Burning desire to win

A long while ago, a great warrior faced a situation which made it necessary for him to make a decision which insured his success on the battlefield.  He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own.  He loaded soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy's country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them.  

Addressing his men before the first battle, he said, "You see the boats going up in smoke.  That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win!  We now have no choice we win - or we perish!

They won.

Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cult all sources of retreat.  Only by so doing can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a "burning desire to win", essential to success.

The Purpose of Life - Story

Nazis stormed into Stanislavsky Lech’s home, arrested him and his entire family, and sent them to a death camp in Krakow. Soon after, Lech’s family was shot before his eyes and his son was murdered in a gas chamber. Somehow, Lech continued living. He was forced to work as a laborer clearing dead bodies from the camp. Soon after his imprisonment, Lech looked at the horror around him and decided that he must escape.

Escaping from the death camp became Lech’s sole purpose in life, his obsession. Every thought, every step, every action revolved around answering the question, “How can I escape?” You might think that everyone stuck in this nightmare would share Lech’s obsession to escape, but most prisoners seemed to have lost their purpose of living. For weeks Lech asked the other prisoners, “How can we escape this horrible place?” The answers he received were always the same: “Don’t be a fool, there is no escape.” or “Don’t torture yourself, just work hard and pray you survive.” But Lech wouldn’t accept it. One day, while being forced to clean the gas chambers, he saw a huge pile of bodies that had been shoveled into the back of a truck. Instead of asking, “How could the Nazis be so evil? How could God allow this? Why me?,” Lech asked, “How can I use this to fulfill my purpose?”

As the end of the day neared and the work party headed back into the barracks, Lech ducked behind the truck, ripped off his clothes, and dove naked into the pile of bodies. He remained completely still and pretended to be dead even as he was crushed by more and more bodies heaped on top of him. He was surrounded by the smell of rotting flesh and the rigid remains of other dead prisoners. After several torturous hours of waiting, Lech heard the truck’s engine starting. Soon, the truck stopped and dumped its cargo into a giant open grave outside the camp. Lech remained there for many more hours until nightfall. Then, when he was sure no one was there, he climbed out of the mountain of dead bodies and ran naked 25 miles to freedom.

The above story is from the book, Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins and it articulates an important point: finding your purpose in life is the most important thing you will ever do. A strong purpose saved Stanislavsky Lech’s life. That purpose, the burning desire to escape, is the one thing that separated him from the other prisoners that shared his same circumstances. Whether you find yourself held captive by your circumstances, your relationships, or your emotions, you can quickly take back control by harnessing the power of purposeful living.

Abortion

At Ohio State University, Ravi Zaccharias did an open forum on a radio talk show. The host was an atheist. From the start, the callers were antagonistic. "I could feel the tension as soon as the lines lit up. One angry woman caller said, “All you people have is an agenda you’re trying to promote.” Referring to abortion, she said, “You want to take away our rights and invade our private lives.”

Abortion had not even been brought up.

“Just a minute,” I replied, “we didn’t even raise the subject.”

“Ok,” she said, “what is your position on abortion then?”

I said, “Can I ask you a question? On every university campus I visit, somebody stands up and says that God is an evil God to allow all this evil into our world. This person typically says, ‘A plane crashes: 30 people die, and 20 people live. What kind of God would arbitrarily choose some to live and some to die?’”

I continued, “But when we play God and determine whether a child within a mother’s womb should live, we argue for that as a moral right. So when human beings are given the privilege of playing God, it’s called a moral right. When God plays God, we call it an immoral act. Can you justify this for me?”

That was the end of the conversation.

You can’t keep a good man down

Sir Douglas Bader was a pilot who lost both his legs in a plane crash before WW2. He was fitted with artificial legs & resumed flying. In 1939, when Germany & England went to war, he enlisted in the Royal Air Force.


Flying with two artificial legs, he shot down 22 enemy airplanes in the Battle of Britain. He became a national hero, & an example of how even a handicapped man could still be able to serve his country.


Then in 1941 his plane was shot down over France & he parachuted into enemy territory. In the process, both of his artificial legs were destroyed. Helpless, he was captured by a German patrol & made a prisoner of war.


Bader was so respected by his German captors that, amazingly, they contacted the British government to airdrop his two spare artificial legs so that he could have the use of his legs once again. And the British did.


The Germans soon realized that they had made a big mistake, for as soon as Bader received his legs, he started trying to escape. After 4 escape attempts his captors decided that there was only one thing to do. So every night when he went to bed, they took his artificial legs away from him & locked them up. That was the only way they knew to keep him from trying to escape.


We’ve got to admire a man like that, don’t we? He gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "You can’t keep a good man down."

