Live Your Life

The tragedy of life is not that we only live once, the tragedy is not realizing that this is our only chance to live. We pass our life as if we are in hurry & have many jobs to finish. The fact is that as a human being, we have only one business to deal with and that is to live. But that doesn't come naturally to people and one reason is that they have no experience in the same. They hide behind the fact that they have just arrived & that they are novice and they are learning tricks of the trade and many such excuses. We forget that a child is also inexperienced but he knows how to live. He doesn't become the slave of life. He becomes a student & a master at the same time.

When we have passed certain period of our life, we start having some kind of regret of not living life full size. And when that happens, our whole life flashes before us. We go into some kind of a flash back, replaying all the scenes from different periods of our life. But we don't have plenty to watch. The scenes that generally flash are our personal milestones, our professional successes, people who wronged us or the other way round.

But we miss something. We miss scenes of appreciating life, contributing to lives around us or making a difference in the lives of others. Then we realize that life is not about winning some trophies or collecting some toys; it is about living the moments, loving others and reading the messages that it throws towards us. Unfortunately, we don't care for these not-so-urgent but important acts & when we realize we have already directed major part of that movie called life. And the worst part it that it cannot be edited now. What is lived, cannot be unlived.

So, the best way is to live every moment of it so that when you watch your own movie, you scream with joy- 

                                                     "I have lived."

Faith Vs Fear

There are two dominant forces working in this world- Fear & Faith. And both the forces can't co-exist. In fact, they antagonize each other. When someone gets bitten by the fear bug, the first symptom that shows up is loss of faith. The other symptoms may be poor self-esteem, frustration, low confidence & feeling of guilt. Ultimately, the person cuts himself from  the world & becomes a recluse. Fear engulfs his whole mental make-up & he goes into depression.

On the other hand, the person who has faith in self & God can move mountains. He does the impossible because he believes it before he sees it happening. As William Wordsworth stated, 
                                                  "Faith is a passionate intuition." 
The person who has faith has the intuition of things coming his way & he does not see a blurred image but a very clear vision. He achieves everything twice- first in his mind & then in the real world. Once he starts experiencing the magic of belief, all impossible looking things look very much possible. He sees fear in the face & challenges all his limits. Now, he does not enjoy achieving easy goals. He leaves these for the fickle-minded & relishes only the impossible looking goals. 

But the important thing is to cross the first hurdle of fear- fear of failure. One reason that many people lead an ordinary existence is that they are in the grip of this fear. They don't realize that the success lies on the other side of this fear. The moment they challenge the fear, it vanishes into thin air. Fear is like a street dog. It chases you till you run away from it but crawls back once you stand & look straight into its eye. 

The only way to shoo away this fear is to run towards it. You will gather courage, gain confidence & do the things which earlier seemed impossible. All the successful people had one trait common in them- they feared nothing & it was because they had immense faith in their abilities. You might have come across people who looked quite ordinary when you last saw them but they shocked you with their achievements when you met them after few years. There was nothing miraculous that happened in their life; they only shifted from fear mode to faith mode & because you did not see the shift, you were shocked with their achievements. Now it is your turn to shock the world. 

Stand & Stare

There are many ways to live life but two very good ones to live life to the fullest are-

1- From the perspective of time it should be lived in moments not in years.

2-From the perspective of things it should be lived observing the minute details of things of beauty around you.

Many people don't even realize that they pass their lifetime without even knowing what they are doing. They are always complaining about paucity of time. Actually, they are right to some extent because time really moves fast if the life is lived in days & years. On the other hand when life is lived in moments, the time stands still & waits for the person until he has enjoyed that moment to the fullest. The moment only cares for the person who cares for it. The fact is that for most of the people moment is the least important unit of time & that is why moments fly past them & so do days, years & a lifetime. The important thing to remember is that life can only be lived in moments; in years it can only be passed. And by the time we realize that, it is  already too late. The common regret of people at the end of their life is that they could not enjoy life the way they were supposed to. If asked to replay the best part of their life, they would surely replay some wonderful moments; not years. We don't remember years; we remember only moments- isn't it a big enough proof to justify this point?

Another way of living the life is by observing the fine details of the creations of God. The blade of grass holds the whole universe on its tip, only if we stand & stare. The magic is in the obvious not in the hidden. But we pass our whole life collecting the toys & ignoring the art of the Supreme Painter. One reason why we miss the obvious is that we think there is something which is beyond our purview. We forget that we are the best creation of God & are entitled to admire all His creations. 

 The life has no meaning if we don't have moments to stand & stare this abundant supply of beauty spread all around us. Observe the minutest of details of things of beauty & enjoy the vastness of universe, or else, regret  not doing so at the end of your life.

   

Thoughts Make A Man

It has been said time and again that thoughts make a man. I'll go a step further & state they do more than merely making a man; they make him & the whole world around him. 

Thoughts are much bigger in size than they originally appear. The important question to be asked is, if we have a large number of thoughts travelling through our mind every day, why only a few seem to make an impact? Why all thoughts don't affect us & shape our destiny?

