Abid Iqbal Khari’s

Action and glory, rather than pleasure and wealth, were what Alexander wanted from life. Fame was his passion. When he heard of the conquests of his father, King Philip of Macedonia, Alexander was not happy about the additional wealth and power that he would inherit, but instead was sad that there would be less left for him to conquer. Alexander often lamented to his friends that the way things were going, nothing would be left for him to do once he became king.

Alexander wanted a kingdom involved in trouble and war, where he would have an ample field to exercise his courage and make his mark on history. He disdained a life of comfortable sloth. This young warrior was always a great patron of the arts and of learning. He enjoyed and encouraged hunting and the martial arts, except for boxing.

Alexander used to say that he loved Aristotle as much as Philip — his father had given him life, and his teacher had taught him to use it.

If you go through the history of Western Europe around in 1430 you come across Joan of Arc, a peasant girl who led the French armies to victory over the English until she was captured and burned by the English as a witch. She had not acquired military training but proved herself to be a great military commander. She proved that nothing is more important than passion, big thinking and potential within.

“If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.” Tom Watson (American Golfer). The more you fail, the more you learn and your learning helps you be the master of that subject. It is not bad to make a mistake, but it is very bad if you dont learn from your mistake or repeat your mistake again.

Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity, appeared in an interview on CNBC TV channel. Following are some very interesting aspects of his life.

1- He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

2- He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

3- He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha , that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

4- He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

5- He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world’s largest private jet company.

6- His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.

7- He has given his CEO’s only two rules.
Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder’s money.
Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

8- He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.

9- Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

10- Bill Gates, the world’s richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

About a hundred years ago, a man looked at the morning newspaper and to his surprise and horror, read his name in the obituary column. The news papers had reported the death of the wrong person by mistake. His first response was shock. Am I here or there? When he regained his composure, his second thought was to find out what people had said about him. The obituary read, “Dynamite King Dies.” And also “He was the merchant of death.” This man was the inventor of dynamite and when he read the words “merchant of death,” he asked himself a question, “Is this how I am going to be remembered?” He got in touch with his feelings and decided that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered. From that day on, he started working toward peace. His name was Alfred Nobel and he is remembered today by the great Nobel Prize.

Just as Alfred Nobel got in touch with his feelings and redefined his values, we should step back and do the same.

What is your legacy?

How would you like to be remembered?

Will you be spoken well of?

Will you be remembered with love and respect?

Will you be missed?

Courtesy: http://great-motivational-stories.blogspot.com/

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
‘Tis the set of the sails,
And Not the gales,
That tell us the way to go.
Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate;
As we voyage along through life,
‘Tis the set of a soul
That decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

 Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850-October 30, 1919), an American author and poet

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

“We told them so.”
“Crazy men and their crazy dreams.”
“It`s foolish to chase wild visions.”

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.

Source: http://www.indianchild.com

Keep your chin up in face of adverse circumstances and finally you will be able to overcome them. God does not put burden on a human which they cannot carry. Robert Browning has rightly said, ‘People who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want. And if they don’t find them, create them.’ Iqbal has equaled their ‘hesitation to fight battle of life’ to that of defeat.

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

Henry Mille has rightly said, ‘In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest.’ Even when it comes to success, there is no short cut and even if some one achieves something worthwhile by chance, that will not last for long.
The fact you that the sweat, toil and fatigue you experience on the road to success or something great, that becomes your real reward. And you love being on that way forever. You want to experience adversities in that way.

Henry Mille

Life was tough but I proved even tougher!

This angel looking doll started her life in an old caravan (small van house) in UK, only to be welcomed by dire poverty. Shekeila Palmer is the daughter of a single mother Deborah Palmer. In her own words, “I have never seen such a deprivation anywhere in UK”. The caravan walls were very thin with no insulation. Ice sheets used to form on inside of the windows during freezing winters. Roof was leaking so they had to place buckets under it strategically. They did not have enough money to warm the main area so poor souls would squeeze into their tiny bedroom, merely the size of a large cupboard. Mould was forming on the furniture due to moisture & cold. Mum used to buy toys & other items for her from jumble sales and used items shops. They grew their own vegetables in the garden.

Shekeila started primary school in a 2nd hand uniform. They would walk 2.25 KM one way to school and back in all weathers. It was a real hard start to life for Shekeila. She did not have many of the necessities of life let alone luxuries compared to her age mates. After 8 years local government offered them a small flat. It was like a palace to them. Shekeila enjoyed a proper warm living space for the first time in her life.

Both persistently worked very hard. Deborah used to borrow many books from public library and read them to Shekeila even before she could talk. Shekeila studied extremely diligently. Students in UK apply for undergraduate admission after completing A Levels. They can send their application to a maximum of five universities at once. Depending on their grades they usually get accepted for one or two universities. Shekeila achieved excellent A grades, and was offered admission to all five universities she applied to! Despite she worked at a local shop on weekends, she was awarded First Class Honors degree, usually only achieved by top 2% (not more that 2 or 3 students per class). She received distinction at Masters also, again only one or two students would accomplish it in a class. Shekeila is doing a PhD now days funded by a scholarship won through tough competition. Well done Shekeila!
Shekeila Palmer Now (2010)

Shekeila Palmer Now (2010)

Deborah is proud of her daughter. She determinedly advises to all children & parents:

“Children don’t have to come from comfortable background or go to expensive schools [to succeed in life]. All they need is the ability to work hard, persevere against the odds and have the will & determination to succeed. I am proud of my daughter for what she has achieved & because she has proved that even with an impoverished start in life, you can still succeed & thrive.”

Congratulations to both of you Deborah and Shekeila; you are a beacon of light for others! Success is yours also my friends, all you need is to have:

- Will for it

- Work for it, &

- Persevere for it

“Permanence, perseverance & persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, & impossibilities: It is this that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.” Thomas Carlyle

Be a strong soul. Be a Man (or a woman in this case!) - Prove yourself

Source: http://kashif-ali.com