Imagine this: You're an American agent in a German standoff in a shady back alley of Darmstadt. A German soldier is pointing a gun at you and your frozen still looking at him. Your gun is on the floor. What can you do? You can run away, but that will have the obvious result in him pulling the trigger. You can also surrender but it would lead only to the electric chair. It seems that you're in a fix. There has to be a third option but everything seems to lead to death. Without thinking you run towards the soldier.
One of three things can happen- He shoots you in the shoulder, he misses his shot or he just does not shoot. You have opened two more options for yourself.
But why should you care about this? You are probably reading this on your mobile at home, lazing on a sofa.
The importance of this anecdote is how it can apply to our lives. Often we find ourselves in situations where we are helpless and are at our wit's end. We consider our two options of doing something and choose the one which an have the least consequences. However, there is always a third option. It is never thought of and often very very risky, but fruit it bears is very worth taking it.
Why can't we see the third option?
The biggest emotion barring our finding the third option is fear. We are afraid of consequences and often tend to avoid to squelch the idea of succumbing to our fear. Often, we are put in situations which are very time bound and the risk of going wrong is very high and the consequence is severe. Our fear, in these situations, increases exponentially and we panic.
The best way to deal with this is to take a break for a minute and take a breather. Take a washroom break and wash your face. It will clear your mind.
If the teacher is coming around to check your homework, and you have done only half of it, you are stuck with either showing it or not showing it. In this case, your mind goes into hyper speed and you try thinking of solutions. But it doesn't work like that. our mind is not a warp tunnel and it cannot function super fast very efficiently.
A friend of mine was stuck in this situation and he considered his options- Owe up and take the incomplete sign or complain that he didn't know how to do a sum. Instead, he sae a third option and swiftly turned his pages to a few uncorrected practice sums. The type of sums were the same as those of the homework. The teacher came, saw it and went. I got an incomplete for not completing a graph but he walked away scot free.
Another excellent way of finding a third option is to eliminate your other two options. Burning your bridges is very helpful, but again very dangerous.
General Xiang Yu sent his army across the Yangtze River to take on the Qin dynasty, in the third century B.C. However, his troops were not very confident and he had two options- Inevitably lose because of a army with a weak morale or call off the invasion. Instead, he decided something unexpected. While his troops slept, he ordered some to set all the ships on fire. The next day he told them that they had two options- win or die trying. By removing his first two options and forcing himself to think, he came to this conclusion. He won the battle.
In conclusion, a third option is a godsend but only believers can see it. You have to want to find a third option to actually see it. If you stay in the lane and go with the usual two options, you won't get anywhere. So go ahead and try your hand at the third option. So what if you get shot? It's better dying a hero than at the laughter of a bunch of Germans.
One of three things can happen- He shoots you in the shoulder, he misses his shot or he just does not shoot. You have opened two more options for yourself.
But why should you care about this? You are probably reading this on your mobile at home, lazing on a sofa.
The importance of this anecdote is how it can apply to our lives. Often we find ourselves in situations where we are helpless and are at our wit's end. We consider our two options of doing something and choose the one which an have the least consequences. However, there is always a third option. It is never thought of and often very very risky, but fruit it bears is very worth taking it.
Why can't we see the third option?
The biggest emotion barring our finding the third option is fear. We are afraid of consequences and often tend to avoid to squelch the idea of succumbing to our fear. Often, we are put in situations which are very time bound and the risk of going wrong is very high and the consequence is severe. Our fear, in these situations, increases exponentially and we panic.
The best way to deal with this is to take a break for a minute and take a breather. Take a washroom break and wash your face. It will clear your mind.
If the teacher is coming around to check your homework, and you have done only half of it, you are stuck with either showing it or not showing it. In this case, your mind goes into hyper speed and you try thinking of solutions. But it doesn't work like that. our mind is not a warp tunnel and it cannot function super fast very efficiently.
A friend of mine was stuck in this situation and he considered his options- Owe up and take the incomplete sign or complain that he didn't know how to do a sum. Instead, he sae a third option and swiftly turned his pages to a few uncorrected practice sums. The type of sums were the same as those of the homework. The teacher came, saw it and went. I got an incomplete for not completing a graph but he walked away scot free.
Another excellent way of finding a third option is to eliminate your other two options. Burning your bridges is very helpful, but again very dangerous.
General Xiang Yu sent his army across the Yangtze River to take on the Qin dynasty, in the third century B.C. However, his troops were not very confident and he had two options- Inevitably lose because of a army with a weak morale or call off the invasion. Instead, he decided something unexpected. While his troops slept, he ordered some to set all the ships on fire. The next day he told them that they had two options- win or die trying. By removing his first two options and forcing himself to think, he came to this conclusion. He won the battle.
In conclusion, a third option is a godsend but only believers can see it. You have to want to find a third option to actually see it. If you stay in the lane and go with the usual two options, you won't get anywhere. So go ahead and try your hand at the third option. So what if you get shot? It's better dying a hero than at the laughter of a bunch of Germans.
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