Self Imprisonment!

Before Nelson Mandela left  prison he said "As I stand before the door to my freedom, I realize that if I do not leave my pain, anger and  bitterness behind me, I will still be in prison".
Self imprisonment is worse than that imposed. How many are in self inflicted pains today for lack of forgiveness. How many of us have imprisoned ourselves inside the walls of anger and bitterness.
Holding grudges does not make you strong, it makes you bitter. Forgiveness does not make you weak, it sets you free.
Consider this while you are preparing to move into 2019
Happy Times in 2019

Just Drops!

Just Drops!

Recently, when I was going to bed after using my bathroom, I started hearing sound of drops of water from the tap in slow successions, but since it was dropping into an empty bucket, I decided to let it be.

But, alas! When I woke up the next morning, around 5am, the bucket was almost full! I was surprised that just drops even in such slow successions could produce that much. I couldn't help it, 'Just drops?!' I questioned rhetorically.

But the following night, I made sure that the tap in my bathroom was locked completely and I checked the bucket and saw that it was empty, though wet. Then I went to sleep.

I guess you already know what I saw the next morning. The bucket was not wet as I had left it, but it was now dry!

Then I realized the importance of a drop and how much difference it can make in all ramifications of one's life compared to a dry tap.

Imagine letting the drops be for a year, I would be scooping with drums at the end of the year!

So, how about that drop of savings?

How about that drop of kindness and love everyday?

How about a drop of reading useful books today and every day?

How about that drop of a verse of the scripture today and every day?

How about that drop of prayer today and every day?

How about a drop of worship today and every day?

How about a drop of step towards your God-given dream today and every day?

How about a drop of giving into your heavenly account?

What virtue and discipline will you start today in little drops?

Never neglect the importance of a drop, for when the harvest time comes, you would have made a big difference.

......Ponder on this thought

You are what you think!

You are what you think!
In the movie "Taare Zameen Par"
The art teacher tells the rude and cursing father of the dyslexic kid about Solomon Islands..

In those islands, the tribal don’t cut down a tree. They surround the tree and curse it for hours every day..

Within a few weeks, the tree
dries up and becomes dead..

Many of us might find that example too difficult to believe. How can intangible and invisible thoughts and words kill a tree.!

Well, if you get to read Bruce H. Lipton’s THE BIOLOGY OF BELIEF, you won’t only believe in the Solomon Islands story, but would also think a dozen times before saying something demoralizing to yourself and the people you love..

In this book, Mr. Lipton tells in detail about the power of conscious and subconscious mind..

The subconscious mind is million times more powerful than the conscious mind, and decides most of the things in our lives according to the beliefs it has..

Many times we fail to change an unpleasant habit despite our will-power and consistent efforts..

It’s because the habit has been so strongly programmed in our subconscious mind that the efforts made by our conscious mind hardly make any difference.

Conscious Mind is just a shadow of our Unconscious Mind..

So, when the tribals of Solomon Islands curse a tree, they are actually installing negative and harmful beliefs in the tree’s emotion (yes, trees do have emotions too).

Within few days, those negative emotions becomes a belief & eventually changes the molecular architecture of the tree and kill it from inside..

2500 years ago, when the Buddha said that ‘You are what you think', he was not articulating a random philosophical theory.

Actually he was telling a scientific fact which is now proved correct by Quantum Physics and Molecular Biology.

The book has a special chapter on Conscious Parenting where it talks about the beneficial and harmful effects of what parents say to their children..

If you are a parent and you keep cursing your child in the name of constructive criticism, you are installing beliefs in their mind which will keep harming them forever..

But if you keep appreciating them in a sincere way, you are installing beliefs in their mind which will help them entire life..

And also be careful of what
you keep saying to yourself.

Repetition of words and thoughts is the best way to install a belief in your subconscious mind..

If you keep saying you are a loser,
don’t be surprised if you become one within a few months or years..

And if you have friends who keep saying such things to you, there is no harm in saying a quick goodbye to them..

