ZEN INSPIRATION

10 ways to step out from behind the mask

2012-01-30T02:12:00.000-08:00

You may have put on a mask to protect yourself at some stage in your life but is it really necessary anymore? The mask has done its’ job and now it is only a barrier to your future happiness

Cut the crap of pretending to others that you are happy when you are not
If you are in an unhappy relationship, either seek counseling or leave
If you hate your job, start looking for a new one or re skill in a new area
Delegate chores or work to others when you are overwhelmed
Learn to say No frequently
Stop being Mr. or Mrs. nice guy
Stop rescuing others, try rescuing yourself first
Take a risk and let others see the real you, if they don’t like it, tough
Take time out to meditate or take a yoga class
If all else fails, see a psychotherapist

Thoughts of change

2012-01-28T02:05:00.001-08:00

- Go on that trip. Don't postpone it.
- Say those words. Don't let the moment pass.
- Do what you have to, even at society's scorn.
- Write poetry.
- Love deeply.
- Walk barefoot.
- Dance with wild abandon.
- Cry at the movies.
- Take care of yourself. Don't wait for someone to take care of you.
Go for the win.

(Pic: Career planning in 60 seconds - a recreation by +Simon Kemp from orig. by Bud Caddell)

101 Simple Truths We Often Forget

2012-01-25T09:37:00.001-08:00

Sometimes we find ourselves running in place, struggling to get ahead simply because we forget to address some of the simple truths that govern our potential to make progress. So here’s a quick reminder:

It‘s not where we stand but in what direction we are moving.

The acquisition of knowledge doesn’t mean you’re growing. Growing happens when what you know changes how you live.
You can’t have good ideas unless you’re willing to generate a lot of bad ones.
A good idea without action is worth nothing.
Change is often resisted when it is needed the most.
People seldom do things to the best of their ability. They do things to the best of their willingness.
You can’t change other people; you can only offer guidance, and lead by example.
Right now, there’s a lot you don’t know. And if you never challenge your own beliefs, the list will never shrink.
If you’re talking to someone you don’t know well, you may be talking to someone who knows way more about the topic of conversation than you do.

Read the rest of amazing tips here on Marc and Angel .

35 Fast Tips To Make This Your Best Year Yet

2012-01-17T10:14:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting on an airplane thinking about what the best performers and most successful people do to continually outperform everyone around them.

As we enter what I hope will be the single best year of your life yet, I've come up with 35 Tips that I invite you to concentrate on. Share these tips, reflect on then, post them where you can see them - and allow them to infuse your mindset:

Remember that the quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts.
Keep the promises you make to others - and to yourself.
The project that most scares you is the project you need to do first.
Small daily improvements are the key to staggering long-term results.
Stop being busy being busy.
This New Year, clean out the distractions from your work+life and devote to a monomaniacal focus on the few things that matter.
Read "The War of Art".
Watch "The Fighter".
In a world where technology is causing some of us to forget how to act human, become the politest person you know.
Remember that all great ideas were first ridiculed.
Remember that critics are dreamers gone scared.
Be "Apple-Like" in your obsession with getting the details right.
Take 60 minutes every weekend to craft a blueprint for the coming seven days. As Saul Bellow once said: "A plan relieves you of the torment of choice."
Release your need to be liked this New Year.
You can't be a visionary if you long to be liked.
Disrupt or be disrupted.
Hire a personal trainer to get you into the best shape of your life. Superstars focus on the value they receive versus the cost of the service.
Give your teammates, customers and family one of the greatest gifts of all: the gift of your attention (and presence).
Every morning ask yourself: "How may I best serve the most people?"
Every night ask yourself: "What 5 good things happened to me this day?"
Don't waste your most valuable hours (the morning) doing low value work.
Leave every project you touch at work better than you found it.
Your job is not just to work. Your job is to leave a trail of leaders behind you.
A job is not "just a job". Every job is a gorgeous vehicle to express your gifts and talents - and to model exceptionalism for all around you.
Fears unfaced become your limits.
Get up at 5 am and take 60 minutes to prepare your mind, body, emotions and spirit to be remarkable during the hours that follow.
Being a superstar is not the domain of the gifted but the prepared.
Write love letters to your family.
Smile at strangers.
Drink more water.
Keep a journal. Your life's story is worth recording.
Do more than you're paid to do and do work that leaves your teammates breathless.
Leave your ego at the door every morning.
Set 5 daily goals every morning. These small wins will lead to nearly 2000 little victories by the end of the year.
Say "please" and "thank you".
Remember the secret to happiness is doing work that matters and being an instrument of service.
Don't be the richest person in the graveyard. Health is wealth.
Life's short. The greatest risk is risk-less living. And settling for average.

