The Gold Box

How much time are you giving to your loved ones? Read this story before you answer:

It had been some time since Jack had seen Mr Belser. Jack had relocated across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, he had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and just nothing could stop him.

That day over the phone his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night Jack. The funeral is Wednesday." And a sudden rush of memories flashed through his mind as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

"Jack, did you hear me?"

"Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It' s been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.

"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him would ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him. "You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.

"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important... Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.

Busy he was for sure, but Jack did catch the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful--he had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.

Pausing in the doorway, Jack felt like taking a leap through time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture.... but something made Jack stop suddenly.

"What's wrong, Jack?" Mom was surprised.

"The box is gone," he said.

"What box?"

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk! I asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'Jack, inside it, is something that I value most', but now I will never find out what that was" Jack sighed. He concluded someone from the Belser family might have taken it.

"Anyways, I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."

Days passed. It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died, and returning home from work one day Jack received a package through mail. It was a small packaged box, the worn-out surface appeared as if it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address made Jack's eyes grow wider, "Mr. Harold Belser" it read.

Jack took the box out ripping open the package. There inside was the gold box, and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the words, "Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life."

His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack hurriedly unlocked the box with attached key. To his surprise, lying inside was a beautiful gold pocket watch.

Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover, when the words engraved on it met his eyes: "Jack, Thanks for your time! - Harold Belser."

Shock held him dumbfounded.

"So... the thing he valued most ...was ... my time!!"

Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant, wanted to know.

"I need some time to spend with my son," was all he said.

"Oh, by the way, Janet...thanks for your time"

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the

moments that take our breath away.

Think about this. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true:

At least 2 people in this world love you so much that they would die for you.

At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

Every night, someone thinks about you before they sleep.

If not for you, someone may not be living.

Someone that you don't even know exists, loves you.

If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great. Let your close ones know that you care about them, you will certainly brighten someone's day and might change their perspective on life... for the better.

Oh, by the way, thank you for following my blog and giving constructive comments!!! Thank you for your time!!

Mr.Warren E. Buffet..Forbes 2008 #1 Wealthiest Man

Businessman and investor. Born Warren Edward Buffett on August 30,1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett's father Howard worked as stockbroker and served as U.S. Congressman. His mother, Leila Stahl Buffett, was a homemaker. Buffett was the second of three children and the only boy.

Buffett demonstrated a knack for financial and business matters early on in his childhood. Friends and acquaintances have said the young boy was a mathematical prodigy, and was able to add large columns of numbers in his head-a talent he still occasionally shows off to friends and business associates.

Warren often visited his father's stockbrokerage shop as a child, and chalked in the stock prices on the blackboard in the office. At 11 years old he made his first investment; he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share. The stock quickly dropped to only $27, but Buffett held on tenaciously until they reached $40. He sold his shares at a small profit, but regretted the decision when Cities Service shot up to nearly $200 a share. He later cited this experience as an early lesson in patience in investing.

By the age of 13, Buffett was running his own businesses as a paperboy and selling his own horseracing tip sheet. That same year, he filed his first tax return, claiming his bike as a $35 tax deduction.

In 1942, Buffett's father was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and his family moved to Fredricksburg, Virginia, to be closer to the congressman's new post. Buffett attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., where he continued plotting new ways to make money. During his high school tenure, he and a friend purchased a used pinball machine for $25. They installed it in a Washington, D.C. barbershop and, within a few months, the profits of the machine allowed Buffett and his friend to buy other machines. Buffett owned three machines in three different locations before he sold the business to a War Veteran for $1,200.

Buffett enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 16 to study business. He stayed two years, moved to the University of Nebraska to finish up his degree, and emerged from college at age 20 with nearly $10,000 from his childhood businesses.

