Offbeat Spirituality

The nights between the Christmas & the New year ...and all across the map, Not an entrepreneur will rest, Not even a quick nap. They have work to be done, Opportunities never sleep. With visions of better lives, Their commitment runs deep. This holiday season, God simply wishes to say: Of you are living your life truthfully, He is proud of you every day. Wishing you Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a safe and healthy New Year. PS. It's not too late call your parents, siblings, friends and neighbors and wish them new year!

The more you are humble, the more will be your success. Contemplation: Humility gives you the wings to fly. It gives you enthusiasm based on your inner truth and you can easily move forward. When there is no humility you will find yourself being pulled back again and again. Application: When you do something, remind yourself of how much you are enjoying it. Let there be no desire for recognition or praise. Then you will find yourself succeeding in the task that you undertake and you will be appreciated too.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. “A human is a product of the thoughts he keeps.” – We know that and yet we choose to think rubbish. Take a moment to visualize your thoughts and you’ll see more than 98% of your thoughts would be either of the days that has gone by or of the future. Yesterday & Tomorrow. And here we forget one of the most venerable teachings of life “Present is a PRESENT.” Why must we choose to endure pain long after the incident has happened? Why we worry about what is yet to come? Why must we give tit for tat? Why can’t we practice patience? Let’s not be ordinary. Let’s do something special and make our good thoughts count. Let’s spread peace by being at peace with ourselves because with our thoughts, we make the world.  

“Err...What?” “Why?” This is how a typical answer to the post topic will be like. Spirituality, when mixed with religion, can evoke responses like these. The word ‘Spirituality’ is made from Latin ‘Spiritus’ meaning – “Self”. Christian Science uses "Spirit" as one of the seven synonyms for God, as in: "Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love. Hinduism uses “Spirit” to refer to “Soul” or “Atman”. Greek perceived it as the entity that leaves body when someone dies. On exploring the relationship between spiritual points of view about health and healing, you’ll find that knowing about “Self” is probably one of the biggest discovery you can do about yourself. Today we have gone to moon, exploring Mars, have gone under sea, into the deepest locations on earth and try to find what happens there – but what happens in our mind, we don’t know. And if we know, we can’t control. Hatred, jealousy, insecurity, anger and frustration – each of us can identify our self ...

Making a usual day a perfect day can be a struggle. But for most us, what to do to make it perfect isn’t the hard part. Come on, think about it. You normally don’t struggle (too much) over what to do. The question is when to do to make your day reasonably good. Here are four pointers that help me making my day better than others. They are yours to use – Get up early Almost 85% of people sleep till 8 and miss the wonderfulness that an early morning has to offer. One of the best gifts you can give to yourself is ‘getting up early’. Of course, trying it suddenly is going to be difficult but if you make it a habit, you’ll have so much extra time to think, read, exercise or anything you like to do. I meditate, cook, and go for a walk when people around are sleeping and enjoy it thoroughly.  Appreciate & Learn Try this – spend 5 minutes twice a day in gratitude – it will reshape the way you perceive your day. With appreciation will come the desire to learn. Focus on what is bes...

It's somebody's birthday every week and every time I spend considerable amount of time on the Internet looking for that perfect wish - which not many people have heard of. This morning I had a thought - why not create my own list and post it online. I can categorize it according to how people search and they may get what they are looking for here. So here a "Cheers" to a new start! May this year be your best ever. I hope all your birthday dreams and wishes come true. Not just a year older, but a year better. Here's to another Pleased look forward, pleased to look behind, And count each birthday with a grateful mind.  Happy Birthday, you're not getting older you're just a little closer to death.To the nation's best kept secret; Your true age. Birthdays are like boogers, the more you have the harder it is to breathe.  Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that people who have the most live the longest! Money's tight Times are h...