I genuinely wish you the best year of your life. Stay Great.

Article by Robin Sharma .

Pursuit of Happiness Quote !

2012-01-16T02:51:00.001-08:00

You want something. Go get it. Period.

The Pursuit of Happyness provides a great quote and solid advice.

Do you have a favorite quote from The Pursuit of Happyness?

Become Legendary

2012-01-09T10:06:00.001-08:00

A quote from “Become Legendary” speech by Michael Jordan by bramvanhaeren .

IF you have !

2012-01-08T15:13:00.001-08:00

Via Bitchville.me

Tibet and reincarnation

2012-01-08T08:47:00.001-08:00

Upon being asked by the journalist Mick Brown, whether he was a reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lamas, the present Dalai Lama answered:

- This is a very complicated matter. Some people are reincarnated, others are merely symbols of the being they ceased to incarnate. Through my previous lives I believe I have strong ties with my people, and all my spiritual work manifests itself in that which I can do to bring back freedom to my country.

In other words: the Dalai Lama doesn't answer " yes" or " no". However, according to Tibetan Buddhist teachings, our subtle conscience - which exists in all human beings, but which is normally dormant - lives on after death. All the actions, gestures and intentions of the life which has just ended, are stored in this subtle conscience; and all this, after remaining in empty space for a time, ends up finding its physical form once again, in a new body.

The Tibetan people store in this subtle conscience (a variation of that which we know as soul) a cycle of behavior which will help in the next life. The more often one repeats the task, the stronger the mark it leaves behind will be - thus, religious rituals are almost daily.

Mick Brown says that our culture does not accept the idea that a subtle conscience can remain dematerialized in order to then manifest itself once again. However, Peter Kedge believes that the natural talents we see in certain children - such as a gift for music, or mathematics - are the results of a conscience which has lived before, and now manifests itself once again.

In Tibet, this conscience is not only deliberately developed, but when a master dies, he seeks to leave clues so that his next body can quickly be recognized.

One of the better-known recent cases is that of the Spanish boy, Osel, who is now 11 years old and lives in northern India. In 1935 the Lama Yeshe was born, who spent his life studying Tibetan mysticism, was exiled during the Chinese invasion and ended his days in California. On the day of his death, he called his favorite disciple and said that this time he would be reincarnated in the West. Some years passed, and the disciple dreamed about Yeshe, asking him to go and seek him.

Which is what he did: visiting the various monasteries founded by his master, he ended up in the town of Bubion, in southern Spain, where he found a boy who had been born on the exact day of his dream. He showed the boy a series of bells and counting beads; the boy, who was then 2, selected the very one which had belonged to the Lama Yeshe - and was proclaimed his reincarnation, and taken to a monastery in order to be educated according to Tibetan rituals.

The predecessor of the present Dalai Lama indicated where he would be reborn. Three or four years after his death, monks went to a village in eastern Tibet, and found a child who fitted the description. This child - the present Dalai Lama - was taken to the Potala palace, in Lhasa. As soon as he arrived, he began walking around the palace very naturally, and at a certain moment saw a box.

- My teeth are in there - he said.

And in fact, the box did indeed contain his predecessor's false teeth.

There is a reason for the vague answer given by the Dalai Lama to journalist Mick Brown: all great Tibetan masters always leave similar clues to the above example, but it is impossible to verify or authenticate them outside their cultural context. This has resulted in a series of false masters popping up here and there around the planet, claiming to belong to a lineage of truly wise men, but whose single goal was to gather a group of disciples to contribute financially to their well-being.

The Dalai Lama's brother, Tenzin Choegyal, says:

"As a Tibetan, I believe in the reincarnation of man. But the West only seems interested in the exotic side to our customs - the oracles, rituals and ceremonies. None of that has any importance: the highest ideal, the miracle of Buddhism, is to allow any human being with an empty heart to become a person filled with love and compassion."

