1) Tactics

Epigraph.
- I work from morning till night!
- And when do you think?
(The dialogue between the young and brilliant physicist Rutherford)

The annual world championship held in British Columbia. The finalists were Canadian, and Norwegian.

Their task was as follows. Each of them that a certain portion of the forest. The winner is the one who could knock down the largest number of trees from 8 am until four o'clock in the afternoon.

At eight o'clock whistle blew and two woodcutters took their positions. They cut down a tree behind a tree, while the Canadian had not heard that the Norwegian stop. Realizing that this was his chance, Canadian redoubled his efforts.

At nine o'clock in the Canadian heard that the Norwegian again went to work. And again, they worked almost simultaneously, when ten to ten Canadians have heard that the Norwegian stopped again. And again, the Canadian went to work, wanting to take advantage of the weakness of the enemy.

At ten o'clock in the Norwegian re-enter the work. Until ten minutes to eleven, he briefly not interrupted. With the growing sense of jubilation Canadian continued to work in the same rhythm, already feeling the smell of victory.

It lasted all day. Every hour of the Norwegian stayed for ten minutes, and the Canadian continued to work. When you hear about the end of the competition, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the Canadian was quite sure that the prize in his pocket.

You can imagine how he was surprised to learn that he lost.

- How did that happen? - He asked the Norwegian. - Every hour, I heard you for ten minutes stops. Like, Damn you, you managed to cut more wood than I do? It is impossible.

- In fact, everything is very simple - just said Norwegian. - Every hour, I stopped for ten minutes. And while you continue to chop wood, I was sharpening my ax.

2) About two wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

“One is evil, which is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

“The other is good, which is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

7) The old mule in the well

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying'. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened ...and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back ... a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, he should shake it off and step up! This he did, blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up!" He repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up!

It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity. If we face our problems, respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity, the adversities that come along to bury us usually have within them the potential to benefit
and bless us.

10) Jar of life

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2" in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He then asked once more if the jar was full. This time the students were sure and they responded with a unanimous "Yes!"

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar - effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that, if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

"Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."

13) This Is Good!

The story is told of a African King who had a close friend with whom he grew up.

The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!".

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.

Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied - "No, this is not good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.
As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend.
"You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened.

"And so, I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."
"No," his friend replied, "This is good!"
"What do you mean, 'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?"
"If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you, and not here with you right now."

In a very unusual way, the message here unfolds into exposing the following principle about life.
"Absolutely everything happens for a purpose; and out of what seems like adversity at the time; always comes good".

I'm sure that if any of us care to reflect back on the tragedy's, the heartaches, the 'bad times' in our lives, that we discover that we have really grown or developed during that period of
time: even though the reflection may still cause us discomfort in some way.

It is in this way that we slowly gather experience and wisdom, and even though we may think or feel that it is unfair, that's the way it is. "This is good".

============== russian - not translated ===================

3) Узнать причину

Путник, идущий вдоль реки, услышал отчаянные детские крики. Подбежав к берегу, он увидел в реке тонущих детей и бросился их спасать. Заметив проходящего человека, он позвал его на помощь. Тот стал помогать тем, кто еще держался на плаву. Увидев третьего путника, они позвали его на помощь, но он не обращая внимания на призывы ускорил шаги. «Разве тебе безразлична судьба детей?» - спросили спасатели.
Третий путник им ответил: «Я вижу, что вы вдвоем пока справляетесь. Я добегу до поворота, узнаю, почему дети попадают в реку, и постараюсь это предотвратить».

Ничего такого, что было бы неправдой…

Однажды слепой человек сидел на ступеньках одного здания со шляпой возле его ног и табличкой «Я слепой, пожалуйста помогите !»
Один человек проходил мимо и остановился. Он увидел инвалида, у которого было всего лишь несколько монет в его шляпе. Он бросил ему пару монет и без его разрешения написал новые слова на табличке. Он оставил ее слепому человеку и ушел.
Днем он вернулся и увидел, что шляпа полна монет и денег. Слепой узнал его по шагам и спросил не он ли был тот человек, что переписал табличку. Он также хотел узнать, что именно он написал.
Тот ответил: «Ничего такого, что было бы неправдой. Я просто написал ее немного по-другому». Он улыбнулся и ушел.
Новая надпись на табличке была такая: «Сейчас весна, но я не могу ее увидеть».

11) Сколько стоит переправа
Будда с учениками у реки сидел и ждал лодочника. Появился йогин, который перешёл несколько раз по воде, и с пафосом обратился к Будде с вопросом:
- Ну, а ты, Просветлённый так можешь?
На что Будда спросил:
- Сколько времени ты затратил на то, чтобы достичь этого?
- Почти всю жизнь я затратил на то, чтобы научиться, провёл много времени в суровых аскезах.
Пришёл лодочник и Будда спросил его:
- Сколько стоит переправа?
- Три гроша, - ответил лодочник.
Будда повернувшись к йогину сказал:
- Слышал? Вот столько стоит вся твоя жизнь.

12) Пути или камни
Однажды пассажир, путешествующий на корабле, заметил бесчисленное множество больших и небольших подводных скал, которыми было усеяно море. Обратившись к рулевому, он спросил:

- Господин рулевой, как вам удаётся пройти среди множества скал? Вы, наверное, знаете здесь каждый камешек, чтобы миновать его.
- Нет - ответил рулевой - камней-то я не знаю, но я знаю самые глубокие места, где можно безопасно провести корабль.

13) Однажды человек шел мимо некоего дома и увидел старушку в кресле-качалке, рядом с ней качался в кресле старичок, читающий газету, а между ними на крыльце лежала собака и скулила, как будто бы от боли. Проходя мимо человек про себя удивился, почему же скулит собака.
- Извините, мэм, – обратился он к старушке, – что случилось с вашей собакой?
- С ней? – переспросила она. – Она лежит на гвозде.
Смущенный ее ответом человек спросил:
- Если она лежит на гвозде и ей больно, почему она просто не встанет?
Старушка улыбнулась и ответила:
- Значит ей больно настолько, чтобы скулить, но не настолько, чтобы сдвинуться с места.