Buffett attended Columbia University for his advanced degree and in 1956, shortly after graduation, he formed the firm Buffett Partnership in his hometown of Omaha. His investment successes, particularly in buying undervalued companies whose stocks shortly began to rise, made him extremely rich and gained him the sobriquet, "Oracle of Omaha." Other notable career succeses include helping rescue Salomon Brothers from corporate raiders (1987) and taking charge of the New York City house (1992) in the wake of an insider trading scandal.

In June 2006, Buffett made an announcement that he would be giving his entire fortune away to charity, committing 85 percent of it to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This donation became the largest act of charitable giving in United States history.

The majority of Buffett's considerable fortune was amassed through Berkshire Hathaway, a company for which he is the largest shareholder and CEO. Ranked as Forbes' wealthiest man in 2008, his net worth is estimated at more than $62 billion.

King's 3 Wishes..Nice story!!

A mighty king, after conquering many kingdoms, was returning home. On the way, he fell ill and it took him to his death bed. With death staring him in his face, he realized how his conquests, his great army, his sharp sword and all his wealth were of no consequence.

He now longed to reach home to see his mother's face and bid her his last adieu. But, he had to accept the fact that his sinking health would not permit Him to reach his distant homeland. So, the mighty conqueror lay prostrate and pale, helplessly waiting to breathe his last. He called his generals and said, "I will depart from this world soon, I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail." With tears flowing down their cheeks, the generals agreed to abide by their king's last wishes.

"My first desire is that," said Alexander, "my physicians alone must carry my coffin." After a pause, he continued, "Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold, silver and precious stones which I have collected in my treasury"

The king felt exhausted after saying this. He took a minute's rest and continued. "My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin." The people who had gathered there wondered at the king's strange wishes. But no one dare bring the question to their lips. The king's favorite general kissed his hand and pressed them to his heart. "O king, we assure you that your wishes will all be fulfilled. But tell us why do you make such strange wishes?"

At this, he took a deep breath and said: "I would like the world to know of the three lessons I have just learnt..."

"First, I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor can really cure any body. They are powerless and cannot save a person from the clutches of death. So let not people take life for granted.."

"The second wish of strewing gold, silver and other riches on the way to the graveyard is to tell People that not even a fraction of gold will come with me. I spent all my life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people realize that it is a sheer waste of time to chase wealth."

"And about my third wish of having my hands dangling out of the coffin, I wish people to know that I came empty handed into this world and empty handed I go out of this world."

With these words, the king closed his eyes. Soon he let death conquer him and breathed his last.

The moral of the story is:
Never take some one for granted. Hold every person close to your heart because you might wake up one day and realise that you have lost a diamond while you were too busy collecting stones.

A Tribute To Joshua Bell

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

Just ponder for a second: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Emotional Quotient (EQ)

Emotional Quotient (EQ) is a term used to describe your ability to understand and manage your own emotions and of those around you, and also your ability to demonstrate self discipline when responding to emotional situations. Emotional Quotient refers to your capacity to feel empathy for others, to be able to stand up for what you believe in and to move towards your goals and dreams in a tactful and respectful manner, always considerate of others. Emotional Quotient is your measure for being able to gather information to form a complete picture, before jumping to conclusions and overreacting.

An example of Emotional Quotient in Life:-

A man bought a new pair of trousers for his primary school mates reunion dinner. When he tried out at home, he found that the trousers were too long by 10cm. He asked his mother to help him shorten the pants. His mother said she could not do it as she was not feeling well and would like to rest early.

So the man approached his wife to shorten his pants. His wife said she was very tired and had a lot of work to do that night, so she could not help him to shorten the pants that night.

Then the man asked his daughter. His daughter apologized for not able to do it that night because she had agreed to go dancing with her boyfriend

"Ah well!" The man thought and decided he could wear his old trousers to the reunion.

Later that night, his mother thought to herself, "My son has been very nice to me. I'll just help him to shorten his pants before going to rest." So she shortened the pants by 10cm.

Then his wife finished her work and thought," My husband knows I am always very busy and seldom asked me to help him. I would oblige him today." So she shortened the man's pants by another 10cm.

