The Touchstone : Be Ready

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers.

The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the "Touchstone"!

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: "The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold".

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away. The problem is we never know when the door of opportunity is going to open wide. For some, the big break comes early in life and for others later on. But for all of those who become successful, there is one key similarity: They were ready. And for every one of those who were ready, there were thousands more who weren't. So, the principle for us is: Be ready!

Let's be proactive and make sure that we are the most qualified when the door opens. All we need is to make sure we are the closest to the door…. When it opens – Be Ready!

Self Confidence

The business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him, "I can see that something is troubling you," he said. After listening to the executive's woes, the old man said, "I believe I can help you."

He asked the man his name, wrote out a cheque, and pushed it into his hand saying, "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time."


Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come. The business executive saw in his hand a cheque for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!

"I can erase my money worries in an instant!" he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed cheque in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed cheque. At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the cheque and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.

"I'm so glad I caught him!" she cried. "I hope he hasn't been bothering you.  He's always escaping from the rest home and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller." And she led the old man away by the arm 

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he'd been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him.

Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve his targets.

Most of the time it is not the money in the bank that helps us tide through rough times but belief in ourselves. So start believing in yourselves and work towards your goals…

So you believe in God?

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and.....  Prof:  So you believe in God?  Student:  Absolutely, sir.  Prof  : Is God good?  Student:  Sure.  Prof:  Is God all-powerful?  Student  : Yes.  Prof:  My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm? (Student is silent.)  Prof:  You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?  Student:  Yes.  Prof:  Is Satan good?  Student  : No.  Prof:  Where does Satan come from?  Student:  From...God.. ..  Prof:  That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?  Student:  Yes.  Prof:  Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?  Student:  Yes.  Prof:  So who created evil? (Student does not answer.)  Prof:  Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?  Student:  Yes, sir.  Prof:  So, who created them? (Student has no answer.)  Prof:  Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?  Student:  No, sir.  Prof:  Tell us if you have ever heard your God?  Student:  No, sir.  Prof:  Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?  Student:  No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't..  Prof:  Yet you still believe in Him?  Student:  Yes.  Prof:  According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?  Student:  Nothing. I only have my faith..  Prof:  Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.  Student:  Professor, is there such a thing as heat?  Prof:  Yes.  Student:  And is there such a thing as cold?  Prof:  Yes.  Student:  No sir. There isn't. (The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)  Student  : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.  There is no such thing as cold . Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat . We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy . Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it . (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)  Student:  What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?  Prof:  Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?  Student :  You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?  Prof:  So what is the point you are making, young man?  Student:  Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.  Prof:  Flawed? Can you explain how?  Student:  Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor.Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?  Prof:  If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.  Student:  Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir? (The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)  Student:  Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.)  Student:  Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain? (The class breaks out into laughter.)  Student  : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain,sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir? (The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable. )  Prof:  I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son..  Student:  That is it sir.... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive. NB: I believe you have enjoyed the conversation. ..and if so...you'll probably want your friends/colleagues to enjoy the same...won't you?.... this is a true story, and the  student was none other than........ .     Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam , the former president of India  .