"Life is lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back through the valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale.” Jill Savage

Sunday, December 10, 2006

How to pick the right pepple....

The Pebble - a story that's makes you think....


Many years ago in a small village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing
a large sum of money to a village money-lender. The money-lender, who
was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So, he
proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could
marry his daughter.

Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.
The cunning money-lender suggested that they let Providence decide the
matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble
into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble
from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and
her father's debt would be forgiven.
2) If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him and her
father's debt would still be forgiven.
3) But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown
into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field.
As they talked, the money-lender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he
picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two
black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick
a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you
have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you
have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble. Then the father would go to
jail.

2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and
expose the money-lender as a cheat. Then the money-lender wouldn't
forgive the debt out of revenge fpr humiliation.

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to
save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used
with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between
lateral and logical thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with
traditional logical thinking.

Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers.
What would you advise the girl to do?

Well, here is what she did.

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without
looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path
where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the
bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I
picked."

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had
picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his
dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an
extremely advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Most complex problems do have a solution. It is only that we don't
attempt to think. Start your day with this thought-provoking story and
have a nice day.

Always thinking,
Chatty

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