We are so used to doing things that we simply forget the ones that we shouldn't. Here's a list of what crossed my mind - if there's anything else you'd like to add, be my guest.    1. Trying to do everything Yes, we have been brought up with the notion that we shouldn't pass over any of our works to others but have you heard the word “delegation”? I understood its importance when I realised that people are always willing to help but I should know how to take it. by rule, 80% of our time gets wasted in doing 20% of work. So how about slashing that unproductive time from 80% of low value work and making the best of your day? 2. Answering all emails (or calls and messages for that matter) Ahhhhh! Another silly notion that I had – I used to think I have to reply to all emails until I noticed that not all my emails were replied to. In fact, many weren’t, even when they were follow-up replies to reader mails asking for help. Seemingly, all the effort that go ...

Against the backdrop of an early October sun set, the spanking new Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium turned into a golden hue as the Rs 44 crore aerostat lifted into the skies and a bevy of puppets danced and over 800 drummers heralded the event. A spectacular laser fireworks show lit up the evening sky and India took a giant leap, 28 years after it hosted the Asian Games. In a neat diplomatic compromise, Prince Charles, representing Queen Elizabeth, the head of the Commonwealth, and President Pratibha Patil did the honours at the inaugural ceremony, amid thunderous cheers from the capacity 60,000 crowd. "I have much pleasure in declaring the 19th Commonwealth Games open", the Prince said reading out a message from the British monarch. This was followed by the address of President Patil, who concluded by saying " the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi are now open. Let the Games begin", signalling the formal commencement of the sporting extravaganza. commonwealth, co...

Why do some people fail while others succeed? Why students from a same class may find themselves at complete opposite ends years after they have left the school? Why businesses fail to pick up or go through a dry run after a successful period? Because the focus is lost. Focus is the key to suceed. Masters are good only in one thing because they foucs hard on it. Sometimes we meet people who like to do everything and that is why they are good at nothing. Businesses/freelancers like to be busy and that's why they pick up everything that comes across their path, without giving it a thought whether the opportunity is in sync with their core philosphy or not and they fail not because they didn't have opportunities but because they had too many of them. So, what's the solution? Build your work around selective things and say "no"to the rest. Ditto for the personal life. Pick 4 values and stict to them. At work, build your team around 4 key result areas and say...

Something I read yesterday and really linked it, so posting it here 1.     You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period. 2.     You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life." 3.     There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work." 4.     Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson. 5.     Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned. 6.     "There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there...

Life is full of surprises. At one moment you could have everything and at other - nothing. Having worked as a freelancer for years, I have learned a lesson - If you want to live happily, never let anyone turn you around".  When you take a step towards new heights, you'll meet people willing to pull you down - simply for the fun of watching you scramble. In the world we live in, only the true leaders can see situations as a challenge. Only one belief keeps them running - Life has a very fair accounting system. Caring for others is always going to pay. The difficult times are the exact times to be generous. Be generous with your time, money, feelings, emotions, care, car, home, people - everything! Don't lock what you don't use behind the cupboards. Give away your gifts. Be philanthropic with your attention.  When the whole world is shrinking its vision, its the time for some to play it forward. Begin the reinvestment in simple acts of kindness and see your efforts ge...

Image: www.tigerbreath.com   When hardship hits, our instinctive reaction is “what will happen to me? My home? My family? My work?” It has become natural to start pulling in. Some people, you must have noticed, immediately get into protective mode. They try to pull in and preserve their domains. It has become human nature today. Is this living the life as it comes? How about not acting on fears and narrowing our vision but standing for what we believe is right and getting rid of our own limitations? The simplest way to do it is by learning the basics again. So, let’s begin A: is for accuracy. We must try and deliver everything with unmatched accuracy not only when we are working professionally but at home, with people as well. Remember, if no one’s ever going to see, it doesn’t make leaving the table messy after you’ve had food is alright. No – it isn’t. Just imagine – if someone would pay you to do it, would you then also leave it like that? No, isn’t it? Yes! I know money i...

