Saturday Story from Siva (34): Story of a Farm Boy Who Became One of the Greatest Baseball Pitchers

Hi,
Good morning! God endows each one of his creations with innumerable assets. Human being is perhaps the most complex of his creations. Thousands of researchers, psychologists, and philosophers spread over hundreds of years tried understanding and revealing the potential of human brain. It only revealed that that what is known is only a fraction of what is unknown. Here goes today’s story which would help us understand the power of one such creation....
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Story of a Farm Boy Who Became One of the Greatest Baseball Pitchers
Source: Internet and Books
Mordecai Brown was born in 1876 in a poor American farming family. As a child, he dreamt of becoming a big league baseball pitcher. His parents also supported him, as he showed a very good talent at it. He also used to work on the farm to support his family. One day, he accidentally slipped his right hand into a corn shredder that resulted in a total loss his index finger and also a severe damage to his middle finger. That didn’t make him leave his dream of becoming a pitcher. He learned to throw the ball with the fingers he had left.
Mordecai Brown—dubbed “Three Finger” because of his childhood farm injury—was the dominant pitcher for the great Chicago Cubs team, a team that from 1906 through 1910 was arguably the best in baseball history. Mordecai would throw the ball in such a way that it would come fast, dancing, twisting, turning, and gyrating up and down baffling the batters. Brown’s handicap actually enabled him to throw pitches with an unconventional movement that left batters bewildered. He became one of the greatest pitchers of American baseball.
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Amazing attitude! Injured, but with the determination of continuing to be on the chosen goal with what he had, Mordecai converted his disaster into an opportunity. Well, each one of us has also been endowed with innumerable assets, leave alone the handicaps. What have we made out of them? Do we realize that we have far more strengths than what we actually put to use? Is it also the time that we could take a look at the handicaps and see if we could convert them into our assets as they are, if we can’t find a way out to correct them?
“When you start out with a disadvantage, you have to work harder to do what others take for granted In the end, that gives you an advantage.” —Ferguson Jenkins
To learn more about Mordecai Brown, please visit: http://www.mordecaibrown.com
The Best for you always!
With love and regards,
Siva

B Sivaprasad

Corporate Trainer and Motivational Speaker

SS Technologies

401, Rajya Lakshmi Nivas, 5-2-26/1, Kukatpally

Hyderabad 500072, India

Mobile: (91) 99639-69797

eMail: value4value@gmail.com

Saturday Story from Siva (33): The Story of a monk who tried to emulate

Hi,
Hope you are doing great. Has been a pleasure posting a story every Saturday for last several weeks. It is of great help to me as it is reinforcing my own learning. And, I hope you too find it of value to share them among your contacts.
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The Story of a monk who tried to emulate
Anonymous (Courtesy: Purushotham Rudraraju)
A Zen tale tells of three monks who practiced meditation together, sitting by the side of a lake. One day, one monk opened his eyes and stood up to say, “I forgot my mat.” Instead of walking around the lake to their hut, he stepped onto the water and serenely walked across the lake! Upon his return, the second monk declared, “I forgot to put my clothes to dry.” He too walked across the water and returned the same way.
Now the third monk decided to test of his own abilities. He rose to declare, “Your learning cannot be greater than mine… I too can match any feat you two can perform.” He rushed to the water's edge to walk across it. He promptly fell into the deep water. Wet but undeterred, he climbed out of the water and tried again, only to sink into the water. The other two monks watched as this went on for some time.
After a while, the second monk turned to the first and said, "Do you think we should tell him where the stones are?"
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Emulating great people and their great feats is certainly advisable. However, it is important to learn the true reasons of their success so as to achieve the success to a similar degree. The desire to succeed alone will not help, unless it is coupled with the knowledge and the effort required for the task. And sometimes, that effort may not be a too difficult one, if one could try to acquire the right knowledge by looking deep into it.
The Best for you always,
With love and regards,
Siva

Saturday Story from Siva (32): Story of the Amazing Monarch Butterfly

Hi,
Good evening! Birds, bats, and whales migrate for reasons of climate, shelter, food, etc., But, the only insect that migrates for reasons of climate is the king of butterflies, The Monarch Butterfly. The story of migration of Monarch is very astonishing and amazing. Pls read further...
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Story of The Amazing Monarch Butterfly
Source: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/monarchbutterflies/monarchbutterflies.html
Millions of Monarch butterflies migrate from Canada and Northern parts of United States to to the coastal regions of California and Texas and also to the mountains of central Mexico in order to avoid the chilling winters. The distance covered in the process is more than 2000 miles. And, after the winter every year, the monarchs return on the same dates, and to the exact same locations in the spring. Not the ones who set off on migratory journey, but those of their 4^th or 5^th generation. Truly incredible!
Each adult butterfly lives only about four to five weeks. But one of the many wonders of the Monarchs is the annual creation of a unique special generation. As autumn approaches in their sites of migratory origin, a very special generation of monarch butterflies is born. Unlike their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents -- all of whom had short lives measured only in weeks -- these migratory butterflies survive seven or eight months. In human terms, given our average life span of 75 years, this would be like having children who lived to be 525 years old!
This generation, because of their longer life span, performs the incredible feat of flying from Canada and the United States to the center of Mexico -- after which they begin their return journey northward again. Once they reach the United States, they lay the eggs and die. A kind of relay race begins as their short-lived offspring, with only four or five weeks to live, continue making the trek northward over several generations....finally reaching the same location left by their great-great-great grandparents.
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The monarchs who started the journey know fully well that their lifespan is too short to complete the round trip covering so many thousands of miles for so many months. However, they still take off and put in their best efforts for the sake of their progeny. Just as we humans too do our best in the interest of our children. May our efforts continue to be directed to make the world a better place to live, especially for our future generations to whom we owe a safe planet!
The Best for you always!
With love and regards,
Siva

Saturday Story from Siva (31): Story of a Driver and His Approach to Learning

Hi,
Good morning! We are already into February of the New Year. Hope the going is great for you. Wishing you continued success in pursuit of your goals for the year 2011, here is another Saturday Story…
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Saturday Story from Siva (31): Story of a Driver and His Approach to Learning
By Prakash Iyer (Courtesy: PKV)
He is 58 years old, bespectacled with distinguished silver grey hair. He's spent 25 years working for one of India's most respected corporate houses. I have learnt a lot from him. But it is unlikely you would have ever heard of him. His name is Karunan. And he worked with me as my driver.
Sometimes, the biggest lessons in life come from very unlikely sources. And as Karunan spoke to me one morning about his life and times, he said, "I was 18 when I got my license. But it was only after several months of driving a car that I actually learnt to drive, and became a real driver." A license is only a permit -- and not a stamp of authority. An MBA does not make you a manager. It is only after you spend several more years learning on the job that you truly qualify to call yourself a manager.
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For that matter any degree is only an indication of what educational qualification one has got, and not necessarily the skills he or she possesses. They have to be practised and perfected over the years, and learning as such is a continuous process. Opportunities for learning exist every single day from some corner or other. And that could be from anyone whom we deal with, and certainly not necessarily from a particular class of people. Let there be value addition to our knowledge and skills on a daily basis.

The Best for you always!
With love and regards,
Siva