An Extra Meal

When I was a kid, my parents worked extremely hard to take good care of us.  For various reasons we found ourselves in extremely tight financial situations.  I remember that we had lot of people visiting us, and my parents were very kind and generous, they would ensure that the visitor, no matter who, would always be welcomed, and given one meal, my mom always used to make one meal extra, believing that there will be one person for the meals.

I used to get angry with her, as I and my sister would tell her to measure and prepare food, exactly how much we need for the lunch or dinner, and to cook only that much,  But my mom knew that there will be some one visiting our family,  who may require a meal. Hence, we always had someone coming home, and there was not a day I went to bed hungry, because of the lack, even though my parents did not explain the reason.

My parents always believed that God is the provider and he will always provide with everything we require, so true today when I look into my life, I am happy and grateful for everything, I have never gone hungry to bed, and I have always experienced God’s mercy and compassion, I continue with the same belief that there is always one meal in my house for the person who may visit us. 

When we Care ….. We share

Be Blessed & Be Happy !

 

Summer Blessing

This summer was special and truly a blessing for me and my daughter Maria Dorothy, for  after the death of my son; I took some very bold decisions to come out of my grief, as the painful experience of having lost my son was getting me paralyzed with uncertainty and fear. There is not a single day I do not think of my son, the impact of his absence is more than his presence.  I found it very difficult to cope with emptiness and void, I thank God for my family and friends who stood by me in these moments and enabled me to come out and be reconciled to the reality of the situation. 

Now left with my daughter, I did not want her to suffer, because of me living in the past. I made deliberate attempts to do things that would help me and my daughter to come out of our grief.  While I hunted for summer camps, I felt most of them offered only art and craft and mostly indoor activity.  Whereas I was looking for something more energetic and vibrant activity, that would not only beat our stress, but also keep us active and happy. 

 I recalled my good old days, where I enjoyed swimming, and would be so enthusiastic about learning to swim, I managed to learn but I could not be in touch, for so much has happened in life, career, marriage, mother hood, raising up children, and trying ways to find myself all of this had taken so much of my time in life that I had forgotten, about the days I used to swim and just love being in the water.  This summer my daughter was getting bored, having taken up a new assignment, I did not find myself picking and dropping my daughter back from swimming. 

While I desired that my daughter learn the skill, and was busy exploring places where I would send her to learn, amidst my schedule I got information right where I worked. The good news was that the swimming pool being open for all, vow!  my joy knew no bounds, I quickly enrolled myself and my daughter to learn, I signed as a beginner, for I was not sure whether I would still swim, for it is almost 25 years ago I learnt to swim, so the first two days I practiced like any other beginner, and from day 3 onwards nobody could stop me from swimming!

 I was so happy to see myself with my daughter who was quite shocked to see me swimming. It was a great feeling to be in the pool along with my daughter – within two weeks, my daughter was ahead of me not only swimming free style but teaching me backward swimming, and I humbly gave in to learn from her, she was quick to learn and enjoyed, these were precious moment for me and my daughter, wherein we felt connected and bonded, not only that we made friends, and also helped some of them to learn.  I am now full of energy, I remain active, grateful and relaxed throughout the day, and at peace with myself. 

Be Blessed & Be Happy

 

Desire

Desire is the most important thing that leads us to, where we want to Be in life, in  achieving what we want to in life – I remember years ago when I was passionate about helping people, but I did  not know how, but whatever opportunity I got I tried my best to reach out to people, since I had no clear picture as how do I need to go about, I took up whatever came my way, and gave myself to learning, in the process, I got involved in various kinds of activities, which opened up doors for learning new aspects of life, and each time I had something new to do and achieve, my goals kept changing and I moved from project to another project,  but that was not what I wanted to do in life.

I was trying to explore what was I made for? what is my purpose which is very specific to myself, and I felt that I had trapped myself into working to make a living and trying to love my work, this gave me a sense of emptiness and I still felt something missing. 

My children came into my life as a  blessing to me, as every time I took up some work,  I had to make decisions keeping them in my mind, my  top priority,  They were at the heart of whatever choice I made, and this led me to a state wherein I explored new ways of making a living, which would satisfy my deepest longing, and at the same time enable me to find meaning and fulfillment.