Its a delicate balance that most of us fail to maintain. In our interactions with others, we sometimes only use the head, i.e., my logic.  Yes, that does bring us to a logical level and enables us to understand the facts very clearly.  But if you keep myself limited only to the facts, you tend to forget to use your heart.  Then we are not available to the other person and fail to understand them. So, what's the solution? In order to be successful in all our interactions with others,  have the right balance between your head and my heart. See beyond the facts, say and try to listen and understand the other person too.  When you do this you will not hurt people with your attitude but will be able to maintain harmonious relationships.

How often you feel angry on others? If something unpleasant happens, are you able to control your mind at the right time or do you keep on thinking about it the whole day? Generally, our thoughts drive us. It is our perception about other people; situations etc. that make us react. We are so used to keeping thoughts running on our mind that we don’t even realise how much wasteful things is happening inside us. Have you ever noticed how easily we get affected by outside scenario? When we meet an irritating person, we get irritated too. Have you ever noticed why? Because we have become takers of negativity, ego, anger, frustration and waste. This needs to be changed. The thinking has to become positive. With the power of positivity, we refuse to give up. Remember, though situations don’t last but tough people do. Let us try to be a better person. It will change everything around you, because change always begins from inside. If I’ll change, the WORLD will change with me.

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Global Warming is so nineties Fight for a new cause Water and toilets for all

1. The foundation of positive thinking is to have self-respect and to be contented. 2. Self-respect in positive thinking means to be assertive and to set boundaries about what is acceptable and what is not. 3. The aim of positive thinking is to reach a stage of neutrality where your mind is purely positive because your thoughts are completely free from the opposition or resistance of negativity. 4. Positive thinking is about seeing the negative for what it is and thereby neutralizing its power over you. If you don’t identify the negativity clearly, then you are influenced by it. 5. Positive thinking is the consistent refusal to engage in projection. That means to refuse to project onto others the lures and entrapments of negative which lurk in your inner world. It also means that you refrain from seeing the world through rose coloured glasses and getting dazzled and impressed. Projection distorts your perception and skews your vision of the world. 6. Positive thinking is ...

People throw birthday parties, like to go out, shop, eat and have fun on their birthdays. Yes, it is the day they were born but what’s the big deal about it? Why can’t we be so cheery all the days in the year? Why do we need a special occasion for celebration? How about making your whole life special? How about having a vision for the entire humankind and contributing into it daily through good wishes? How about leaving our meanness and extending our love to others selflessly? How about picking up the phone and calling your estranged sibling, with whom you haven’t spoken in the years and pretend that things are okay? Why do we have limited visions, I don’t understand. Why we find it easy to talk to people sitting thousands of miles away from us on Facebook but have cold-wars at home? Life doesn’t need to be so complicated. We don’t have to be afraid because someone will snub us. We just have to be powerful enough to make our happiness becomes contagious. And that’s what I am goi...

Truly admire these words. Life is full of struggles. We can either sit back and let them take their toll on us or do take an action so that they feel weaken. Somehow, the second choice suits me more. Every day I get up, I only have one thought in mind – “How to make today a better day than yesterday?” and so, I navigate my ideas to push me in doing something different at every moment, so as to ensure that things always look bright and different. Life is a hungry beast. It is going to eat us up if we don’t do something about it. So, if you ever feel low, remember - when the going gets tough the tough gets going.

Slow but the steady one always wins. Success is not the result of how fast or shrewd you are, but how diligently you work. We have got so much used to thinking that everything should happen fast. Even with little on our part, we expect high results. Isn’t it easy to say that “you didn’t work according to what I told you”, rather than “I am sorry, I realise that I didn’t explain things properly to you”. Since impatience is so deeply rooted in us, we just can't wait and therefore jump to conclusions and react immediately without understanding the problem. Thus we find it difficult to experience success in whatever we do. So what’s the solution? The understanding starts with the fact when we realise that fruits of seeds that we sow in will come at their own time. This will give you the patience to wait without expecting results too fast. And it’s the patience that will let you stay calm even in the most negative/adverse situations.

