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?  (Stop reading further and think for a while)

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.

Life is actually a reflection of our thoughts and actions...

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors.

A small, happy little dog came to know of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house.

He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his.

He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often."

In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."

All the faces in the world are mirrors. Just observe what kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the people you meet..

Paradox of our time in history

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
   
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
   
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
   
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
   
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

Are we going to take some time to think where we are up to??

Your belief window

We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are. You may not be aware of this little-known but highly important part of your person that affects many of the decisions you make and how you behave in different situations. It is your Belief Window.

You cannot actually see your Belief Window because it’s invisible, but we all have one. It is figuratively attached to your head and hangs in front of your face. Every time you move, that window goes with you. You look at the world through it, and what you see is filtered back to you through it.

Your Belief Window is always there with you, filtering what you see - the oceans of data and information helping you make sense of the world around you. It influences the way you perceive others, the way you read situations, and the feelings you have about yourself.

The tricky thing about the Belief Window is that you have placed perceptions on it which you believe are absolutely true, whether they reflect reality or not. For example, your experiences and social feedback may have caused you to believe that you are smart, stupid, beautiful, ugly, competent, incompetent, creative, or dull - regardless of whether they are true. And because you believe them you unquestioningly act as though they are. That’s why changing our behavior is sometimes such a difficult task.

Until we realize that we view the world through our Belief Windows and that it constantly filters our experiences, we will continue to think that we see life “as it really is.”

One of the most important things we can do is to make sure our Belief Window is as clear as possible and truly reflects the reality. This may be the most difficult thing to do. You will probably have to swallow your pride, and admit that you do have a Belief Window that affects much of what you do, and recognize that some of the things you’ve placed on it are incorrect. In doing so, you will have achieved the critical first step in freeing yourself from erroneous self-ideas that may be impeding your progress.

Be grateful for what God has given you

How grateful would you say you are?  Did you know that your gratitude level can directly affect your happiness?  Now that may sound little strange.
       
Even financial experts agree that gratitude is a vital component for increasing wealth and success.  This basic premise of gratitude is to acquire a more positive and receptive state of being.  Here is how it actually works. You begin by being grateful for the smaller and more immediate things like having a place to live, food to eat, etc.  By placing yourself in a positive frame of mind through gratitude, you open yourself to all the good things the universe has to offer.

That is when you can actually begin to attract good things to you.  And as you become more comfortable with the positive things that basic gratitude brings, you will likely find yourself feeling grateful for even bigger things like being alive, learning hard lessons, your past mistakes, the freedom to make choices in life, and more.  This type of gratitude catapults you even further along the path to a successful and happy life.
   
Once you reach the point where you remain in a constant state of gratitude, you will become a magnet that attracts the good things to you.
      
Take some time every day this week to note those things that you are grateful for, from the smallest to the biggest.