrote and acted was Rocky !

Moral of the story :

And in the words of rocky balboa –

Life is tough. Opportunities will pass you by, just because you are a NOBODY. People will want your products but NOT YOU. It’s a tough world. If you aint already famous, or rich or "connected",You will find it rough.

Doors will be shut on You. People will steal your glory and crash your hopes. You will push and push. And yet NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. And then your hopes will be crashed. You will be broke. Damn broke. You will do odd jobs for survival. You will be unable to feed yourself. And Yes, you may end up sleeping in the streets. It happens. Yes, it does.

BUT NEVER LET THEM CRUSH THAT DREAM. Whatever happens to You, Keep Dreaming. Even when they crush your hopes, Keep Dreaming. Even when they turn you away, Keep Dreaming. Even when they shut you down, Keep Dreaming.

NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF EXCEPT YOURSELF! People will judge You by HOW you look. And by WHAT You have.

But please, Fight on! Fight for Your place in history. Fight for your glory. NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!":- Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa

Keep Up the Fight. Keep your dreams and hope alive. Go get it.

No matter how hard is it to achieve your dream,  go for it, Never Give Up.

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh