Failure is NOT a possiblity

Like most other countries, Japan was hit badly by the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1938, Soichiro Honda was still in school, when he started a little workshop, developing the concept of the piston ring.

    His plan was to sell the idea to Toyota. He labored night and day, even slept in the workshop, always believing he could perfect his design and produce a worthy product. He was married by now, and pawned his wife's jewelry for working capital.
    Finally, came the day he completed his piston ring and was able to take a working sample to Toyota, only to be told that the rings did not meet their standards! Soichiro went back to school and suffered ridicule when the engineers laughed at his design.
    He refused to give up. Rather than focus on his failure, he continued working towards his goal. Then, after two more years of struggle and redesign, he won a contract with Toyota.
    By now, the Japanese government was gearing up for war! With the contract in hand, Soichiro Honda needed to build a factory to supply Toyota, but building materials were in short supply. Still he would not quit! He invented a new concrete-making process that enabled him to build the factory.
    With the factory now built, he was ready for production, but the factory was bombed twice and steel became unavailable, too. Was this the end of the road for Honda? No!
    He started collecting surplus gasoline cans discarded by US fighters – "Gifts from President Truman," he called them, which became the new raw materials for his rebuilt manufacturing process. Finally, an earthquake destroyed the factory.
    After the war, an extreme gasoline shortage forced people to walk or use bicycles. Honda built a tiny engine and attached it to his bicycle. His neighbors wanted one, and although he tried, materials could not be found and he was unable to supply the demand.

    Was he ready to give up now? No! Soichiro Honda wrote to 18,000 bicycles shop owners and, in an inspiring letter, asked them to help him revitalize Japan. 5,000 responded and advanced him what little money they could to build his tiny bicycle engines. Unfortunately, the first models were too bulky to work well, so he continued to develop and adapt, until finally, the small engine 'The Super Cub' became a reality and was a success. With success in Japan, Honda began exporting his bicycle engines to Europe and America.
    End of story? No! In the 1970s there was another gas shortage, this time in America and automotive fashion turned to small cars. Honda was quick to pick up on the trend. Experts now in small engine design, the company started making tiny cars, smaller than anyone had seen before, and rode another wave of success.

    Today, Honda Corporation employs over 100,000 people in the USA and Japan, and is one of the world's largest automobile companies. Honda succeeded because one man made a truly committed decision, acted upon it, and made adjustments on a continuous basis. Failure was simply not considered a possibility.

Have a Lucky Day !! And Work for It !!!

Why do some people have all the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve?

Why are some people always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experience ill fortune? Research over the years reveal that although these people have almost no insight into the causes of their luck, their thoughts and behaviour are responsible for much of their good and bad fortune. Take the case of seemingly chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not.

A simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities... Both lucky and unlucky people were given a newspaper, and asked to look through it and tell how many photographs were inside.A large message was secretly placed halfway through the newspaper saying: 'Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $50'.

This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected.
As a result, they miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and miss other types of jobs.

Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. The research eventually revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

Another research on a group of volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person... Dramatic results! These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck. One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80 per cent of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier.

The lucky people had become even luckier and the unlucky had become lucky. Finally, the elusive 'luck factor' was found. Here are four top tips for becoming lucky:

1) Listen to your gut instincts ^ they are normally right.
2) Be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine.
3) Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well.
4) Visualise yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call.

Have a Lucky day and work for it.
The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect.

The author of `The Luck Factor'-- "RICHARD WISEMAN" teaches at the University of Hertfordshire.
(Reproduced here from "The Times of India".)

Philanthropy

I am amazed by the good people do and try to do. We read everyday about all the ' bad' that is happening around us, we watch it on television. In all this hype and hoopla the small things that people do are not noticed easily.

The big 'philanthropists' always are noticed, and rightly so. They are reported by media all over.
Now a days the word 'Philanthropy' is associated exclusively with its most conspicuous manifestations, foundations and grant-making.

Philanthropy means "love of man" in the sense of caring for, nourishing, improving, and enhancing the quality of life for human beings. But we no longer use the term for the small acts of goodness.