May be you value the friendship a lot. But you must value yourself a little more..

So accept all as they are..
Love all unconditionally

And ...Always keep saying to urself..

I am healthy, wealthy, happy, successful & prosperous!

And if somebody asks you. How are you ?                                                Say, I am fantastic. The best time of my life is going on...😊👍

Get set for a Happy Diwali!

Get set for a Happy Diwali!

Declutter your mind, discard all negative thoughts, keep calm, Stay positive.

We don’t live in bungalows, duplexes or flats. We live in our minds. 
Yes, that’s our permanent residence. And there are no constraints of square-feet there. It’s a vast space with unlimited area. And you know what! No matter how well-organized your rooms, balconies, garages and verandas are, life is good only when things are sorted there – in your mind.
And that’s where we keep things messy – regrets piling up in one corner, expectations stuffed in a closet, secrets under the carpet, worries littered everywhere, comparisons spilt on the table, complexes leaking from an old bottle, and grudges stinking in a box.
Be aware. For this ‘real home’ of yours, you can’t outsource housekeeping. You got to do it yourself.
Change your thoughts to change your world.

Lets start with our "Diwali Safaai "
🙏🙏

Real fasting for Navratri.

Real Fasting for Navratri:

Real fasting for purification of soul is:

1st Day - I will leave all my Anger.

2nd Day -  I will stop Judging People.

3rd Day - I will leave all my  Grudges.

4th Day - I will forgive myself & everyone.

5th Day -  I will Accept myself &  every one as they are.

6th Day -  I will love myself & everyone unconditionally.

7th Day - I will leave all my feelings of Jealousy & Guilt.

8th Day - I will leave all my Fears.

9th Day - I will offer Gratitude for all the things I have and all which I will get.

10 - There is abundance in the universe for all and I will always tap the same and  create what I want through unconditional love, sadhna, nishkam seva, faith, swamaans

   *Happy Nav Ratri*

#HumanCapital #Navratri #Navratri2018

The Sunflower Trait

Sunflowers 🌻 turn according to the position of the sun, in other words, they “chase the light.” You might already know this, but there is another fact that you probably do not know!

Have you ever wondered what happens on cloudy, rainy days when the sun is completely covered by clouds?🤔

This is an interesting question, isn’t it?

Perhaps you think the sunflower withers or turns its head towards the ground. Is this what crossed your mind?

Well, that’s incorrect!

This is what happens?

They turn towards each other to share their energy.🌻🌻

Nature’s perfection is amazing; now let’s apply this reflection to our lives. We all want this light and seek it in different ways: in our family, friends, religion, work and so on. But there are always going to be cloudy days, gloomy days, because there is no escaping them!

When this happens, most people become overwhelmed, low-spirited, and the most vulnerable ones, some-times, become depressed.How about following the example of the beautiful sunflowers 🌻 supporting and em-powering each other. Nature has so much to teach us.

Wishing everyone a “Sun flower"🌻 trait of turning towards each other on their cloudy and gloomy days.

The remarkable power of Hope!

During a brutal study at Harvard in the 1950s, Dr. Curt Richter placed rats in a pool of water to test how long they could tread water.

On average they'd give up and sink after 15 minutes.

But right before they gave up due to exhaustion, the researchers would pluck them out, dry them off, let them rest for a few minutes - and put them back in for a second round.

In this second try - how long do you think they lasted?

Remember - they had just swam until failure only a few short minutes ago...

How long do you think?

Another 15 minutes?
10 minutes?
5 minutes?

No!

60 hours!

That's not an error.

That's right! 60 hours of swimming.

The conclusion drawn was that since the rats BELIEVED that they would eventually be rescued, they could push their bodies way past what they previously thought possible.

I will leave you with this thought:

If hope can cause exhausted rats to swim for that long, what could a belief in yourself and your abilities, do for you?

Believe in yourself...