His daughter came home from dancing, and thought, "Papa loves me very much and when I declined to shorten his pants, he was not angry at all! I would help him to shorten his pants." So she shortened her daddy's pants yet another 10cm.

On the next day, the three ladies told the man that his pants were shortened. He tried them on and found that his pants had become shorter by 30cm!

His reaction:

He laughed heartily, and said, "I must wear this pair of pants to show my schoolmates that my mum, my wife and my daughter are such loving people."

At the dinner, his old classmates were very envious of his loving family. His mother, wife and daughter were very happy to learn about his classmates' reaction.

What would you do if it happened to you?

Very often, many would have lost their temper.

How many of us has the "EQ" of this man? Many of us have "High EQ" when dealing with
people outside the family, "Low EQ" when dealing with our own family member!

A Tribute To Meera Chopra

Meera Chopra, mother of Pooja Chopra, lived through abuse, poverty and some tough choices to make her once-unwanted girl child, Pooja Chopra, the Pantaloons Femina Miss Pooja Chopra. And when I read her narration, I couldn't afford to miss showcasing here this magnificant example of strength, determination and character of a woman. You'll not be left untouched I promise. Here's her dramatic story:

I don't know where to begin... they were terrible times. My husband was well-placed, but the marriage had begun to sink almost as soon as it began. Like most women do, I tried to work against all the odds.

My in-laws insisted everything would be alright if I had a son. My first child was a daughter, and that didn't do me any good... but I couldn't walk out. I had lost my father, my brother was in a not-so-senior position in Bata. I didn't want to be a burden on my family and continued to live in my marital home in Kolkata.

I looked after my mother-inlaw, who was suffering from cancer, and while bathing her, I would tell myself she would bless me and put things right.

I don't know how I tolerated it all. The least a man can do, if he must philander, is to not flaunt his women in his wife's face. Then began the manhandling. I still wanted my marriage to survive. I was a pure vegetarian and learnt to cook non-vegetarian delicacies thinking it would please him.

Then, I was pregnant again. When Pooja was eight months in my womb, my husband brought a girl to the house and announced he would marry her. I thought of killing myself. I hung on the slight hope that if the baby was a boy, my marriage could be saved.

When Pooja was born a girl, for three days, nobody came to the hospital. There was a squadron leader's wife on the opposite bed, who was kind enough to give me baby clothes for Pooja to wear. When she was 20 days old, I had to make a choice. I left the house with my girls ' Pooja and Shubra, who was seven then. I haven't seen my husband since. I promised myself, even if we had just one roti, we would share it, but together.

I began life in Mumbai with the support of my mother, brother, who was by then married. It wasn't th e ideal situation, especially when he had children ' space, money, everything was short. I began work at the Taj Colaba and got my own place. How did I manage' Truth be told, I would put a chatai on the floor, leave two glasses of milk and some food, and bolt the door from outside before going to work. I would leave the key with the neighbours and tell the kids to shout out to them when it was time to leave for school.

Their tiny hands would do homework on their own, feed themselves on days that I worked late. My elder daughter Shubhra would make Pooja do her corrections... This is how they grew up. At a birthday party, Pooja would not eat her piece of cake, but pack it and bring it home to share with her sister. When Shubhra started working, she would skip lunch and pack a chicken sandwich that she would slip in her sister's lunchbox the next day.

I used to pray, 'God, punish me for my karma, but not my innocent little kids. Please let me provide them the basi cs.' I used to struggle for shoes, socks, uniforms. I was living in Bangur Nagar, Goregaon. Pooja would walk four bus stops down to the St Thomas Academy. Then, too little to cross the road, she would ask a passerby to help her. I had to save the bus money to be able to put some milk in their bodies.

Life began to change when I got a job for Rs 6,000 at the then Goa Penta. Mr Chhabra, the owner, and his wife, were kind enough to provide a loan for me. I sent my daughters to my sister's house in Pune, with my mother as support. I spent four years working in Goa while I saved to buy a small one-bedroom house in Pune (where the family still lives). I would work 16-18 hours a day, not even taking weekly offs to accumulate leave and visit my daughters three or four times a year.