To Complicate things !

2012-01-05T13:38:00.001-08:00

Found on weheartit . via Lonneke Smed .

Subscription update

2012-01-04T12:56:00.001-08:00

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Gandhi's Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World

2012-01-03T08:33:00.001-08:00

For a more detailed discussion see this link: http://goo.gl/k20l

Things That Happen On Internet Every Sixty Seconds !

2011-12-29T03:35:00.001-08:00

World Wide Web is growing at rapid pace. On average, more than a billion new pages are added to it every day. To give you an idea of how big world wide web is, our Infographic 60 Seconds will cover some really interesting facts about websites that we use on day-to-day basis.

Infographic Web Design Company and Shanghai Web Designers

Did You Know That - In 60 SECONDS

Search engine Google serves more that 694,445 queries
6,600+ pictures are uploaded on Flickr
600 videos are uploaded on YouTube videos, amounting to 25+ hours of content
695,000 status updates, 79,364 wall posts and 510,040 comments are published on Social Networking site Facebook
70 New domains are registered
168,000,000+ emails are sent
320 new accounts and 98,000 tweets are generated on Social Networking site Twitter
iPhone applications are downloaded more than13,000 times
20,000 new posts are published on Micro-blogging platform tumbler
Popular web browser FireFox is downloaded more than 1700 times
Popular blogging platform Wordpress is downloaded more than 50 times
WordPress Plugins aredownloaded more than 125 times
100 accounts are created on professional networking site LinkedIn
40 new Questions are asked on YahooAnswers.com
100+ questions are asked on Answers.com
1 new article is published on Associated Content, the world’s largest source of community-created content
1 new definition is added on UrbanDictionary.com
1,200+ new ads are created on Craigslist
370,000+ minutes of voice calls done by Skype users
13,000+ hours of music streaming is done by personalized Internet radio provider Pandora
1,600+ reads are made on Scribd, the largest social reading publishing company
710 computers are sold worldwide and 555 of these computers are sold with Intel processors
1,820 TB of data is created; that’s enough data to fill up 2.6 million CDs
232 computers around the world get infected by malware
450 Windows 7 Cds are sold worldwide
925 iPhone 4s and 85 iPads are sold worldwide
11 Xbox 360 consoles are sold worldwide
18 Amazon's Kindle Fire are sold worldwide
38 tons E-waste is generated worldwide
4,000 USB devices are sold worldwide
2,500 ink cartridges are sold worldwide
2,100 checkins happen on location-based social networking website foursquare
$75,000 is added to Google's revenue
2 Million Internet users watch Porn Online
1.1 million conversations take place via instant messengers
103 Blackberries are sold worldwide
1,100 acres of land farmed in Farmville application
PayPal processes transactions worth $219,000; out of these, $10,000 is transacted via PayPal mobile
Around 950 purchases are done on eBay, out of which 180 purchases are done using eBay Mobile
12 websites get hacked and 416 attempts are made to compromise various Facebook accounts
1,400 movie discs are rented from America's movie and game destination Redbox with more than 34,400 kiosks nationwide.

Why Complicate Life ?

2011-12-29T00:39:00.001-08:00

Via Internet .

To share. To give.

2011-12-27T03:06:00.001-08:00

Sitting in the Geography class in school, I remember how fascinated I was when we were being taught all about the Dead Sea . As you probably recall, the Dead Sea is really a Lake , not a sea. Its so high in salt content that the human body can float easily. You can almost lie down and read a book! And all that saltiness has meant that there is no life at all in the Dead Sea . No fish. No vegetation. No sea animals. Nothing lives in the Dead sea .And hence the name: Dead Sea .

While the Dead Sea has remained etched in my memory, I don't seem to recall learning about the Sea of Galilee in my school Geography lesson. So when I heard about the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea - I was intrigued. Turns out that the Sea of Galilee is just north of the Dead Sea . Both the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea receive their water from river Jordan . And yet, they are very, very different.

