A Tale of Two Seas........ The Joy of Giving, Sharing and being Happy.........

A tale of Two Seas...the joy of giving .....

Sitting in the geography class in school, I remember how fascinated I was when we were being taught all about the Dead Sea.  

If you recall, the Dead Sea is really a lake, not a sea. Its so high in salt content that the human body can float easily. One can almost lie down and read a book!

The salt in the Dead Sea is as high as 35% - almost 10 times the normal ocean water.

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.

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 & the Dead Sea and, the tale of the two seas - 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.

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 lot 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, one sea is full of life, the other is dead.

How come?

Here 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 out - and that keeps the Sea healthy and vibrant, teeming with marine life.

But, the Dead Sea is so far below the 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 at all. It is estimated that over a million tons of water evaporates 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/flow out.

Result?

No life at all.

Think about it.

Life is not just about getting. Its about giving, sharing.

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, 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 of everything, the results can be disastrous.

A good idea to make sure that in the sea of your own life, you must have outlets.

Many outlets for love, wealth and everything else that you get in your life.

Make sure you don't just get, you give out, too.

Open the taps. And you'll be opening the floodgates to happiness.

Make that a habit.

To share

To give.

Experience life.

Experience the magic of giving..!

Credits: Due credit to the author for the above work. I had read this article on the internet long ago and it remained etched in my memory.

True Life Incident.....Life an Ocean..People Waves..

This ain't not from a film, but true.


It is about a certain person by name Mr. Zavere Poonawala, who is a well-known industrialist from Pune.
He had his driver named Gangadatta with him for the last 30 years on his limousine, which was originally owned by Bhagwan Rajneesh, and which Mr Poonawala had bought from him.

Gangadatta passed away recently and at that time Mr. Poonawala was in Mumbai on important work. As soon as he heard the news, he cancelled all his meetings, requested the driver's family to await him for the cremation and he came back immediately by a helicopter.

On reaching Pune, he asked his men to decorate the limo with flowers as he wished Gangadatta should be taken in the same vehicle which he drove since the beginning. When Gangadatta's family agreed to his wishes, Mr. Poonawala sat in the driver's seat and himself drove Gangadatta in his limousine from the house to the ghat on his last journey.

When asked, Mr Poonawala was very sorrowful and replied that Gangadatta had served him day and night and he could at least do this, being eternally grateful to him. He further added that Gangadatta rose up from poverty and educated both his children very well. His daughter is a Chartered accountant and that is so commendable.


His comment in the end is the essence of a successful life in all aspects. "I earned money and successful in life which is nothing unusual, but I should always be grateful to those people who contribute to my success. This is the sanskara (moral value) I have been brought up with which made me do what I did."


Someone has so rightly said: "Life is like a sea. We are moving about without end. Nothing remains with us. What remains are just....the memories of some people, who touched our lives as waves."

BRONNIE WARE's EXPERIENCE - It will help you too....

There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps. A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in their last days has revealed the most common regrets we have at the end of our lives. And among the top, from men in particular, is 'I wish I hadn't worked so hard'.

Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. 

Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. "When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently," she says, common themes surfaced again and again."Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."This was the most common regret of all.

When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. 

"This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence."

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

"Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result."

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

"Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying."

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

"This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

"What's your greatest regret so far, and what will you set out to achieve or change before you die?

One more look at LIFE

We leave parts of ourselves in places we have been to, hearts, rooms or bus seats, just about anywhere where we have been. People find them later in themselves. This is life. Losing and finding. Again and again. Making this strange massive vastness of the world, our home. Making it familiar. We make it through to wherever we need to, intact, evolved but just with a few soft unseen bits missing.

Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. The hardest battle you are ever going to fight is the battle to be just you.

The only good luck great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck. Never be uncaring, but don't allow anyone to project their bad feelings onto you either. Just giving people who are having a bad time some space of their own may be exactly what they need. The sad part is that they do not know when to give that much needed space.

As is the unwritten rule – Everything comes in life at its own time and it is always the right time. It is only we who do not recognize it as the right time.

LOVE - A Mirage

LOVE - A Mirage?

Is LOVE an illusion like a Mirage? On a hot afternoon shining and dazzling, giving an impression of the life saving and thirst quenching gold - WATER. 

Making us live life, attracting us towards itself like an agile deer prancing in the forest and chasing the sweet scent of the musk, which it does not know that it is coming from within.


A serene feeling like an Oasis in midst of a burning desert. The amazing satisfaction of the first sip of water touching your parched lips after going thirsty for days.  

True love makes us see the unseen and explore the unknown. Making us aware of what sensitivity is all about and exposes us to the emotions which we felt never existed in our universe, not experienced till yet and expressions not seen till now.

 It takes intense passion and an overwhelming emotion to feel and experience true love. To the untouched it might be a fools paradise, but to the one smitten by the Love bug it is bliss. Only a love starved heart can value true love.


The flip side - cheated, hurt, bruised and battered. Hit madly like a tornado strike - shaken by the brute force, left in a shock and awe by the aftermath.

 If love is so serene and pure then why is it not valued? Why is it not accepted? Strange but true.

Relationships~2

Relationship~2

What do we expect in a relationship? Love, care, respect, Sensitivity? I think most of us expect these and we land up getting hurt, dejected and cheated at some point of time. The only thing I believe to expect in a relationship is ATTENTION. It brings full spectrum of emotions to a relationship. In my opinion it's a master key to life.

With attention you can achieve everything - Sensitivity, Love, Care, Respect, Humor, Upliftment and what not. Just being attentive to the needs of your own and others is all about Life. 

Look at Nature - It has given it's unfailing attention to all the living things and it dutifully continues to do it every moment - we are bestowed by the attention. In the lap of nature we nurture ourselves and as a result we have the capability to soothe all around us. 

A human being is the utmost insensitive and selfish creation of Nature.

REASON

There's a reason for - the events that occur in your life, there is a reason why people come in your life. Is there is a divine intervention in this process? Yes I think so.

The events that occur make you face your strengths and accept your weaknesses. The people who come in your life make you see the facets which you think never existed and you learn the lessons which you thought were never a part of your curriculum.

Nature has laid the stage and planned the schedules much in advance than we can comprehend. Strange it is, but real. Whether you like it or not - the fact remains. Sticking like a bubblegum on your hair. To remove it you have to sacrifice a lock of your hair. The lessons learnt the hard way and in the process accepting the realities and exploring the fantasies. 

Definitely you come out stronger and refined - weak and famished. Stronger because you start valuing what you have and refined because you look at your blessings more minutely. Weak because you are exhausted fighting the battle and famished because emotionally you are drained of your resources.

You need to have a resolve which is stronger than before and a relationship which is bruised, tattered, but mendable. Ironical it is. 

Proved again - Life is Funny and the joker is YOU.