Once I bought my house and found a j ob in Pune, life began to settle. I worked in Hotel Blue Diamond for a year and then finally joined Mainland China ' which changed my life. The consideration of the team and management brought me the stability to bring them up, despite late hours and the travelling a hotelier must do.

Shubhra got a job in Hotel Blue Diamond, being the youngest employee there while still in college, and managed to finish her Masters in commerce and her BBM. Today, she is married to a sweet Catholic boy who is in the Merchant Navy and has a sweet daughter. I continue to finish my day job and come home and take tuitions, as I have done for all these years. I also do all my household chores myself.

Through the years, Shubhra has been my anchor and Pooja, the rock.. Pooja's tiny hands have wiped away my tears when I broke down. She has stood up for me, when I couldn't speak for myself. Academically brilliant, she participated in all extra-curricular activities.. When she needed high heels to model in, she did odd shows and bought them for herself.

When I saw Pooja give her speech on TV, I knew it came from her heart. I could see the twinkle in her eye. And I thought to myself as she won 'My God, this is my little girl.' God was trying to tell me something.

Today, I've no regrets. I believe every cloud has a silver lining. As a mother, I've done nothing great.
Pantaloons Femina Miss India Pooja Chopra's mother promised 'One day, this girl will make me proud'.

Pooja speaks on fulfilling that promise:

'I won due to my mother's karma. When I was 20 days old, my mother was asked to make a choice. It was either me 'a girl child, or her husband. She chose me. As she walked out she turned around and told her husband, 'One day, this girl will make me proud'. That day has come. Her husband went on to marry a woman who gave him two sons. Today, as I stand here a Miss India, I don't even know if my father knows that it is me, his daughter, who has set out to conquer the world, a crown on my head. Our lives have not been easy, least so for my mother. Financially, emotionally, she struggled to stay afloat, to keep her job and yet allow us to be the best that we could be. I was given only one condition when I started modelling ' my grades wouldn't drop.

All the girls in the pageant worked hard, but my edge was my mother's sacrifice, her karma. Today, when people call to congratulate me, it's not me they pay tribute to, but to her life and her struggle. She's the true Woman of Substance. She is my light, my mentor, my driving force. My win was merely God's way of compensating her.'

** I would like to take this opportunity to introduce my mother, Mrs.Sarasabathy Nagaretinam.. Life can be challenging and without direction, but your sacrifice meant alot for me.. Surely you are the best. I love you.

Never Miss the First Opportunity !!

A young man wished to marry the farmer's beautiful daughter. He went to the farmer to ask his permission. The farmer looked him over and said "Son, go stand out in that field. I'm going to release three bulls, one at a time. If you can catch the tail of any one of the three bulls, you can marry my daughter."

The young man stood in the pasture awaiting the first bull.

Bull No.1. The barn door opened and out ran the biggest, meanest-looking bull he had ever seen. He decided that one of the next bulls had to be a better choice than this one, so he ran over to the side and let the bull pass through the pasture out the back gate.

Bull No.2. The barn door opened again. Unbelievable. He had never seen anything so big and fierce in his life. It stood pawing the ground, grunting, slinging slobber as it eyed him. Whatever the next bull was like, it had to be a better choice than this one. He ran to the fence and let the bull pass through the pasture, out the back gate.

Bull No.3. The door opened a third time. A smile came across his face. This was the weakest, scrawniest little bull he had ever seen. This one was his bull. As the bull came running by, he positioned himself just right and jumped at just the exact moment. He grabbed... but the bull had no tail!

Moral of the story:-

Life is full of opportunities. Some will be easy to take advantage of, some will be difficult. But once we let them pass (often in hopes of something better), those opportunities may never again be available. So always grab the first opportunity.

