A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.
Lawrence Pearsall Jacks in Education through Recreation, 1932
Usually when we think about our work we think about our jobs, studies or the daily tasks/chores of living. When we get a good review from our boss, an ‘A’ on our exam , or a Tidy and organised home, we feel successful in our work. we thrive on seeing visible results and external achievements. Yet there are times when our energy and action needs to shift away from this type of external work and focus instead on inner work, Transformation of our thoughts, emotions and desires. the challenge with inner work that it is imperceptible. there is no gold star when our mindfulness practice helps us temper our reactivity. No one gives us an ‘A’ when meditation helps us improve our concentration. We don’t get a promotion when mindfulness helps us bring gratitude into our daily life. The inner work we do in this path doesn’t provide the visible external achievements we get from our job or responsibilities. But inner work no less difficult. In fact sometimes it is far more difficult and it’s certainly no less important.
A powerful example of this can be seen in the life of Psychologist Dr Carl Yang. Dr Yang was already an influential psychiatrist when he had a mental crisis of his own. overcome with intense emotions, dreams and even terrifying visions, he withdrew from his professional work for several years. However he wasn’t inactive. Yang used this period of illness to search deep within himself. from the outside he seems to be breaking down but inwardly he was breaking through. Years later Dr Yang wrote that this intense period of inner work led him to his most original and influential insights about human psychology.
So the lesson we can take here that inner work can be some of the most valuable work we do. Overcoming fear, addiction, rejection, regret or grief through patient inner work can lead to significant and long lasting improvements in our lives and the lives of those around us. So make a special effort to recognize and validate your inner-work – The hard effort of transformation, healing and growth.
As a guru writes ” peace and joy hither neither in the quietness of a forest nor out of the accomplishments of a market place, but only from within”
The first time I heard about paraprosdokians, I liked them. Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected & is frequently humorous.
#(Winston Churchill loved them.)👌👌👏👏
1. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you…. but it’s still on my list.
3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
5. We never really grow up…. we only learn how to act in public.
6. War does not determine who is right, only who is left.
7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
9. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
10. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
11. I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not so sure.
12. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first & call whatever you hit the target.
13. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
14. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
15. I’m supposed to respect my elders, but it’s getting harder & harder for me to find one now.
Spread the Laughter,
Share the Cheer,
Let’s Be Happy
While We’re here!😊
Krishna, more than a Hindu God he is the true spiritual guru that this universe has witnessed. In every sense he is a role model. motivator and a strategist from whom we have so many things to learn. Let’s have a look at the 8 management lessons that we can learn from the God himself.
Here are the 8 management lessons to learn from the Lord Krishna.
True believer and preacher of Karmic philosophy, Krishna knew that the main purpose of his avatar is to kill demon Kamsa and to relieve Vasudeva and Devaki from the bitter hands of Kamsa. He was so committed to it that right from his birth he was prepared for it.
Yes Krishna being a ‘Sarvagnya’ never hesitated to share his thoughts. It so happened once that Arjuna refuses to fight with his own relatives (Kowravas) then Krishna preached him the purpose of Mahabharatha war and today we read it in the name of Bhagwadgita.
Krishna had three definite goals and throughout his life he was stick to them.
Paritrayana sadhunam – welfare for good
vinashaya dushkritam – destroy evil (thoughts)
dharma sansthapana – establish and strength the principles
As a manager one should have clear cut goals in the organisation and never allow their senses to control him/her.
Krishna is an authentic strategist who with his tactical skills won Mahabharatha war for Pandavas. To quote one of the incidents of his life, once Krishna insults Duryodhana for going nude in front of Gaandhari and makes him to cover his thighs with a piece of cloth. In the next scene Gandhari with her immense power make the body of Duryodhana as strong as a diamond except the thigh part. At the end of Mahabharatha, Krishna orders Bheema to hit on the thighs of Duryodhana which ultimately kills him.
With all supreme powers inculcated in him, Krishna had all the ability to finish Mahabharatha in few hours but he stood as a teacher and made Pandavas to fight the war. This is the ultimate quality of a manager. The way he lead the team of 5 against 100 is extremely mesmerizing.
Be it is in the time of killing Kansa or motivating Pandavas to kill the ballot of Kowravas, Krishna never took the side of Adharma even though they are his own relations.
Whenever Pandavas went demotivated Krishna was a motivation for them. Also in the event of negotiation between Pandavas and Kowravas, Krishna intentionally broke the negotiation because he wanted the war to happen. The reason was simple enough to demolish the evil and establish dharma in the country.
Being the supreme of this universe, Krishna lived a simple life and he was a man of people. He played with Gwallas ( protector of cows), befriended with Sudhama and most importantly he became a charioteer for Arjuna that shows his down to earth behavior.
