What PASSION can do?
By.E.Shanmugasundaram
By.E.Shanmugasundaram
Millions
of years have gone in the annals of human history. But in every century
and in every generation only the men and women with passion have made
all the difference. Every leaf of the history book is filled with the
stories of those passionate people who held their nerves against all
odds. The mighty oak started with the seed and every dream realized,
started with passion as its base. Passion for the downtrodden and
untouchables made Mother Teresa, immortal. Passion for freedom, passion
towards his country men made Mahatma, the father of India. Passion can
turn anything to gold. It can overcome any obstacle. It can energize
your heart when faced with misfortunes. With passion, every obstacle
becomes a stepping stone and it carries you forward towards realizing
something that you have been longing for.
Mark Inglis |
In
2006, he ventured to climb the world’s tallest peak, the Mount Everest.
He struggled for 40 days. While on the move, his anchor failed and
Inglis fell and broke one of his carbon fiber prosthetic legs. He
repaired it temporarily with duct tapes and continued his journey.
Finally on May 15th of 2006, he stood on the roof of the
world, realizing his dream. He has achieved something that nobody else
would have dared even to dream. He became the first ever double amputee
to reach the summit of the great Mount Everest.
He
has authored several books - 'No Mean Feat', 'Off the Front Foot', 'To
The Max', 'Legs on Everest', and 'High Tech Legs on Everest'. He is now
running a charitable trust Limbs4All and lives happily with his wife
and 3 children in New Zealand.
While writing about Mark Inglis, I was reminded of a quote by Harold Abbot.
“I had the blues because I had no shoes. Until, upon the street, I met a man who had no feet”
ADD A JEWEL TO YOUR CROWN
By E.Shanmugasundaram
Today is a world of “touch and go”. In this age of excitement, we have no time for grace and charm. We expect everything to give way for material possession or satisfaction. The charm of the days of chivalry and leisure has almost vanished from the modern society. We work like robots throughout the day and rush to a place of amusement to relax in the evening, giving little scope for improvement or creativity. We want everything ready-made. The life is like a school boy who buys a tutor to pass the examination. He wants to purchase education with money. In this hectic “hurry and drive” mad world, we drive our life’s engine so fast, we blow the fuse out and burn alive the finer side of our life. The modern world is full of dazzling, glittering and sensational news and things in which the good old values, ethics and morals have taken a back seat. In this crazy world, we have obliterated the power of reading good books, the habit, which if cultivated, can elevate your stature and status to astronomical heights.
“Books are masters who
instruct us without rod or ferrules; without words or anger; without bread or
money. If you approach them, they do not
hide. If you blunder they do not scold. If you are ignorant, they do not laugh
at you!”
Book is a medium through
which you can meet and converse with great leaders, achievers, philosophers and
scientists who have long been dead and buried. While reading, you are in
conversation with a master and he can broaden your horizon of thinking. He
augments or annuls the ideas you already have and you feel yourself multiplied
many times by the power he injects into your blood. The author’s mind touches
yours and you feel the heart to heart conversation, touching your life, giving
tremendous energy to enhance your self-confidence and self-respect.
Through the author you discover your ability as books are great revealers of possibilities and resources. He stimulates your thought wonderfully and teaches the nuances without hurting your morale and communicates the way of putting things across in a palatable way. He shares the profundity of his knowledge with ease and elegance.
The habit of reading good
books gives a boost to your vocabulary. Any amount of education, money or
position will not make you succeed in life unless you are able to put your
ideas across through a good language. Normally
we have seen in meetings, gatherings and in society as a whole, some people who
have the ability, who know the reality and people with knowledge sitting
muffled and parading themselves as dummies, whereas some
superficial, shallow-brained person flash and flaunt, taking the centre stage
because he can tell what he knows in an interesting way.
You may have a good
education and tremendous ideas. But if you don’t have words to express, you
will flutter, flap and flounder and you will be put to shame in front of those
who have not even been to a college. The power of vocabulary is so enormous
that it gives impetus to your ideas and adorns your diction. The avenues of the
mind fly open and the mental faculties are put on high alert and they supply
the words and supplement your thoughts.
“Books are the quietest and
most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of
counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” - Charles William Eliot. With a book in hand,
you are never alone and you always have a very good company.
You may not be having time
except to push ahead and elbow your way through the crowd to achieve the
position or money you desire. Leave the feverish, unnatural life. Develop the
charm of reading good books. Through books, you are likely to be in touch with
the past and present. You can live in different civilizations and different
ages and learn the difference it can bring to your life. You can touch the
culture of many countries. You can talk to anyone irrespective of his
nationality, age, gender, caste or community. Books without any fuss will
amplify your ability, flesh out the follies, give an awakening to the dormant faculties
and will certainly put you on the road to success!
