Offbeat Spirituality

As you know from my two previous posts, Being Humble and Time, Spirituality and Happiness , I’ve been an avid encourager of practical spirituality. Usually during the middle of week, I feel the urge of sharing my experiences. Today, in honor of the “Tolerant/Intolerant” debate, I’m going to share the best self improvement tip in my arsenal. This may not be the most valuable advice on killing your arrogance you ever had. Heck, you might not even remember it after an hour, but I’ll still share. Are you ready? Accept others’ mistakes. That’s it. Whether it’s once or even 10 times – accept the people as they are and move on. Day by day, build this habit. Keep a journal of your feelings, challenge yourself in new situations. Seems pretty simple, but it’s something all of us struggle with at one time or another. Improving oneself is important, and many posts on this blog and others can be helpful – but you can’t progress unless you try. I know that’s not what you want to hear...

Today is turning out to be one of those days that you wished had never come. After terrorist attack at Gurdaspur, one of my favorite persons - APJ Abdul Kalam - has died. The last I felt such sinking feeling in my heart was on the death of Jaspal Bhatti . Of all the things I've learnt from him, two come to my mind instantly: Simplicity: No body can imagine that Dr. Kalam, after leaving Rashtrapati Home, stayed in a one and half room hut with a small bathroom till the time he was allocated a permanent home. Motivation: He was born to motivate people.Even today, he died in the moment he loved doing. When we read about Dr.Kalam, he has written that he wanted to be a pilot but couldn't clear the physical tests. But its amazing how many people he gave wings to fly. There's so much more that i want to write, but words are failing me. Will continue later.

Accepting Criticism An issue For You? For me it was. For a long time, I shielded under the cover of “sensitivism”. I reacted & defended, had mood swings and felt unhappy. Then the understanding of human behavior (especially my own) started to make sense. I learnt that somebody else’s criticism is not a reflection of my entire character. It was only related to a part of service that I had offered them, or some action that they witnessed. They were the same people who had praised me in past, or were nice to me otherwise. So the mind started identifying the situations, which weren’t plenty. This led me to make a five step plan. While it wasn’t possible for me to use all the steps together, I just made it a point to remember them at the right moment and try the best option. I learnt that not every situation demanded a prompt action, and that sometimes, it was on me to control it. Learning this helped me to control my reaction time, gave me more than a few moments to think,...

My husband beats me every day. I'm used to it now. I don't complain. I don't cry any more.  It's time to get up and move on. I stand on my feet and put the chessboard back. One day, I'll beat him in the game he has conquered in!

I’ve wasted time and I’ve failed. Repeatedly I’ve failed to get new work. I had my lowest percentage in XI. XII was tough. I couldn’t understand in physics. It just floated above my head. Result in board exam was poor. I had to take the physics paper twice to clear. Gave competitive exams after XII. Dad wanted me to try, but I was afraid. Didn’t study well, wasted money on multiple exams. Shifted to Delhi and had to stay with various people for a month before we could take our place here. It was embarrassing. The turning point came when I secured admission in Jesus & Mary, that too in the first cutoff . But going to college wasn’t fun. I was a geek. Couldn’t make many friends, spend much on clothes or pursue my favorite hobby of dramatics. Felt left out for such a long time. Began my first job at 21 and shifted quickly in succession twice. Got placed in a corporate year later with a decent salary. It was good to begin with, but things changed slowly. I was young. Couldn't m...