Meditation

Meditation:

Once there was a farmer who discovered that he had
lost his watch in the farm. It was not an ordinary watch
because it had
sentimental value for him.
After searching the hay for a long while, he gave up
and call the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.
He promised them that, the person who found it, would
be rewarded.
Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went
through and around the hay but still could not find the
watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up
looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and
asked to be given another chance.The farmer looked
at him and thought, “Why not.? After all, this kid looks
sincere enough.”
So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After
a while the little boy came out with the watch in his
hand.
The farmer was happy and surprised and so he asked
the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed.
The boy replied, “I did nothing but sit on the ground
and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the
watch and just looked for it in that direction”

*MESSAGE* : A Peaceful mind can think better than a
Worked up mind. Allow a few minutes of Silence to your
mind every day, and see, how sharply it helps u to set
your life the way you expect it to be.

*MORAL* : The soul always
knows what to do to heal
itself...
The challenge is to silence the Mind…😊

What is the Abeline Paradox?

What is The Abilene Paradox ?

Context : Corporate World.

On a birthday, a family decided to go out for dinner. Husband asked wife, where to go?

Thinking that he likes Gujarati food, she said: “Let’s go to Agashiye - The Terrace Restaurant!”

His son and daughter nodded in agreement.

On their return, the son remarked, “I wish Papa had taken us to Mainland China, as he loves Chinese food. Or at least to Shere-E-Punjab for the wonderful tandoori chicken.”added his daughter.

“Yes, I too would have loved to go Mainland China!”,  the man said.

Wife looked surprised: “But didn’t we all unanimously agree to go to Agashiye,” she asked.

He said sheepishly “I didn’t want you to feel bad.” And both children nodded in agreement.

Here were four people who of their own volition would not have gone to ‘Agashiye - The Terrace Restaurant, but collectively agreed to go there.

This also happens in the corporate world. This is the Abilene Paradox.

Prof Jerry Harvey calls it 'The Inability to Manage Agreement.'

The Abilene Paradox occurs when a group of people collectively decide on a course of action that is contrary to the preferences of most of the individuals in the group.

Prof Harvey states in his paper ‘The Abilene Paradox’, “Organizations frequently take actions in contradiction to what they really want to do and therefore defeat the very purpose they are trying to achieve”.

This is the inability to manage agreement.

He adds, “The inability to manage agreement, not the inability to manage conflict, is the essential symptom that defines organizations caught in the web of the Abilene Paradox.”

In the corporate world, when the top boss throws an idea, the group immediately agrees.

This is because everyone in the group thinks he would look stupid if he disagrees.

Standing out as a lone voice is very embarrassing. This leads the group to decide on ‘yes’ when ‘no’ would have been the personal (and the correct) response of the majority.

If the top boss always disagrees with rest of group, then the organization will never have group giving honest opinion.

I love this from Ayn Rand, “If we have an endless number of individual minds who are weak, meek, submissive and impotent. Who renounce their creative supremacy for the sake of the “whole” and accept humbly the ‘whole’s verdict’, we don’t get a collective super-brain. We get only the weak, meek, submissive and impotent collection of minds.”

Seeking Happiness?

Treasure Within You!!

One night Sri Adi Shankaracharya, was desperately searching for something on the street outside his small hut. When his pupil returned from his errand, he saw this and curiously asked the Master, “Aacharya, what are you looking for here on the street at this hour?”

Shankaracharya  replied, “I lost my needle, I am looking for it.”

The pupil joined him in the search, but after searching for a while, he asked, “Can you try and recollect where you might have dropped it?”
Shankaracharya  said, “Of course, I remember. I dropped it near the bed in the hut.”

The pupil, utterly astonished at the strange answer, said,  “Aacharya, you say you lost it inside the house, then why are we looking for it outside?”
Shankaracharya  innocently replied, “There is no oil left in the lamp, so it is pitch dark inside the house. Hence I thought of searching for it outside, since there is enough street light here.”

While holding back his laugh, the pupil said, “If you lost your needle inside the house, how could you even expect to find it outside?”
Shankaracharya simply smiled back at the pupil and said, “Isn't that what we do? We run to far away objects in the world to look for happiness, which truly exists in our heart in our loving relationship with God. Silly, aren’t we?