​खाली पेट -​ (लघुकथा)

​खाली पेट -​ (लघुकथा)

लगभग दस साल का बालक राधा का गेट बजा रहा है।

राधा ने बाहर आकर पूंछा

"क्या है ? "

"आंटी जी क्या मैं आपका गार्डन साफ कर दूं ?"

"नहीं, हमें नहीं करवाना।"

हाथ जोड़ते हुए दयनीय स्वर में "प्लीज आंटी जी करा लीजिये न, अच्छे से साफ करूंगा।"

द्रवित होते हुए "अच्छा ठीक है, कितने पैसा लेगा ?"

"पैसा नहीं आंटी जी, खाना दे देना।"

" ओह !! अच्छे से काम करना।"

"लगता है, बेचारा भूखा है।पहले खाना दे देती हूँ। राधा बुदबुदायी।"

"ऐ  लड़के ! पहले खाना खा ले, फिर काम करना।

"नहीं आंटी जी, पहले काम कर लूँ फिर आप खाना दे देना।"

"ठीक है ! कहकर राधा अपने काम में लग गयी।"

एक घंटे बाद "आंटी जी देख लीजिए, सफाई अच्छे से हुई कि नहीं।"

"अरे वाह! तूने तो बहुत बढ़िया सफाई की है, गमले भी करीने से जमा दिए।यहाॅं बैठ, मैं खाना लाती हूँ।"

जैसे ही राधा ने उसे खाना दिया वह जेब से पन्नी निकाल कर उसमें खाना रखने लगा।"

"भूखे काम किया है, अब खाना तो यहीं बैठकर खा ले।जरूरत होगी तो और दे दूंगी।"

"नहीं आंटी, मेरी बीमार माँ घर पर है।सरकारी अस्पताल से दवा तो मिल गयी है,पर डाॅ साहब ने कहा है दवा खाली पेट नहीं खाना है।"

राधा रो पड़ी..

और अपने हाथों से मासुम को उसकी दुसरी माँ बनकर खाना खिलाया..

फिर... उसकी माँ के लिए रोटियां बनाई .. और साथ उसके घर जाकर उसकी माँ को रोटियां दे आयी .. 

और कह आयी .. बहन आप बहुत अमीर हो ..

जो दौलत आपने अपने बेटे को दी है वो हम अपने बच्चो को भी नहीं दे पाते ..

खुद्धारी की ...

Using All Your Strength

A young boy was walking with his father along a country road. When they came across a very large tree branch the boy asked, “Do you think I could move that branch?”

His father answered, “If you use all your strength, I’m sure you can.”

So the boy tried mightily to lift, pull and push the branch but he couldn’t move it. Discouraged he said, “Dad, you were wrong. I can’t do it.”

His dad said, “Try again.” This time, as the boy struggled with the branch his father joined him and together they pushed the branch aside.

“Son,” the father said, “the first time you didn’t use all your strength. You didn’t ask me to help.”

This is an important lesson. There are many things we can’t do alone, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get them done. We all are surrounded by resources that can be mobilized to help us achieve our goals – including family, friends and faith. Sometimes we fail to ask for help because of pride or stubbornness. Sometimes we think it’s a sign of weakness to admit we need a hand. And sometimes we don’t even think about asking for help. Whatever the reason, it’s a waste.

It’s important that we learn to use all our strength; this includes inner resources such as discipline, courage and even love. But it also includes outer resources. Just as we should willing help others we should be willing to ask the help of others. It’s one of the great things about being human.

Michael Josephson
www.whatwillmatter.com

*The story is derived from a story told by David Wolpe in Teaching Your Children About God (Harper Perennial, 1995)

Puppies for Sale

A shop owner placed a sign above his door that said: “Puppies For Sale.”

Signs like this always have a way of attracting young children, and to no surprise, a boy saw the sign and approached the owner; “How much are you going to sell the puppies for?” he asked.

The store owner replied, “Anywhere from $30 to $50.”

The little boy pulled out some change from his pocket. “I have $2.37,” he said. “Can I please look at them?”

The shop owner smiled and whistled. Out of the kennel came Lady, who ran down the aisle of his shop followed by five teeny, tiny balls of fur. One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said, “What’s wrong with that little dog?”

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The shop owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the little puppy and had discovered it didn’t have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame.

The little boy became excited. “That is the puppy that I want to buy.”

The shop owner said, “No, you don’t want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I’ll just give him to you.”

The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store owner’s eyes, pointing his finger, and said;

“I don’t want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I’ll pay full price. In fact, I’ll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month until I have him paid for.”

The shop owner countered, “You really don’t want to buy this little dog. He is never going to be able to run and jump and play with you like the other puppies.”

To his surprise, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the shop owner and softly replied, “Well, I don’t run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands!”