EFFECTS OF VIOLENCE IN TELEVISION
By E.Shanmugasundaram
Before we proceed to understand how the effects of violence in television shows affect the minds of the children, let us understand clearly “What is Violence?”
We all know that absence of light is darkness and you feel cold when there is no heat. Light and heat are natural, whereas darkness or cold are only absence or non-existence of natural things. Likewise, Non-Violence or ahimsa or Universal Love is natural to a child and its absence is what we call as violence.
Absence of Non-Violence is created by the presence or abundance of violence, which has entered into our living rooms in the form of television shows.Studies show that people who watch a lot of TV violence not only behave more aggressively, but are more prone to hold attitudes that favour violence and aggression as a way of solving conflicts. Their trust levels reduce and they are more prone to see the world as a hostile place.Studies also show that media violence also has a desensitizing effect on viewers. As a result, specific levels of violence become more acceptable over time. It is then made more and more graphic or animated to hold the attention of the audience.
Violence and killing are commonly depicted as a ready and even acceptable solution to problems. To put it simplistically, problems are solved when the "bad guys" are all dead. The Hero adopts all sorts of violent ways to destroy the bad guys and he justifies it. The Hero is glorified. The child is the father of man. The child emulates the hero and is corrupted in his mind.
It's well known that TV violence holds an attraction for most viewers and this attraction translates into ratings and profits for the television company. But violence is unnatural and the human mind addicted to television fails to distinguish between what is real and what is unreal. As per the results of a research, 32,000 murders and 40,000 attempted murders witnessed by normal TV viewer over 18 years are clearly unrealistic and exploitative.
Parents who are addicted to television fail to care, share and nourish the mind of their children with parental love, and the absence of this without their knowledge creates aggression in the minds of the children.
We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapons, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds - our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. The seeds for this violence are nourished by the television shows right from the childhood.
I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the
good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent, said Mahatma. The
television shows holds or attracts our attention and gives temporary pleasure
but ruins our life. The cause and effect is not apparent.
According the Gandhiji, “The Roots of Violence are Wealth
without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice,
Politics without principles.” But this is what we see day in and day out in the
television. All the seeds and manure required to create and sustain these roots
are provided by the television shows.
Violence in the media, especially television, twists the
young life out of its God intended orbit. The television shows take their mind
away from spiritual centre which is natural, towards material goals that can be
attained by superficial ways.
Here is my appeal!
Let children live amidst love and beauty, art and nature, as
much as possible. Miss no opportunity to call their attention to something
beautiful. Let their lives be enriched by treasures which no amount of money
can purchase.
TIME – YOU CANNOT BEG OR BORROW
By E.Shanmugasundaram
By E.Shanmugasundaram
Aeons have gone in the annals of human history. Men and women, who
lived in caves and on trees, who roamed naked, who ate nothing but what
the nature has provided, who had no other means but their feet to move
from one place to another, who lived their life like that of an animal
have undergone so many changes. Civilizations after civilizations have
come and gone, leaving man of-date in comfort, luxury and style.
The changes that we hear, see, read and undergo are bound to multiply
as the days roll by. But, have you ever stopped to think, the only
thing that has not changed throughout the history of mankind? It is a
question, which many of us consider trifle and neglect to think or
answer. If you are pondering over the possible answer, let me tell you
that. You don’t have to squeeze your brain to get at it. It is one
that cannot be assigned any value – ‘twenty-four hours a day’.
Right from the day one you can recollect, you have heard people saying
around you, “Life is short; make it sweet”, “Time is precious than
gold”. We have seen people running after gold but have you ever seen a
person who values time more than gold or the one who wanted to make his
short life, sweet and happy in an honest way? Men have been known to
spend their time on frivolous pursuits and in dalliance. Rarely they
give credence to the fact that time lost is lost forever.
The only thing that is given equally whether you are a King or a
beggar, Prince or a pauper, irrespective of your religion, caste, creed,
credentials or sex is twenty-four hours a day. The same time that is
given to Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Newton, Edison
or Bill Gates or who ever you may think of, as great, is given to you
also. Why then, you don’t have time to do even petty routines perfectly?
Why are you complaining of having no time at your disposal? Why the
queue on the last few days of any collection counter is such a lengthy
one?
Consider the usual grumbling, which we usually offer as a solution for not doing anything.
“I don’t find time to do it”
“I don’t have sufficient time to do it”
“There is no time to do it”
Next time, before you utter any of these, put your tongue on hold.
