Saving the shipwrecked of the Titanic

                                       

                                          

There were three ships which were nearby when the Titanic sunk.
                               

 One  of them was known as the Sampson. 

It was 7 miles away from the Titanic and they saw the white flares signalling danger, but because the crew had been hunting seals illegally and didn’t want to be caught, they turned and went the opposite direction away from the Titanic.

This behaviour is exhibited by people like us who are busy looking inward at our own sins that we can’t recognize and reach out when someone else needs help.

The next ship was the Californian. 

This ship was only 14 miles away from the Titanic, but they were surrounded by ice fields and the captain looked out and saw the white flares, but because the conditions weren’t favorable and it was dark, he decided to go back to bed and wait until morning. The crew tried to convince themselves that nothing was happening.

This ship represents those of us who say ‘I can’t do anything now. The conditions aren’t right for it’ and so we wait until conditions are perfect before we do anything. 

The last ship was the Carpathia. 

This ship was actually headed in a southern direction 58 miles away from the Titanic when they heard the distress cries over the radio. The captain of this ship knelt down, prayed to God for direction and then turned the ship around and went full steam ahead through the ice fields.

This was the ship that saved the 866 survivors of the Titanic.

When the captain looked back at the ice fields they had come through, he said 'Someone else’s hands must have been at the helm of this ship'!

This ship represents those who would pray to God for direction and then go without hesitation.

              

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Life whispers in your soul and speaks to your heart. We need to take the time to listen to these whispers and take heed.

Shared by Simmi Kapoor

Futility and Efficiency

                                       

A leading hotel group in India had invited Mr. Masai Imai from Japan to hold a workshop
for its staff.

The staf were very sceptical - the hotel is doing excellent business, this
person from Japan has no exposure to the hotel industry - what exactly is he
going to teach?

But everybody gathered as planned for the workshop in the conference hall
sharp at 9 am.

Mr. Masai was introduced to them - a not so impressive personality, nor the
English all that good; spoke as if he was first formulating each sentence in
Japanese and then translating it into rather clumsy English.

"Good morning! Let's start work. I am told this is a workshop; but I see
neither work nor shop. So let's proceed where work is happening. Let's start
with the first room on the first floor."


                         


Mr. Masai, followed by the senior management, the participants, the video-
camera crew trooped out of the conference room towards the
destination.

That happened to be the laundry room of the hotel.
Mr. Masai entered the room and stood at the window, "beautiful view!" he
said.

The staff knew it; they need not invite a Japanese consultant to tell them
this!
"A room with such a beautiful view is being wasted as a laundry room. Shift
the laundry to the basement and convert this into a guest room."

Aa Haa! Now nobody had ever thought about that!

The manager said, "Yes, it can be done."

"Then let's do it," Mr. Masai said.

"Yes sir, I will make a note of this and we will include it in the report on
the workshop that will be prepared." Manager

"Excuse me, but there is nothing to note down in this. Let's just do it,
just now." Mr. Masai.

"Just now?" Manager.

"Yes, decide on a room on the ground floor/basement and shift the stuff out
of this room right away. It should take a couple of hours, right?" asked Mr.
Masai.

"Yes." Manager.

"Let's come back here just before lunch. By then all this stuff will have
got shifted out and the room must be ready with the carpets, furniture etc.
and from today you can start earning the few thousand that you charge your
customers for a night."

"Ok, Sir." The manager had no option.

The next destination was the pantry. The group entered. At the entrance were
two huge sinks full of plates to be washed.

Mr. Masai removed his jacket and started washing the plates.

"Sir, Please, what are you doing?" the manager didn't know what to say and
what to do.

"Why, I am washing the plates", Mr. Masai.

"But sir, there is staff here to do that." Manager Mr. Masai continued
washing, "I think sink is for washing plates, there are stands here to keep
the plates and the plates should go into the stands."

All the officials wondered - did they require a consultant to tell them
this?

After finishing the job, Mr. Masai asked, "How many plates do you have?'
"Plenty, so that there should never be any shortage." answered the Manager.


                        

Mr. Masai said, "We have a word in Japanese -'Muda'. Muda means delay, Muda
means unnecessary spending. One lesson to be learned in this workshop is to
avoid both. If you have plenty of plates, there will be delay in cleaning
them up. The first step to correct this situation is to remove all the
excess plates."

"Yes, we will say this in the report." Manager.

