AESOP FABLE for CHILDREN

LESSON #1

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Aesop shows us again and again that persistence pays off.

• The Hare and the Tortoise. Hare mocks tortoise's short legs. Tortoise vows to beat the hare in a race. Tortoise plods along while overconfident hare takes a snooze. Hare wakes up to see that tortoise has won. This one never gets old.
• The Crow and the Pitcher. A desperately thirsty crow finds a pitcher with water in the bottom, but his beak is too short to reach it. The clever crow patiently drops pebbles into the pitcher until the water level rises and he can reach it: a testament to both hard work and ingenuity. 
• The Farmer and His Sons. A dying farmer wants to be sure his sons will tend the land after he's gone, so he tells them there is a treasure in the fields. Looking for literal treasure, they dig extensively, tilling the soil, which results in an abundant crop. Treasure, indeed.

LESSON #2 No Shirking

Aesop's characters may think they're too clever to work, but they never get away with it for long.

• The Salt Merchant and His Ass. An ass carrying a load of salt accidentally falls in a stream and realizes that his load has melted away. So the next time he crosses the steam, he purposely falls down. Then his owner loads him with sponges, so when he falls down a third time, the weight of his load doubles instead of disappearing.
• The Ants and the Grasshopper. Another classic: grasshopper sings all summer while ants work to harvest grain. Winter comes, grasshopper begs ants for food, but ants say no. The ants might seem a bit uncharitable in this one, but hey, the grasshopper had his chance

LESSON #3 Actions Speak Louder Than Words

As anyone who has ever sat through a meeting knows, actual work is usually more effective than talk about work.

• Belling the Cat. The mice meet to decide what to do about their enemy, the cat. A young mouse says they should put a bell on the cat so they can hear it coming. Everyone thinks it's a brilliant idea until an older mouse asks who's going to put the bell on.
• The Boy Bathing. A boy drowning in a river asks a passerby for help but instead gets a lecture. Unfortunately, advice doesn't float.
• The Wasps, the Partridges, and the Farmer. Some thirsty wasps and partridges ask a farmer for some water, promising to repay him with useful services. The farmer observes that he has two oxen who already perform all those services without making any promises, so he'd rather give the water to them.

LESSON #4: Help Yourself

Don't ask for help until you've tried to help yourself. You'll probably do a better job than other people, anyway. 

• Hercules and the Wagoner. When his wagon gets stuck in the mud, the driver—without lifting a finger—cries out to Hercules for help. Hercules says he isn't going to help until the driver has made an effort himself.
• The Lark and Her Young Ones. A young lark overhears a farmer announcing that the crop is ripe and it's time to ask his friends to come help with the harvest. The lark asks its mother whether they need to move elsewhere for safety. She responds that if the farmer is only asking his friends, he isn't serious about getting the work done. They won't have to move until the farmer decides to harvest the crop himself.

LESSON #5: Choose Your Business Partners Carefully

 Even hard work won't pay off if you ally yourself with liars and criminals.

• The Lion's Share. A jackal, a fox, and a wolf go hunting with a lion. They kill a stag and divide it into four parts—each of which the lion justifies assigning to himself.
• The Wild Ass and the Lion. Very similar to "The Lion's Share." The lion distributes the three shares to himself, explaining that "the third share (believe me) will be a source of great evil to you, unless you willingly resign it to me, and set off as fast as you can."
• The Wolf and the Crane. A wolf gets a bone stuck in his throat and offers a crane a large sum if she removes it for him. When she asks for payment, he explains that being permitted to remove your head from the jaws of a wolf ought to be compensation enough.

LESSON #6: Nothing in Life Is Free

In Aesop's world, no one gets away with avoiding work, except maybe lions and wolves. But the good news is that Aesop's hard workers always prosper, even if they don't get to spend their summers singing.

v

Small droplets could fill in a bucket - the power of timing!

We've all seen it before - the seemingly harmless trickle of a single droplet of water left overnight on a pail would overflow a bucket the next day!

I call this the power of small efforts producing gigantic results over time.

In our life, this is similar to making small but consistent effort to improve oneself everyday.

1. If you want to lose weight, start by leaving maybe 1 spoonful of food on your plate. In one day, that's 3 spoonful. In 365 days, that's  1095 spoonful. If one plate is approximately 12 spoonful, this translates to not eating 90 plates of meal in one year!!