I don’t find time to do it – what you can find? Some thing that you
have stored, accumulated, misplaced or hoarded can be found out when
searched. Never forget that time is such a resource that cannot be
stored, accumulated, misplaced or hoarded. You have lost it in the
morning and searching for it in the evening of your life. Time once lost
is lost for forever. “Time is like a river; it never comes back to the
place where it has originated”
I
don’t have sufficient time to do it – What do you mean by sufficient?
It is fixed – 24 hours a day. Sufficiency is in your mind. It cannot be
defined. Nobody in this world, however powerful or moneyed he may be,
can add an hour to your day. Whatever that you want to do, should be
done within that.
There is no time to do it – “The biggest fool on earth is the one who
says he has no time”. Get up from your sleep, stop reading, pause for a
moment in your work and look at your watch. It shows you that you are
in some point of time in your life. It never shows a blank. Stop blaming
time, if you want to prove yourself to this world. Stop looking for
your time in racks, almairahs or safety lockers to find it. Make time. “You will never ‘find’ time for anything. If you want time, you must ‘make’ it – Charles Buxton.
At times, you feel that some people are lucky enough to be
extraordinary, whereas you being an ordinary one. Write those two words
on a piece of paper (Ordinary and Extraordinary) and find the
difference. The little word ‘extra’ prefixed, makes all the
difference. The great ones have put that little ‘extra’ into their
lives, every second, every minute and every hour they had. They have not
wasted their time. They have made optimum utilization of the short time
available at their disposal.
Read, ponder, chew and digest the four lines written by immortal H.W.Longfellow
The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight;
But, they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Were not attained by sudden flight;
But, they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
How beautifully these lines emphasize the hard work, the successful people have put in and precisely explains how they ‘made’ their time to reach that height.
Self-improvement does not amount to selfishness. Strive for improving your knowledge, or changing your character and behaviour. Devote an hour a day, for self-improvement. Ignore all the trivial things that you take care of, day-in and day-out. Whatever be your profession, job or commitment, do something that interests you, something into which you can put your heart and soul, for at least, an hour daily. Let it be reading, writing, music, sewing, gardening, cooking or playing cricket, football, hockey or chess. Do it with you heart in it. Do it sincerely, without any apprehensions or reservations. Never mind the slight, sneer or insults. Don’t worry about the shortcomings. Do your best to jump over the obstacles. Continue doing it for two years.
An hour a day for two years amounts to one month. Your would have really lived 25 months, not the 24 months, what the mediocre men have. That additional one month, which you have made, without rest or sleep, without diversions or distractions could change you completely. You could see to yourself as a different personality. It enhances your self-image, gives a pat on your back and gives you confidence that has been lagging and you start feeling that you can do something wonderful.
Make a resolution! Carry it out immediately. Start from this moment. Don’t allow your mind to say, “OK! Let me try this formula from tomorrow, or next week, or next month or from next birthday or New year day”
Self-improvement does not amount to selfishness. Strive for improving your knowledge, or changing your character and behaviour. Devote an hour a day, for self-improvement. Ignore all the trivial things that you take care of, day-in and day-out. Whatever be your profession, job or commitment, do something that interests you, something into which you can put your heart and soul, for at least, an hour daily. Let it be reading, writing, music, sewing, gardening, cooking or playing cricket, football, hockey or chess. Do it with you heart in it. Do it sincerely, without any apprehensions or reservations. Never mind the slight, sneer or insults. Don’t worry about the shortcomings. Do your best to jump over the obstacles. Continue doing it for two years.
An hour a day for two years amounts to one month. Your would have really lived 25 months, not the 24 months, what the mediocre men have. That additional one month, which you have made, without rest or sleep, without diversions or distractions could change you completely. You could see to yourself as a different personality. It enhances your self-image, gives a pat on your back and gives you confidence that has been lagging and you start feeling that you can do something wonderful.
Make a resolution! Carry it out immediately. Start from this moment. Don’t allow your mind to say, “OK! Let me try this formula from tomorrow, or next week, or next month or from next birthday or New year day”
I shall pass through this world but once.
If therefore, there be any kindness I can show
Or any good thing I can do,
Let me do it now.
Let me not defer or neglect it,
For I shall not pass through this way again.
Or any good thing I can do,
Let me do it now.
Let me not defer or neglect it,
For I shall not pass through this way again.
This
is how Stephen Grelett stress the importance of present moment. True.
“Time and tide wait for no man”, is a piece of distilled wisdom that
has passed through ages. You cannot get back the time you have lost.
Don’t lose an hour one day and search it in another. You cannot relive
in the past.
