Sunday, September 21, 2008

Love all, Covet none !!

Everyone is made up of the same elements, the same desires, the same mindset and the same kind of thinking. Each of us is in the same path seeking happiness for ourselves and our loved ones. The world will be a great place of each of us love one another and help each other to achieve our respective desires.

If we have an "abundance mindset" where we realise that the world has much more to offer than what any of us could really need, we will get less competitive and more collaborative. In contrast, if we have a "scarcity mindset", we will end up fighting for everything and leading unhappy lives.

Life can be so beautiful and so meaningful if we love one another. And if we see God's creation in everything around us. We can marvel at God's creativity when we look at and perceive everything and everyone. Even negative thngs can be looked at in this way and it will cease to hurt us as much as it did otherwise..

But loving everyone should not lead us to covetousness. Desiring something is a selfish act and loving everyone is a selfless act. Selfishness is a sure path to pain, while selflessness is a clear direction towards realising our full potential and creating a wonderful planet.

So, love all and covet none !!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Be responsive !!

What is the sign of life ? If someone is alive, a clear sign is that of the person responding to stimulus. If spoken / written to, a reply; if smiled at, a return smile; if hurt, a cry etc. If a person is not responding, he / she may as well be dead. So one basic responsibility of each of us is to respond to stimulus.

But response is not just about reacting. It is also about reacting with some thought around it. Reaction is negative. Reaction is more impulsive. Reaction is instantaneous. For example, if someone insults us, a normal person would react with another insult or a feeling of hurt. Response and responsiveness is to go beyond the normal pattern. It could be, in this example, to introspect and understand the reasons for the provocation and form a positive response to address it.

The two extreme positions to avoid are complete ignorance / lack of response and an instant reaction without thinking. The middle path as recommended will fetch you a better understanding of the world around and better relationship with all.

Be responsive and not reactive !!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Forgive & Forget

Life is short. With an average age of around 70 years of which a good 25 odd years spent in sleep and resting, we have hardly 40-45 years of waking time. If one takes off the time spent in childhood pranks and old age sickness, one hardly has 20-25 years of productive time. This is just too short to be wasted on undesirable pursuits and practices..

When we feel hurt and remember hurt, we are only re-living the experience over and over again. And when we hope, pray or plan to hurt others or take revenge, we are going through the same pain again. Anger is like carrying a burning coal in your hand with an intent of throwing it at others. You are only hurting yourself.

Instead, if you can ignore, forgive and forget, you are instantly releived of the burden and find instant peace. It gives you more time for productive pursuits, ideating or creating things that bring joy to yourself and others around you. It creates a positive image about you and makes you irresistable in the eyes of others.

Think of children and this is what distinguishes them from adults. They have no ego and forgive easily. This is what makes them so lovable and endearing to us. So do yourself a big favour - start forgiving and forgetting from this moment onwards. The past traits and image will fall off immediately and you will reap the benefits form this instance onwards. Enjoy Life !!