Pushers & Pullers

Educator Booker T. Washington observed, "There are two ways of exerting one's strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up." 

Pushers and pullers are the two types of people that we need to deal with on a daily basis in this world. 

Formers are the types who push you down, suck the energy from you and demotivate you. The negative type. 

Latters are those who pull you up, inspire you and motivate you to achieve your goals and dreams. The positive type.

Undeniably, we all love pullers and need more of them in our lives. They are like a cup of cool water for a dry and parched throat. Dealing with this type is the easiest. We can relate to them effortlessly. They ooze out positivity which is infectious.

We avoid and detest those who push us down. It’s this variety, the negative ones, that cause the concern. It can be really tough to get back up once someone has knocked us down. Self-confidence gets heavily beaten up. Self-doubt and insecurities get triggered and are hard to put aside. 

Let’s face it. In reality, life doesn't consist only of pullers. It is a concoction of both types. It takes all sorts to make the world go around. We are compelled to deal with both.

How to deal with these pushers?

 

One way of dealing is “ignore” or “accept”.

"Ignore" when we understand that the pushing down is caused by plain jealousy. Admit that it’s the way these pushers are made. It’s not our task to change them. Our focus should only be on changing ourselves and our insights for the better. Best is to keep a distance from these pushers. Leave them behind and move on. They are not worth walking along with.

"Accept" when we find that the criticism is true, based on fact and not biased. After all, let’s give the benefit of doubt to the offender. Let’s work on the conjecture that not always do people have an agenda in their minds. We might’ve committed a blunder inadvertently and hence we have to deal with it. Hence let’s ‘accept’ the pushing down.

And last comes the most elevated way. Send them your love! I know it’s THE MOST difficult task on earth. If all of us had achieved the echelon of this elevation, we wouldn't be discussing this topic here. Right? And why should we send them, the offenders our love? Because it’s what we expect from them. Since they are lacking in it, let’s provide them with some quotient of it.

But the silver lining in the cloud is this. Life is not so cruel. It makes sure that when someone pushes us down, there is someone else who would pull us up. Life gives us an opportunity to become a much better person stronger in heart and mind. If we stop to think about it, we’ll end up thanking both.

Set your priorities

When the angel of death came to Joe Smith, to accompany him to his real home, Joe dismissively responded “I am not ready to die as I have so much left to do. Do you mind coming back later?”

The Angel replied, "sorry your time is up and we must leave now."

Joe enquired, “don’t you know who I am? I am Joe Smith, one of the richest men in the world."

The Angel nodded “I know all about you as I do everyone else; now hurry along, Let’s go.”

Joe pleaded; “if I were to give you 10% of my fortune, which is over a billion dollars, will you turn a blind eye and return a year later?”

The Angel shook his head and replied, “you don’t seem to understand Joe. It is time to go”

For the next few moments, Joe tried his best to negotiate with the angel giving away more of his fortune for lesser time. He finally succumbed and offered “if I were to give you all my fortune, which is 10 billion dollars, will you give me 5 minutes so that I can call my wife and children and tell them that I love them? I have never told them this and it is very important to me that they know how I feel about them. I also need to seek forgiveness from 2 people that I have hurt the most. All I ask is 5 minutes!”

The Angel paused and looked at Joe curiously and asked, “how long did it take you to make your 10 billion dollars?”

Joe replied, “30 years my friend – it took me a whole 30 years – it’s a great deal in exchange for 5 minutes, take it – you will never have to work another day in your life."

The Angel shook his head and said “I really do not understand you human beings! If you are willing to give up 30 years of your lives’ work for 5 minutes, then why did you not make the most of every minute while you had it? How did you value your time? Where were your priorities? Why did you not say or do the things that really mattered?”

The lights went off a second later, Joe was gone.

His 10 billion dollars could not buy him the time to do what really mattered.

Echo & Life

A son and his father were walking in the mountains.
Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain:
"AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Curious, he yells: "Who are you?"
He receives the answer: "Who are you?"

Angered at the response, he screams: "Coward!"
He receives the answer: "Coward!"

He looks to his father and asks: "What's going on?"

