Have challenges in life!

Once again, found this gem while cleaning up my bursting-at-the-seams inbox.

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The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh.
The Japanese did not like the taste. To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull! ! , but alive.
Unfortunately,the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan?
If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?

As soon as you reach your goals, such as finding a wonderful mate, starting a successful company, paying off your debts or whatever, you might lose your passion. You don't need to work so hard so you relax.You experience the same problem as lottery winners who waste their money, wealthy heirs who never grow up and bored homemakers who get addicted to prescription drugs.

Like the Japanese fish problem, the best solution is simple. It was observed by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1950's. "Man thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment."- L. Ron Hubbard The Benefits of a Challenge:
The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a good problem. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are happy. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. You have fun. You are alive!

How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh:
To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state.The
fish are challenged.
Recommendations:
Instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too numerous, do not give up. Failing makes you tired. Instead, reorganize. Find more determination, more knowledge, more help.
If you have met your goals, set some bigger goals. Once you meet your personal or family needs, move onto goals for your group,the society, even mankind. Don't create success and lie in it. You have resources, skills and abilities to make a difference."
So, put a shark in your tank and see how far you can really go!

What's the good word?

Just when you think your woes with diapers and spit-ups have come to an end, a different set of challenges set in. I recently walked into a friend's house with my daughter for a play date with her child and another kid. Just as we were exchanging pleasantries, my friend exclaimed to my daughter enthusiastically, "So, we are going to have a great time, yeah?" ; My daughter goes " Where's the hooker, where's the hooker?" . I am zapped, my friend is puzzled and we were trying to make sense of what she was telling. I ask her gently what she wants, my daughter replies " I want to hang my coat , where's the hooker?". She is used to coat hooks that all the children use in her day care to hang their coats. They're at a height appropriate for toddlers so they can hang on and take off their coats without any assistance. For a split second she made me wonder what kind of party I had brought her to!
    Last week on our way home in the evening, I had to quickly stop for fuel. I drove to a gas station in a strip mall with some small shops, a taqueria and such. It was not particularly an unsafe part of town. After getting gas, at the insistence of my child we went into the attached convenience store for some candy. I was standing in line to pay for the candy,  when I heard DD say, " Ma, I see a pirate, he's a pirate". With an uneasy knot in my stomach, I turned to see a dishevelled homeless man - a dirty green jacket, wiry overgrown hair and beard, a big bulging sack, a black patch on one eye and a scowl on his face. He was just a simple, harmless man, but due to my own insecurities, even without my child to invite trouble, I'd have quickly exited the place. But now with this siren from DD, I was very tense. I tried to ignore her, shush her and then strongly attempted to divert her attention to the candy. I had no idea how he might react. Luckily for us, he just smiled and told another store employee by the coffee machine, 'she thinks I- ma pirate!'. For no apparent reason my heart was beating fast and my grip on DD's hand tightened. I paid for the candy and rushed out from there before my daughter could have attempted to schmooze any further!

Preggers cannot be choosers

 Getting pregnant is like going on a roller coaster ride. The time window for deciding whether 'to be or not to be' is limited. Once you have taken your seat, belted up and the carriages start chugging along , no matter what runs through your mind, you have no choice but to endure the churn in your stomach, go through the mad curves, the painfully slow ascent and the dramatic drop ; a sick-weird expression on your face captured by a sadistically placed camera, in the bargain!
           When I was being wheeled in for my C section, I had an overwhelmingly strong urge to quit, to run away, escape the impending! For two minutes I foolishly regretted what I had gotten myself into. The anticipation for the baby had transformed into fear and an unusual feeling of discomfort. Had it been any other scenario, qutting at the last minute - no matter how embarrassing, how self-defeating - is still possible. In this case, no! 
           But thankfully, just like a roller coaster ride, it was all over in a few minutes. And the reward in my hands at the end of the ordeal was priceless!