Encounter with Jail Inmate!!

A few years ago, Shiv started volunteering his time to teach attitude and self-esteem programs to jail inmates.

After attending his program for two weeks, one of the inmates stopped him and said, "Shiv, I'm going to be released from the prison in a couple of weeks".

Shiv asked him what he had learned through the attitude development program. He thought for a while and then said that he felt good about himself.

Shiv said, "Good doesn't work well for me. Tell me specifically what behavior has changed (Shiv always believed that learning has not taken place unless behavior changes).

He told me that since the beginning of the program, he started reading the Bible every day.

Shiv then asked him what did reading the Bible do to him. He replied that he now felt comfortable with himself and others, something he hadn't felt before.

Shiv again said, "That is nice, but what are you going to do when you leave jail?" He said, "He was going to try to be a contributing member of society".

Shiv asked again, "What are you going to do when you leave jail?" At this point, in an angry tone, he said, "I am going to be a contributing member of society."

Shiv pointed out to him that there was a world of difference between what he said earlier and what he said now. First, he had said, "I am going to try to be" and now he said, "I am going to be". The difference is the word TRY. Either we do something, or we don't. The word try kept the door open for him to come back to jail. Bottom line!!

Another inmate, who was listening in on to their conversation, asked, "Shiv, what do you get paid to do all this? Shiv told him, the feeling that he just experienced was worth more than what he could get paid in monetary terms.

He then asked, "Why do you come here?" Shiv responded, "I come here for my own selfish reasons. The feeling that I got upon listening to this man, I come here to get that feeling. When I feel good, my self-esteem goes up. When my self-esteem goes up, I become more productive everywhere." This kind of selfishness is healthy. In a nutshell, what you put into the system, you always get back and most times it is more than you can ever put in. (But you don't put it in with the desire to get something back.)

Flash: We all have the capability to become Great. But sometimes we get so obsessed in our comfort zones that we forget that we can fly very high only when we take on challenging responsibilities. The one accepting challenges, taking responsibilities proactively, and being honest to work, is the person to reach the heights and become successful in the career.

Moral: If we don't understand and experience the difficulty it takes to earn the comfort provided by our loved ones, then we will never value it. The most important thing is to experience the difficulty and learn to value hard work behind all the given comfort.

"Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work!!"