Life is All About Untying Mental Blocks

A farmer was taking three of his donkeys for sale to the market. On the way he saw a river and decided to have a dip. Since he had only two ropes to tie the donkeys to a tree, he looked around wondering how to tie the third one.

He saw a sage and sought his help if he could give him a rope to tie the third donkey. The sage did not have a rope but had a suggestion. He told the farmer, “let the third donkey see you tying the other two donkeys to a tree. 

Then you pretend to tie this one also”. The farmer did as he was told and went for a dip in the river. 

Coming back, he thanked the sage and saw that the donkeys stood exactly at the same spot where he had left them. He untied the two donkeys and patted the third one to start moving.   

After going a little distance, imagine his surprise when the third donkey stood still at the same spot. 

Cajoling, kicking or talking did not help with the donkey, refusing to move from the spot.

The farmer went back to sage, who told him, “untie the third donkey”.

"But”, protested the farmer, “I have not tied him”.

The sage said, “You know it. But does the donkey know that?”

Sure enough the farmer went back went through the motions of untying the donkey. 

The donkey moved immediately as though released and walked over to join the other two donkeys.

*We too are tied up by too many imaginary ropes which are really non-existent. 

The only truth is there are no boundaries in real life and anyone can stretch to any extent.*

Life -  All About Untying Mental Blocks.

The 18th Camel

A father left 17 Camels as an Asset for his Three Sons.

When the Father passed away, his sons opened up the will.

The Will of the Father stated that the Eldest son should get Half of 17 Camels,

The Middle Son should be given 1/3rd of 17 Camels,

Youngest Son should be given 1/9th of the 17 Camels,

As it is not possible to divide 17 into half or 17 by 3 or 17 by 9, the sons started to fight with each other.

So, they decided to go to a wise man.

The wise man listened patiently about the Will. The wise man, after giving this thought, brought one camel of his own & added the same to 17. That increased the total to 18 camels.

Now, he started reading the deceased father’s will.

Half of 18 = 9.
So he gave 9 camels     to the eldest son.

1/3rd of 18 = 6.
So he gave 6 camels
to the middle son.

1/9th of 18 = 2.
So he gave 2 camels
to the youngest son.

Now add this up:
9 + 6 + 2 = 17 &
This leaves 1 camel,
which the wise man took back.

MORAL: The attitude of negotiation & problem solving is to find the 18th camel i.e. the common ground. Once a person is able to find the common ground, the issue is resolved. It is difficult at times.

However, to reach a solution, the first step is to believe that there is a solution. If we think that there is no solution, we won’t be able to reach any!

If you liked this story,  please share with all. You might spark a thought, inspire & possibly change a life forever!

A very interesting management lesson