The ungrateful horse

A cosmic god had a horse. The horse was beautiful and also it had many good qualities. But it wanted to be more perfect in every way. It especially wanted to become beauty unparalleled.

One day the horse said to the cosmic god, “O Lord, you have given me beauty. You have given me other good qualities. I am so grateful to you. But how I wish you could make me more beautiful. I would be extremely, extremely grateful if you could make me more beautiful.”

The cosmic god said, “I am more than ready to make you more beautiful. Tell me in what way you want to be changed.”

The horse said, “It seems to me that I am not well proportioned. My neck is too short. If you can make my neck a little longer, my upper body will be infinitely more beautiful. And if you can make my legs much longer and thinner, then I will look infinitely more beautiful in my lower body.”

The cosmic god said, “Amen!” Then immediately he made a camel appear in place of the horse. The horse was so disheartened that it started to cry, “O Lord, I wanted to become more beautiful. In what way is this kind of outer form more beautiful?”

The cosmic god said, “This is exactly what you asked for. You have become a camel.”

The horse cried, “Oh no, I do not want to become a camel I wish to remain a horse. As a horse, everybody appreciated my good qualities. Nobody will appreciate me as a camel.”

The cosmic god said, “Never try to achieve or receive more than I have given you. If you want to lead a desire-life, then at every moment you will want more and more. But you have no idea what the outcome will be. If you cry for a longer neck and legs, this is what will happen. Each thing in my creation has its own good qualities. The camel is not as beautiful as you are, but it carries heavy loads and has a tremendous sense of responsibility.

Sumber : http://www.inspirationalstories.com/the-ungrateful-horse/

Soichiro Honda - Life is 99% failure

 

 

 Tidak ada manusia super yang dapat menguasai banyak hal dan ahli di banyak bidang. Untuk meraih sukses cukup fokus dan kuasai satu bidang, lalu perbanyak wawasan ribuan bidang lainnya.

(Soichiro Honda)

 

 

 

 

 What is a true winner? We may be very familiar of Honda Motors. They’re everywhere, from cars to motorcycles. But do you know the real story of how challenging it was for Mr. Soichiro Honda to establish Honda Motors? 

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.

Sumber : http://www.inspirationalstories.com/success-is-99-failure-the-story-of-soichiro-honda/

Putuskanlah!!! Jangan hanya berharap.. :)

Ketika menunggu di bandara Portland, Oregon untuk menjemput seorang teman, saya mengalami sebuah pengalaman yang mengubah kehidupan dengan mendengar pembicaraan orang lain – sesuatu yang menyelinap tanpa disengaja. Hal ini terjadi hanya dua meter dari saya.

Saat mencari teman saya di antara kerumunan penumpang yang baru turun dari pesawat, saya melihat seorang pria berjalan ke arah saya dengan membawa dua tas di tangannya. Dia berhenti tepat di samping saya untuk menyapa keluarganya.

Pertama dia menyapa anak laki-lakinya yang paling muda (mungkin sekitar enam tahun) sambil membungkuk menurunkan tasnya. Dia memeluknya cukup lama, sebuah pelukan penuh kasih. Ketika mereka saling menatap, saya mendengar sang ayah berkata, “Sangat senang bisa melihatmu nak. Aku sangat merindukanmu!” Anaknya tersenyum malu-malu, dan menjawab dengan pelan, “Aku juga ayah!”

Kemudian laki-laki itu berdiri, menatap anak laki-lakinya yang tertua (mungkin berumur sekitar 9 atau 10 tahun) dan sambil memegang wajah anaknya dia berkata, “Kamu sekarang sudah jadi seorang pemuda. Aku sangat mencintaimu, Zach!” Mereka berdua berpelukan dengan penuh kasih.

Ketika hal itu terjadi, bayi perempuan yang digendong oleh ibunya menggeliat penuh semangat sambil matanya memandang ayahnya. Pria itu berkata, “Halo gadis kecil!” sambil mengambil anak perempuan itu dari gendongan ibunya. Bayi kecil itu langsung mendekap sang ayah dan menaruh kepalanya di pundaknya, menunjukkan betapa ia merasa sangat nyaman.

Setelah beberapa saat, dia memberikan anak perempuannya pada anak laki-laki tertuanya dan berkata, “Aku menyimpan yang terbaik untuk yang terakhir!” dia kemudian mencium sang istri penuh dengan kemesraan dan kerinduan. Dia menatap mata sang istri beberapa saat dan berkata, “Aku sangat mencintaimu!” Mereka saling menatap dengan senyum kebahagiaan terpancar dari wajah mereka, sambil tangan mereka saling berpegangan.

Hal ini langsung mengingatkan saya pada pasangan baru menikah, tapi saya tahu dengan umur anak-anak mereka saat itu, sangat tidak mungkin. Sejenak saya bingung tentang hal itu lalu menyadari betapa saya terpesona dengan kasih tanpa syarat yang diungkapkan oleh keluarga yang berada dua kaki jauhnya dari saya. Saya kemudian merasa tidak nyaman, seperti saya sedang memasuki privasi orang lainm tetapi saya sendiri takjub saat dengar suara saya sedang bertanya, “Wow! Berapa lama Anda berdua telah menikah?”

“Telah bersama total selama empat belas tahun, dua belas tahun diantaranya kami jalani dalam pernikahan,” jawab pria itu, tanpa melepaskan tatapannya dari wajah istrinya yang cantik.

“Kalau begitu, sudah berapa lama kamu meninggalkan mereka?” tanya saya. Pria itu akhirnya berbalik dan memandang saya, masih dipenuhi dengan senyuman penuh dengan sukacita.

“Dua hari.”

Dua hari? Saya tertegun. Dengan penyambutan seperti itu, saya duga ia telah pergi selama beberapa minggu atau bulan. Saya tahu ekspresi saya tidak bisa menipunya.

Saya berkata dengan pelan, berharap mengakhiri pembicaraan ini dengan sebuah kasih karunia ( dan melanjutkan untuk mencari teman saya), “Saya berharap pernikahan saya akan masih penuh gairah seperti ini setelah dua belas tahun!”

Pria itu kemudian berhenti tersenyum.

Dia menatap langsung ke mata saya, dan dengan keteladanan yang kuat dia berkata pada jiwa saya, dia mengatakan sesuatu yang mengubah diri saya. Dia berkata, “Jangan hanya berharap, teman.. putuskanlah!” Kemudian sebuah senyum yang indah menghias wajahnya dan sambil menjabat tangan saya dia berkata, “Tuhan memberkati!”

Oleh: Michael D. Hargrove dan Underwriters Bottom Line, Inc Hak Cipta 1997

Jika Anda hanya berharap, semua harapan itu tidak akan pernah terwujud. Putuskanlah kehidupan seperti apa yang Anda inginkan, dan wujudkanlah dengan kerja keras setiap hari. Dengan anugrah Tuhan, maka Anda akan menikmati semua harapan itu terwujud. 

Sumber : Inspirationalstories.com