Dear Richard,
In 770 B.C. to 403 B.C., Dong Zhou (東周) dynasty could no longer control a united China. Knights occupied counties and had their own administration and defence. They attacked each other and took over the land from the losers. In Chinese history, this period of time is called Chun Qiu (春秋).
During Chun Qiu, soldiers in a battlefield responded to drum as signal to fight. One day, county Qi (齊) attacked county Lu (魯). The knight of county Lu, named as Zhuang Gong (莊公) led soldiers to defence. When he was about to signal his soldiers to fight, one of his officers, Cao Gui (曹劌) stopped him. Until the enemy army hit drum the third time, Cao Gui then asked Zhuang Gong to signal to attack. At the end, the Lu's army was full of fighting spirit and won the battle.
After the battle, Cao Gui explained, 'Soldiers need spirit to win. When our enemy hit drum the third time, the fighting spirit of their soldiers was loosen. On the contrary, our soldiers were at the highest fighting spirit in the first drum. When the two armies met, our solders, of course, would have a better chance to win.'
Richard, not only the soldiers, we need spirit to complete tasks as well. Whenever you are asked to do something, you will have a good chance to get it done well if you start at your highest spirit. But, if you drag on and keep postponing, even you finish it at the end; the result will not be as good. What do you think?
With love, Dad