‘Past’ is nothing but misery. Ninety-nine percent of anybody’s life is
filled with remorse and disgusting moments. ‘Future’ is always a
mystery. It is not certain and you do not know what the future hold in
its repository for you. live in the ‘Present’. Show all the kindness, do
all the good things you can, today itself. Today is a gift given to
you. It is given to you to enjoy and have all you dreamed. If you can
utilize today to the maximum, you don’t have to repent over your past
when the future rushes in to fill the present. That is why, they called
today or the current moment as ‘Present’ (synonym for Gift). Take care
of present moment. Don’t side step and shake hands with
procrastination. You may miss the opportunity that is passing by.
Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of England during Second World
War. When pitched battles were going on throughout the world and while
high tension was mounting on both the powers, Churchill’s secretary
came and told him that he has an important assignment on hand.
Considering the importance of the work, he was afraid to take a decision
himself. He asked the Prime Minister to name a person to do that, as
the work involved was of extremely urgent nature and it also required
skill, efficiency and secrecy. Now, put yourself in Sir. Winston
Churchill’s shoes and say what would have been your answer.
A fool would say, “Give it to a man who is idling and has no work.
Instruct him to carryout my orders implicitly or else, tell him that he
would be shot dead. Provide him everything and never let him go out of
his room on any account till he finishes the job”. An average would
have answered, “Let Mr. X do it. He is the man you can depend upon and
trust for a job of this nature” or “Why cant you do it yourself”. But
do you know Churchill’s reply? Sir. Winston Churchill was a very good
administrator and he is a man who knows the value of time. He, without
hesitating for a moment, replied, “Assign this job to the busiest man in
England”.
Why?
What made him to talk like this? How a man who is already busy can
handle this job also? Will it not be a burden on him? No. Not at all.
Sir. Winston Churchill knows the golden rule: “If you want a job to be done well, select a busy man; the other kind has no time”. Churchill
knows that the busiest man is busy because he only knows the time
constraint. He only can comprehend the importance of the assignment.
On the other hand, the lazy one always pretends to be busy. They don’t
have time for anything. Even if you add another twenty-four hours to
their day, they cannot finish their work in time. “Devil tempts all; the
idle man tempts the devil” – may be they are busy with the devil.
When you say “he lived long enough” or “he was taken off so early”
while talking about the sad demise of one of your beloved, what you mean
is the time span he lived. Is it not clear that your LIFE = TIME. The
more time you have lost, little life is left over. Life is meaningful
only when the time is put in a proper way. Time and life will never
come back and hence it has to be lived. Is it not true that ‘time is
precious than gold’? The whole fabric of life is woven with minute
droplets of time called seconds. Live every moment of it in a purposeful
way.
Men in general watch so many things around them carefully. They never
fail to watch over the financial position they are in. They never fail
watch their children. They watch their heirs and descendants, relations
and relationships, friends and neighbours. But how badly they fail to
watch the only resource that has to be carefully watched. The most
important one that has to be watched in your life is time, and that is
why, the little instrument that you wear on your wrist, showing the life
that is ticking by, is named as watch. Watch it. Mean it. Take care of
every moment of your life and you will be surprised to see everything
falling in their places. You too can do wonders, if you learn, how to
take care of your time, I mean, your life.
Whatever be your desire, air or goal, you cannot fulfill, shoot or
achieve it unless you are frugal in spending your time. A watch on your
time and proper system to economise it, is a fool-proof way to reach
your destination with flying colours and with ease. The system designed
should however be well thought over and it should be a means to achieve
your ends. They system should accommodate, not only your regular
agenda but also provide for uncertainties. Always remember your life is
not a Independence Day or Republic Day parade, which goes nicely and
smoothly as per schedule. Whether you are a businessman, professional,
civil servant or a homely wife you should device a system in such a way
that your time is spent in an orderly manner so that there is time for
everything and everything is done in time. Never say, “I don’t have
time”. No security or intelligence agency is trained to trace or
empowered to forgive you for having lost your time.
Economy of time, putting every second of your day in proper perspective
does not require any super human virtue. You don’t have to strain your
higher faculties to do that. A little bit of common sense is what it
calls for. Application of common sense into every action you perform
makes time available for you. It requires only a little bit of courage
to shake you up from the inertia that keeps you tied to dalliance and
self-enjoyment.
Planning
is vital for harvesting your time properly. Nobody plans to fail but
more often than not most of the people fail to plan that drags him
slowly and steadily towards a deadly future grave. Have a slip in your
pocket or on your desktop that clearly demarcates the time slots for
different activities requiring your attention. Assign priority and tick
it off when done. Adjust yourself as the day progresses and new
assignments land in. Minor routines should not bother you as they can be
dealt at anytime by anybody. Have it in mind: “Procrastination is the
thief of time”, “A stitch in time saves nine”, sometimes saves even a
life. Whether it is family life, social life, official life or a
corporate strategy the success of it solely depends on taking time to
think and plan. Postponement or procrastination is like using a credit
card. You can relax for the time being but gets you crazy when the bill
comes. Make a plan meticulously for this day to be the best day of your
life.