Unlike the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee is pretty, resplendent with rich, colorful marine life. There are lots of plants. And lots of fish too. In fact, the sea of Galilee is home to over twenty different types of fishes.Same region, same source of water, and yet while one sea is full of life, the other is dead. How come? Here apparently is why. The River Jordan flows into the Sea of Galilee and then flows out. The water simply passes through the Sea of Galilee in and then out - and that keeps the Sea healthy and vibrant, teeming with marine life.

But the Dead Sea is so far below the mean sea level, that it has no outlet.The water flows in from the river Jordan , but does not flow out. There are no outlet streams. It is estimated that over a million tons of water evaporate from the Dead Sea every day. Leaving it salty. Too full of minerals. And unfit for any marine life. The Dead Sea takes water from the River Jordan, and holds it. It does not give. Result? No life at all.

Think about it. Life is not just about getting. Its about giving. We all need to be a bit like the Sea of Galilee . We are fortunate to get wealth, knowledge, love and respect. But if we don't learn to give, we could all end up like the Dead Sea . The love and the respect, the wealth and the knowledge could all evaporate. Like the water in the Dead Sea .

If we get the Dead Sea mentality of merely taking in more water, more money, more everything the results can be disastrous. Good idea to make sure that in the sea of your own life, you have outlets. Many outlets. For love and wealth - and everything else that you get in your life. Make sure you don't just get, you give too. Open the taps. And you'll open the floodgates to happiness.

Make that a habit. To share. To give. And experience life. Experience the magic!

Author Unknown Via Internet .

God is there !

2011-12-24T04:33:00.001-08:00

“God is there”, look,”in that flower”

“If only I could bloom, then, like Him..”

“God is there”,listen, “in that song”

“If only I could sound,like Him..”

“God is there”, “in that apple-pie”

” I wish I could be instead the apple of His eye..”

“Darling, God is there”, pointing to the heart

“in my Heart?”

“Yes, in that thing beating on your chest”

“So Is this a chest of treasures? ”

“Yes, follow the map to your heart and you ‘ll find…..

God is there, and you are divine”

From comment on Paulo’s blog by Annie

The importance of the cat in meditation

2011-12-19T01:56:00.001-08:00

Having recently written a book about madness, I was forced to wonder how many things we do are imposed on us by necessity, or by the absurd. Why wear a tie? Why do clocks run "clockwise"? If we live in a decimal system, why does the day have 24 hours of 60 minutes?

The fact is, many of the rules we obey nowadays have no real foundation. Nevertheless, if we wish to act differently, we are considered "crazy" or "immature".

Meanwhile, society continues to create some systems which, in the fullness of time, lose their reason for existence, but continue to impose their rules. An interesting Japanese story illustrates what I mean by this:

A great Zen Buddhist master, who was in charge of the Mayu Kagi monastery, had a cat which was his true passion in life. So, during meditation classes, he kept the cat by his side - in order to make the most of his company.

One morning, the master - who was already quite old - passed away. His most adept disciple took his place.

- What shall we do with the cat? - asked the other monks.

As a tribute to the memory of their old instructor, the new master decided to allow the cat to continue attending the Zen-Buddhist classes.

Some disciples from the neighboring monasteries, traveling through those parts, discovered that, in one of the region's most renowned temples, a cat took part in the meditation sessions. The story began to spread.

Many years passed. The cat died, but the students at the monastery were so used to its presence, they soon found another cat. Meanwhile, the other temples began introducing cats in their meditation sessions: they believed the cat was truly responsible for the fame and excellence of Mayu Kagi's teaching, and in doing so forgot that the old master was a fine instructor.

A generation passed, and technical treatises began to appear about the importance of the cat in Zen meditation. A university professor developed a thesis - which was accepted by the academic community - that felines have the ability to increase human concentration, and eliminate negative energy.

And so, for a whole century, the cat was considered an essential part of Zen-Buddhist studies in that region.

Until a master appeared who was allergic to animal hair, and decided to remove the cat from his daily exercises with the students.

There was a fierce negative reaction - but the master insisted. Since he was an excellent instructor, the students continued to make the same scholarly progress, in spite of the absence of the cat.

Little by little, the monasteries - always in search of new ideas, and already tired of having to feed so many cats - began eliminating the animals from the classes. In twenty years time, new revolutionary theories began to appear - with very convincing titles such as "The Importance of Meditating Without a Cat", or "Balancing the Zen Universe by Will Power Alone, Without the Help of Animals".

