Walk In Freezer

Sammy Braun, the owner of a ritual slaughter plant in Argentina, was generally the last person to leave every night. The entire area was surrounded by a tall chain link fence and everyone entered through a wrought iron gate in the front, near the parking lot. The guard at the front gate, Domingo, knew that when Sammy left in the evening, he could lock the gate and go home.

One evening as Sammy was leaving, he called out to the guard, "Good night, Domingo, you can lock up and go." "No," Domingo called back, "not everyone has left yet."

"What are you talking about," Sammy said, "everyone left two hours ago!" "It is not so," Domingo said, "One of the shochtim (ritual slaughterers), Rabbi Berkowitz, hasn't left yet."

"But he goes home every day with his colleagues, maybe you just didn't see him," Sammy said.
"Believe me, I am positive he didn't leave yet," the guard insisted. "We better go look for him."

Sammy knew that Domingo was reliable. He decided not to argue, but instead got out of his car and rushed back to the office building with Domingo. They searched the dressing room for Rabbi Berkowitz. He wasn't there.

They ran to where the animals were slaughtered, but he wasn't there either. They searched the truck dock, then the packing house, going from room to room. Finally they came to the huge walk-in freezer where the large slabs of meat were kept frozen. They opened the door and to their shock and horror they saw Rabbi Berkowitz rolling on the floor, trying desperately to keep himself warm. They ran over to him, lifted him off the floor and helped him out of the freezer, past the thick heavy door that had locked behind him. They wrapped blankets around him and made sure he was warm and comfortable.

Sammy Braun was incredulous. "Domingo," he asked, "how did you know Rabbi Berkowitz hadn't left? There are over two hundred workers here every day. Don't tell me you know the comings and goings of every one of them?"

The guard's answer is worth remembering.

"Every morning when that Rabbi comes in, he greets me and says hello. He makes me feel like a person. And every single night when he leaves he tells me, 'Have a pleasant evening.' He never misses a night - and to tell you the truth, I wait for his kind words. Dozens and dozens of workers pass me every day - morning and night, and they don't say a word to me. To them I am a nothing. To him, I am a somebody.

"I knew he came in this morning and I was sure he hadn't left yet, because I was waiting for his friendly good-bye for the evening!"

It was Rabbi Berkowitz's genuine regard for another human being that literally saved his life.

My Reflection:

One of the best things you can do for other people is make yourself easy to remember and the ultimate way to be remembered is exactly like the above story. A simple friendly gesture to a stranger can go change and even save your life. This also raises a great question - what do you want to be remembered for? We don't ask ourselves this question enough, yet it should be a pivotal and motivating factor in our lives. Most if not all of us want to be remembered as good, compassionate and kind people.... yet at the best of times we don't display this behaviour. If you want to be remembered as a person who is friendly and greets people then DO IT everyday. If you want to be remembered as a humble person then be humble everyday. Yes we have our bad days and drop our guard, but it's these days that people will see your character shine and remember you... If you are consistent in your goodness people will truly remember you as a great person.

I wish you an awesome week :)

Darren Zwiers

Whether it's eight o'clock in the morning or eight o'clock at night, I always try to greet others before they have a chance to speak to me. - Zig Ziglar

The Mechanic and the Surgeon

As this email marks my 3 year anniversary of A Monday Inspiration, I would like to take the moment to thank you for being a part of what has been an awesome 3 years of writing. I always love hearing your thoughts, comments and feedback. So don't be shy to hit the reply button... Looking forward to many more Mondays in your inbox ;) 

A heart surgeon took his car to his local garage for a regular service, where he usually exchanged a little friendly banter with the owner, a skilled but not especially wealthy mechanic. "So tell me," says the mechanic, "I've been wondering about what we both do for a living, and how much more you get paid than me.." "Yes?.." says the surgeon. "Well look at this," says the mechanic, as he worked on a big complicated engine, "I check how it's running, open it up, fix the valves, and put it all back together so it works good as new.. We basically do the same job don't we? And yet you are paid ten times what I am - how do you explain that?" The surgeon thought for a moment, and smiling gently, replied,"Try it with the engine running.."

Reflection

After reading the above story, you can see that both the heart surgeon and the mechanic love what they do. But if the mechanic lived with the perception that his job was essentially the same as the heart surgeon and he was therefore underpaid he would certainly be unhappy. There is no way we can live our lives looking at other people, compare our skills with theirs and come to a conclusion on who should be earning more. There is a saying that goes “When you compare what you want with what you have, you will be unhappy. Rather compare what you deserve with what you have and you'll discover true happiness." There will always be someone prettier, smarter or richer than you… If you keep comparing yourself against others, you will lose your own sense of purpose. Helen Keller couldn't’t of said it any better; “Instead of comparing our lot with those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged." Stop comparing your self to others. We are all born to be different. We all have different mindsets, we interpret things differently, we have different experiences and we feel different emotions. The most successful people in this world celebrate their differences and use it to their advantage. At the end of the day, it is better to be the original you than to be a copy of somebody else as the best copycat in the world is still a copycat. Live life your way.

May you have an awesome week, where you can truly define your values and become the best version of YOU!

Darren Zwiers

“Everything you see or hear or experience in any way at all is specific to you. You create a universe by perceiving it, so everything in the universe you perceive is specific to you” – Douglas Adams.

A New Set Of Eyes

On 9 December 1958 a man by the name of Sydney Bradford entered the Wolverhampton eye hospital in the Midlands of England. At the time, Bradford was 52 years old and had been effectively blind since infancy. He had come to the hospital to receive a corneal transplant, which surgeons hoped would provide him with vision for the first time in his life. Within days of the procedure the doctor entered his room to remove the bandages. Bradford described the experience ,"I heard a voice coming from in front of me and to one side I turned to the source of the sound and saw a blur. I realised that this must be a face". Imagine for a moment seeing a face for the first time. Or perhaps the rich maroon of a glass of wine or the exquisite pallet of a butterfly's wings. How moved would you be by the experience. Now fast forward a few years; you seen that face hundreds of times and you barely notice the butterfly as it flits past you on your morning walk. What has changed? Why does the site not leave you reeling in delight at the sheer extravaganza of visual pleasure?

Reflection

The sad truth is that we have been jaded. We have become numb to the things we see too often. The world is no less beautiful, it is our eyes that no longer see and witness this beauty. Remember when you were a kid, the world was a constant source of wonder. Everything was new, fresh and exciting. Well, we all still live in this same world - so it's us that has changed. Due to evolution and human growth, we have become accustomed to our surroundings and things have become the 'norm', but that doesn't mean we cannot constantly appreciate the immense beauty that we usually take for granted. If the sun never rose for an entire month, how delighted would we be when it rises again. Why should we have to wait for something to be gone in order to truly appreciate it? This is the same for everything in our lives, our surroundings, our families our friends, our possessions and the list goes on. Don't wait to appreciate the small things around you. Right now look around you and pretend you are seeing things with a new set of eyes. Slowly look at the textures, the colours, the shapes and appreciate how beautiful everything around you is. If we can change how we see ordinary things, I can assure you our lives will become so much more enriched.

May you have an awesome week, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary! - Darren Zwiers

NOTE: I’ve been attempting (and succeeding!) in noticing the beauty in small things for a while and I would love to hear what you find. I have created a new Facebook Page, like it and share your discoveries here - http://bit.ly/bits2013

"The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes" Marcel Proust