2. If you want to make earn money, then start by saving 1 dollar per day. That would translate to 365 dollars in a year. May not be significant but if you increase to 10 dollars, the number becomes 3650. that's 10X more!

3. If you want to improve yourself, then start by enrolling in small classes that enrich your knowledge. One subject or one course in a year. Baby steps leading to greater strides over time.

Like the tortoise and the hare stories, small steady strides could win the day!

100% Human

I am lost for words when I saw another celebrity fell big. The proverbial 'be careful where you stand, lest you fall', is so very true yet again. And Im reminded of this encounter by the Lord with the mob..

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap,in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Now what

Ok, so I enrolled in a public mgmt course.

What does this mean? A career in government service or public sector? Maybe an NGO? Who knows.

My 20 plus years in the pvt sector has taught me a thing or two about running a department.

Funding is crucial including fiscal discipline.

The ability to tighten belt when needed, lavish or rare occassions and not deviating from the vision!

10 minutes that worth viewing!

https://youtu.be/Bg_Q7KYWG1g

2018 Reflections

This time of the year is about reflection for the blessing, material or otherwise, I have received this year 2018.

Thanks to God!

- For giving me good health to continue with work, family and life balancing.

- For giving me wisdom to talk to people from all walks of life.

- For organizing charity work in Golf.

For my Family

- For graduation of my 1st son into Army.

- For letting my 2nd son travel to Sydney with no hiccups

- For protecting my 3rd boy from serious harm

- For my wife's effort to keep family

- For setting aside amount for stocks outside of work

- For setting aside savings for downpayment in new car.

Thanks to my Work

- For safe travels to sites where I visit.

- For success in the relationship of my new bosses Phil, Jeff and Hubie.

- For visiting new site like Mexico

Live by the sword die by the sword

In roman times this is an expression of how officers and the ruling class rule and govern people

Scripture has also mentioned this as Jesus words in Matthew 26:52--But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword."

If one is a political appointee and made his/her way up thru such process, then dont expect that once the ruling party steps down that a position is still available for the taking.

Unique point of view

People ought to have a unique perspective. After all,we are all created to be unique and different.

Just because majority think its a good way doesnt mean the minority is a bad idea.

Merits ought to be defended.

Top 10 Rules for Success - Sundar Pichai

According to Google CEO.

1. Think next.
2. Empower people, work with them, its ok to feel insecure.
3. Ideas matter, build on them.
4. Take risks, wear as badge of honor even if it fails.
5. Be an optimist. Problems are man made, solutions are man made.
6. Solve problems.
7. Follow your dreams. Get up and run again.
8. Have a good morning routine.
9. Do what you love.
10. Push yourself. 

Leadership Strength

Of all the leadership qualities, honesty and moral strength is the linchpin.

Complete honesty and the ability to be truthful in all your dealings (small or big). Honesty and integrity in the smallest result in honesty and integrity in the biggest. After all, all Big starts out Small. Pay attention to details, because the devil does really dwell on this. Consistency in words and deeds. Letting the yes be yes and the no be no.

On another hand, facing ones enemy (self) is in itself strengthening the moral compass. Having strength does not mean no temptation. It means recognizing temptation to be part of growth and that the ability to handle it matters. (Joseph and Potiphars wife) is a clear scriptural example.

Out with the old, in with the new

Life is all about changes. Today, a new leash of life has been opened. Met my new boss. Thus out with the old and in with the new. Some realizations as I ponder on this change.

1. Nothing new under the sun. No matter how inventive, innovative, cutting edge an idea may seem, it is is only good for its time. Once passe, then a new (old) idea will take over it.

2.  Everyone is dispensable. Hence, no one is indispensable. No matter how big a contribution you make to your company, end of the day you are still but just 1 asset. An employee. A worker. Beholden to shareholders, to stakeholders, to the customer.

3.  Cultivate relationship. After all, when all is said and done, we are all human after a day of work.

4.  Tolerate each other. Strip someone of all whims, fancies, pecularities and one finds a beating heart, a feeling soul. So no matter how rough a person maybe, tolerate him/her. One is appreciated for putting up with.

5. Leave something beyond yourself. When ones tenure is up, whats left is what you have done for someone. Have you defended them? have you coached them? Have they learned a thing or two about your life, your passion, your dreams and aspirations?

6.  When the going gets tough, take a break. No matter how tough a day's work is, there ought to be time to enjoy each others company, lick the wounds, and smell the flowers outside of work.




More to come as I reflect!