Success? or Failure?
A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.
Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.
He said, "It is time for me to step
down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to
choose one of you. "The young executives were
Shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give
each one of you a SEED today - one very special
SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and
come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you.
I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."
One man, named Jim, was there that
day and he, like the others, received a seed. He
went home and excitedly, told his wife
the story.
She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he
planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see
if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of
the other executives began to talk about their seeds
and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.
Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still
nothing.
By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim
didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed.
Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had
nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues,
however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the
soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the young executives of the
company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.
Jim told his wife that he wasn't
going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be
honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his
stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.
He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!
When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.
Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great
plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the
CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"
All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at
the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered
the Financial Director to bring him to the front.
Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a
failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"
When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.
The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then
announced to the young executives,
"Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!
His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.
"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.
Then the CEO said,
"One year ago today, I gave everyone in
this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water
it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled
seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.
All of you, except Jim, have brought
me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that
the seed would not grow, you substituted another
seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one
with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with
my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new
Chief Executive Officer!"
If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
If you plant hard work, you will reap success
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation
So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.
Think about this for a minute....
If I happened to show up on your door step crying, would you care?
If I called you and asked you to pick me up because something happened, would you come?
If I had one day left to live my life, would you be part of that last day?
If I needed a shoulder to cry on, would you give me yours?
This is a test to see who your real friends are or if you are just someone to talk to you when they are bored.
Do you know what the relationship is between your two eyes?
They blink together, they move together, they cry together, they see things together, and they sleep together, but they never see each other;
....that's what friendship is..
Your aspiration is your motivation, your motivation is your belief, your belief is your peace, your peace is your target,
your target is heaven, and life is like hard core torture without it!
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