The father smiles and says: "My son, pay attention."

And then he screams to the mountain: "I admire you!"
The voice answers: "I admire you!"

Again the man screams: "You are a champion!"
The voice answers: "You are a champion!"

The boy is surprised, but does not understand.

Then the father explains: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE.
It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.

If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.

If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.

This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life. 

Life will give you back everything you have given to it."
YOUR LIFE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. IT'S A REFLECTION OF YOU!

Are you a leader?

A young woman was filling out an application for college when she came across the question: "Are you a leader?"

She thought she had better be brutally honest, so she answered, "No."

She was convinced when she sent the application in that she'd never hear from them because of that answer.

But she received a letter back from the school that read: "We have reviewed numerous applications and, to date, there will be some 1,452 new leaders attending school next year. We have decided to accept your application because we felt it was imperative that they have at least one follower."

How God helps us

There was a man who lived in a house next to a river.

After a heavy storm, the water rose and an announcement came over the radio urging locals to leave their houses before their homes were flooded.

“Oh, no,” said the man confidently to himself, “I’m a religious man, I pray, God loves me, God will save me.”

The water rose higher, and the man was forced to move into the second story of his house. A guy in a row boat came along and called for the man to hurry and get into the boat.

“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary,” the man insisted. “I’m a religious man, I pray, God loves me, God will save me.”

Finally the house was completely engulfed in water, and a helicopter swooped in to rescue the man, now perched on the roof.

Again he refused, saying, “I’m a religious man, I pray, God loves me, God will save me.”

Just then, a huge wave of water swept over the house, and the man drowned.

When he got to heaven, he demanded an audience with God.
“Lord,” he said, “I’m a religious man, I pray. I thought you loved me. Why did this happen?’

“What do you mean?” asked the heavenly Father. “I sent a radio announcement, a boat, and a helicopter and you still wouldn’t listen to me!”

Sometimes, we pray and look for a sign from God as to what we should do next.

Most often, He’s already spoken and we just haven’t paid attention.

He will often use unusual sources and will even use those who don’t believe in Him.

Just make sure that you’re listening.

How to find new opportunities

by Arun Purang

Once an MBA topper struggled in his corporate job. His job required him to come up with new ideas. However he could not. All his subordinates found new ideas and succeeded in their jobs. More he compared himself with his peers, more agitated he became. With agitated mind he found it really hard to find new ideas.

Totally frustrated, he went to a Zen master and asked him, “God is totally unfair to me. All my subordinates are getting great ideas and are succeeding in life. He is not giving me any idea to succeed in life.” 

Monk took the gentleman to a nearby football ground. He then threw 5 tennis balls on the field. He then asked the gentleman to collect all of them. Within minutes the gentleman collected all the balls and returned happily. He then took him to a dense forest. He then threw all the 5 balls in the woods and told the gentleman to collect all the 5 of them. Within seconds the balls were lost in the woods. After an hour the gentleman came to the monk and told him that he has lost all the balls in the woods. 

Zen master smiled and told, “These balls are like opportunities and landscape is like our mind. When our mind is filled with noise we lose opportunities. When our mind is as clear as the football ground, we can see all the opportunities. Everybody is given enough opportunities. If you want to see them, reduce the noise in your brain.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0duYr0j1qI

Don't quit. Keep playing

Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."

Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her.

Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE." When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing.

Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."

Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.

That's the way it is in life. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't exactly graceful flowing music. But when we trust in the hands of a Greater Power, our life's work truly can be beautiful.

Human kind

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away.

As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.”

The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.”

He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers.

As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.”

She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.

He didn’t want to waste a single more moment.

Seize every opportunity to tell your loved ones how much you love them. You may not get another day to do it.

(Author Unknown)

Never miss an opportunity to be truthful

Who did this?" asked the teacher. Thirty children tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what our teacher may have found out.

"Who did this?" asked the teacher once more. She wasn't really asking, she was demanding an answer. She seldom became angry, but she was this time.

She held up a piece of broken glass and asked, "Who broke this window?"

