Hatred...!

Today I have a small story to share. This is about hatred (Click on the title for some good advise about overcoming it) the ugliest truth of life that needs to be eradicated and exterminated as early as possible from each and every heart if we want to progress towards a World of Peace and Compassion…

One day, a Junior School teacher asked her students to bring some potatoes in a plastic bag, to school. Each potato will be given a name of the person whom that child hates. Like this, the number of potatoes will be equal to the number of persons they hate.

On a decided day the children brought their potatoes well addressed. Some had two, some had three and some had even five potatoes.

The teacher said they have to carry these potatoes with them everywhere they go for a week. As the days passed the children started to complain about the spoiled smell that started coming from these potatoes. Also some students who had many potatoes complained that it was very heavy to carry them all around. The children got rid of this assignment after a week, when it got over.

The teacher asked, "How did you feel in this one week?"
The children discussed their problems about the smell and weight.
Then the teacher said, "This situation is very similar to what you carry in your heart when you don't like some people. This hatred makes your heart unhealthy and you carry that hatred in your heart everywhere you go. If you can not bear the smell of spoiled potatoes for a week, imagine the impact of this hatred that you carry through out your life, on your heart?"

Our heart is a beautiful garden that needs a regular cleaning of unwanted weeds. Forgive those who have not behaved with you as expected and forget the bad things...
This also makes room available for storing good things...

Stay tuned...!

ZODIAC

This story is a mnemonic (pronounced 'nemonic' - meaning memory aid) for remembering the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, in order, starting in January.

While this example is useful for pub quizzes, more importantly the method of creating a story mnemonic can be used to retain all sorts of difficult-to-remember pieces of information, for yourself, and taught to others. Mnemonics stories need not make sense - they simply need to be memorable.

In January, a goat (Capricorn), drinking from a stream (Aquarius) said, "Look, a fish (Pisces)."

A ram (Aries), and a bull (Taurus), carrying the twins (Gemini) said "There's also a crab (Cancer)."

A lion (Leo) roared in agreement, which startled the young maiden (Virgo) so that she dropped and smashed her scales (Libra).

"That's no crab - it's a scorpion (Scorpio)," said the archer (Sagittarius).

Note that the Signs of the Zodiac are normally deemed to start and end anything between the 18th and the 24th day of each month, depending on interpretation. It is not by any means a precise science.

Empathy...!

As we are discussing details about when, where, what, why and how of the being at this place; today I want to share a story of empathy (if anybody can think of a better title please let me know and I would be grateful) which is a real-life story as narrated by a Doctor friend…

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman, probably in his 80s, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's disease.

As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late, he replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?' He smiled as he patted my hand and said,
'She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.'

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought,

'That is the kind of love I want in my life.'

True love is neither physical, nor romantic.

True love is acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

Life isn't about how to survive the storm,

but how to dance in the rain...!

Stay tuned...!

APPROACH...!

As mentioned in our SCI – Approach – the last but not the least unit of our list of 5, is about Oneness, Spirituality and Enlightenment. Before I could say anything about it, I would like you to visit the link by clicking on the title 'Approach' to have a profound, awakening and stupendous idea of Spirituality…

Knowledge does not end with knowing nor is it pursued and found for the sake of knowing alone. It has its full value only when it leads to some greater gain than itself, some gain of being. Simply to know the truth and to remain in the pain, struggle and inferiority of our present way of being would be a poor and lame advantage. – Yogi Aurobindo

For the practical part of it see if the following guidelines provide any help…

1. Start Each Day with a Creative State of Mind
As you open your eyes to greet the new day, spend the first few minutes thinking of the things that bring you the most happiness and comfort. It can be your family, your faith, or a special goal or project you have set for yourself. In addition, spend a couple of brief moments thinking about the most exciting thing that happened to you yesterday. Savor this experience and allow the feelings to spill over into the new day.

Create a picture in your mind of how you want the day to unfold. Visualize it clearly and attractively in your mind. Imagine the people you want to meet, the things you want to accomplish or experience, and the fun you want to enjoy. Then, no matter the problems or obstacles you encounter, keep this mental snapshot with you and refer back it to when needed.

2. Begin Conditioning Your Mind for a Good Day, Every Day
We become what we think. Ralph Waldo Emerson writes ‘A man is what he thinks about all day long’. So the question is how can we learn to develop the right kind of thoughts to get the most out of each and every day? It begins with starting your day with positive thoughts. Then it becomes very important to condition you mind to keep doing this. Let go the fear or any other self-limiting thought that keeps you from achieving what you want to achieve. Practice replacing the negative thoughts in your mind with more positive ones. Fill your mind with what you want to have; not what you want to avoid. In fact, say aloud what you want. Allow your mind and heart, to hear it.

Surround yourself with positive people and activities. Attempt to avoid, or at least ignore, those folks and things that are toxic for you.