While planning or allocating time for various activities, never confuse
the time required for your official or business life with that of your
personal one. It is the quality of time at office or business and
quantity of time at home that matters. The time that you spend in your
official activities should bear the mark of your quality. But, while
spending time with your family, it is only the quantity that counts.
The more time you spend, the more secure they feel. Take time off your
business to spend with your spouse and children. They need ‘YOU’ more
than any thing else.Look at the hourglass. A grain at a time passes through the narrow neck of the hourglass smoothly with out any difficulty and at the same time without damaging the container. “One thing at a time and that done well is a good thing as many can tell.” Life’s activities, done like an hourglass, moves ahead without hurdles. You may have hundreds of tasks to tackle. Do one thing at a time putting everything you have, to complete it. Keep your head cool. Don’t worry about the tasks waiting for your attention while you are at one. If you allow your thoughts to scramble through them, you are likely to fluster and flounder and finally everything would end up in a mess. Eventually this will result in bringing physical and mental breakdown on you.
Japan, a tiny country in proportion to others in the world map, could
produce anything and everything not only for themselves but also for the
entire world market. Japanese are in a position to dictate the
economies of the world because they are time conscious. About 90 percent
of quality electronic products have their lineage in Japan. The
inscription, “Made in Japan” gives enormous confidence about the quality
and those products easily find a place in the nook and corner of the
world market. How is it possible for such a small country,
topographically vulnerable to all travails of the nature, be in a
position to produce the market requirements of the entire world? The
open secret is, Japanese follow the golden rule: “It is not the hour
that you put in; but what you really put in that hour”.
The English word, ‘rest’ has no equivalent word in the Japanese
language. They never take rest and fill their hours with work. Japan,
razed to the ground during Second World War, could rise like a phoenix
from the ashes due to its time consciousness and dedication and it is no
wonder that it leads the list of developed nations.
During strike periods, Japanese don’t stop their work. They don’t
relax at home either. They report for duty and stay beyond their normal
calling to produce more and more. This not only results in
overproduction, which is detrimental to the employer (ultimate motive of
any strike), but also benefits their fellow countrymen, as they can
purchase the product at a cheaper price. Not even a single second is
wasted by the Japanese and that is the reason why they are the happier
lot.
Happy is the man, happy he alone,
He, who can call, today his own
He who is secure within can say:
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I’ve lived today
Horace, the philosopher said in his “Ode”. Call today your own. Any one
can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall. R.L.Stevenson
said, “Any one can do his work, however hard, for one day. Any one can
live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down. And
this is all that life really means.” Do all the good you can for the
day and be happy. Don’t worry about tomorrow for God is already there to
take care of it. Let me quote what Marshall penned in his ‘Epigrams’
Tomorrow will, I live;
Only the fool does say.
Today itself is too late
The wise lived yesterday.
Tomorrow never comes. It is found only in the dictionary of fools. The persons whom you consider as great have utilized their yesterdays in a nobler way. Their yesterday efforts have made you to call them wise today. Don’t wait for tomorrow, even if tomorrow comes, as per Lincoln, “The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time”. Live one day at a time and let that be today. Time is running out. It does not wait for you or me and its journey continues into the ever-widening, never ending future.
Time is endless in thy hands, my Lord!
Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers.
Thou knowest how to wait,
Thy centuries follow each other, perfecting a small wild flower.
We have no time to lose and having no time
We must scramble for our chances,
We are too poor to be late.
- Rabindranath Tagore (Gitanjali)
Yes. We are too poor to be late. Let us catch up with the time. Utilize
each and every sand grain of time before it drops. As you start
utilizing each and every second, scrambling for the chances, you come to
know the vast power inherent in you. You begin to feel that nothing is
impossible, if it is well thought, planned and executed in a proper
way.
Immortal Rudyard Kipling, in his If.. , define and describe the ways to
become a ‘Man’. To stress the importance of time, he squeezed
everything into the last paragraph and wrote,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of distance run,
Yours is the earth and everything that is in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a MAN, my son!
Remember. One of the most important requirements to take the ‘man’ out
of ‘human’ is, how you fill those unforgiving sixty seconds that fill
your minute. Fill it and take it for granted that the whole world and
everything in it is at your mercy.
Will you not be happy when the world is waiting at your beck and call?