Another century passed, and the cat withdrew completely from the meditation rituals in that region. But two hundred years were necessary for everything to return to normal - because during all this time, no one asked why the cat was there.

Article Written by Paulo Coelho .

Stories of kings and wise men

2011-12-15T08:08:00.001-08:00

The kingdom of this world

An old hermit was once invited to visit the court of the most powerful king of those times.

- I envy such a saintly man, who is content with so little - said the ruler.

- I envy Your Majesty, who is content with even less that I - responded the hermit.

- How can you say such a thing, if this entire country belongs to me? - said the offended king.

- For precisely that reason. I have the music of the celestial spheres, I have the rivers and mountains of the whole world, I have the moon and the sun, because I have God in my soul. Your Majesty, on the other hand, has only this kingdom.

The ancestor's bones

There was a king of Spain who was very proud of his ancestors, and who was known for his cruelty to the weak.

One time, he was walking with his advisers across a field in Aragon, where - years before - he had lost his father during a battle, when he found a holy man searching a large pile of bones.

- What are you doing there? - asked the king.

- Honored greetings, Your Majesty - said the holy man. - When I heard that the king of Spain was coming this way, I resolved to recover the bones of your late father and present them to you. But however hard I search, I cannot find them: they are exactly the same as the bones of country folk, the poor, beggars and slaves.

Fetch another sort of doctor

A powerful monarch called a holy father - everyone said he had healing powers - to help him with his back ache.

- God will help us - said the holy man. - But first let us understand the reason for these pains. I suggest Your Majesty confesses now, for confession makes men face up to their problems, and liberates much guilt.

Annoyed at having to think about so many problems, the king said:

- I do not wish to speak of these matters; I need someone who heals without asking questions.

The priest went off and returned half an hour later with another man.

- I believe that words can relieve pain, and help me to discover the right path to a cure - he said. - But you do not wish to talk, and I cannot help you. This is the man you need: my friend here is a veterinarian, and does not generally speak to his patients.

Thanks to Paulo Coelho

Live the present moment to the fullest,So the future will be a worthy past.

2011-12-14T08:40:00.001-08:00

A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his 3 year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's hands into a pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.

Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. When the boy woke up from the surgery and saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, "Daddy, I'm sorry about your truck." Then he asked, "but when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home and committed suicide.

Think about the story the next time you see someone spill milk at dinner table or hear a baby cry. Think first before you lose your patience and become angry with someone you love.

Trucks can be repaired. Broken bones and hurt feelings often cannot. Too often we fail to recognize the difference between the person and the performance. People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever. Pause and ponder. Think before you act. Be patient.

Always remember: YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE ANGRY, BUT YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE CRUEL... UNDERSTAND AND LOVE. "IN YOUR ANGER, DO NOT SIN."

"Live the present moment to the fullest,So the future will be a worthy past."

Realist Paintings By Iman Maleki

2011-12-10T20:00:00.001-08:00

Iman Maleki is an Iranian realist painter. His fascination began with the painting when he was a child. He has done his graduation in Graphic Design in 1999. He has presented several paintings in exhibitions and got the The William Bouguereau Award. Here we would like to share some of his paintings with you. Cheers!

As seen on The design Work .

The Meaning of Love from the Eyes of Children

2011-12-10T19:31:00.001-08:00

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8

year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

Rebecca- age 8

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."

Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."

Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."

Chrissy -age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."

Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"

Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"

Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."

Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."

Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared

anymore."

Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody . You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."

Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."

Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."

Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."

Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an imagination)

Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."

Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,

"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need.

How many things are we missing as we rush through life?

2011-12-08T08:16:00.001-08:00

"In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At ten minutes, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After one hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?"

Via Wedding Live Band- The Raw Note and Colliding Atoms .

Write your hurts in the sand and carve your benefits in Stone.

2011-12-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?" The other friend replied "When someone

hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.

Do not value the THINGS you have in your life.. But value WHO you have in your life!

Optimistic Spirit : Amazing story of love and care

2011-12-04T23:01:00.000-08:00

The passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive young woman with the white cane made her way carefully up the steps.