"Oh, oh," the boy who broke the window thought. “I was the one who broke the window. I had not done it intentionally. It was caused by an errant throw of a baseball. Why did it have to be me? It wasn't really my fault. If I admitted guilt, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn't even get an allowance. My father is going to have a fit," he thought.

He didn't want to raise his hand, but some force much stronger than him pulled it skyward.

He told the truth. "I did it." He said no more. It was hard enough saying what he had.

The teacher went to the library shelf and took down a book. She then began walking towards his desk. He had never known his teacher to strike a student, but he feared she was going to start with him and she was going to use a book for the swatting.

"I know how you like birds," she said as she stood looking down at his guilt-ridden face. "Here is that field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It is yours. It's time we got a new one for the school anyway. The book is yours and you will not be punished as long as you remember that I am NOT rewarding you for your misdeed, I am rewarding you for your truthfulness."

The boy couldn't believe it! He wasn't being punished and he was getting his very own bird field guide. The very one that he had been saving up money to buy. The money he feared would be going to the school to buy a new window.

Years later, though the book was gone and so was that wonderful teacher, all that remained of that day with the boy was this wonderful memory and the lesson the teacher taught him—never miss an opportunity to own your mistakes; being truthful has its own rewards.

That lesson stayed with him and continued to echo forever.

An opportunity to develop talent

There was a man who played piano in a restaurant. He was a good piano player. People came out just to hear him play. But one night, a patron told him he didn't want to hear him just play anymore. He wanted him to sing a song.

The man said, "I don't sing."

But the customer was persistent. He told the bartender, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing!"

The bartender shouted across the room, "Hey buddy! If you want to get paid, sing a song. The patrons are asking you to sing!"

So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the very first time. And nobody had ever heard the song Mona, Mona Lisa sung the way it was sung that night by Nat King Cole!

He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name restaurant, but because he had to sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in America. 

Words spoken in anger

Imagine you are in a bad mood and hot words just fume out of you. Will you get an opportunity to replace those hot words? 

There was a couple who had celebrated their golden anniversary with a big party. Presents were exchanged, and congratulations were expressed before they got in their car and drove home.

When they got home the woman made her way into the kitchen. As was her custom, she brewed some tea, and took out a loaf of bread. She had baked one daily for years. She cut off the heel, warmed it, and buttered it for her husband before cutting another slice for herself. Then she served him the warm bread.

Now, this guy who had been married for fifty years loved his wife greatly, but the stress of the day had taken its toll. And he blew up.

He said, "Honey I love you. You know that. But quite frankly this is it. For more years than I can even count, you have baked bread for me every day. But you always give me the heel. You always pass off that crusty piece of bread, that heel on me. I have had it! I won't take it anymore!"

She looked at him, blinked back the tears and said, "But honey, that's my favorite piece."

Author Unknown

The voice of opportunity

We live in a world that is full of activity and chatter. Amidst all this, let us make an honest attempt to hear that still, small voice of God, the voice of opportunity.

Back when the telegraph was the was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator.

Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background.

A sign on the receptionist's counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office. The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants in the waiting area.
After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn't heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake and would be disqualified.

Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, "Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled."

The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying, "Wait a minute, I don't understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That's not fair!"

The employer said, "I'm sorry, but all the time you've been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: 'If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.' None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his."

Make time and take the opportunities

A 6 year old girl was shopping with her Mom. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. 

Everyone stood just inside the door of the shop. Some waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day.

All of a sudden the 6 year old spoke loudly. Her voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance that everyone was caught in.

"Mom, let's run through the rain," she said.

"What?" Mom asked.

"Let's run through the rain!" She repeated.

"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom, let's run through the rain."

"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.

"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

"This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"

"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. All stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.

Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said.

Then off they ran. Everyone stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked.

And slowly they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, they did. They ran. They got wet. They all needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday.

Author Unknown

Fail to seize the opportunity

Imagine where the famous Woolworth chain of store would be if young F. W. Woolworth had listened to his boss and failed to recognize or seize the opportunity.

Read on….

When young F. W. Woolworth was a store clerk, he tried to convince his boss to have a ten-cent sale to reduce inventory. The boss agreed, and the idea was a resounding success.