Artice On "LOVE" From Swami Vivekananda

I once had a friend who grew to be very close to me. Once when we were sitting at the edge of a swimming pool, she filled the palm of her hand with some water and held it before me, and said this :

"You see this water carefully contained on my hand? It symbolizes " Love."

This was how I saw it:
As long as you keep your hand caringly open and allow it to remain there, it will always be there. However, if you attempt to close your fingers round it and try to posses it, it will spill through the first cracks it find.

This is the greatest mistake that people do when they meet love...they try to posses it, they demand, they expect... and just like the water spilling out of your hand, love will retrieve from you. For love is meant to be free, you cannot change its nature. If there are people you love, allow them to be free beings.

Give and don't expect.

Advise, but don't order.

Ask, but never demand.

It might sound simple, but it is a lesson that may take a lifetime to truly practice. It is the secret to true love. To truly practice it, you must sincerely feel no expectations from those who you love, and yet an unconditional caring."

The Habit Escalator

It has often been said that success in life comes from developing the right habits.

For example, we all know that good health comes from developing the habits of eating well and exercising regularly. The BIG question is – "How do we develop these habits?"

Well, I have good news and bad news…

The bad news is that developing a new habit IS hard work!

The good news is that it is much easier to maintain a habit once you’ve established it. Here is how I like to think about developing new habits.

Imagine a staircase that has 30 stairs.

At the top of the stairs is an escalator that leads to your goal. The hard part of establishing a new habit is to climb the ’stairs of change’ so that you can then ride up the ‘habit escalator’.

What this means in the real world is that if you can make yourself do something every day for 30 days, it will become a habit, and once you’ve established a habit things become much easier.

For example, lets say you wanted to develop the habit of getting up at 6.00am to do some exercise…

The first morning your alarm goes off you will probably be tempted to throw your alarm clock against the wall. Think of this as climbing the ’steps of change’. If you commit yourself to taking action for 30 days in a row, you will find that things will get easier.

By the 30th day, you will probably find yourself waking up just before your alarm goes off. When this happens, you have reached the top of the stairs and completed the hard work necessary to establish a new habit. At this point, your habit takes over and your action becomes almost second nature. This is the ‘habit escalator’ which is one of the most effective ways to reach your goals.
Unfortunately most people give up while they are still climbing the ’stairs of change’ and never get to enjoy riding on the ‘habit escalator’.

A Tribute To Marilyn Monroe

"We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle."-Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe (pronounced /mɒnˈroʊ/ or /mənˈroʊ/; June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), born Norma Jeane Mortenson, but baptized Norma Jeane Baker, was an American actress, singer and model. After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946. Her early film appearances were minor, but her performances in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve (both 1950) were well received. By 1953, Monroe had progressed to leading roles. Her "dumb blonde" persona was used to comedic effect in such films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and The Seven Year Itch (1955). Limited by typecasting, Monroe studied at the Actors Studio to broaden her range, and her dramatic performance in Bus Stop (1956) was hailed by critics, and she received a Golden Globe nomination. Her production company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, released The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), for which she received a BAFTA Award nomination and won a David di Donatello award. She received a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Some Like It Hot (1959).

The final years of Monroe's life were marked by illness, personal problems, and a reputation for being unreliable and difficult to work with. The circumstances of her death, from an overdose of barbiturates, have been the subject of conjecture. Though officially classified as a "probable suicide", the possibility of an accidental overdose, as well as the possibility of homicide, have not been ruled out. In 1999, Monroe was ranked as the sixth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. In the years and decades following her death, Monroe has often been cited as a pop and cultural icon as well as eminent American sex symbol.

Some Famous Quotes from Marilyn Monroe:-

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."-Marilyn Monroe

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."-Marilyn Monroe

"I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love."-Marilyn Monroe

"If you're gonna be two-faced at least make one of them pretty."-Marilyn Monroe
"When it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I'm already better than them."-Marilyn Monroe
"Beneath the makeup and behind the smile I am just a girl who wishes for the world."-Marilyn Monroe
"I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves. They didn't bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn't argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn't."-Marilyn Monroe
"This life is what you make it. Not matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, somg go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And babve, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up becuase if you give up, you'll never find your soul mate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about."

