Positive news

Everyday, there are innumerable news items that make headlines . It sounds funny, but i have found that you start noticing more and more news items that go with your beliefs, preferences, thoughts.
So i started an experiment to hunt for positive news in whatever i read during the day online or print media. i must admit it was not easy as for some reason , positive news does not make as many headlines as does not so positive news about crime, hatred, war, politics .

Nevertheless, i am happy to report that there are enough sources of news that disseminate positive news about :

- some one helping the other in need
- some one achieving something remarkable in their field of work or play
- some one sharing a beautiful photo from nature
- some one speaking about motivating people to overcome their challenges
- some one writing a memorable book, article, poem, quote

At the end, you find what you are searching for , i guess 

Why

WHY is the most important question. The WHY question comes up many times a day as we see, hear, read events in our lives and around the world. especially , what intrigues me is the contradictions in the way different people react to the same stimuli . lets look at some of them and examine if we understand the WHY behind these:

WHY does some one rape a girl child and another sets up a shelter for orphan girls ?

WHY does some one steal to make more money while another shares whatever little he has ?

WHY does some one enjoys music and books, while another revels in drinking and smoking

The explanation i have read on this topic indicates that your past impressions gravitate you towards a set of behavior ; however, the will power we have been gifted with does allow to change course .

So the solution to become what you want to become is to harness this willpower that enables one to change ourself. The famous example quoted is that of Valmiki who turned from a robber to a saint.

we still may not understand the WHY of everything that happened , but we know we can create an alternate destiny for ourselves and influence WHY something can happen

Power of WORDS

One cannot but wonder how WORDS spoken by some one some where some time remains in the minds of people long after and get quoted again and again . What strikes a choed within you depends on person to person. for example, i have always been impacted by any idea or concept that changes the status quo. Some of the WORDS that have impacted me so far include:

Never, never, never give up

You are what you THINK

KARMA

What got you here will not get you there

A picture is worth a thousand words

.... and so on

Thousands of years after they lived, we still quote BUDDHA, KRISHNA, JESUS, MOHAMMED, SOCRATES, and others , is it not amazing !!!!

Even in day to day life, a word of encouragement, a smile, a gesture of love, makes a huge difference.

Since WORDS are so powerful, lets exercise restraint with words of anger, hatred, discouragement.

If you have to speak, speak with love else practise the maxim SILENCE IS GOLDEN

ENJOY LIFE

why do we write at all ? when i think of it, i feel it is because we are born to express ourselves. come do it through singing, some through dance, some through their speech, and some write. Expressing what is inside yourself allows others to peek into our world , as everyone lives in his or her own world. Your own world is a collection of places, events, feelings, things,  people from your past and present, and it keeps evolving into the future as we live each day. we spend our lives talking about the past and keep hoping that the future will be even better. one does not realise, but everything is changing around us, including ourselves. This CHANGE is what we need to embrace whether we always like it or not, as this is the most universal phenomenon in human life. Every scenario has a finite probability. if you are friends with some one, tomorrow you may not. if you are not well, you may get better tomorrow. if you do not have lots of money, you may earn tomorrow or otherwise. so be prepared to enjoy the MOVIE of LIFE, where the story changes on the fly , there is no prewritten script, the beginning , middle and end are all unpredictable. Imagine a movie where the next scene is being written out while the current scene is flashing on the screen and you will know what i am talking about. ENJOY LIFE

I am grateful

I am grateful to see the sunrise today, feel the winter morning breeze on my face as I rode my bicycle, then the crisp newspaper in my hand while sipping tea , the satisfaction you get after a wholesome breakfast, the good feeling you get when some one calls you after a long time, the passing of the day into the night , there are just so so many things to be grateful for, what a miracle this life is

START IT , NOW !!

The hardest part in anything is the START. there are many impediments to STARTING some thing new, some of them are

1) this is difficult
2 what if i fail ?
3) what will others say ?
4) is it worth the effort ?
5) are the results guaranteed ?
6) i have not done it before
7) there are others who can do it much better than i can
8) i wish i had done it earlier
9) can i postpone it to some time later ?
10) what is the price for not doing it ?

if you can get over all the above reasons and START , u can DO IT

life without regrets

Life is wonderful if one can remove all traces of regret. the challenge is that you cannot

2012

2012 is coming to an end, and the new year beckons us to a fresh start with new thoughts , new words, new actions and new habits. come to think of it, every breath we take can be a start to a new LIFE

change

change involves two aspects , one is that of giving up and other is that of taking up. so if some one spends his   idle time smoking, he needs to give up smoking and also what he will now do in the time that got freed up. interestingly, everything changes eventually , its only whether you be a participant in the change or you are simply an observer or you are opposing the change.