In this world of uncertainty, keeping your body fit can sometimes be a challenge. From morning till night, we are so engrossed in our routines that sometimes we even forget what the body requires. My post is not about promoting self indulgence in such a way that there’s nothing else to do. To have a healthy body, a healthy thinking is what we need. We would never eat rotten food because we know what it is not healthy and eating it would give rise to problems. But how many of us notice the thoughts that we feed into our mind throughout the day? Our whole day is spent in creating negativity and the feeling of jealously, hatred, fear, ignorance and anger – all the wasteful thoughts – and then at the end of our day, we get a feeling that “I don’t know why, but I don’t feel happy”. Why is sadness, low self esteem and depression is on high? Why do we feel lonely even when we are surrounded with people? And for that matter, why have our nights become sleepless? The answer my friends is n...

On my way back from office today, I pulled over a cafe to have a cup of coffee. Read a quote in The Economic Times where an elf mentions to a Hobbit: "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." Wonderful advice, simple enough to be remembered by all of us. Leadership Poster Sometimes we tend to postpone taking initiative and drive a change until we officially receive more responsibility and get a bigger title against our names. But isn’t today the best time to enact like a leader? No matter what you do in the organization you're in: Lead Where You Are Planted. Start from where you are. Your bold act of leadership just might transform your organization. And if you get super lucky, the course of the future will change to fit you in.

Had a chance to meet few ladies from a nearby village today. Man, I was amazed by their quest for life. Their life stories are unbelievably true. They believe in taking care of not only their family but 10 other homes in addition to that. There's something called "pure love" that perhaps God has gifted them. Why we educate ourselves? To gain knowledge, right? And what do we do with it? We become rational. We start analysing everything from our tiny brain and forget what that 'inner voice' is saying. Having met this group, I feel I rather unlearn everything and spend some time in knowing humanity. There is so much suffering around and if we take a step in curing it through our thoughts, positivity and liveliness, what can we not achieve?

State of Affairs in today's world is disturbing. I can't believe I live in a country where parts of it are so affected by terrorism. We talk of saving tigers, we have socialists dressed up in khadi and blabbering all the useless things, but where is it all leading to? My first reaction is when I see such discussions on TV - "Do hell with it". What about saving humanity? Are we even inclined to do that? Yesterday, there was a massacre and 75 of my brave countrymen were killed – they left behind 75 families in despair, parents, wives, children - all asking just one question - "What is our fault?" And indeed, what is their fault? We have no doubt on our infantry services. We know they believe in tit for tat. I just hope government wakes up and does something worthwhile and the ever hyped media, for a change forget what Sania Mirza is doing and cover something substantial... And I hope my countrymen realise there is something more to life that cricket and I...

Maintaining relationships with extended family is not easy. You may have a good synchronization with few of them, but keeping everyone contented sometimes becomes tough. I don’t know about other countries but in India, many of us have lost the value of the word “ FAMILY ”. We have forgotten what it’s like to be in a lovable relationship, to give without worrying about taking and to compromise on your happiness for the sake of family. When you are on a path of becoming better, problems do come. Situations take you test at every instance. So, if something happens with you that you don’t like, what do you do? Chances are that most of us REACT than ACT . We immediately let our disappointment show without giving a thought to the other person’s feeling. And this is what ‘Karma Philosophy’ has taught me – “Always do you good, best things will follow”. Trust me; it’s not too painful to have a big heart. Just believe in giving. Promise yourself to give something to everyone you meet, d...

There’s an earth-quake coming every week. Countries like Nigeria, Afghanistan, Congo are on verge of breaking into pieces. Can’t believe that on one side of the world people are dying in hundreds, some countries don’t have legislature to protect their citizen’s basic right of living and then there are those who are worried about Oscars, Rahul Mahajan’s incredibly stupid acts, IPL, weapons, Paris Hilton’s dresses – It’s amazing – the insensitiveness of individuals makes me wonder – ARE WE HUMANS? Animals are better– at least they are away from the feelings of hypocrisy, jealously and hatred. Come-on people, wake up. This world needs thinkers; it needs those can think of a world governed not by selfish interests but by love, peace and harmony. Or we want nature to shake us...