In the recent times, a new(?) form of Philanthropy has emerged. Marking money for donations in future.. bequeathing. 
See Some large individual bequests listed below
(Source: Wikipedia)
Note: These are nominal values and have not been adjusted for inflation

• $31 billion from Warren Buffett to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (initial value of the gift)
• $9 billion from Chuck Feeney to Atlantic Philanthropies
• $2 billion from Azim Premji to the Azim Premji Foundation in 2010.
• $1 billion from Ted Turner to the United Nations
• $500 million from T. Boone Pickens to Oklahoma State University.
• $500 million from Walter Annenberg to public school reform in the United States
• $350 million ($7 billion in modern terms) from Andrew Carnegie in 1901 who distributed most of his wealth to good causes, including the building Carnegie Hall New York City.
• $424 million from managers of the Reader's Digest fortune to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• $350 million from Michael Jackson who distributed most of his wealth to good causes, and who supported over 39 charity organizations. He was listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records for the "Most Charities Supported By a Pop Star".
• $350 million from Yank Barry and his Global Village Champions in food, education and medical supplies to the needy around the World from 1990 to the present.
• $225 million from Raymond and Ruth Perelman, parents of Ronald O. Perelman, to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2011.
• $200 million from Joan B. Kroc to National Public Radio in 2003
• $100 million from John D. Rockefeller to the Rockefeller Foundation, 1913-1914

 You may feel that Philanthropy is not for you.
But have a look at this short talk and decide for yourself !

Happy Philanthropy !!

Magician is very honest. He promises to deceive you and he does.

I happened to see a few magic clips.

And I just started to think about two words: Magic & Miracle.

Magic is man-made. Miracle is devine.
Magic may be for entertainment or ther may be "black magic". I don't know whether you believe in "Black- Magic". But I think that we appreciate both forms of energy: Positive & Negative.

Miracles are devine. So we don't know the resons  or the "How" of those miracles. But I believe there are reasons for those 'Miracles'.

But read the following from a Magicians of Today:

 Marco Tempest

“The Chinese general Sun Tzu said that all war was based on deception. Oscar Wilde said the same thing of romance.”

“We willingly enter fictional worlds where we cheer our heroes and cry for friends we never had.” 

 

“Magic [makes] possible today what science will make a reality tomorrow.” 

 

“Art is a deception that creates real emotions — a lie that creates a truth. And when you give yourself over to that deception, it becomes magic.”  

 

Keith Barry

 

“Magic is all about directing attention. If I didn’t want you to look at my right hand then I don’t look at it.”

 

How true!
I liked a statement that Magician is very honest. He promises to deceive you and he does.

And you will appreciate these statements when you watch it for yourself:

 

Brain magic

Magic of Truth & Lies : Full with Philosophy

A card Magic that you will Enjoy

A Lyrical tale : Futuristic Magic

 

Ejnoy the magic show!

 

And what about Miracles?... We will wait for some time! 

 

 

Weird Ideas !!.. for the Better World

I came across these ideas quite accidently. In my curiosity for information, i jumped from one site to another on the net. I think most of us do the same. But one such "web-site" hooked me. It is store-house of different " ideas worth sharing", not necessarily weird.

Have a look of the ideas from the world of "Technology, Entertainment and Design", famously known as "TED"... talks, conferences.

Here is a small list that sound "wierd" from thousands of titles available
1) A Test for Parkinsons's with a Phone Call
2) Dare to Disagree
3) Is Life really that Complex?
4) The Mad Scientist of Music
5 ) Behind the Great Firewall of China
6 ) Why the X is Unknown?
7) Advice to Young Scientist
8) The Happy Secret to Better Work
9) Science versus Wonder
10) Battleing Bad Science
... and there are thousands of talks to choose from.
More about TED: (From Wikipedia)

TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth sharing."
TED was founded in 1984 as a one-off event.The annual conference began in 1990, in Monterey, California.TED's early emphasis was technology and design, consistent with its origins in the Silicon Valley. The events are now held in Long Beach and Palm Springs in the U.S. and in Europe and Asia, offering live streaming of the talks. They address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture, often through storytelling. The speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can.

"The New Yorker" has praised the worthy efforts. The article also lists "Five Key TED talks".

"The Entreprenuer" lists " the Top Ten TED talks for Startups".

We all get different ideas. We all get some weird ideas. How many have the ability to pursue those ideas? Some are good at Ideas and some are good at Implementation. Here on TED, you will find people who have the courage to think differently and also to see the results of their ideas.

I thought this is "worth Sharing". What do you say?