A thought alone is not powerful but when it is combined with emotions, it gains strength. It is like if you see someone on the road & think about him it won't affect you but if he does something that makes you happy, it will leave an impact. So, it is not thought about a person that influenced your perception about that person; it was his behavior & your emotions towards that behavior that did it. And once that happens, it has a ripple effect. Remember, your thoughts & emotions don't add, they multiply. So, it can be 'good thoughts plus good emotions' or 'bad thoughts plus bad emotions' that decides your opinion about someone. The important thing to learn is that since thoughts are huge in number, you can't do much about all your thoughts. Comparatively, emotions are lesser & can be easily controlled.

So, how do thoughts make a man? It is because dwelling upon a thought also makes it stronger & drives traffic of emotions towards it. If you are thinking about someone negatively & if you keep thinking about him in the same light, it will only attract negative emotions. On the contrary, if there is a person who has harmed you but you forgive him & move on with other activities, it won't affect you anymore. Since you cannot control all your thoughts, it will be important to choose thoughts that affect you positively & reject thoughts that leave a negative influence. Even if we control five or six negative or positive thoughts, rest won't matter much. If you consciously practice it for some time, it will become your second nature & you won't need to make any effort to control your thoughts.   

Future Perfect, Present Tense

Strange thing about human beings is that we spend our lifetime to have a perfect future. And we are never sure about it: not whether we will have a perfect future or not, but whether we,at all, will have a future or not. In doing so, we spoil what is in our hand-our present. Present is called so because it is like a gift to us by God & we behave strangely by not opening this gift so that we have it safe for our future. Our present is what we thought in our past & our future will be what we are thinking today. Our future will be  rolled out in front of us depending upon how we respond to our present. If we are living a tense life today, chances are that we will have a difficult future. Life cannot be lived in past or in future; it can either be lived now or never.  
When people say that they don't have any control over their future they are only partially correct. They don't have any control as far as circumstances are concerned but they have complete control over how they would react to those circumstances & that will be decided today not tomorrow. Our responses to different circumstances may be different but the style of our response is more or less same. And that style comes from out thinking pattern of today. So, in a way you have complete control over your future as well. People who want to be successful after some time will surely not have the same circumstances what they have today but despite the difference in situations they will become successful if they learn to respond to their present because one day their future will become their present. 
So, instead of brooding over tomorrow, better you live in now. That is all we have: rest is a mirage. The only way we can have a perfect future is to live in present. Another beautiful thing about our future is that it comes only one day at a time & that day is today.
Remember, you can never make your future perfect by making your present tense !  

Leaders Are Made

There has always been a debate on whether leaders are born or made. How do we settle the issue? It can only be done if we closely look at the way two different kinds of leaders behave. 

Those who are born leaders consider ruling over people their birth right. Serving others doesn't come naturally to them. They can't tolerate failures because they have not seen many.

On the other hand leaders who are made by hard efforts know the value of the reward. They know the value because they have paid the price- the price of hard efforts, many failures & a lot of criticism. Any leader  who has gone through tough time respects opinion of others & wants others to express their views. He believes in distributing power instead of using it to muzzle the opinions of others. 

This is true for all kinds of leaders- political leader, social leader or a business leader. A true leader must pay the price of hard effort before he succeeds. Unless he achieves success the hard way, he will not attach price to it & will lose it sooner than later. 
The other point of discussion especially in business circles has been about the capabilities of a 'leader by effort' vis-a-vis 'a natural leader'. No doubt, a natural leader understands the nature of job quite quickly & uses his natural talents to adapt to the requirements of the job. On the other hand, ' leader by effort' has to make hard efforts to meet the requirements of his job. But once he does so, he gives it his hundred percent while a natural leader tends to relax after reaching his primary goal. The reason of this behavior is again the cost that 'leader by effort' paid to get to his goal. 
So, if you are toiling hard to reach a goal or you think that you don't have natural talents to be something, worry not; you deserve that goal no less than somebody who thinks he is born leader. The world will take a bow once you achieve your goal. For now, just keep walking towards the direction of your dreams !

Don't Wait For The Ship

There are three kinds of people in this world. 
First kind of people are those who don't react when opportunity knocks their door. In fact, many a time they are not able to even recognize the opportunity. Most often than not, opportunity comes wrapped in problems & an ordinary man looks at problem only as a problem & starts looking for the solution. When any adversity strikes you, the first question you should ask is- "What is in it for me?" Yes, every opportunity, big or small, carries fruits of equal proportion to be had. Your job is to identify & welcome the opportunity. So, these people don't respond because they don't identify opportunity. Opportunity knocks their door but most of the time they are not home. They don't see the ship even when it is at shore waiting for them to board it. 
Second kind of people are the ones who identify these opportunities & respond to these. They know that opportunity will come in different forms & shapes & they are always waiting for it. They grab it with both the hands once they identify it. Not only that, they also keep themselves well prepared to make best use of all the opportunities. So, they are waiting for the ship to arrive & once it does, their  job is to board it & start their journey to success. 
But, third kind of people are those who don't wait for opportunity; they make opportunity even when it is not there. They are the real winners as they never complain about lack of opportunity. They have it in plenty & they also have the ways & means to overcome any challenge & convert it into a huge opportunity. They invite challenges if they are short of the same. Not that they become successful in all their efforts but even when they fail, they make best use of these failures. They become stronger with every failure & every failure becomes the stepping stone to their success. These kinds of people never wait for the ship to arrive;they swim out to meet it !