Thinking "Out of the Box"

Many hundreds of 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? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.
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 that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way.

Awesome post @Params

Think Before You Judge

A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call asap, changed his clothes and went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy?s father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor.

On seeing him, the father yelled, ?Why did you take all this time to come? Don?t you know that my son?s life is in danger? Don?t you have any sense of responsibility??

The doctor smiled and said, ?I am sorry, I wasn?t in the hospital and I came as fast as I could after receiving the call and now, I wish you?d calm down so that I can do my work?.

?Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies while waiting for doctor than what will you do??? said the father angrily. The doctor smiled again and replied, ?We will do our best by God?s grace and you should also pray for your son?s healthy life?.

?Giving advises when we?re not concerned is so easy? Murmured the father.

The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy, ?Thank goodness! your son is saved!? And without waiting for the father?s reply he carried on his way running by saying, ?If you have any questions, ask the nurse?.

?Why is he so arrogant? He couldn?t wait some minutes so that I ask about my son?s state? Commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left. The nurse answered, tears coming down her face, ?His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was at the burial when we called him for your son?s surgery. And now that he saved your son?s life, he left running to finish his son?s burial.?

Moral: Never judge anyone because you never know how their life is and what they?re going through.

What would you do? A MUST READ!!!!!

you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one.

Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fund raising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its
dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart.. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted..
In the bottom of the eig hth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field.. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the
plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed..
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.20
Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game..
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball .. the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
Al l were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home ! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

Very creative! Tnx for sharing :D

Found this one over the internet... was a good one so thought of sharing it with you all....

we all have these works and errands to finish and while doing all those we forget to actually live... and that is what this post is about.....

I hope you all will like it.. :)

.....I WAS DYING.....

First i was dying to finish High School and start College.
And then i was dying to finish college and start working.
And then i was dying to marry and have children.
And then i was dying for my children to grow old enough for school so i could return to work.
And then i was dying to retire.
And now, i am dying... Andsuddenly i realize, I FORGOT TO LIVE.....

What is life?

They say, it's from B to D...

From Birth to Death...

But, What's between B and D??

It's a "C"... and what does C stand for??

"CHOICE"

Our life is a matter of choices...

LIVE WELL AND YOUR LIFEWILL NEVER GO WRONG...

So true and so very relevant to our lives!!Thank you for these amazing posts @Params!

.....RESPECT YOURSELF.....

Respect yourself enough to WALK away from anything that no longer serves you, grown you or MAKES YOU HAPPY....

Ajobless man applied for the position of 'office boy' in renowned company (ABC)

The HR manager interviewed him, then gave him a test: clean the floor. The man passed the test with flying colors. ?You are hired," HR manager informed the applicant, "give me your e-mail address, and I'll send you the application for employment, as well as the date you should report for work.The man replied " I don't have a computer, or an email! ?I?m sorry," said the HR manager. "If you don't have an email, that means you do not exist. And we cannot hire persons who do not exist."

The man was very disappointed. He didn't know what to do. He only had $10 with him. Once that is spent, he won't have any money to buy any food. He went to the supermarket and bought a crate of tomatoes with his $10.He went from door to door and sold the tomatoes in less than two hours. He doubled his money.He repeated the operation three times, and returned home with $60. He realized that he can survive this way. He started to go everyday earlier, and return late. He doubled or tripled his money every day. Soon, he bought a cart, then a truck. In a very short time, he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later, the man became one of the biggest food retailers in the U. S. He started to plan his family's future, and decided to have a life insurance. He called an insurance broker, and chose a protection plan.At the end of the conversation, the broker asked him for his email address.

The man replied: ' I don't have an email.'

The broker was dumbfounded. "You don't have an email, and yet have succeeded in building an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an email?," he exclaimed.

The man thought for a while, and replied, "an office boy at ABC!"

If you just lost your Job or Just failed an Interview Don't worry be Optimistic..... Good days are on the way and something better is reserved for you.