 

Spread the Good.....

          A woman baked chapatti (roti) for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passer-by. She kept the extra chapatti on the window sill, for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunchback came and took away the chapatti.

         

          Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and uttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” The woman felt irritated.

          

         “Not a word of gratitude,” she said to herself… “Every day this hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?” One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this hunchback,” she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the chapatti she prepared for him! As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said.

Immediately, she threw the chapatti into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill. As usual, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and muttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman. 

          Every day, as the woman placed the chapatti on the window sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune.

          For many months, she had no news of him.. She prayed for his safe return. That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway. He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother, he said, “Mom, it’s a miracle I’m here. While I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole chapatti. As he gave it to me, he said, “This is what I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!” ” As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned chapatti that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life! It was then that she realized the significance of the words: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” 

Do Good and Don’t ever stop doing good, even if it is not appreciated at that time...

Contributed by Kumar Technicals 

Also see :10 points about the Science of Spreading Good

 

We are all much more powerful than we might ever imagine.

The little country schoolhouse was heated by an old-fashioned, pot-bellied coal stove. An eight-year-old boy named Glenn Cunningham had the job of coming to school early each day so that he could use kerosene to start the fire and warm the room before his teacher and his classmates arrived.

One cold morning someone mistakenly filled the kerosene container he used with gasoline, and disaster struck. 

The class and teacher arrived to find the schoolhouse engulfed in flames. Terrified on realizing that Glenn was inside, they rushed in and managed to drag the unconscious little boy out of the flaming building more dead than alive.

He had major burns over the lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby county hospital. From his bed, the dreadfully burned, semi-conscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die – which was for the best, really – for the terrible fire had devastated the lower half of his body.

 But the brave boy didn't want to die. Glenn made up his mind that he would survive. And somehow, to the amazement of the physician, he did survive. Yet when the mortal danger was past, he again heard the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the fire had destroyed so much flesh in the lower part of his body, it would almost be better if he had died, since he was doomed to be a lifetime cripple with no use at all of his lower limbs.His mother refused to let the doctors amputate.


Once more this brave little boy made up his mind. He would not be a cripple. He would walk. But unfortunately from the waist down, Glenn had no motor ability. His thin, scarred legs just dangled there, all but lifeless. Ultimately Glenn was released from the hospital.

Every day afterward his mother and father would massage his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was as strong as ever. When he wasn't in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair.  One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the chair. Glenn pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him.

He worked his way to the white picket fence bordering their lot. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence. Then, stake by stake, he began dragging himself along the fence, resolved that he would walk. He started to do this every day until he wore a smooth path all around the yard beside the fence. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs.

Ultimately through his daily massages, Glenn's iron persistence and hisresolute determination, he did develop the ability first to stand up, then to walk haltingly with help, then to walk by himself – and then miraculously – to run.

Glenn began to run to school. He ran for the sheer joy of running and being able to run. He ran everywhere that he could. The people in his town would often see him run by on his way to who knows where and smile. Later in college Glenn made the track team where his tremendous determination paid off. He eventually received the nickname the "Kansas Flyer".

"The Kansas Flyer" set world records in the mile run (4:06.8) in 1934 and 800 meters (1:49.7) in 1936. He received the coveted Sullivan Award in 1933 as the country's top amateur athlete, finished fourth in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics at 1,500 meters and won the silver medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. 

In February 1934, in New York City's famed Madison Square Garden, this young man
who was not expected to survive,
who would surely never walk,
who could never hope to run,
ran the mile in 4 mins and 8 seconds, the world's fastest indoor mile!


In 1978, Cunningham was named the outstanding track performer in the 100-year history of Madison Square Garden. Inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, 1979. 
After earning a master's degree from the University of Iowa and a doctorate from New York University, Cunningham retired from competition in 1940 and for four years was director of physical education at Cornell College in Iowa. He and his wife later opened the Glenn Cunningham Youth Ranch in Kansas, where they helped to raise about 10,000 underprivileged children. Glenn Cunningham died of a heart attack at age 78. 
This amazing story of the boy who was supposed to die shows the incredible power of determination. I deeply believe that we are all much more powerful than we might ever imagine. May we find ways to tap into and use this power for the good of all. 
-by Burt Dubin.



Cunningham has a park named after him in his hometown of Elkhart, Kansas.