A friend sent me these; I thought I'll share it with my extended family of readers from all over the world Healthy Living Tip 1. Enjoy a pint of water first thing in the morning. If you haven’t got time for anything else in the morning, make time to drink a big glass of water. We lose a lot of oxygen through the night and to rejuvenate our cells, we need to supply them with water and oxygen. Drink a glass of water and within a week you’ll begin to feel less tired. I like the taste of water, but I know some people do not so if you’re one of them, squeeze some fresh lime into your water to give it taste and drink up. Healthy Living Tip 2. Grab a few fresh fruits on your way out. Wherever you are travelling, pick up one or two fruits and eat them. If you leave for work in the morning and return in evening, take a few fruits and eat them throughout the day. Fruits are great for their nutrients, vitamins and sugars that are required in our body. Healthy Living Tip 3. Avoid go...

Motivation disappears when we start seeing ourselves as ‘ordinary’. We begin to see every day as a routine, cooking, laundry, cleaning, working – everything starts looking monotonous after a while. Yes, variety is the spice of life and who says we should not live a spicy life? Get inspired to get motivated. Think of ways you can sketch you day in a more colourful way, take a break from what you do continuously and Thank God for not giving you what you never wanted, be a giver rather than taker and if you can’t give anything else, give people motivation, love and peace. My leadership is giving my best when no one is watching because I know that I want to excel not because people appreciate it but because I am made to do things in the best way.

One of my good friends has written a very thought provoking poem. I wish I had talent to write like this... There used to be a glacier, There used to be a lake, There used to be a sea-shore, Now its all fake. We have eaten the treas, We have melted the ice caps We have leveled the mountains. Now the earth shakes. Read the entire poem here on Life Motivations

On a recent trip to the interiors of India, I was once again reminded of the diversity my country has. The lives we all are living today, we need to see things from our eyes to appreciate them and I am no different. A day after 26th Jan, I want to share my vision for my country. My vision for India is to make it a better country to live and work. I don’t want to wait till 2020 to be part of a developed nation, I want everything now. I want cleaner roads, better government accountability, civilised countrymen and unlimited opportunities to take talent to next level. I understand my responsibilities, I know evading tax or electricity bills won’t make me rich and I must pay for what I use. I want a break from idiotic television serials, sickening media coverage and senseless realty shows. I want to watch cricket for the love of the game and not for the glamour stage it has become. I want the power to sue a company if it doesn’t treat me right. I want people to be more active – learn ...

Corporate offices are full of people running in the mad race of showing each other down. In the language of a consummate, this is called ‘beating the competition’. Do we have time for ourselves? The answer is “NO” And that’s why, we are not happy. There is something missing badly from our lives – and that is laughter. Yes, people do laugh but most of the time it is on sarcastic comments that we all pass to each other casually. Where has the smile gone, I fail to see... But we are smart – aren’t we? Whatever is going missing from our lives, we are nominating days to make up for that. Father’s day to express love for fathers, mother’s day to tell how amazing our mothers are – isn’t this irony of life that we need special days to remember all those special people who have shaped our lives? And have loved us beyond calculations to make us what we are today? And on heights of all these days, there is laugher day – 16th Jan. Do we need a special day to remember that smile is costle...

Recently a reader sent me an email asking “how to maintain spiritual quotient during the day?” People, by default, relate spirituality with religion. However, the reality is something else. Spirituality means “being in peace with yourself and experience the state of bliss.” Seeing every moment as a new opportunity and living it completely. To be able to see the freshness that every second, minute, hour and day brings. Isn’t every moment full of promises, just as the thousand before that you missed? Spirituality makes you completely free of passing any judgment whatsoever. It makes you feel "light" all the time. You cannot carry over something if you don’t want. You don’t have to pass a ‘be a good person’ exam before you start on the path of spirituality - its completely unconditional. It’s like every moment is saying… “Okay, so you missed me the last ten thousand times, but look! I am here again… and again… and again...and again!” And there time is – welcoming you with ...