Walk the talk: Be positive. Say nice things - and really mean them.

Start each day with a prayer or a special request. You will be surprised how often you receive what you ask for when you condition your mind to focus on the positive.

3. Understand Every Day is a Gift
Make it a goal, a priority, to appreciate each and every day. Too often we get caught-up with planning and scheduling our lives, but not living our lives. Make a list, right now, of all of the things you want to see or do in your life.

Use this day to pick an item from the list and perform one action that will move you closer to achieving it. Confidence builds and motivation soars when we use our days to move forward to fulfilling our heart's desire. Today is a gift we have been given. Allow this day to live within your heart. Allow this day to move you closer to your life's purpose and passion.

4. Keep Your Emotions Under Control
Exerting your control is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when it comes to your emotions. The controlled person is a powerful person. He or she who always keeps their head will get ahead. I've seen numerous people ruin their whole day because of the lack of emotional control.

Pay attention to the times when you begin to emotionalize rather than to think. When you feel your emotions begin to trump logic, stop and regroup. Sit quietly and think: What would a logical and rational person do in this situation? You will get your answer if you pay attention and keep listening.

5. Do One Thing, Every Day, to Feel Healthier
There is a mind - body connection. It is difficult to have a good day when you do not feel well mentally or physically. Besides going to the doctor for check-ups and the like, there are emotional, mental and spiritual things you can do each day. Here are a few ways to begin feeling healthier today and every day:

Think health, not sickness. Remember, what you think about, grows. Stop looking for things to go wrong with your health or body. Instead, think positively about your physical health. Mental images tend to reproduce themselves. Attempt to free your mind of ill thoughts and attitudes. Learn to replace ill will with goodwill to create a healthier state of mind. The relationship between the mind and its influence on your physical conditions is significant. Purge your mind of resentment, frustrations and anger and you will release tensions that only exacerbate physical illness.

Make one deliberate choice each day regarding what you eat and drink. Opt for water instead of a diet cola, for example. Go with the salad for your combo meal instead of the French fries. Add up every reason for being happy, thankful and healthy. Also, add up reasons for your health and happiness. You will be surprised at how many reasons you will find. Place these reasons in your reserve tank and tap into them when you feel your energy getting low.

6. Give More Than You Take
It is our responsibility to have a good day and to resist the temptation to surrender or simply give up. Just as we expect great things from Life; Life also expects great things from each one of us.

Think of your life as a bank savings account. Your job is to make meaningful deposits of love, grace and kindness every day. Your focus should not be in how much interest you are earning, but rather how many deposits you are making. There will come a day, however, when you will need to make a withdrawal. By giving more than you take, you will have all the resources necessary to receive what you need; when you need it the most

7. Finish the Day Strong
It is important how we begin the day; it is also important how we end the day. Begin it right, live it right, think it right and end it right and you can have a good day every day.

At the end of each day, imagine there is a large balloon in your stomach filled with all of the day’s activities. Practice feeling the sensation of releasing the air in this balloon and with it, all of your responsibilities. Allow your mind to rest while your body rests and feel the day's tensions drift away.

As your drift off to sleep tonight, count your blessings and name them, one by one. Acknowledge them and give them life. When you do, these same blessings will be waiting for you tomorrow ready to help you get the most out of the new day…!

Tomorrow we will try to dig it further… Stay tuned…!

Ambition...!

“If you don’t want to be forgotten the moment you die,
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing…”
– Benjamin Franklin

The dictionary meaning of Ambition states – an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment. Wikipedia says Ambition is the desire for personal achievement. It provides the motivation and determination necessary to help give direction to life. Ambitious people seek to be the best at what they choose to do for attainment, power, or superiority. Ambition can also be defined as the object of this desire.

The last phrase in this description matters the most – object of the desire…!

How many of you dreamt to be a baker so that you can have all those chocolate cakes…
How many of you fancied growing as a coachman so that you can drive a horse…
How many of you adored Uniform guys like Police and Military for the respect and facilities…
How many of you visualized yourself as film stars for the glamour and money…
How many of you thought of Ship Captain as career since you were fond of voyage…
How many of decided to grow-up as sportsman for the name and fame and not the game…

I guess most of us had at least one of this or similar fantasy in the childhood. And I bet those kept changing, evolving with the time and the age showing more maturity and applicability ultimately summing up to making both end meets, having a home and peace at home, once a year holiday with dreams of retiring early and rich…! Am I even near to it or I got it completely wrong? I don’t think so!

Now if this is what you are going to comprehend as Ambition, I am extremely sorry. When I added Ambition to this list it had nothing to do with the florist you wanted to be or the Barber you envied for the wall-to-wall mirrors. You can refer to our SCI for this 100 Days series where you will notice universal and neutral concepts like Love, Brotherhood and Peace. Why am I trying to be so philosophical about an extremely material concept of Ambition? Well, if you have read the above paragraphs and questions thoroughly, you have the answer…!

