Sunday, September 7, 2008

A Lesson to Learn

I browsed into Indonesia Anonymous blog and found this breathtaking story about how unpredictable our life is, and how a single motto can change one's life. So please, spare your time to read this good story. Enjoy :)

Life Sentence

We had lunch appointment the other day, with a friend of a friend. And because the restaurant was at his building, we dropped by at his office. He gave us a little tour around the office and gave us a brief story of the company he owns. A medium sized business, quite successful. It does not make him a billionaire, but he certainly is comfortable. And very proud.

At one point, one man popped by and told us that he couldn't join the lunch. Something came up, he said. Apologized and left.
"My finance director," said our businessman friend. " A good man. A good friend too"
As the finance director left, he added:
"We used to compete, him and me. A tough one too."

"What? your finance director used to be your competitor?"

"Yes. A long time ago. We came from the same town, you see. Same high school. Both had no money to go to college, so we both started our own business. Obviously with so much similar background, we started a similar business. So we compete. Fiercely too, at times. Don't get me wrong. He's one of my best friend in high school. But when it comes to business, we compete each other like hell."

"And now he works for you? How did that happen?"

"I don't know really. He's always been very careful. Very prudent. I always thought he's better than me. You know, with him everything is so organized. Well-planned. Calculated. Compared to him I was such a mess. But somehow his business was not doing so well. In the end he got tired of it and offered me to buy it from him. So I did, and I asked him to join me in my company. Help me out with the finance side. He's good at that."

He continued:
"This is business, you see, and in business you can't plan everything. For me, as long as the plan meets my basic calculation, I would just go for it. He on the other hand, would wait until he can know more.
He's motto was always 'good things happen to those who wait'...

"Do you think that's a bad motto?"

"No, I don't. It's a good motto. I just don't think the sentence should stop there. I think the complete sentence should be:
good things happen to those who wait, and better things happen to those who act. "
Apparently, one additional sentence can really set your life apart from being an employee or an owner of a company.

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