Darkness is Opportunity

The Universe is a big sea of blackness with many stars here and there to enlighten it. They spend their whole life of billion years in enlightening the universe and they never ask why darkness, why not light? They never relent and never complaint and most importantly, never wait for anyone to help them, guide them or encourage them.

The truth is not light but darkness. And if any of us has complaints, then we should not waste our energy in useless whining but we can light and erase darkness around us.

Darkness is not a power to subdue us but an amazing opportunity to shine, to show that we are stars. Just like in the endless sea of celestial darkness, we see only the light from stars when it shines, the world will see only us when we choose to shine. Yes, choose to shine, we can or cannot shine is not a question – we do have enormous potential and we can shine, undoubtedly. We are small stars on this great earth and we matter more than the pervaded space.

So, next time, when you face a problem – smile and say that it is the universal truth, I am going to face and shine like a star and at the end of it, you will emerge as a ROCK STAR!

To Be & Not to Be

What is it to be present and not to be present at the same place at the same time? To answer this, allow me to take you on a story ride – boring or not but a story. Bear it to understand the meaning of the phrase.

Once a boy asked his grandfather, “You always say that one can be at a place and not be there at the same time. How is it possible?” The grandfather replied, “Son, I am glad that you pay heed to what I say and as your reward, I will take you to a fair.” So, the grandfather and his grandson went on to a big fair. As they approached, grandfather said, “Dear, I will buy anything you like and spend as much you want. We will stay here as long as you desire and you will guide me through this fare but I have a simple condition, while we enjoy this fare, you will carry an earthen pot on your head and it will be filled with water to the brim. All you have to do is make sure that it does not spill over – not a drop should fall from it.” It was a weird condition but nevertheless, the grandson accepted it. So, they went on. The grandson was enthusiastic at the beginning and extremely careful. By the end, he grew tired and requested to go back home soon. The grandfather asked him to remove the pot from his head and appreciated his efforts. On their way back, grandfather asked him, “So, do you enjoyed the fair? What all did you like?” The grandson’s face fell. “What happened?” asked the grandfather. “To be honest, I did not enjoy the fair. I had all my attention towards the pot I was carrying. I did not want to spill any water from the pot.” “Well, it means that you were and you were not there in the fair at the same time,” replied the grandfather.

The boy was present and not present in the fair. He went to the fair but did not enjoy it for he went with a load on his head. He was busy carrying that load and taking care of it. Doesn’t the same thing happen with us often? How busy we get in making the ends meet that we forget to enjoy life? How many days pass without a smile on our face? How many nights pass in restlessness for the morning? And still, we will assert that we are living. Are we? What is it to life if not happiness? What is it to this world fare if not enjoyment? What is it to all breathes and beats if not life?

Somebody had once said and it has been repeated a hundred times, “We all are poor rats in a big rat race.”  We all are running towards what, we don’t know for sure because our destination is so static that it changes every day. We have a hazy idea of our destiny but nothing beyond it. Still, we love to run in this rat race or perhaps, we feel obliged to run. Why? Neither you know nor I.

It does not take much to smile and laugh and yet we postpone it and say that we have no reason to do that. Why wait for reasons, why not be the reason yourself. When I wake up every morning, I make it a point to smile at the beautiful life I have irrespective of all the bad happenings of the past and present. I laugh even when I am the laughing butt, even when the joke is not worth the laugh and I practice it every day so that I keep doing it till the end of my life.

Add life in years and not years in life. You never know when the luxury called life and the fair called world will end for you. Enjoy it and if you cannot initially, then learn and then practice to enjoy it. You will definitely have a great life ahead.

Be Positive

Be Positive and the sun will shine for you, think negative and you plan to stay in dark.

Every idea has a gravity and as one spreads it, the gravity increases. Indeed, being positive does not solve the problem but it definitely blows the required strength in you. I am not saying it for the sake of it, it is logical. All of us are the beings running on energy. We need energy for everything - breathing to beating to thinking and to do our talking and writing. Positiveness is also a form of energy. And if we direct that energy just like all other energies, we will definitely reach our goal. We talk of miracles in medical science but the funda behind them is the indomitable will and positivity of the patients. For instance, a lady at the last stage of breast cancer recovered completely, even when doctors had declared that she stood no chance. She would wake up every morning and thank god for all the good health in which she is and she has always been. In three months, her breast cancer vanished. Where, in air? Yes, in the air of positiveness. Talking of students appearing for exams, two students went to give the same - the first one had not studies properly but went with an air of confidence that he will somehow pass. On the other hand, the other prepared a lot but lacked the confidence and on account of leaving a chapter felt that he would fail. What was the result? Well, you know - the former passed and the latter failed.
Positiveness is not only an attitude but an energy, an energy that will do wonders and also give the bearer a peace of mind. It is a sign of a healthy mind and a sound sensibility. Negativity eats you and your life like a pest, positiveness is a way to achieve.

