Two important management lessons learnt from a five hundred rupee note.

It happened some years ago. The speaker whipped out his wallet and pulled out a five hundred-rupee note. Holding it up, he asked, “Who wants this five-hundred-rupee note?”
 
Lots of hands went up. A slow chorus began to build as people began to shout “I!” “I!” 
 
Now who the lucky one would be? Who will the speaker choose? Everybody wondered why he would simply give away five hundred rupees. Even as the shouts of “I want it” grew louder, suddenly a young woman came running down the aisle. She ran up onto the stage, went up to the speaker and grabbed the five hundred-rupee note from his hand.

“Well done, young lady,” said the speaker into the microphone. “Most of us just wait for good things to happen. That’s of no use. You’ve got to make things happen.”
 
Do something. Next time you see an opportunity — think of the lady and the five hundred rupees note. Remember, just wanting it is of little use. Get up, and do something about it. Don’t worry about what other people might think. Take action.

Several years later, it was another day, another time, and another motivational guru. He pulled out a five hundred rupee note and held it up for all to see, He just asked a simple question.
 
“How much is this worth?”
 
“Five Hundred rupees!” the crowd yelled in unison.
 
“Right,” said the speaker.

In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like to have this 500 rupee note?”

Hands started going up. 

He said, “I am going to give this note to one of you but first let me do this.”
 
He then took the note and crumpled it into a ball and asked “How much is it worth now?”
 
“Five Hundred rupees!” screamed the audience.

He then asked, “Who still wants it?” 

Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty.

“And how much is it worth now?”
 
“Five Hundred rupees!” was the response.

“Now who still wants it?”

Still the hands went into the air. 
 
“I want you to remember this,” said the speaker. “Just because someone crumples it, or stamps on it, you still want it because the value of the note does not diminish. It was still worth five hundred rupees.”

We should all be like the five hundred rupee note. In our lives, there will be times when we feel crushed, stamped over, beaten. Many times, in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, we will never lose our value. We should never let our self-worth diminish. Just because someone chooses to crush you — that doesn’t change your worth one bit! Don’t allow your self- worth to diminish because someone says something nasty or does something dirty to you.”

A Good lesson to remember!

The inability of others to recognize and understand our value does not reduce or affect our value.

Dust, even if it rises in the sky, remains just that — valueless dust. 

A diamond, even if it falls in the dirt doesn’t lose its
value.

We are all special. Don’t ever forget it!

Never let yesterday’s disappointments overshadow tomorrow’s dreams. 

“If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.” — Anonymous

“Value has a value only if its value is valued.”

Our Real Self, our essential nature is invaluable, infinite. It is of the nature of Existence absolute, Knowledge absolute and Bliss Absolute.

Being aware of our Real Self — not what we think we are, but who we are in Reality — is the ultimate goal of human existence.