"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.”
-Thomas Jefferson

Parables for our Times

Leave your stress where it belongs
A man used to always hang his bag on the tree outside, take a deep breath, and then enter his home. Puzzled, his neighbour asked why he did so. “I leave all my worries of the day outside and then enter home,” he said with a smile. “I never allow myself to think of any of the issues I have dealt with during the day. Instead, I pick up the bag the next day and take off where I left off. This makes me totally charged and able to handle the challenges.”

Recession?
This story is about a man who was once upon a time selling vada-pav by the roadside. He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers. He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched television. However, enthusiastically, he sold many vada-pavs.

He was smart enough to offer attractive schemes to increase his sales. His sales and profit went up. He ordered more and more raw material, and his sales soared. He recruited a few more supporting staff to serve more customers. He started offering home deliveries. Eventually, he got himself a bigger and better stove.

As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from college, joined his father. Then something strange happened. The son asked, “Dad, aren’t you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?” The father replied, “No, but tell me about it.” The son said, “The international situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times.” The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, listened to the radio, and watched TV, he ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly. So the next day onwards, the father cut down his raw material order, took down the colourful signboard, removed all the special schemes he was offering to the customers and was no longer as enthusiastic. He reduced his staff strength by giving layoffs.

Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his vada-pav stand. His sales started coming down rapidly, and so did the profit.

The father said to his son, “Son, you were right. We are in the middle of a recession and crisis. I am glad you warned me ahead of time.”

It is all in your mind ! We actually fuel this recession much more that we think we do !