Go ahead. Never say, “I don’t have time”. You have it, provided you
make it. Enjoy each and every moment of your lifetime without grumbling
over the past or worrying about your future. Say loudly,
The time to be happy is now,
The place to be happy is here;
And the way to be happy is to
Make someone happy
To have little have right here.
Attitude is what that matters!
By E.Shanmugasundaram
Life
is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take
our breath away. Attitude is what a man perceives of his own-self and
of others around him. Positive attitude takes him to dizzy heights
whereas negative attitude lead him to the abyss of despair, desperation
and destruction.
Even
though everyone aspires to realise his dreams, it is his attitude that
determines the amount of dream he can realise. The quantity and quality
of the product or service or the result entirely depend on the attitude
with which it is done.
An
artificial satellite cannot perform its functions for which it is made
unless it is immaculately designed and its launch is meticulously
planned to put it into its orbit at an appropriate place, distance and
angle. If you expect it to perform miracles you have to take even the
smallest detail into account as long as you are working with it.
Likewise, any man can perform wonders with his inherent talent,
potential, knowledge and skill, when they are rightly harnessed and put
in right perspective. These congenital capabilities and innate
abilities which are dormant in everyman is used, misused or abused or
left dormant according to the attitude he has towards his own-self,
others and all that surrounds him.
“The journey of thousand miles begins with the first step”
said the great Lao-tzu. Every one of us wants to travel those thousand
miles but only a few have the guts and gumption to take that first step.
The most difficult thing in a thousand miles journey is the first step
that is put ahead. It has all the essential ingredients that the other
steps require. Anybody can do that. It only requires direction,
determination and dedicated resolve to do that. Once you have taken that
first step, the last one is going to be there. It is only the matter of
time before you get there. It may be tomorrow, or a day after or after a
week. “There is little difference in people, but the little
difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude.
The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” - Element
Stone.
-----
THREE BRICKLAYERS
Once there were 3 bricklayers.
Each one of them was asked what they were doing.
Each one of them was asked what they were doing.
The first man answered gruffly, 'I'm laying bricks.'
The second man replied, 'I'm constructing a wall.'
But the third man said enthusiastically and with pride,
'I'm building a temple.'"
-------
The second man replied, 'I'm constructing a wall.'
But the third man said enthusiastically and with pride,
'I'm building a temple.'"
-------
The
attitude with which the work is done and the ability to see something
purposeful in every one of your activity determines the level of your
success. It provides sufficient energy, marvelous motivation and you
start doing your work earnestly with love, diction and dedication
eliminating all the obstacles on the way.
Right
and positive attitude is the foundation on which your success can be
laid upon. Positive attitude is the greatest asset one can possess. If
positive attitude is mixed with strong personal principles and personal
philosophies, your life’s structure can be nothing but a marvelous
success. It gives you a strong inner strength, mighty power and a very
firm resolve, which in turn focus a bright light on the external things,
situations and circumstances.
Take
stock of your assets and liabilities; your strengths and weaknesses;
things you love and things you hate. Then focus on your assets,
strengths and things you love. The more you adjust your focus, the
brighter they are and they tend to magnify. Those things that get your
focus and attention are bound to grow. Never forget this rule is
applicable even to the negative side. If you focus on the negative
traits, they ultimately magnify and torment your life. Accepting your
assets and liabilities, concentrating on developing your assets,
forgetting or even better, getting out of your liabilities is the first
sure fire step to success.
Even
if you work hard, plan and execute with utmost care, deep down inside
if you feel that I am going to be a failure, success will only be a
daydream. Success will elude as long as your attitude towards yourself
changes. Start loving yourself. It is the first step towards seeing the
real man in you. Have faith and confidence about your own self. You
deserve all that you have been dreaming, searching or seeking!
You
cannot give to others what you do not have for your own self. You
cannot expect a congenial atmosphere, when you are in a morbid mindset.
You may not find a person interesting unless you are an interesting
person. You cannot expect a friend to laugh when you are passing a
sordid remark. Most of the people with good qualification, financial
status and family background fail because of their attitude towards
people around them. People around you are the real assets and only with
them you can safely reach the destination you have been dreaming. You
cannot achieve anything by demeaning, finding fault or by crushing down
others around you. Love them; understand them (take into account even
their personal problems) appreciate and encourage them to show light on
the path that you have been traversing so that you journey towards the
destination is safe and pleasant. Always remember: “One hand washes the other”, “Single tree cannot make up a forest”.
Andrew
Carnegie, the King of steels, who once ruled the American steel empire,
was a success because he learnt the secret of working out his thoughts
through the heads and hands of other people, I mean, the people around
him. He had nothing else to support or elevate him.