This inspired Woolworth to open his own store and price items at a nickel and a dime. He needed capital for such a venture, so he asked his boss to supply the capital for part interest in the store. His boss turned him down flat.

"The idea is too risky," he told Woolworth. "There are not enough items to sell for five and ten cents."

Woolworth went ahead without his boss's backing, and he not only was successful in his first store, but eventually he owned a chain of F. W. Woolworth stores across the nation.

Later, his former boss was heard to remark, "As far as I can figure out, every word I used to turn Woolworth down cost me about a million dollars."

The same opportunity never knocks twice

There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content.

One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country." And then he went away.

That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent..

The next morning he sold off his farm and went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona River and committed suicide.

Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room.

That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. 

He asked, "Is Hafiz back?" 

The new owner said, "No, why do you ask?"

The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one."

The man said, “no, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show you. There are many more."

They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.

Innovation is the key

I was 20 and had just finished my first degree when I aksed my father's advice on how to approach the world of work. He had a long and distinguished career in the Indian Army and rose to become commander-in-chief of a million men. He was a soldier's soldier and his men adored him. His manner was strict and firm, but he was very friendly. He appreciated and trusted people and gave then freedom.

"Come and see me in my office if you want to talk to me about work" he said. So I made an appointment with his ADC and went to see him. He had a huge office and I felt very small.

"You are starting out and you will be given a lot of tasks to fulfil" he said. "The first thing is always to do something to the best of your ability. Then the second time you do it, give it that little bit extra". What he was saying was: "Take the initiative; be innovative; be creative. Always go the extra mile."

Source: Karan Bilimoria, founder and chief executive of Cobra Beer, speaking to Sheridan Winn for "Business Life".

Ways of exerting one's strength

"Some people like to appear tall by cutting off the heads of others," said Sri Yukteswar, guru of Paramahansa Yogananda.

Educator Booker T. Washington observed, "There are two ways of exerting one's strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up." Pushers and pullers are the two types of people that we need to deal with on a daily basis in this world.
The first types who pull you up, inspire you and motivate you to achieve your goals and dreams. The positive type.

The second types who push you down, suck the energy from you and demotivate you. The negative type.

Obviously we love the first variety and need more of them in our lives. Everyone certainly needs encouragement -- pulling up. Encouragement is like a cup of cool water for a dry and parched throat.

But unfortunately life doesn't consist only of pullers. It is a concoction of both types. It takes all sorts to make the world go around. We are compelled to deal with both. Dealing with the first type is the easiest. We can relate to them easily. They ooze out positivity which is infectious. It’s the second variety, the negative ones that cause the concern. It can be really tough to get back up once someone has knocked us down. Self confidence gets heavily beaten up. Self-doubt and insecurities get triggered and are hard to put aside.

How to deal with these pushers? No, Its not a rocket science.

One way of treating these people is “ignore” or “accept”. "Ignore" when we understand that the pushing down is caused by plain jealousy. "Accept" when we find that the criticism is true, based on fact and not biased. After all let’s give the benefit of doubt to the offender. Let’s work on the conjecture that not always do people have an agenda in their minds. We might’ve committed a blunder inadvertently and hence we have to deal with it. Hence let’s ‘accept’ the pushing down.

Another way of dealing with it is to accept that it’s the way these pushers are made. It’s not our task to change them. Our focus should only be on changing ourselves and our acuity for the better.

Yet another way is to keep a distance from these pushers. Leave them behind and move on. They are not worth walking along with.

And last comes the most elevated way. Send them your love! I know it’s THE MOST difficult task on earth. If all of us had achieved the echelon of this elevation, we wouldn't be discussing this topic here. Right? And why should we send them, the offenders our love? Because it’s what we expect from them. Since they are lacking in it, let’s provide them with some quotient of it.

But the silver lining in the cloud is this. Life is not so cruel. It makes sure that when someone pushes us down, there is someone else who would pull us up. Life gives us an opportunity to become a much better person stronger in heart and mind. If we stop to think about it, we’ll end up thanking both.