Gradually, after a series of challenges I am led into a situation wherein I could directly reach out to young people, this was what I desired, and much to my joy, I did not have to work hard for finding people, I was placed among them to be able to listen, understand, counsel and bring in changes in order to be healthy and happy.

I am overwhelmed and filled with gratitude for this situation in my life, and I feel it’s a privilege to be in a place where I have the opportunity to enter into the lives of so many students whom I   have never met  While I spend my time meeting and listening to their struggles and pain -I am honored and  I hold what they share with me in reverence and compassion, meeting my hearts desire to reach out and be of help.

Be Blessed & Be Happy !

 

Gratitude – is something that flows out of You

This is a beautiful article and very thought provoking taken from Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a spiritual master with a difference, I am very inspired by this, and would like to share it with you, read on …… 

Most people cannot receive something gracefully. Social ethics have taught us that giving is important, but taking is not important. Yes, taking is not important -- taking is ugly -- but receiving is very important; it takes a certain amount of gracefulness, a certain amount of humility. 

Just look at any aspect of your life; everything that is worthwhile you are actually receiving. For example, just see how many people and things were involved in the clothes that you are wearing right now -- from the person who planted the cottonseed to the millions of organisms that were involved in making the plant grow; from the people that prepared the cotton -- from ginning to weaving to spinning -- to the clothing maker, agent, distributor and seller. Even the food that you eat, just for it to get into your system, how many different lives have participated in making this happen? 

If you are aware of this and if you receive gracefully, you will be overwhelmed with gratitude. Gratitude is not an attitude; it is something that flows out of you. If it is just a cultivated attitude, it is not of much significance. People have always told you that the magic words are "thank you', but gratitude is not cultivated; it happens when you are overwhelmed by something or somebody. 

Suppose you were dying of hunger and somebody gave you a piece of bread, now tears of gratitude will come to you. If they had given you that same piece of bread at any other moment, even if they had given you an entire loaf, it wouldn't have meant anything to you. But at that moment of hunger, you would look at the person giving you the piece of bread with enormous gratitude because you are overwhelmed by the experience. Gratitude need not necessarily find expression in the form of eloquence; it could be just a look, a touch, a teardrop. 

Everything in existence is somehow collaborating to keep you alive and well right now. From your breath, to the food that you eat, to the sun rising and setting. If you are able to look through just one chain of events, you could not help but be filled with gratitude for all the people and things involved. 

So if you see the way life is happening, can you not help but be grateful? Only if you are living blatantly, thinking you are the king of this planet, will you miss out on everything, you will miss out on the whole process of life. Otherwise, everything will overwhelm you. And if you are overwhelmed with gratitude, you are in an extremely good state of receptivity. 

Being overwhelmed with gratitude is a very beautiful way to be receptive. It can open people up in certain ways. The hardest part of working with people on the spiritual path is making them receptive. If they worked on their own ability to receive, then giving them what is needed would be very simple. If one is hungry, it is not difficult to make him eat. But to make him hungry, that is a hard job.

The very process of life is a constant phenomenon of receiving. You have nothing of your own to give; receiving is all you can do. Receive gracefully and share; that's all there is.

To learn more, you can visit Sadhguru's Huffington Post bio page.

Be happy! Be grateful!

Small Decisions .. ..

Small decisions taken, often have great impact. I had been having a problem of not being able to read small prints of books and magazines. So I went to the eye specialist to check if there was any problem with my eyes, having gone through a check, the doctor found that there was a minor problem of sight, other wise my eyes were fine.

So he suggested me to wear a reading glass. It was only a minor issue, but then it hindered me to see clearly, and I felt the strain of reading when I took a news paper or a magazine. For many days I neglected, myself and managed reading without any glass. 

But one day I made a decision, and picked up reading glasses for myself, I found the letters were very clear to read, and vow! What a feeling, it made me feel so happy, and I enjoyed reading without hurting my eyes.

Often in our lives, it is some very small changes that are required to bring great relief, and all it took is a little time to meet the eye specialist and a decision to buy a pair of spectacles to make me see clearly and enjoy reading comfortably.

I am learning that it is such small decisions that make a great difference to our lives.  I am still looking at other aspects of life, I have also found that including plenty of vegetables, fruits, drinking plenty of water and reducing white rice and bakery items is making a huge difference to the body. I am still exploring to find out what are the other small decisions that I could make to bring in health and happiness. How about you, are there any small decisions that you are postponing ? take action today, and feel the difference !