She paid the driver and, using her hands to feel the location of the seats, walked down the aisle and found the seat he'd told her was empty. Then she's settled in, placed her briefcase on her lap and rested her cane against her leg.

It had been a year since Susan, thirty-four, became blind. Due to a medical misdiagnosis she had been rendered sightless, and she was suddenly thrown into a world of darkness, anger, frustration and self-pity.

Once a fiercely independent woman, Susan now felt condemned by this terrible twist of fate to become a powerless, helpless burden on everyone around her. "How could this have happened to me?" she would plead, her heart knotted with anger. But no matter how much she cried or ranted or prayed, she knew the painful truth - her sight was never going to return.

A cloud of depression hung over Susan's once optimistic spirit. Just getting through each day was an exercise in frustration and exhaustion. And all she had to cling to was her husband Mark.

Mark was an Air Force officer and he loved Susan with all of his heart. When she first lost her sight, he watched her sink into despair and was determined to help his wife gain the strength and confidence she needed to become independent again. Mark's military background had trained him well to deal with sensitive situations, and yet he knew this was the most difficult battle he would ever face.

Finally, Susan felt ready to return to her job, but how would she get there? She used to take the bus, but was now too frightened to get around the city by herself. Mark volunteered to drive her to work each day, even though they worked at opposite ends of the city. At first, this comforted Susan and fulfilled Mark's need to protect his sightless wife who was so insecure about performing the slightest task.

Soon, however Mark realized that this arrangement wasn't working - it was hectic, and costly. Susan is going to have to start taking the bus again, he admitted to himself. But just the thought of mentioning it to her made him cringe. She was still so fragile, so angry. How would she react?

Just as Mark predicted, Susan was horrified at the idea of taking the bus again. "I'm blind!" she responded bitterly. "How am I supposed to know where I'm going? I feel like you're abandoning me." Mark's heart broke to hear these words, but he knew what had to be done. He promised Susan that each morning and evening he would ride the bus with her, for as long as it took, until she got the hang of it.

And that is exactly what happened. For two solid weeks, Mark, military uniform and all, accompanied Susan to and from work each day. He taught her how to rely on her other senses, specifically her hearing, to determine where she was and how to adapt to her new environment. He helped her befriend the bus drivers who could watch out for her, and save her a seat.

He made her laugh, even on those not-so-good days when she would trip exiting the bus, or drop her briefcase. Each morning they made the journey together, and Mark would take a cab back to his office.

Although this routine was even more costly and exhausting than the previous one, Mark knew it was only a matter of time before Susan would be able to ride the bus on her own. He believed in her, in the Susan he used to know before she'd lost her sight, who wasn't afraid of any challenge and who would never, ever quit.

Finally, Susan decided that she was ready to try the trip on her own.

Monday morning arrived, and before she left she threw her arms around Mark, her temporary bus riding companion, her husband, and her best friend. Her eyes filled with tears of gratitude for his loyalty, his patience, his love. She said good-bye, and for the first time, they went their separate ways.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday ... Each day on her own went perfectly, and Susan had never felt better. She was doing it! She was going to work all by herself!

On Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work as usual. As she was paying for her fare to exit the bus, the driver said, "Boy, I sure envy you."

Susan wasn't sure if the driver was speaking to her or not. After all, who on earth would ever envy a blind woman who had struggled just to find the courage to live for the past year?

Curious, she asked the driver, "Why do you say that you envy me?" The driver responded, "It must feel so good to be taken care of and protected like you are."

Susan had no idea what the driver was talking about, and asked again, "What do you mean?"

The driver answered, "You know, every morning for the past week, a fine looking gentleman in a military uniform has been standing across the corner watching you when you get off the bus. He makes sure you cross the street safely and he watches you until you enter your office building. Then he blows you a kiss, gives you a little salute and walks away. You are one lucky lady."

Tears of happiness poured down Susan's cheeks. For although she couldn't physically see him, she had always felt Mark's presence. She was lucky, so lucky, for he had given her a gift more powerful than sight, a gift she didn't need to see to believe - the gift of love that can bring light where there had been darkness.

Positive thinking: Empower yourself

2011-12-02T22:59:00.000-08:00

If we have to live the life we want, we need to empower ourselves by, first, having a vision of what should be. For that to happen, you need to do a lot of things.

