Confrontation between two friends

Dorothy noticed something was bothering Benjamin as he didn't seem to be happy like always, and didn't talk to her as much as he used to.

Dorothy finally asked: "Hey Ben, are you alright? Have I said anything that offended you unintentionally or is there anything that's bothering you? You seem to be rather unhappy lately."

Benjamin was a little uneasy when he replied: "Hey Dorothy, not at all. I'm quite alright, maybe a little tired as I'm quite tied up with work recently, but I'm really fine, thanks for your concern."

Dorothy really thought he was alright until he came to her few days later.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" somewhat hesitated, he asked deliberately.

"Sure, go ahead," Dorothy was really curious now as Benjamin had never behaved like this before.

"OK, Have you...By any chances," hesitated for one last time before he continued, "Mentioned to anyone, maybe accidentally, about the freelance I did few months ago? Because apparently someone who's quite close to you knew about that freelance, somehow..."

With utmost disbelief, she replied agitatedly: "No, of course not! You know I always keep my words especially when I've explicitly promised that I will NEVER share it with anyone else when you told me about the freelance," She just couldn't believe that Benjamin was actually suspecting her to be the one who disclosed his secret.

"Thanks, Dorothy, I trust you, but I just wanted to re-confirm that you didn't do it, really thanks for reassuring me," Benjamin smiled at her with a relief on his face.

Dorothy replied: "Well, if you DID trust me, perhaps you didn't even have to re-confirm it by confronting me today...Anyways." 

If he trusted her, why did he keep a distance from her when he found that his secret was exploded in the beginning? Wasn't it an obvious sign that he did not trust her initially?

If he did not trust her, why did he bother to 're-confirm' again that she didn't do it by confronting her later? Didn't it clearly tell that he still trusted her and whatever she said?

But if he DID trust her, why was such re-confirmation so significant? 

But if he DID NOT, he would have just continued keeping a distance from her and not even bother to seek for a re-confirmation, perhaps?

Its always something very delicate when it comes to TRUST.

The manager and the temporary staff

The CEO recruited a graduate of School A as a manager.

The CEO expected the Manager to hire another employee who must also be a graduate of School A to expand the company business together.

The Manager hired another graduate of School A soon after he joined the company, and quickly realized that the newly hired couldn't really pace up with him, so he terminated the new employee even if he knew the CEO wouldn't quite like the idea, but the Manager still did it as he believed the company could only grow with the right employee hired.

From then onwards the Manager had been very careful with the selection of candidates. He interviewed 100 people before he finally met this candidate, who was unfortunately NOT a graduate of School A, but fulfilling most of the requirements.

The Manager then hired the candidate as a TEMPORARY staff, hoping to commence some business development while waiting for the RIGHT candidate to appear later.

Before they realized, the Temporary Staff had become more and more efficient each day. Together they expanded the business a lot, and really enjoyed working with each other.

One day, the Temporary Staff finally requested an official employment from the Manager.

The Manager: "I wish I could, unfortunately its a rule that I CANNOT hire you as an official employee if you aren't a graduate of School A, no matter how much I appreciate your talent and contribution. Perhaps you could try to get a certification from School A, and we talk about this again?"

The Temporary Staff: "Well, you know I CAN perform. I really don't see any reasons why I should study now while I can already contribute so much to the company. Perhaps you could just convert me to a permanent employee first?"

The Manager: "I afraid I am not able to do that yet. Why don't you just go and study a little bit, see how it goes, and we'll talk about it again?"

So the Temporary Staff studied a little bit and came back to the same discussion again. 

The Manager: "I'm sorry, I still can't offer you a permanent position until you become a graduate of School A. Why is it so important for you, by the way, while your job scope and salary will be more or less the same even after such conversion?"

The Temporary staff: "Becoming a permanent staff turns uncertainty to certainty, it makes me feel much appreciated and know how to plan for my career path accordingly. Like now, I feel really insecure as I never know if I would still have the job tomorrow."

The Temporary Staff: "To be honest some companies have approached me recently and proposed me some very nice package and they are all permanent positions. However, I didn't accept any of those offers as I really admire the way you work and I believe together we could make the company business a great success, and I can always do the study LATER."

The Manager: "I still can't make you a permanent staff before you become a graduate of School A. Why don't you go and study a little bit more and we'll come back to this again?"

The Temporary Staff: "I'm sorry, but I never prioritized studying as something very crucial to be done NOW, but I just can't wait to utilize all the skill and knowledge I have to achieve something bigger," and then he sadly tendered his resignation.

The Manager: "Please stay a little longer and study just a little bit more before we see how we could go about this again? I really enjoy working with you!"

The Temporary Staff: "Thank you, I enjoy working with you too. But I just don't think anything would change even if I stay longer and study a little bit more as it still won't make me a graduate of School A, while at the same time I might lose all the OPPORTUNITIES of achieving something bigger."

The Manager lost his best employee ever, because he couldn't break the rule. 

If you were him, would you compromise and still try to find a way to convert the Temporary Staff to permanent employee even if its quite impossible, continue expanding the company's business, and let the Temporary Staff become a graduate of School A eventually at his own pace?

The Temporary Staff lost his best manager ever, because he wasn't interested to study so much yet. 