bringing about a change in the way we think, we act is a big ability especially when you are trying to influence others' thoughts and actions

so quiet

its so quiet all around, there is only the hum of the airconditioner, seems like time is at a standstill. it is a great feeling to be able to STOP , we all need this from time to time. stop running, stop to smell the air, look at nature , admire this CREATION. you will not pass this way again, live it to the fullest

what can i do for some one else

i can say a kind word
i can give a smile
i can teach what i know
i can listen to what someone has to say
i can offer to give what i can spare

I CAN DO FOR OTHERS WHAT I CAN DO FOR MYSELF

a day in the life

i get up
i think
i read
i write
i eat
i exercise
i relax
i speak
i worry
i laugh
i remember
does any one else do anything different in this world ? we are all same at some level , is it not ?

listen

listen to the bird chirping
listen to the bell chiming in the temple
listen to the baby laughing
listen to the river flowing
listen to the tree swaying
listen to the flute
listen to the wind blowing
listen to the rain falling
listen listen listen ......................

i commit

i commit to peace
i commit to wisdom
i commit to love
i commit to friendship
i commit to take care of my body
i commit to stop thinking
i commit to start doing
i commit to understanding

two sides of a coin, three sides of a triangle, and so on

Look at any decision you need to take - heads or tail when tossing a coin, right or left when reaching a crossroads, Mary or Mira when choosing your life partner, engineering or medical for a career, the choices explode in life and you need to decide every day. how do you decide - is it an objective decision or a subjective one, is it the head or the heart, is it based on following others or leading the way, and so on. in fact, the choices are not only limited to this or that, more often than not , it is like choosing from many many choices , all of whom come with their pluses and minuses. also, these pluses and minuses are not universal, what is plus for you may be minus for another person and vice versa. isn't life interesting and God the perfect magician !!

do your bit, play your part

Do what you can every day - make something better , bring a smile on some one's face, give your time and energy to help someone, improve your own health , look after your loved ones, wish well for all, bless everything that you see, everyone you hear, speak well for others.
An acid test is what would you do if this were your last day on this beautiful earth !!!!!!

every ending is a new beginning

Its the last day of the year and tomorrow is the beginning of the new year. life is a continuum, relax and enjoy whatever comes on the way

29 april 2010

silence , what a pleasant experience. when everything is quiet, u feel part of the larger universe, as the noise around u goes down and does not distract your attention.
listening to swamiji yesterday, i felt the beauty of the poetry that is Ramayana. Tulsidasji had a gift with words. the verse where he says there is no other way to be happy except in the glory of Rama is so definitive.
listened to swami chinmayanda on gita. he clearly said that the Supreme Lord does not need to do anything as he is free of desire. the more we clean up our vasanas, and exhaust them, the nearer we reach to God. we need to detach from the world of objects, emotions, and thoughts.

can u avoid actions. no, so then it is better to focus on those actions which create a positive impact on your self and the world around u. smile , make some smile. what does one need if u strip it to the minimum - we need food, clothes, and shelter to get a good night's sleep. that is all . the rest of everything is optional.

health is wealth

i know this is a highly cliched topic, but i must confirm that when i compare all the pleasures that one can aim for - money , status, comforts , recognition, fame, etc etc, nothing compares with the fact that one is able to eat a good meal, can exercise well and get a good night's sleep. if there was one thing i would like to trade for against any other thing, it would be to get good health for me and every one else. it is true medicine has made phenomenal progress in eradicating and curing many ailments, but it stills fall short of preventing those illnesses. the level of awareness that our education system creates in terms of maintaining good health practices is not enough. most young folks do not realise what they are doing to their bodies by what they eat, how they live out their day and the quality of sleep they take.
my single wish for all the folks in the world - May you be healthy from your first day to your last

life and death

life is so uncertain that no one can say with 100% confidence that he or she will live for the next year, month, day or minute. it implies that the current moment is all that you got to make the most of. the choice is with us how we spend this moment - we could remember the past, we could dream the future , or we could act in the present. the focus needs to be on the here and now. how can i be happy now, how can i make others happy now. the worst habit that most people develop over the years is to procastinate. but if something needs to be done to make you or some one else happy, do not wait. it could be a place u want to see, a book u want to read, some one u want to call or visit, some thing u want to gift to others who need it more than u do, and so on. GO AHEAD AND DO IT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, NOW !!!!!!!!