Handicap or Attitude?
Beethoven
composed some of the best music ever after he turned deaf. Einstein was
a hunch back and had dyslexia. Helen Keller, author and lecturer was
born blind and deaf. Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken by an attack of
polio in the prime of his youth, before he became the President of
United States. Louis Braille, who invented Braille, was visually
impaired. Aristotle, the great philosopher had a stuttering problem.
Juliette Low, the founder of Girl Scouts was hearing impaired. Winston
Churchill, Prime Minister of England failed in his sixth standard and
Thomas Alva Edison, the famous inventor was declared a dunce, and both
had a learning disability. Julius Caesar, Emperor of Rome and Socrates,
philosopher and teacher, had a seizure disorder. Would you call any of
them Handicapped?
“Attitude is the first quality that marks the successful man. If he has a positive attitude and is a positive thinker, who like challenges, and difficult situations, then he has half his success achieved.” – Lowell Peacock.
The habit of lamenting, “I don’t have”, “how bad things are” is not going to take you anywhere. Do something productive with what you have, being what you are, and where you are. Do your best to change the atmosphere around you into a congenial one. Not utilizing your assets and sitting on them without knowing it, is the gravest mistake we usually commit. Giving all the best tools will not enthuse a lazy person, a failure, into doing something productive. Certainly he will find fault with what he has and will search for something, which is not there.
- Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Hope you find the one that makes you smile.
- The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
- When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
- "Following the path of least resistance is what makes rivers and men crooked."
- Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.
The ripples of threat
-By E.Shanmugasundaram.
Threat
is used as a weapon by those people who seek or assume power by age or
position, and is employed as a tool, only by those who have inferiority
complex over their assumed power or position, or by those who have
inherited power by fortuitous circumstances. A discerning person may not
and will not resort to threat as he knows that threat begets danger to
his own self. Though threat inherits danger to the person who wields it
as a weapon from the by-gone era, it assumes more significance or
relevance in the present day scenario.
Gone are those olden days when people down the rank or relation be subordinated with power, fear or threat.
Just two decades ago, when the level and channel of communication is not as tremendous and vast as it is now, people believed that experience of a senior or an elder is to be respected and revered. It is because of the simple reason that knowledge can be accumulated only be experience or by experimentation. In those days, the higher a person in his life’s ladder, the more respect he elicited from others. In the present epoch, the communication channels are so fast and vast, one need not spend years to accumulate knowledge in any field. The younger generation are the store-house of knowledge and they don’t need years of experience on which, the older generation was dependent. They have sufficient exposure to the nuances of life rather than the grey haired community.
Just two decades ago, when the level and channel of communication is not as tremendous and vast as it is now, people believed that experience of a senior or an elder is to be respected and revered. It is because of the simple reason that knowledge can be accumulated only be experience or by experimentation. In those days, the higher a person in his life’s ladder, the more respect he elicited from others. In the present epoch, the communication channels are so fast and vast, one need not spend years to accumulate knowledge in any field. The younger generation are the store-house of knowledge and they don’t need years of experience on which, the older generation was dependent. They have sufficient exposure to the nuances of life rather than the grey haired community.
Threat
is more dangerous to the person who threatens rather than the person
who is threatened. Anger precedes threatening. When you are angry, you
lose yourself and hence along with the threat you start using demeaning
language. As you cannot stop your diatribe, you are likely to stoop down
from your level. If the person on whom the threat is directed, is
stronger or equal, immediately it instills a sense of insecurity in him
and he shows it by instant retaliation or violence. If the person is
younger, junior or lower in rank or relation, immediately he switches
from working or profit making mode to defensive or loss avoidance mode.
Insecurity and fear takes the form of vengeance and it percolates and
permeates his subconscious mind. This in its own way starts
contemplating on the possibilities of coming out and suggests all the
ways and means to tackle you. Now he has all the time in the world to
analyze and choose the best way to show his anger against you.
If
the person threatened by you is having good relation with somebody who
is elder, senior or higher in rank or relation to you, you are caught
between the devil and the deep blue sea. The consequent retaliation will
come from all sides.
When
you hurl a threat, without your knowledge you are tying a bomb on to
your belt and you do not know when, where and how it is going to
explode. The word threat can be paired with terrorism to analyze its
effect. Terrorist outfits have been threatening the world. Since America
is more powerful, it started showing its power and threatened terrorist
out fits that it will fight tooth and nail to root it out. Osama bin
laden had the time to plan, prepare and execute attack on America.
America was caught napping and a small group was able to attack the
mighty, with precision. Now the ball of threat moved again to the
American side and they were able to pin down Osama in his own backyard.