If you were him, would you compromise and study it all the way to the graduation from School A, despite your lack of interest in becoming one, yet, as well as the insecurity of losing anytime both the temporary job and all possible opportunities of achieving something bigger?

Well, if only I could make a choice and give the story a happy ending.

A gifted man

He always believed that he could RUN, until he met a cheetah in East Africa one day, who could run 70 miles per hour, which is almost 3 times faster than him.

He always believed that he could SWIM, until he met a Gentoo penguin in Antarctica, who could swim 15 miles per hour; and a school of fish that never have to get out of water to breathe.

He always believed that he could JUMP, until he met a puma, who could jump 15 feet or about 5 times its height; and later a flea who could jump 100 times higher than its size.

He always believed that he could CLIMB, until he met a cat, who could just climb 3 floors up in 5 seconds without making any noise; and later a monkey who could climb a coconut tree that was 80 feet high.

"No way! There must be something I am good at," despite the little frustration, he tried to think of ANYTHING that he could do, well, not necessarily to be something elegant, but something that impresses others will do.

He thought, well, maybe he could CRAWL. Immediately he found a snail who was crawling just next to him very slowly, but yet, steadily enough that seemed as though it could do that forever; and later a black Mamba who crawled aggressively at 20 miles per hour and kept threatening him with its fangs.

He thought, well, maybe he could SLEEP. Immediately he found a bear who just woke up from its 10 days hibernation; and later a ground squirrel who told him that its about time for it to go into hibernation for 4 to 6 months.

"Just why don't I have a talent?" he was really upset in the beginning, and finally decided to stop fighting the nature, but start thinking instead what he could really do best given what he had. 

So he invented a CAR, that runs much faster than 70 miles per hour.

So he invented a SHIP, that sails much faster than 15 miles per hour; and a SUBMARINE that allows him to stay underwater for a very long time. 

So he invented a PLANE, that gets him to 37,000 feet high in the air, moves him from one end of the world to another; and a ROCKET that even transports him to another planet if he wants.

"I think I know what my talent really is now," and he happily transferred all his knowledge to many generations to come.

We all must be talented in some way, its just a matter of whether you've discovered yours.

Some people think its a waste of time and effort to try out different things or to develop different skills in life, as they think it would just end up knowing a lot in 'breadth' but not in 'depth'.

For me, I suppose you never know what your talent really is, until you discover it.

If you are uncertain about what you can achieve, just KEEP TRYING.

Old lady and a five-year-old

This old lady always started her day by sitting on a bench in front of her house, looked to the horizon with her face getting more and more miserable, and then ended up weeping, every single day.

One day, her neighbor's 5-year-old's son came by and asked: "Hello granny, why are you crying everyday?"

She answered, sadly: "That's because I have two sons..."

The young boy quickly replied: "Oh, that's GREAT, I always wanted a brother! Why are you crying?"

She continued: "My first son, Sam, is a raincoat seller, and Rob, my second son, is a hat seller."

The boy still didn't get it: "OK...But why are you crying?"

She sobbed again: "Sam makes good business when its raining, whereas Rob sells a lot of hats on a sunny day."

The boy got even more confused now: "That's good for them...why are you crying?"

She looked even sadder now: "When its sunny, I think about how Sam will be suffering because nobody will buy his raincoats."

"When it starts raining," she continued, "I just can't help thinking how Rob will have a hard time selling his hats," with her eyes glittering because of the tears, "I feel so sorry when any of their business is not doing well, and that's why I am crying."

The little boy laughed and replied innocently: "Why don't you think of Sam when its raining, and Rob on a sunny day? Then you'll be happy everyday!"

This is not a new story, but I suppose its definitely worth it to re-write it and share with those who have not read or heard about it. 

Some people just don't know how to be happy, like the granny here. 

They don't remember the good things in life, and when life gets a little tough sometimes, they become really upset and get stuck in eternal unhappiness. 

Well, just remember one thing: Its always your CHOICE to be unhappy, but good news is, you can always CHOOSE to be happy too - just try to think like a five-year-old! ;)

Two monks and a beautiful woman

Two monks were on their way back to their temple, when they saw a beautiful woman sitting next to the river they were about to cross, with a distressed look on her face.

They asked if the woman needed any help. The woman said she needed to cross the river but she didn't know how to swim, would be great if any of them could carry her across the river.

Monk #1 immediately rejected her as its proclaimed in the doctrines that a monk should avoid any physical contacts with any women by all means, while monk #2, on the contrary, accepted the request and piggybacked her across the river, totally disregarding the strong objection from monk #1.

Once they'd crossed the river, monk #2 slowly put her down, and left after she expressed her thankfulness for his help.

As the two continued the journey back home, monk #1 never stopped criticizing monk #2 for not following the doctrines by having physical contacts with the beautiful woman.

When they finally arrived, monk #2 who had just been keeping quiet until then, looked at monk #1 and said:

"I have long put her down since we crossed the river, but you on the other hand, are still taking her with you in your heart until now."

Read this story on a Chinese newspaper some years ago, and still find it very inspiring today.  

Sometimes persistence is really great to have especially when it comes to self-improvement or other positive things that could be done in order to create a better life; other times it might just appear to be some obstacles for one to move on and discover other wonderful things in life. 

Therefore, be persistent ONLY when its for something BETTER.