Ok, so you have to read yesterdays blog to get this one.
As I said, I’m on break right now but I decided to do some writing on an Operations Manual for NMNW. I know I’m not supposed to be working but I figure a half hour won’t kill me. So I get to the section I’m supposed to work on next and find it’s titled “Self Care for Self Defense Instructors.” Ha ha. Very funny.
Here’s the story;
Gandhi was visited by a very worried mother. She had an elementary-age boy who would eat large amounts of candy and sweets whenever his mother was not looking. She would hide the candy but the boy would find it and even get candy from relatives and neighbors. He would not listen when his mother told him how bad the candy was for him, how it would destroy his teeth and his health. Finally in desperation, she thought of taking him to see the famous Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi was a living legend, hugely respected in all of India at that time. The mother knew if Gandhi told the boy to stop eating candy, he would certainly listen. It took her three days of standing in a very long line to get an audience with the great leader. When she finally saw him, she told him her problem. “Please,” she said, “will you simply tell my son to stop eating candy. I know he will obey you.”
Mr. Gandhi looked up at her and quietly said, “Lady, please come back and see me in two weeks.” The mother left looking confused, not understanding why, after waiting three days in line, she would need to come back. Although puzzled, she did not dare question the wisdom of this revered man.
Two weeks later, she patiently waited three days in another long line and finally received a second audience with Mahatma Gandhi. She brought her boy forward to the great leader and again presented her story and request. Gandhi looked the young boy sternly in the eyes. “Young man, I want you to stop eating candy,” he said. The boy looked wide-eyed at the great leader, then bowed down and said, “Yes sir. I will not eat candy anymore.”
As the mother and boy were leaving the room, the mother turned back with a question that was bothering her. “Mr. Gandhi, sir,” she said, “why did I need to wait again in that long line a second time? Why did you not tell my son to stop eating candy two weeks ago?”Gandhi looked up at the woman and said with a twinkle of wisdom in his eye, “Lady, it took me that long to stop eating candy myself.”
Timing is everything isn’t it?
Needless to say, I’ll get back to ya about that Self Care section in a coupla weeks.
