Liberty Means Responsibility

Slavery has many shades. A man may appear free though he is enslaved by his thoughts. Most men remain in chains of negative thoughts for so long that they think it to be natural to be in chains. As Rousseau put it, "Slaves lose everything in their chains, even the desire of escaping from them." Another reason that people live in chains for whole life is that freedom demands a price- price of discipline, responsibility and continuous struggle. For most of them it is too high a price to pay for the freedom of thought or expression. But what they dread most is that freedom entails a lot of responsibility. Responsibility of fulfilling the promises made to self and others, responsibility of practicing what they preached to others & responsibility of proving that  freedom is a better choice on any given day. You need to ask two questions to begin your quest for freedom; first, do you want freedom?;secondly, are you ready to pay the price? If the answer to both the questions is yes, you are already a free man !   

Light A Lamp

Light travels fast but thoughts travel faster than light. The purpose of life is not only to light the lamp of inspired thoughts but also to show others the right path. There are two ways to do that; first, by lighting billion lamps yourself; and secondly, by lighting your lamp & inspiring others to light their's to illuminate the world. One reason that we see darkness all around us is that we live in constant fear of the same & curse it without realizing that we can remove it simply by lighting a lamp. Do it now. Light a lamp of positive thoughts and observe the change !

Listen To Self

If there are people, there will be opinions around you. There are more opinions especially if you go out to try something no one has ever done. And generally opinions are not in favor of a new idea. Listen to these opinions but follow your own voice. You may be weak technically in a particular area but spiritually, you are very strong. So trust your heart. It doesn't know to add two & two but it surely knows whether it is the right idea to add two & two at this moment. Problem is not that we don't have a voice. The problem is that we let it drown out in the noise of others' opinions. Your voice should be much louder than the noise of others. Your voice is pure harmony while the voice of others is no more than cacophony. 

God Within

One trait that separates human beings from animals is enthusiasm. The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek root which literally translates into 'God within'. Oxford mentions the literal meaning in word origin as 'possessed by a god, inspired.' So, an enthusiastic person has God within him. It is like a volcano, always simmering, waiting to burst & it is entirely for this reason that an enthusiastic person is never indecisive. He is always dying to take new decisions, new risks in life. The problem begins when we encounter occasional failure. Energy level dips & indecision takes place. The only way we can remove the curse of indecision is to have the blessing of enthusiasm. Like a volcano never allows the grass to grow on its peak, enthusiasm doesn't allow a person to be indecisive. 

Rat Race

The biggest fallout of getting caught in a rat race is that we don't know why we are running; and where. Some rats are running for the cheese, some more are running for more cheese & some are running for better quality cheese. Getting cheese becomes the be-all and end-all of our existence. When cheese moves, we also move. Our whole existence becomes cheese dependent. When we take part in a race our only motto is to compete with others. And when we do so our focus shifts to others. We start thinking in terms of others & self is lost among other rats. It is important to slow down & let others win(lose). When you slow down, you realize your purpose & every step of your life thereafter connects you to your calling. You not only enjoy the race, but also the scenery around you which is an essential part of your existence. And most importantly, you start living !

Walking In The Rain

Walking in the rain is akin to living the life; getting wet is akin to just passing life & running for a shelter during rain is akin to running away from life. A child likes to walk & play in the rain simply because he feels & knows that the rain is not to be afraid of but to enjoy. As he grows up he starts fearing the rain.He feels that the rain may sully his clothes or he may get sick. He waits for the rain to pass to live again. The fact is that was the time to live. The rest is routine. We pass our whole life in this dilemma & by the time we understand true meaning of living, we make ourselves too weak to venture out in rain. The secret of living is to feel the rain & not worry about getting wet. 

Flying High

When you are surrounded with problems, when nothing is going your way, when whatever you try turns out to be a big failure, when people reject your ideas, when you have no one to look up to, when people have declared you a spent-force; celebrate for your best time has just begun. It is in these trying conditions that people stop expecting from you & you start looking inwards. It is these adverse situations that bring out the best in you. Good times will make you haughty while the bad times will make you humble. When everything is going your way, you miss the opportunities that can make you a bigger success. It is during bad days that you get time to think about more creative ways to be a success again. Remember, bottom is not a bad place to be at because there is only one way to go; UP.