Change
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein
King Arthur
Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighbouring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur’s youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.
The question? … What do women really want? Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch’s proposition to have an answer by year’s end.
He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.
Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer.
But the price would be high; as the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.
The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first.
The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur’s closest friend!
Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc. He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life.
He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur.
He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur’s life and the preservation of the Round Table.
Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur’s question thus:
What a woman really wants, she answered … is to be in charge of her own life.
Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur’s life would be spared.
And so it was, the neighbouring monarch granted Arthur his freedom and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.
The honeymoon hour approached and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But, what a sight awaited him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened.
The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth, be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half.
Which would he prefer? Beautiful during the day … or night?
Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch? Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?
What would YOU do?
What Lancelot chose is below. BUT … make YOUR choice before you scroll down below. OKAY?
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Noble Lancelot said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself.
Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.
Now … what is the moral to this story?
Scroll down
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The moral is: If you don’t let a woman have her own way… Things are going to get ugly!
Nature calls
Imagination
Walt Disney once captured the never-ending nature of purpose when he said “Disneyland will never be complete as long as there is imagination in the world.” It is with this view that we should all approach the work we do. If we keep exploring and brainstorming and challenging each other in an effort to come up with new innovations then our work will never be complete.
Yes, as long as we have imagination we will continue to come up with new ideas, some good, some bad, but we will keep pushing the envelope.
It is all about people
Ideas don’t move mountains, people move mountains. People make it happen.
I learnt in life that you would rather invest in a bad business with good people than in a good business with bad people. You can take the best business plans in the world, or the best software, and give it to a bunch of arrogant and lazy know-it-alls, and nothing will happen, or worse. But you can take an average plan, or even no plan at all, and put a bunch of enthusiastic, humble and hungry people together and magic will happen.
One of the biggest myths in business is that it takes a good idea to start a company. Most great ventures start off with no idea. They are labours of love with a strong sense of purpose. What they all have at their core is good people. This is what the fundamentals are all about. Good people and a lot of imagination. As Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge”.
The best way to receive is to give
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. – Winston Churchill
Magic = story telling with props
The Many Lessons of Golf
Golf teaches that we all have handicaps … and that hardly anybody knows what they really are.
Golf teaches that the best courses are the ones that hardly change at all what God put there to begin with.
Golf teaches that although there are a few people who are honest in golf but cheat in life, everybody who cheats in golf cheats in life.
Golf teaches that even though we need strict rules, we also need a leaf rule.
Golf teaches that even people who wear green pants deserve some place where they can go, get a little exercise and not be laughed at.
Golf teaches that even though you probably don’t have a shot at being the best, you do have a good shot at being the best you can be.
Golf teaches that both success and failure are temporary.
Golf teaches that success is a lot more temporary.
Golf teaches that although practice does not always make us perfect, no practice always makes us imperfect.
Golf teaches that no matter how good you are, there is always someone better and that person will usually find you and tell you.
Golf teaches that when you are good you can tell people, but when you are great they will tell you.
Golf teaches that although patience is a virtue, slow play is not.
Golf teaches that even though the best golfers have the most chances to win, the other golfers have the most chances to improve.
Golf teaches that, on some dewy morning or some golden afternoon, with the sun warming the world, we can find ourselves walking through an improvised meadow and realise we are not searching for the little white ball, but for a moment where the world of nature and the world of play are one. And then in the dew and sunshine we can understand that even though we can make a ball perfectly white, only God can make a meadow perfectly green.
By Rabbi Marc Gellman, Ph.D., and Monsignor Tom Hartman