Krishna is a ocean and let’s all dip in this ocean to reach the pinnacle of knowledge.
There was a beautiful poem by Kayo Chingonyi in the New York Magazine on 28th March 2018 titled The Nod:
When we’re strangers that pass each other
in the street, it will come down to this tilt
of the head — acknowledging another
version of events set in a new-build
years from now, a mess of a place filled
with books and records, our kids thick as thieves
redefining all notions of mischief.Perhaps our paths will cross in a city
of seven hills as the light draws your face
out from the bliss of anonymity.
Maybe you’ll be stroking the goose-down nape
of a small child with eyes the exact shade
of those I met across a room at the start
of this pain-in-the-heart, this febrile dance.
When I hear “seven hills” my mind immediately goes to Rome, then San Francisco, but Wikipedia has a helpful list of cities that claim to be built on seven hills.
A friend pointed out The Nod is a fine complement to The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.
Borrowed from : Matt Mullenweg’s Blog – Founder CEO of Automattic the makers of WordPress
“Contrary to what we usually believe, moments like these, the best moments in our lives, are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times—although such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. ”
― Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Optimal experience is thus something that we make happen. For a child, it could be placing with trembling fingers the last block on a tower she has built, higher than any she has built so far; for a swimmer, it could be trying to beat his own record; for a violinist, mastering an intricate musical passage. For each person there are thousands of opportunities, challenges to expand ourselves.
When somebody told me that he has failed in his exams, my question is, “Is it a law that you will pass every time?”
When someone told me that my boyfriend broke up with me, my question is, “Is it a rule that you will have successful relationships everywhere?”
When somebody asked me why am I in depression, my question is, “Is it compulsory to have confidence all the time?”
When someone cried to me about his huge business loss due to his wrong decision, my question is, “Is it possible that you take all right decisions?”
The fact is our expectation that life has to be perfect/permanent is the biggest reason of our unhappiness.
One has to understand the law of impermanence of nature.
After each sunny day, there has to be a dark night, after each birth there have to be certain deaths, for the full moon to come again it has to pass through no moon. In this imperfection of nature, there is perfection.
So stop taking your failures and bad part of your life soooo personally or intensely, even the divine energy does not like to give you pain but its the cycle through which you have to pass. Prepare yourself for one more fight after each fall because even failures cannot be permanent…!
Enjoy life…. 👍😊☺
Your breath comes to go.
Your thoughts come to go.
Your words come to go.
Your actions come to go.
Your feelings come to go.
Your illnesses come to go.
Your phases come to go.
Your seasons come to go.
You have come to go.
Then why do you hold on to your guilt, anger, un-forgiveness, hatred so so so tightly, when it too has come to go…
Let it go … 🌹🌹
Please read this carefully and get your son or daughter to read it too.
This post is about what happened in a typical middle-class household.
The son didn’t like living in his father’s house. This was because of his father’s constant ‘nagging’;
“You are leaving the room without switching off the fan”
“The TV is on in the room where there is no one. Switch it off!”
“Keep the pen in the stand; it is fallen down”
The son didn’t like his father nagging him for these minor things.
He had to tolerate these things till yesterday since he was with them in the same house.
But today, however, he had an invitation for a job interview.
“As soon as I get the job, I should leave this town. There won’t be any nagging from my father” were his thoughts.
As he was about to leave for the interview, the father advised:
“Answer the questions put to you without any hesitation. Even if you don’t know the answer, mention that confidently.” His gave him more money than he actually needed to attend the interview.
The son arrived at the interview centre.
He noticed that there were no security guards at the gate. Even though the door was open, the latch was protruding out probably hitting the people entering through the door. He put the latch back properly, closed the door and entered the office.
On both sides of the pathway he could see beautiful flower plants. The gardener had kept the water running in the hose-pipe and was not to be seen anywhere. The water was overflowing on the pathway. He lifted the hosepipe and placed it near one of the plants and went further.
There was no one in the reception area. However, there was a notice saying that the interview was on the first floor. He slowly climbed the stairs.
The light that was switched on last night was still burning at 10 am in the morning. He remembered his father’s admonition, “Why are you leaving the room without switching off the light?” and thought he could still hear that now. Even though he felt irritated by that thought, he sought the switch and switched off the light.
Upstairs in a large hall he could see many aspirants sitting waiting for their turn. He looked at the number of people and wondered if he had any chance of getting the job.
He entered the hall with some trepidation and stepped on the “Welcome” mat placed near the door. He noticed that the mat was upside down. He straightened out the mat with some irritation. Habits die hard.
He saw that in a few rows in the front there were many people waiting for their turn, whereas the back rows were empty, but a number of fans were running over those rows of seats.