"No, wasting our time in writing the report is again an instance of 'Muda'.
We must pack the extra plates in a box right away and send these to
whichever section of the hotel requires them. Throughout the workshop now
we will find out where all we find this 'Muda' hidden."

And then at every spot and session, the staff eagerly awaited to find out
Muda and learn how to avoid it.

On the last day, Mr. Masai told a story.

"A Japanese and an American, both fond of hunting, met in a jungle. They
entered deep jungle and suddenly realized that they had run out of bullets.
Just then they heard a lion roaring. Both started running. But the Japanese
took a short break to put on his sports shoes.
The American said, "What are you doing? We must first get to the car."

The Japanese responded, "No. I only have to ensure that I remain ahead of
you."

All the participants engrossed in listening to the story realized suddenly
that the lion would stop after getting his victim!

"The lesson is: competition in today's world is so fierce, that it is
important to stay ahead of other, even by just a couple of steps. And you
have such a huge and naturally well endowed country. If you remember to
curtail your production expenditure and give the best quality always, you
will be miles ahead as compared to so many other countries in the world.",
concluded Mr. Masai.

It is never late to learn........
THINK ABOUT IT

From a message shared by Reena Jain. 

One Question that can Help us Understand Ourselves (& Everyone Else).

Author: Erica Leibrant

This last week, my venerable Uncle Don, a true man’s man, salt of the earth, brass tacks and all that, passed away.

He had a long life defined by love of his family, the outdoors and the occasional corny joke.

When I spoke to my mom, (his sister—who adored him in a way maybe only a little sister can adore her big brother) about her last time seeing him, she mentioned that they had gotten into a bit of a snit with each other. Like most siblings, they had a deeply established hierarchy in which my Uncle Don ruled, and felt free to correct my mom if he felt she was doing something the “wrong” way.

In this case, they were debating the wisdom of using a spade versus a pitchfork first when trying to loosen dirt for gardening. My mom uses a pitchfork—Don insisted that a spade was best.

Or maybe it was the other way around. But anyway, you get the point.

As she has done since she was a little girl, my mom began to get sucked into this petty argument, when suddenly she realized—no, I don’t have to go there!

She mentioned that he had always had a stubborn streak and that in general, it was his way or the highway. As she said it, I wondered why that would be. Why would someone be so stubborn? For that matter, why do any of us behave in ways that are intentionally contrary or crazy making?

With a flash of clarity I knew—or should I say, I remembered—the answer.

It can be found here, in my all-time favorite quote:

“There are only two emotions: love and fear. All positive emotions come from love, all negative emotions come from fear. From love flows happiness, contentment, peace and joy. From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt. It’s true that there are only two primary emotions, love and fear. But it’s more accurate to say that there is only love or fear, for we cannot feel these two emotions together, at exactly the same time. They are opposites. If we’re in fear, we are not in a place of love. When we’re in a place of love, we cannot be in a place of fear.” ~ Elisabeth Kubler Ross

When someone acts with anger, defensiveness, frustration, sullenness, rage or any negative emotion, it’s safe to say they are doing it because they are afraid of something. Every single time.

So, knowing that, we can ask ourselves, what are they (or what am I) afraid of?

Asking that question automatically takes us off the path of fear and puts us on the path to compassion.

Try it for yourself. The next time you encounter an angry driver, have a fight with your spouse or are watching the news and hear about some horrific crime, instead of getting caught up in anger or outrage or the argument, simply wonder—what is the fear that has motivated this person (or people) to behave this way?

Even if we can’t find the answer, the mere act of speculating releases us from the trap of negativity.

Similarly, and perhaps even more powerfully, we can ask ourselves—in moments of stress or fury or even just peevishness—what are we afraid of?

Instead of spiraling down into our fear, this basic question allows us to reflect on what might really be happening. If we can answer it honestly, it even gives us the chance to transform our reality for the better.

It is a lesson that I learn and forget and remember all the time, for fear is a powerful force and it is hard to keep our sanity in the face of it. But if we can begin to train ourselves to observe fear rather than engage in it, we will exponentially increase our ability to operate from a place of love, and that is the true key to happiness.

~

Cross-posted from the Elephant Journal. 

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/06/1-question-that-can-help-us-understand-ourselves-everyone-else/?utm_source=All&utm_campaign=Daily+Moment+of+Awake+in+the+Inbox+of+Your+Mind&utm_medium=email