Be Blessed and Be Happy !

 

Happy Mother's Day

The ‘Ants Philosophy’

Today I feel  thankful and  inspired by Jim Rohn - the great motivational guru – developed what he called the ‘Ants Philosophy’. He identified four key lessons from the behaviour of ants that can help us lead better lives. Jim Rohn is no more – but his messages continue to inspire. Here then, are the four lessons from Rohn’s ‘Ants Philosophy’.

1. Ants never quit. Have you noticed how ants always look for a way around an obstacle? Put your finger in an ant’s path and it will try and go around it, or over it. It will keep looking for a way out. It won’t just stand there and stare. It won’t give up and go back.

There will always be obstacles in our lives. The challenge is to keep trying, keep looking for alternative routes to get to our goals. Winston Churchill probably paraphrased the ant’s mindset when he offered this priceless advice: “Never give up. Never, never give up!”

2. Ants think winter all summer. Remember the old story of the ant and the grasshopper? In the middle of summer, the ant was busy gathering food for the winter ahead – while the grasshopper was out having a good time. Ants know that summer - the good times – won’t last forever. Winters will come. That’s a good lesson to remember. When the going is good, don’t be so arrogant as to believe that a crisis or a setback cannot happen to you. Be good to other people. Save for a rainy day. Look ahead. And remember, good times may not last, but good people do.

3. Ants think summer all winter. As they suffer through the unbearable cold of the winter, ants keep reminding themselves that it won’t last forever, and that summer will soon be here. And with the first rays of the summer sun, the ants come out – ready to work, ready to play. When we are down and seemingly out, when we go through what looks like a never-ending crisis, it’s good to remind ourselves that this too shall pass. Good times will come. It’s important to retain a positive attitude, an attitude that says things will get better. As the old saying goes, tough times don’t last. Tough people do.

4. Ants do all they possibly can. How much food does an ant gather in summer? All that it possibly can! Now that’s a great work ethic to have. Do all you can! One ant doesn’t worry about how much food another ant is collecting. It does not sit back and wonder why it should have to work so hard. Nor does it complain about the poor pay! Ants just do their bit. They gather all the food they can. Success and happiness are usually the result of giving 100% - doing all you possibly can. If you look around you, you’ll find that successful people are those who just do all they possibly can.

Follow the four simple steps of Jim Rohn’s ‘Ant Philosophy’ – and you’ll see the difference. Don’t quit. Look ahead. Stay positive. And do all you can.

And there’s just one more lesson to learn from ants. Did you know that an ant can carry objects up to 20 times their own weight? Maybe we are like that too. We can carry burdens on our shoulders and manage workloads that are far, far heavier than we’d imagine. Next time something’s bothering you and weighing you down, and you feel you just can’t carry on, don’t fret. Think of the little ant. And remember, you too can carry a lot more on your shoulders!

Be Happy!

 

"If it is to be, it is up to me!"

I came across an article of a unique funeral held in an office in New York some years ago? As employees of the firm came in to work on Monday morning, they were greeted by a solemn notice at the entrance: "The person responsible for inhibiting your growth died yesterday. The body has been placed in the cafeteria, till 2 pm today." 

Sad to think a colleague had passed away, and curious who the person might be, the employees trooped into the cafeteria to pay their last respects. A crowd of company staff had gathered inside. 'Who is this chap who has been hindering our growth?' each wondered, as they walked up to the coffin to see. One by one, as each person took a look inside the coffin, there was shocked silence - and a look of disbelief. 

Inside the coffin was a mirror. And below it was a placard on which was written: "There's only one person who can set limits to your growth. And that's YOU." Now that's a message we would all do well to remember.

So true, it is so easy to blame everybody and everything in our lives, for things to change in our life we don't need to change others, situations, we only need to change ourselves.  The power to change our lives and chart our future lies within each of us. 

Resist the temptation to blame others for your plight. When you blame other people, you take away your inherent power to change. You weaken yourself. But by taking responsibility, you empower yourself to change your fortunes. And that one act - taking responsibility for yourself - is really what separates winners from losers. Tell yourself the magic phrase: "If it is to be, it is up to me!" Just say it to yourself, believe in it, and see the difference. 

Be Happy!