Inspirational Stories

The Obstacle in Our Path

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.

- Author Unknown

Try Something Different

I'm sitting in a quiet room at the Milcroft Inn, a
peaceful little place hidden back among the pine trees about
an hour out of Toronto. It's just past noon, late July, and
I'm listening to the desperate sounds of a life-or-death
struggle going on a few feet away.
There's a small fly burning out the last of its short
life's energies in a futile attempt to fly through the glass
of the windowpane. The whining wings tell the poignant
story of the fly's strategy: Try harder.
But it's not working.
The frenzied effort offers no hope for survival.
Ironically, the struggle is part of the trap. It is
impossible for the fly to try hard enough to succeed at
breaking through the glass. Nevertheless, this little
insect has staked its life on reaching its goal through raw
effort and determination.
This fly is doomed. It will die there on the
windowsill.
Across the room, ten steps away, the door is open. Ten
seconds of flying time and this small creature could reach
the outside world it seeks. With only a fraction of the
effort now being wasted, it could be free of this self-
imposed trap. The breakthrough possibility is there. It
would be so easy.
Why doesn't the fly try another approach, something
dramatically different? How did it get so locked in on the
idea that this particular route and determined effort offer
the most promise for success? What logic is there in
continuing until death to seek a breakthrough with more of
the same?
No doubt this approach makes sense to the fly.
Regrettably, it's an idea that will kill.
Trying harder isn't necessarily the solution to
achieving more. It may not offer any real promise for
getting what you want out of life. Sometimes, in fact, it's
a big part of the problem.
If you stake your hopes for a breakthrough on trying
harder than ever, you may kill your chances for success.

- Price Pritchett

Food for Thought !

"Life is illogical. It is wild. In life, contradictions are not contradictions but complementariness."

- Anonymous

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