Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Simple Moments


"Present moment is a mystery demystified. Enjoy it."

The beauty of life is that ‘next’ moment is always a mystery. Some of these moments could be unforgettable for any of the reasons - good or bad!
Taking up a positive note, the unforgettable moments are not always moment of glory or achievement or success - though it could be one. Everyone remembers their first success, first winning, first day on job etc but may not remember the consecutive ones.

There are some simple incidents beyond our boundaries we live in, like an unexpected help from a stranger during a travel, unexpected smile from a person we haven’t spoken before, innocent talk of an kid ,kiss of a infant, unexpected gesture of a boss, looking at puppies playing, getting a unexpected personal note from an acquaintance, listening to a beautiful piece of music, a casual conversation with a person that had a big impact on you etc these moments are touching and cannot be described but only be felt and savored in silence. Just being aware will open up to these great experiences!

While looking forward for the big ones, do cherish and treasure these simple ones. When you sum up life, it just boils down to few moments and it could be some of these simple ones!

Present moment is a mystery demystified. Enjoy it.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Move Slowly but Start!


Every effort that make things move, creates an insatiable feeling that propels us to move forward.

Great achievements are made just by starting it. Every small effort that creates momentum will feel great, however trivial it may be.

Consider every step forward as a success. There is a joy to see things move when we put our effort. It’s an experience to be savored. This joy increases the confidence level. This confidence will fight the fear and difficulties that may arise in the journey.


As a Chinese proverb goes by - "Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still."

Every step forward throws open to us the world of possibilities that we could explore, achieve and experience

Every effort that make things move, creates an insatiable feeling that propels us to move forward.

To experience those wonderful feelings, just Start!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Problem – A learning experience


Problems are like never-ending video game-you don’t finish it, you just keep moving to next level of increasing difficulty

Not a day passes by when we dont come across problems - at work, family, environment, people etc, eveready to drain us out. What could be a "problem" depends on the each individual - Lifting a heavy school bag could be problem for a kid, a nagging kid could be problem for a parent, a troublesome worker could be problem for a boss, but everyone has a problem.

Not everyone handles/could handle the problems in the same way. It varies depending on the individual & environment. Blessed are those souls who don’t consider a problem as problem at all. Unlucky are those who had never had opportunity to face any problem.

But the fact is that if we didn’t encounter any problem in any day, it could be either of the two things - either we knew how to solve it, so we don’t consider it as a problem or we haven’t done anything worth to create a new set of challenge.
The word 'problem' comes for the Greek work problema, "a problem, a question"; literally, "a thing put forward" from proballein, "propose" from pro, "forward" plus ballein, "to throw". Hence, problem need not conjure up a negative meaning. Every problem is a challenge put forward, an opportunity to be capitalized, and a live learning experience.
It’s an essential part of growing up to strengthen ourselves for next level – in words of Darwin; it’s the “survival of the fittest”. It’s the problems that bring out the real inner person in us. It’s our choice to take it up and learn or ignore and perish. Ignoring or running away is the most common solution to face it and it’s the best solution to weaken ourselves!

We may not have solved every problem that came in our way, but merely facing and fighting it, by itself is a great learning experience.As Gaius Cassius says -In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.

Lack of problem is not stability; rather it is lack of challenges.

Elders in family or top execs in an organization do not overreact to a problem, for they have faced many and their learning has made them mature in dealing with these problems. What may appear a problem for young person may not be considered as a problem by elders at all.

Dealing with problem in the right way, unconsciously add to our learning experience, even though we haven’t made any conscious effort to do so. Take a case of workplace situation: There could an issue that may seem to be impossible to solve for a newcomer in the team, but you may just say few steps that would have resolved it. It’s because you have faced it before and resolved it and it was added to your learning experience.

There could be exceptional cases of an eternal problem, like an incurable disease, never ending poverty etc. In this situation, fighting it out is the only option. It may not resolve it, but definitely builds strength within.

As they say, what makes a leader is not what he does when things are rosy, but what he does when in crisis.

The fact is that solving a problem will only provide you a different problem with higher complexity. Problems are like never-ending video game-you don’t finish it, you just keep moving to next level of increasing difficulty! Using cheats may get through initial levels, but definitely will stagnate at particular level and will not able move to next level at all, for there is a learning experience missing.

Go on, face it and Unleash your true (and powerful!) Self!