-Marilyn Monroe

Let's Learn From President John F. Kennedy

One of the most common questions I get asked is, “Where do I start?” To answer this question, all you need to do is to look up into the night sky.

On May 25th 1961, the American President John F. Kennedy stood up in front of the entire world and announced the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending a man to the moon before the end of the decade. Here is a brief excerpt from his speech to the Congress:

“I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary… While we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last. We take an additional risk by making it in full view of the world, but… this very risk enhances our stature when we are successful.” - President John F. Kennedy

In setting this goal, President Kennedy demonstrated an incredible amount of courage because at the time, no one knew whether it was physically or technically possible to achieve this goal. He also provided a great example of ‘how to get started’…

“In order to achieve success in any endeavor in life you must first

find the courage to believe it is possible” – Dr. Anthony Fernando

Often we become stuck in our current reality and fall into the trap of thinking that this is just the way things are and always will be. It takes courage to step away from our current situation and believe that something better is possible for our future.

President Kennedy believed that it was possible to send a man to the moon. This belief set off a chain of events that led over 400000 people to work for over eight years (20th July 1969) in order to transform his belief into reality.

Today I’d like to encourage you to find the courage within yourself to step up and believe that a better future is possible for you.

Once you are armed with this belief, you can then decide exactly what it is that you want to achieve and determine the steps you need to take in order to make your goal a reality.

Whether you want to send a man to the moon, achieve financial freedom, or learn to play the guitar…It all begins with belief.

A Success Lesson From The Past

The large block of marble stood in the center of the open-air workshop. The officials who had purchased the block were eager to get their project underway and began looking for an artist who could transform the stone block into a work of art.

A suitable artist was identified and work began on the project, but as time passed, the artist gradually lost interest and eventually walked away from his commission.

Another artist was found and work commenced once more, however, this second artist also lost interest and the entire project came to a grinding halt.

The block of marble then sat neglected in the yard of the workshop for over 25 years!…

Then one day, a young man in his twenties heard about the marble block and visited the yard. When he gazed upon the stone, the young man did not see a weathered old block of marble. Instead, he saw an opportunity waiting to be realized.

He negotiated with the owners of the marble block and in due course received permission to try his hand where others had failed.

For three long years the young man chipped away at the block of stone and tap by tap he transformed his dream into a reality.

In January 1504, the young man whose name was Michelangelo, unveiled his statue of David.

The secret of Michelangelo’s success was that he was able to combine two seemingly conflicting virtues.

The first of these virtues was VISION. Whereas most people looked upon the marble block and saw a neglected slab of stone, Michelangelo saw a magnificent statue trapped within the rock just waiting to be released.

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”

- Michelangelo

In addition to having the ability to visualize his ultimate desire, Michelangelo also developed the VIRTUE OF PATIENCE.

He knew that long lasting success did not come quickly or easily, but rather, it was the result of patiently chipping away at his goal each and every day.

“Genius is Eternal Patience”

- Michelangelo

Today, some five hundred years later, many of us spend time to develop a grand vision for our life, but then we quickly become impatient to make our vision a reality. All too often we become frustrated with our lack of progress and eventually give up on our goal entirely.

It is a rare individual who can combine the ability to visualize their goal with the patience to take the small daily steps necessary to transform that vision into reality.

Today I’d like to encourage you to approach your own goals in the same way that Michelangelo approached the creation of the statue of David.

Even though your current reality may resemble the worn out block of marble, challenge yourself to look deeper to find the hidden opportunity that is waiting to be realized.

Once you have identified your objective, resist the urge to become impatient. Instead, develop a mindset of quiet anticipation and chip away at your goal a little each day.

By combining the power of Vision with the virtue of Patience, nothing will stop you from creating your own masterpiece.