Saying Sorry

I am sorry is what mends a hundred things. Not that you were really at fault if you apologize. Talking of apologies, I am sorry for my absence, certain commitments kept me occupied.

You learn with your brain, you enjoy from your heart but you succeed with your tongue.
For long I have tried to find reasons, reasons why some people are successful while others are not. Even when the same effort and efficiency is applied and the answer lies in the variation in way one talks to others. 
Arrogance wins spite even if you are great, smile wins friends. A successful person is rarely arrogant. Of course, a certain level of ego surrounds you when you achieve and it is a healthy thing as long as it does not go in excess. If you make mistake and you are great, then say sorry instead of emphasizing your greatness and believing that you would be condones. Why would you be, when you are at fault.
When you are not at fault, then say sorry to break the thaw. There is nothing that hinders the progress as badly as angry mind and an unforgiving nature. When you break the thaw and you genuinely forgive, you redeem yourself of the unnecessary botheration to punish the person at fault.
Forgive and ask for forgiveness, not because you have no dignity but because you deserve peace of mind and a healthy mind can do wonders, while a bothered one can do disasters.

Real or Unreal

"Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs."

~Robin Williams

'Face the reality' is probably the favorite quote of realistic and practical people. These so called realist live in real world and strive hard to bring the rest of the world to this real world. Despite all their realistic attitude, they are often not the ones who do wonders. 

What is REALITY? A mere phase between the phases of our closing our eyes until we close them forever. And this mere phase is required to be so important that ninety percent of our thoughts are concentrated here while roughly sixty to seventy percent of our life is spent in reality. Why give so much importance to it? And how do you know that this is reality and the world you witness with your eyes closed is an illusion? What is it is the other way round?

After all, everything is consequent upon our perception of it and hence, reality is how we define it. Then, why do we stick to other's definitions of reality? Why not make one for ourselves?

Be a DRUNKARD for a drunkard would do wonders as he is fearless but a realist would only observe and load all his aspirations on one hypothetical day in future. Stop for a moment and wonder, why all the great achievers had been called unrealistic at some point in their life? To wonders, one must dream and mingle them with reality and hence, your reality will be your dreams and your aspiration to make them true.

Are bothered what others will say - what those so called realistic would comment? Well, no matter what you do, they will always have something to say. Initially, you may be unrealistic or mad but when you succeed, the opinions will change drastically. Those who would have condemned you would say that they knew that you were going to make it. These opinions are amusement for they are such a comedy and change colors very quickly.

Reality is mere observation and you cannot create anything if you stick to it. Stick to dreams instead and you will end up creating another reality.

The Challenge

On Saturday, I woke up and had a fight with my mother, I received a message from passport office that there is this and that problem with my application, my consultant refused to take my call, my laptop charger fused when I am running out of cash. In short, I had a bad day or do I put it as a challenging day.

Why call a day bad or unfortunate? What happens when we cross one level of a game that we are playing and move to next level? Doesn't the number of hurdles increase? Doesn't the difficulty level increase? Do we call it a bad or unfortunate level – No, we don’t. In fact, we take it as a more challenging level to be tackled with more mindfulness and concentration and what a feeling when we cross that level!

What we all forget is that life is also a game that every living creature is playing and a bad or unfortunate day is actually, another level to which we are promoted automatically after crossing the present level. New problems are new hurdles that we have to overcome to reach the end. Why curse the day of our promotion and why call it bad if it is more challenging?

You may think that I am mad but try my recipe of bad day some time – no, it won’t turn your day into a good or lucky one but it will make you feel a lot better and as I always insist why become sad over the things that are not in your hand, instead feel good about those that are in your hands. Do you realize that you learn the most on the day that you have labelled as bad? Success is a friend, failure is a guide. So, next time you have bad day feel happy about it, be grateful that you have it and make the most of it...   

SHEDDING TEARS

Life is not a bed of roses or a leisure walk in our lawns - it is full of adventures with so many ups and downs. When we strive to rise, we may slip and fall for what is it to rise if we haven't fallen. Indeed, falling is sad and discouraging but is it everlasting? Well, that depends on us. We and only we decide, for how long would we linger with the fall and when we will begin striving again for the rise.

When we fall, it is natural to cry, to shed tears and throw the burdensome grief off our heart. For how long should we cry - as long as a child cries after falling, as long as the ripple stays in water. As per the scientific studies, emotional pain lasts for less than a hour and the rest is the production of our mind. If it is emotionally painful to fall after so many efforts, then we would actually feel the pain for less than a hour. 

