LIFE MUDRAS

Borrowing strength builds weakness   is a concept that hit close to home with me. When you borrow strength from others, you build weakness in your own character.    And just to be clear, we’re not talking about   effective delegation . Trying to do everything yourself is not only ineffective and impractical, but it’s selfish and just plain wasteful.  What we’re talking about here is the idea of staying within your comfort zone, avoiding risk, calling it quits too early, asking for help before you really   try , letting your inner weakness take over before you allow your inner strength the opportunity to build you up for the next time, etc. One of the realities of life is that challenge, struggle, and difficulty will always turn up on your path.  You can count on it.  And what we’re here to remind you of today, is that the other reality of life is that you always have 100% control over your mindset and how you choose t...

One of our basic desires as humans is the desire to feel as though we are a part of something greater than ourselves.  It’s our desire to feel as though we have contributed, that we have given back, and that we have made a difference in the world – so that we may find comfort in the way we have lived our life. Too often, we get caught in the trap of thinking that if we can’t make a big enough difference in the world – then it’s not even worth trying.  We play these wonderful, grandiose, and romantic images in our mind of how we can change the world… only to be confronted by the reality of how darn big the world  really  is!  …And with limited resources and time, our list of blockades, challenges, and excuses tally up and ultimately immobilize us through frustration. And when  that  happens… We miss our  real  opportunity. Our family.  Our friends.  Our neighbors.  Our co-workers.  Our community m...

I see people all of the time become victims of their circumstances and life challenges.  When life gets tough or depressing, they adopt a negative perspective and think to themselves about how unfair life is:  How they should have been born into better circumstances with more money; or how they should have been given better opportunities; or how things should have happened differently. Well, the truth of the matter is that life is going to  happen  – sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.  The one true thing that you will always have 100% control over is your response to these events.  When you adopt a positive attitude and always look for the good in any given circumstance –  how could you not move forward…?

Reaction & Response - Do I have a choice? In a restaurant where me and my family were dining, suddenly, a cockroach flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. I wondered if this was the cockroach's response to all the glory that was spoken about it! She started screaming out of fear. With panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group got cranky to what was happening. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach to another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.  In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed and threw it out with his fingers. Sipping my coffee a...

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 Dea...

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 a...

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 fi...