The threat will have a retaliatory effect and ripple will keep moving
infinite distance.
If
you threaten others, you are going to face its consequences.
Retributive justice always demands an eye for an eye. There are several
ways and means to solve the difference, dispute, conflict, hostility or
misunderstanding. Don’t create a ruckus and dig grave for your own self.
Instead, look into the situation with empathy. Examine, figure out the
root cause, and consider the available resources to solve the problem.
The problem gets eased out. You are going to be on cloud nine to
register your signature across the sky.
Power of Mind
- By E.Shanmugasundaram.
Without
dwelling deeply into the divisions, demarcations and power of mind, it
is always better to deal with what we know already. The ordinary mind
can be divided into conscious and subconscious mind. The conscious mind
can be called as objective mind and the subconscious mind can be called
as subjective mind.
The
analogy can be explained like this. If you are unpacking a packet of
sugar into a bottle, it is you, who decides what to put into the bottle.
The bottle can take anything for storage and future use. Now having
taken sugar into it, it simply stores it and gives it back as and when
you need it, irrespective of the usage that you are going to put the
sugar into. The sugar can be used for making coffee or sweet, or can be
used as a medicine, or can be used as a chemical or you may even take
the sugar out of the bottle just to lend it to a neighbour or it may not
be used at all. It is you who decide the usage and the bottle does not
play a role in it. The bottle simply stores and provides for the usage
faithfully as and when it is required.
If
the conscious mind is taken as sugar, the subconscious mind is the
bottle. You have the power to decide what to put into the subconscious
mind. Whenever you get a sugar packet, if you eat it immediately, or
give it to somebody else or put it somewhere, the question of storage
does not arise at all. Only if you consider future use, the question of
storage comes and effort of putting it in to a container is required
from your side. You have to make an effort to consciously unpack the
sugar into the bottle so that it remains in the subconscious bottle and
whenever it is required, the subconscious bottle reminds you that “I am
here for you to serve”.
If
you don’t make any conscious effort to unpack the sugar into the
subconscious bottle, you will forget where you have kept the sugar and
will keep searching for it. Or, while unpacking, if you are
concentrating on something else, not putting conscious effort, then, you
may have to put another conscious effect to recollect where you have
kept the sugar.
Now
it is lucidly clear that the conscious effort is a must for the
subconscious to work and serve. If you take painful effort, then you are
bound to enjoy the effect with pleasure. There is no gain without pain
and nothing is offered free of cost in this world.
Depending
upon the positive or negative messages that you constantly feed
consciously, the subconscious mind guides and controls your life without
any conscious effort. Good in – good out; garbage in – garbage out is
the principle. Your health, wealth and well being are totally dependent
on what you feed in to your subconscious mind.
The
conscious mind is the masculine part and the sub conscious mind is its
feminine counter part. Like a female, though the subconscious mind is so
wonderful, powerful and know-all, it is always submissive to the
commands and controls of its male partner namely the conscious mind,
which always functions as a decision maker. The subconscious mind always
functions according to the dictums and dictates of the conscious mind.
If
the conscious mind gives proper inputs and directions to the
subconscious mind, the design and delivery by the subconscious mind
would be beyond your imagination, provided you strongly believe in its
power. The conscious mind has the power to train the subconscious mind
to unleash the power of your life. Train, believe and delegate tasks to
the subconscious and then relax to enjoy the benefits.
The
masculine part is always limited by five senses and hence it is
confined to time and space and it cannot go beyond that. You cannot see,
hear, smell, touch or taste anything that is outside of this present
moment. Your conscious mind knows only the inputs that it has gained
from the 5 senses but the feminine part, the subconscious has recorded
version of everything that it has seen, heard, smelt, touched or tasted
even in the remote past and it is capable of taking references and
guiding the current moment.
Due
to its intrinsic quality and limitations the conscious mind cannot
handle something that is delicate and filled with intricacies.
Normally, the conscious mind, which is always in a hurry, do not
understand the task and performs everything according to the dictates of
the five senses and hence the task is not completed as per your
expectations. Hence it is always better to assign huge tasks to the
subconscious mind. It can take references, understand the nuances pretty
well and execute the task to perfection.
Never
under estimate the power of your conscious mind. The subconscious mind
can be trained and put into proper use only by the conscious mind. But
the fact remains that you are not conscious about your consciousness. Am
I confusing you? Let me clarify. On an average your mind runs a movie
of at least 50,000 thoughts per day. At the end of the day, I am sure,
you will not be able to recollect 95 percent of the thoughts generated
by your own mind because those thoughts were not generated consciously
but by the dictates of your senses. Being conscious about the
consciousness is more important than training the subconscious.
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