Help yourself to grow. Read a lot. Interact with people. Empathise with them. Identify problem areas. Use your free time to think about issues as it is only by pondering that we can find answers to vexed questions.

First, consciously realise that you have potential. Then, work towards developing it, refining it and focusing it to reap the rewards. When we start walking on a growing curve, we automatically get energetically charged.

As you explore yourself and the little world around you, there will be a new sense of exhilaration.

Bravely enter the lexicon of change strategies. Do not fear change as it helps you to get a feel of something different and untested. Most of the time, you will see that change helps to leap on to another plane. It is worth the risk.

Look at life like a lab. You have to experiment. Only then can one have the courage to dream of different possibilities that life offers. You have to trust your ability to find what is right for you.

This takes both effort and time. Few do it as they are scared of what it might entail or turn out to be.

To neutralise negativity, one just has to think about the reality of how millions around us live. They battle poverty, hunger, injustice, intolerance and hardship.

That should be enough to thank our stars, empower ourselves and move ahead. If possible, even help others see a new day.
We just need to daily look within ourselves to discover the wealth we have.

There are so many things we have that money cannot buy. Like freedom. Like the power of sight. Being healthy. Having a roof that does not drip during the rains. A hot meal.

But, it is important to visualise the life we want. Once we identify that, then the path is easy. We just have to systematically work towards it.

But the truth is that most of us do not even try to visualise what our life should be. So we end up floating around without a dream to chase and build.No one can empower you.You have to do it yourself.

Ramesh Menon

Anger management the yogic way

2011-11-30T22:57:00.000-08:00

Everyone has a problem of not being able to control anger. Some people admit it while others don't even realise that. Anger brings about more negative results than positive.

Showing someone that you are angry may help you extract short term advantage but in the long run one will experience negative impact of anger in one's life. Anger exhumes a person, makes outflow of prana irregular and disturbs normal functioning of the auto-neuron system of our body. Angry person develops a bitter personality over a period. Hence we need to watch out.

Anger is an outward manifestation of stress. Stress is of two types-external and internal. External stress may be caused by some events in our life such as sickness, death in the family or economic poverty. But the major cause for anger is the internal stress. Internal stress arises mainly out of frustration of desires.

This is the truth given in Bhagwat Gita. Anger comes because of not being able to fulfil heart's desires, or inability to cope up with multifarious interactions with the people around, or simply out of feeling of neglect or lack of self-esteem.

We have incessant list of desires and 'things to do' in our life. On top of all these desires is the desire to remain in as many social circles as possible. We create maze of relationships around us and become so busy in maintaining expectations of people around. We take on more responsibilities in work or business than what we can chew. This inevitably results in throwing your life out of gear. When we lose control we tend to be angry.

So, here are some golden principles of anger management. First of all, keep a check on your 'wish list'. Be more pragmatic about what is doable and not doable. There are temptations all around, but a wise person will not be swayed by it. Desires, not supported by means, are bound to disappoint you. And when that happens, anger is the outcome.

Secondly, we need to reduce our expectations from people. We want the whole world to behave in the same way as we do. Worse still, we expect everyone else to be as sincere, as punctual and as tidy as we are.

Sometimes the expectation is there when we ourselves are not so. If people around us don't fulfil this expectation, we become angry. Problem is that in spite of the experience teaching us that shouting at people doesn't ever change them; we still continue doing so foolishly. Can we have better discrimination in this?

Thirdly, we need to tackle our big ego. Ego is a product of lack of self-esteem. If someone says 'you are so bad', your ego will be hurt only if you have low self-esteem. Do we need to bother about so many opinions of others? There are techniques available to enhance one's self esteem. But just brood over the mechanism of how our ego is hurt.

The above points are curative in the long run. But what to do in short run? When you know you are angry and about to lose your temper, be aware of it. Stop and wait for a while before you burst out. Try to isolate yourself from the situation and go into another room if possible.

Sit down and do some anulom-vilom pranayam. Try chandra anulom-vilom in which you can close the right nostril and breathe only through the left nostril- deep inhalation and deep exhalation. Once you calm down, analyse the reason for your anger and try to cure the cause.