SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2025 - MOTIVATION

 SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2025 - INSPIRATION

It is the New Year.  I liked these two stories:

(From: https://alltimeshortstories.com/5-inspirational-short-stories/)

JAPANESE FRESH FISH

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. However, the waters near Japan have not produced many fish for decades. Therefore, the fishermen had to go further to sea to catch their supply, and the fishing boats got bigger and bigger. The farther the fishermen went to procure fish, the longer it took them to bring the fish in. So, when they reached the market, the fish were no longer fresh.

To solve this problem, fishermen installed freezers on their boats and froze the caught fish. This helped preserve the fish for longer, but the freshness, as the Japanese desired, could not be retained. As a result, the price of frozen fish started going down.

Then, the worried fishermen installed fish tanks. They would catch fish and keep them in the tanks, fin to fin. The fishes would thrash around a little but stopped moving afterward. They were not dead, only tired and dull. Unfortunately, dull and sluggish fish did not taste fresh.

So, how did the Japanese fishermen solve the problem? To keep the fish fresh and lively throughout the journey, they added a small shark to their tanks. The shark would eat a few fish, but the remaining ones were lively when they reached the market. The shark challenged the fish and kept them active throughout the journey.

Life gets dull when we live too easily and without challenges. It is the challenges that help us grow and keep us lively. We should consider the problems and challenges as motivators for moving forward in life. Without challenges, we become complacent, life becomes dull and purposeless

*****

Karen adds that sometimes, we face challenges that make us want to quit, but the challenges keep us sharp and functioning.  

I’ve written about getting outside our comfort zones. That’s where we find the challenge and the strength to keep going.

Embrace your challenges - find solutions and new ways of approaching problems.

**********

AND A SECOND STORY

Once a man and his donkey were walking past a desolate path, and suddenly, the donkey fell into a deep hole on the ground. Luckily the donkey was not hurt by the fall and cried for his master’s help.  His master tried hard to get it out, but all of his attempts failed. Envisioning the poor donkey’s death from starvation in the deserted place.  The man decided to give the donkey a less painful death by burying it alive.

The man started pouring soil into the pit with an intention of burying it alive. But as each spadeful of dirt from above hit the donkey, the donkey would shake it off and take a step up on the growing mound of earth. With more soil poured in by the man, the donkey rose higher. Eventually, the mound grew high enough for him to jump out of the pit.

To the man’s amazement, he saw his old donkey jump out of the pit and shake the last of the dirt off its back!

In life, you may be thrown all kinds of dirt on you. But the trick is to shake it off and step up to rise to success. We can get out of the deepest pits not by giving up on problems, but by learning from them. Just shake it off and take a step up.

*****

So, two stories today.  

Recently, Apple has had ads about the benefits of its smartwatch.  It can track running speeds and data and keep us learning and growing physically.  The ad mentioned “Quitter’s Day”  thje second Friday of the new year.   Many New Year’s Resolutions are great - but soon we say “It’s not worth it (to lose weight or exercise)” - but we need to push ourselves to keep going!!

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, January 4, 2025