As long as the Objects of Desires kept changing, you have never outgrown your childhood. The difference between them is more of a function and not the form. No seaman ever tries to start a voyage with an ambition of sinking but that doesn’t make it the expedition unless it discovers new shores and adds value to his endeavor by the way of which he would die in peace, fulfillment and contentment. Getting most of the fishes when you are fishing or making it the most profitable day in the stock market could be an ambition, I agree but it can never leave the person in lasting fulfillment.

So what should be the Ambition if not materialistic? I can never regard any material desire as Ambition as that would be like calling a centipede an anaconda! Whatever your mind and wants crave for you are going to get it anyway by hook or crook, but it will not do any good to anybody else than you. Therefore ambition is necessary, but good ambition only can give satisfaction, peace and happiness in life; otherwise, undesirable ambition can lead one only to madness and utter failure, which would be harmful to the healthy functioning of the society anywhere in the world whether it is in the realm of politics or science, religion or philosophy, business or economy and technology or industry.

Some ambition is essential for everyone to live well in life. Without ambition life will be boring, monotonous and uninteresting in the world. So, ambition is a necessity for survival, sustenance and success in the life of the world. May be ambition drives some mad, but it helps some to achieve success in their goals or rather ambition helps one achieve perfection in life. Therefore what kind of ambition is necessary is the thing one has to see depending upon one’s heredity and environment or nature and nurture to do best and beautiful things in the world rather than make it hell for everyone to live.

Whatever your ambition is it should be on the lines of – One Human World Ambition. This concept would be elaborated tomorrow in our last unit of the list – Approach. Stay tuned…!

APPLICATION

The third in the list – Application – when referred to a Human Being, encompasses his/her endeavor to apply all his attitude and aptitude towards own physical, mental and financial stability as well as contribution to the society for making the world a better place through noble and persistent initiatives. This will be achieved with the MAD (Making A Difference) philosophy as discussed in the prologue of this topic.

We would make a list of 21 Golden Rules that could be regarded as appropriate application of self.

1. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
2. Casually Smile and whole-heartedly laugh more.
3. Behave modestly. Earn Honestly. Share generously.
4. Do not kill the faith – of anybody or anything including self.
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Everyday do your share to make this world a better place.
7. Hold your head high and do not afraid of direct eye-contact
8. Have a noble and righteous purpose for all your deeds
9. Never compromising on grounds of helplessness, pressure, need or circumstances
10. Be dependable and true to everyone and everything
11. Be unwavering in devotion to friend or vow or cause
12. Just do it. Don't over do. Keep yourself specific and concise
13. Try to make at least three people smile each day
14. Whatever you do, work from heart towards excellence by adding value to the task
15. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
16. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
17. Take a 30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile
18. Do only the things that would not give you sleepless nights or restlessness.
19. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
20. Take a sound sleep for at least 7 hours.
21. Keep in touch. Your money won't take care of you when you are sick. Your companions will.

BE a professional who possess good character traits.
KNOW yourself. Unless you examine yourself, it’s useless to judge others
PROVIDE direction. Most of the people have the dimension but need the direction
IMPLEMENT strategies / methods. Concept, however good it may be, doesn’t help unless put in practice
MOTIVATE people around you. Intellectual stimuli works like an adrenal

And remember

o The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake." - Author unknown
o The five most important words: "You did a good job."
o The four most important words: "What is your opinion."
o The three most important words: "If you please."
o The two most important words: "Thank you,"
o The one most important word: "We"
o The least important word: "I"

And don’t forget to watch this video –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4&feature=player_embedded

We will talk about Ambition tomorrow, Stay tuned…!

Aptitude...!

An aptitude is an innate, acquired or learned or developed component of a competency (the others being knowledge, understanding and attitude) to do a certain kind of work at a certain level. Aptitudes may be physical or mental.

The innate nature of aptitude is in contrast to achievement, which represents knowledge or ability that is gained.

Aptitude and intelligence quotient are related, and in some ways opposite, views of human mental ability. Whereas intelligence quotient sees intelligence as being a single measurable characteristic affecting all mental ability, aptitude refers to one of many different characteristics which can be independent of each other, such as aptitude for military flight or computer programming. This is more similar to the theory of multiple intelligences.

There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in swimming. The parents were concerned. They said, 'Forget about hopping. You are, anyway good at it. Concentrate on swimming.' They sent the rabbit for tuitions in swimming. And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim? While it is important for us to know what we are not good at, we must also cherish what is good in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can give us the energy to correct our weaknesses.

The moral(s) of the story –
1. Only YOU must decide what your real aptitude is and NOBODY else.
2. Understand your strengths and weakness inwardly and not on face value.
3. Always try to strengthen your strengths and weaken your weaknesses.

Stay tuned and we will analyze the Application of Self tomorrow…!