A peaceful mind




The farmer looked at him and thought, "Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough."





In 1938, Karoly Takacs of the Hungarian Army was the top pistol shooter in the world. He was expected to win the gold in the 1940 Olympic Games scheduled for Tokyo.

Those expectations vanished just months before the Olympics. While training with his army squad, a hand grenade exploded in Takacs’ right hand and his shooting hand was blown off.

Takacs spent a month in the hospital, depressed at both the loss of his hand and the end to his Olympic dream. At that point most people would have quit and they would have probably spent the rest of their life feeling sorry for themselves. Most people would have quit, but not Takacs. Takacs was a winner. Winners know that they can’t let circumstances keep them down. They understand that life can be hard. Winners know in their hearts that quitting is not an option.


So Takacs picked himself up, dusted himself off, and decided to learn how to shoot with his left hand! His reasoning was simple. He simply asked himself, “Why not?”

Instead of focusing on what he didn’t have – he decided to focus on what he did have: incredible mental toughness, and a healthy left hand, and a will to win.

For months, Takacs practiced by himself. No one knew what he was doing. Maybe he didn’t want to subject himself to people who most certainly would have discouraged him from his rekindled dream.

In the spring of 1939, he showed up at the Hungarian National Pistol Shooting Championship. Other shooters approached Takacs to give him their condolences and to congratulate him on having the strength to come watch them shoot. They were surprised when he said, “I didn’t come to watch. I came to compete.” They were even more surprised when he won!

Because of World War II, the 1940 and 1944 Olympics were cancelled and hence it looked like Takacs’ Olympic dream would never come true. But Takacs kept on training, and in 1948 he qualified for the London Olympics. In London, having reached the age of 38, Takacs won the Gold Medal and set a new world record in pistol shooting. Four years later, Takacs won the Gold Medal again at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

Is your ship safe?

What happened to the 8 wealthiest people in the world ?

In 1923, eight of the wealthiest people in the world met. Their combined wealth, estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States. These men knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth.

25 years later:

1. President of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died bankrupt.




5. A member of the President's Cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail.



8. President, Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, committed suicide.

They forgot to make a life! Just made Money! Money provides food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, clothes for the needy, but is only a medium of exchange. We need two kinds of education. One that teaches us how to make a living and one that teaches us how to live. People are engrossed in their professional life and neglect their family, health and social responsibilities.


Without water, a ship cannot move. The ship needs water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship will face problems and sink. Similarly we live in a time where earning is a necessity but let not the earning enter our hearts, for what was once a means of living will be become a means of destruction.

So take a moment and ask yourself..has the water entered my ship?"


The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;


they just make the best of everything they have

The Empty Soap Box