Shedding tears is good and we should shed tears but only for short periods of time. Excessive crying is vain and usually a choice. Talking of choosing to cry, we can choose to cry for the rest of our life and our state will only go worse than any better. 

If crying had ever been a solution, then there would have been no problems. But fortunately or unfortunately, rising up again and striving again takes us to a solution. We all are given the option of making the fall everlasting or immaterial, a lot depends on which choice we make.

HAPPINESS

A small child with a little or no knowledge of this world is often happy, keeps laughing stupidly and making happy sounds. His happiness twinkles in his small eyes and an aura is formed around him. His happiness is independent of whatever happens in his surroundings. He is happy because that is all he could be.

If you ever wish to see happiness at close quarters, do not go to a saint or meditation centre, go to a child. If you ever wish to be happy and nothing else, be happy like a child. Free your happiness from the shackles of a human, an animal or an event. Happiness is not lying in a beautiful lady next door or a handsome guy, on whom you have a secret crush. No, it is not lying in successful completion of an important project or a great party, lots of alcohol and chocolates. It is lying in the depth of a small portion in your body, which you call heart. How deep, it depends on you!

Once a beggar meets an ambitious fellow, who wished to conquer the world and the curious beggar asked him, “Sir, what will you do once you conquer the world?” “Oh poor beggar, I will be happy and live with satisfaction,” replied the fellow. On that the beggar laughed and said, “You need to conquer the whole world to be happy and contentious. Here, I have not conquered anything and still I am happy an d contentious”

You do not need anything to be happy. Your happiness should be independent of whatever happens in your surroundings. However, I am not saying that ignorance is good – be aware and learn to balance your awareness with your ignorance. Do stupid things for life is a small journey through the worldly fare. Most importantly, reason or not, smile and laugh and the miracles will happen!

THE REAL TALENT

Nature has bestowed all of us with one great talent or the other. Despite being the miniscule part of this universal play, we are not entirely insignificant and immaterial. You may be need good in music or computers or writing or cooking or in any other art. Well, the idea is that you can do certain things better than others do - this is what makes you unique, makes you what you actually are!

A widely asked question is why do many of us fail to get due recognisation and end up living a life in which we are not using the best of our talent? Well, the answer lie within us. You may have tried really hard and so have the half of the population and still you end up gaining less - that calls for explanation and here there is one to offer.

You have been passionate, dedicated and assiduous. You did all it take to represent the best of your talent. Still why, because you were not patient enough. You did not wait long enough and you might have given up the trail when only a few miles were left but you weren't aware of it.

How much patience do we require? There is no limit. The famous poet Robert Frost left the security of family business and took up writing. He died without getting any good recognisation of his work and today, we know him as a great poet. Make the best use of your talent to the create things you can create because it gives you immense satisfaction and not because you will get recognised. Recognisation is secondary, satisfaction is primary. So, work for your satisfaction.

While you  would be busy, working for your satisfaction, recognisation will knock on your door someday.

The real talent lies in patience and perseverance. The rest of your qualities will been seen and awarded after you pass a few levels from your real talent.

There is no harm in falling but in refusing to get up.

 A NEW BEGINNING

A very happy and prosperous new year 2015 to everyone. Well, we have said a goodbye to 2014 and embraced 2015. Even on the wintry, new year fills us with joy, happiness and hopefulness. Hence, there is a promise – no matter how bad or good 2014 had been, this year would be good.

Hey friend, just check out – a list of mistakes is ready from 2014 & a list of promises is to be prepared for 2015.

2014 in your life would have been painted in varied colours – vivid or otherwise. You would have laughed and cried, enjoyed and shed tears and many more. But one thing – Have you made mistakes in 2014? If your answer is no, then I am sorry that you have wasted a year of your life. No you are not perfect and you can never be even if you live for thousands of years. Therefore, if you haven’t made mistakes, then it only means that you haven’t put your hand in anything novel. However, I am not in favour of repeating the mistakes but I do favour making a new mistake everyday of your life or you will stop improving as a person.

Why make mistakes? Make mistakes so that you can a make a new beginning, make mistakes to learn from them. If you won’t learn, then the whole purpose of making mistakes will be lost and instead of a wise person, you will end up as a fool. So, those who have the list of their mistakes ready from 2014 must make it a point to learn from them. They must promise themselves that they won’t repeat these mistakes in 2015. For those, you have not made a mistake in 2014 must not be discouraged, there is always a new beginning and it is never too late to start – the moment you begin to think that it is too late for you to start making mistakes or you can’t afford to make one, you are dead. No, this is not being old or mature for even oldies make mistakes and at times more mistakes than youngsters.

So, standing on the initial steps of 2015, let us make a resolution that we will make new mistakes in 2015 and learn from each one of them so that when this year will end, we would be a better person, an improved one...