Lesson : Light the lamp of devotion to God in your life, and find your happiness right therein.

3 Life lessons from Xi Jing Peng, President of China.

President Xi Jing Peng of China said:

When I was a small child , I was very selfish, always grab the best for myself. Slowly, everyone left me and I had no friends. I didn’t think it was my fault but criticize others.

My father gave me 3 sentences to help me in life.

One day, my father cooked 2 bowls of noodles put the 2 bowls on the table. One bowl has one egg on top and the other bowl does not have any egg on top. He said ”My child. You choose. Which bowl do u want”. Eggs were hard to come by those days! Only get to eat eggs during festivals or New Year. Of Cos I chose the bowl with egg! As we started eating. I was congratulating myself on my wise choice/decisision and wallop up the egg. Then to my surprise as my father ate his noodles, there were TWO eggs at the bottom of his bowl beneath the noodes! I regretted so much! And scolded myself for being too hasty in my decision. My father smiled and sad to me, ”My child. You must remember what your eyes see may not be true. If u intent on taking advantage of people, u will end up losing!”

The next day, my father again cooked 2 bowls of noodles: one bowl with an egg on top and the other bowl with no egg on top. Again, he put the two bowls on the table and said to me, ”My child. You choose. Which bowl do u want?” This time I am smarter. I chose the bowl without any egg on top. To my surprise, as I separated the noodles on top, there was not even a single egg at the bottom of the bowl! Again my father smiled and said to me, ”My child, you must not always rely on experiences cos sometimes, life can cheat u or play tricks on u. But u must not be too annoyed or sad, just treat this as learning a lesson .You cannot Learn this from textbooks.

The third day, my father again cooked 2 bowls of noodles, again one bowl with an egg on top and the other bowl with no egg on top. He put the 2 bowls on the table and again said to me, ”My child. You choose. Which bowl do u want?”. This time, I told my father, ”Dad, u choose first. You are the head of the family and contributed the most to the family. ”My father did not decline and chose the bowl with one egg on top. As I eat my bowl of noodles, Sure in my heart that there is no egg inside the bowl. To my surprise! There were TWO eggs at the bottom of the bowl.

My father smiled at me with love in his eyes, ”My child, u must remember!When u think for the good of others, good things will always naturally happen to u!”

I always remember these 3 sentences of my father and lived and do my business accordingly. True enough, my business was a roaring success.

Xi Jing Peng

Life Lesson... Don't we All?

I parked in front of a mall, wiping my car, when a tramp approached me.

From the looks of him, he had no car, no home,  no clean clothes, and no money. 

There are times when you feel generous but sometimes you just don't want to be bothered.

This was one of those "don't want to be bothered times".

I hope he doesn't ask me for money, I thought.

He didn't.

He sat down on the curb and after a few minutes he spoke.

"That's a very pretty car," he said.

He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly beard keep more than his face warm.

I said, "Thanks," and continued wiping my car.

He sat quietly. The expected plea for money never came.

As the silence between us widened something inside me said, "Ask him if he needs any help." 

I was sure he would say "Yes" but I held true to the inner voice.

"Do you need any help?" I asked.

He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never forget.

We often look for wisdom in great men and women. We expect it from those of higher learning and accomplishments.

I expected nothing but an outstretched grimy hand. But he spoke the three words that shook me.

"Don't we all?" he said.

I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a tramp in the street, until those three words hit me.

*Don't we all?*

I needed help.

Maybe not for a meal or a place to sleep, but I needed help.

I reached in my wallet and gave him enough to get a warm meal.

Those three little words still ring true.

No matter how much you have, no matter how much you have accomplished, you need help too.

No matter how little you have, no matter how loaded you are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can give help.

Even if it's just a compliment, you can give that.

You never know when you may see someone that appears to have it all. But they may be waiting for you to give them what they don't have!

* A different perspective on life

* A glimpse at something beautiful

* A respite from daily chaos, that only you with a different view can see.

Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the streets.

Maybe he was more than that. Maybe he was sent by a power that is great and wise, to minister to people too comfortable in themselves.

Maybe God looked down, called an Angel, dressed him like a tramp, then said, "Go minister to that man cleaning the car, that man needs help."

DON'T WE ALL?

🙏😊🙏😊🙏😊🙏

Believe in yourself, and you will be unstoppable.

There was a business executive who was deep in debt and could see no way out.

Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him. “I can see that something is troubling you,” he said.

After listening to the executive’s woes, the old man said, “I believe I can help you.”

He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying, “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.”

Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!

“I can erase my money worries in an instant!” he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check. At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.

“I’m so glad I caught him!” she cried. “I hope he hasn’t been bothering you. He’s always escaping from the rest home and telling people he’s John D. Rockefeller.”

And she led the old man away by the arm.

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he’d been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him.

Suddenly, he realized that it wasn’t the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.

Believe in yourself, and you will be unstoppable; you are stronger than you think.

"Sometimes you don't realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness."
- Susan Gale

Magic Footsteps - Gratitude.

❤👣✨ Magic Footsteps ✨👣❤

“ A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving .”
        Albert Einstein

🔱With those words, Einstein gave us a gift equal to his scientific discoveries. He gave us one of the magical secrets to his success.

🔱 GRATITUDE – every day!
Einstein is the inspiration behind today’s magical practice, and you are going to follow in his footsteps👣 to bring success to your life.

🔱Today, like Einstein, you will say thank you *one hundred times* , and you’re going to do it by taking one hundred Magic Footsteps👣

“ God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you ’?”
      William A. Ward

🔱To take Magic Footsteps👣, you take one step and in your mind say the magic words, Thank You ,as your foot touches the ground, and then again say thank you as your other foot touches the ground.
One foot,thank you,
next foot,thank you,
and continue saying the magic words with every footstep👣.

🔱You can take Magic Footsteps👣 on your way to anything that is important to you, like exams, a date, a job interview, an audition, to meet a client, to the bank, ATM, dentist, doctor, hairdresser, to see your team play in a sports game, down corridors, through airport terminals, in parks, or from one block to another.

🔱I take Magic Footsteps👣around my home, from my bed to my bathroom, kitchen to my bedroom, and outside to my car and the mailbox. Whenever I walk down a street, or walk anywhere, I choose a point as my destination, and I put gratitude in my footsteps👣 all the way.

🔱If you take notice of how you’re feeling before you begin, then you will notice a big difference in how you feel after you’ve taken Magic Footsteps.👣

🔱Footsteps 👣will make you feel better, and even if you’re feeling great, Magic Footsteps👣 will lift your spirits even higher!

🔱This practice is not about taking one hundred steps👣 exactly, but taking at least that number of steps, because it will probably take that number of footsteps👣 to make a difference to the way you feel. take Magic Footsteps for about ninety seconds ; this is how long it will take the average person to take one hundred steps
Once you’re clear on the approximate distance
you can take your one hundred steps👣 of gratitude any time during the day. Don’t count the footsteps👣when you’re doing the practice, because you’ll be counting instead of saying Thank You, the magic words, with each step.👣

🔱When you have completed today’s magical practice you will have said the magic words, Thank You ,one hundred times! How many days of your life have you said thank you one hundred times? Einstein did it every day!

👣✨✨❤✨👣✨❤✨✨👣

The Empty Boat - Story on Anger

The Empty Boat - Story on Anger

​A monk decides to meditate alone, away from his monastery. He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation. After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own.

With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising, and by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared disturb his meditation. But when he opens his eyes, he sees it is an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake.

At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization, and understands that the anger is within him; it merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him.

From then on, whenever he came across someone who irritated him or provoked him to anger, he reminded himself : ''The other person is merely an empty boat. The anger is within me......"

In reality, we all have the anger within us, all the time, All it needs is someone, like the empty boat, to provoke it. 😊