He heard his father’s voice again, “Why are the fans running in the room where there is no one?” He switched off the fans that were not needed and sat at one of the empty chairs.
He could see many men entering the interview room and immediately leave from another door. There was thus no way anyone could guess what was being asked in the interview.
When it was his turn, He went and stood before the interviewer with some trepidation and concern.
The officer took the certificates from him and without looking at them asked, “When can you start work?”
He thought ,”is this a trick question being asked in the interview, or is this a signal that I have been offered the job?” He was confused.
“What are you thinking?” asked the boss. “We didn’t ask anyone any question here. By asking a few questions we won’t be able to assess the skills of anyone. So our test was to assess the attitude of the person. We kept certain tests based on the behaviour of the candidates and we observed everyone through CCTV. No one who came today did anything to set right the latch at the door, the hose pipe, the welcome mat, the uselessly running fans or lights. You were the only one who did that. That’s why we have decided to select you for the job”, said the boss.
He always used to get irritated at his father’s discipline and demonstrations. Now he realized that it is only the discipline that has got him his job. His irritation and anger at his father vanished completely.
He decided that he would bring his father too to his workplace and left for home happily.
Whatever our father tells us is only for our good aimed at giving us a bright future!
A rock doesn’t become a beautiful sculpture if it resists the pain of the chisel chipping it away.
For us to become a beautiful sculpture and a human being we need to accept admonitions that chisel out the bad habits and behaviour from ourselves. That is what our father does when he disciplines us.
The mother lifts the child up on her waist to feed her, to cuddle her, and to put her to sleep. But the father is not like that. He lifts the child up on his shoulders to make him see the world that he couldn’t see.
We can realize the pain the mother undergoes by listening to her; but the father’s pain can be realized only when others tell us about it.
Our father is our teacher when we are five years old; a terrible villain when we are about twenty, and a guidepost as long as he lives…
Mothers can go to her daughter’s or son’s home when she’s old; but the father doesn’t know how to do that…
There is no use in hurting our parents when they are alive and remembering about them when they have passed away. Treat them well always.
This is an example of mentorship.
*PLEASE! Share with parents & children.
Good day
In Mahabharat, #Karna asks Lord #Krishna – “My mother left me the moment I was born. Is it my fault I was born an illegitimate child?
I did not get the education from Dhronacharya because I was considered a non-Kshatriya.
Parshu-Raam taught me but then gave me the curse to forget everything since I was a Kshatriya.
A cow was accidentally hit by my arrow & its owner cursed me for no fault of mine.
I was disgraced in Draupadi’s swayamvar.
Even Kunti finally told me the truth only to save her other sons.
Whatever I received was through Duryodhana’s charity.
So how am I wrong in taking his side?”
Lord Krishna replies,
“Karna, I was born in a jail.
Death was waiting for me even before my birth.
The night I was born I was separated from my birth parents.
From childhood, you grew up hearing the noise of swords, chariots, horses, bow, and arrows. I got only cow herd’s shed, dung, and multiple attempts on my life even before I could walk!
No army, no education. I could hear people saying I am the reason for all their problems.
When all of you were being appreciated for your valour by your teachers I had not even received any education. I joined gurukula of Rishi Sandipani only at the age of 16!
You are married to a girl of your choice. I didn’t get the girl I loved & rather ended up marrying those who wanted me or the ones I rescued from demons.
I had to move my whole community from the banks of Yamuna to far off Sea shore to save them from Jarasandh. I was called a coward for running away!!
If Duryodhana wins the war you will get a lot of credit. What do I get if Dharmaraja wins the war? Only the blame for the war and all related problems…
Remember one thing, Karna. Everybody has challenges in life.
LIFE IS NOT FAIR ON ANYBODY!!!
Duryodhana also has a lot of unfairness in life and so has Yudhhishthir.
But what is Right (Dharma) is known to your mind (conscience). No matter how much unfairness we got, how many times we were disgraced, how many times we were denied what was due to us, what is important is how you REACTED at that time.
Stop whining Karna. Life’s unfairness does not give you license to walk the wrong path…
Always remember, Life may be tough at a point, but DESTINY is not created by the SHOES we wear but by the STEPS we take… 🙂 🙂
Key Takeaway :
What Krishna really meant to make Karna understand was –
Life wasn’t fair to anyone. In fact, it can never be because in this human form all of us were here to learn certain lessons and it was important that we did.
He explained just because life has been unfair to you and a certain person has been good to you, who is essentially a threat to the entire society; you will, in the end, have to choose your conscience above the person.
It is the right dharma. It is the only way.
The fact of the matter is, whether be Karna or Krishna, they were essentially here expressing themselves in a human form. This world is a stage and we are all mere characters fulfilling the destiny of the biggest play of all time we call Life. Universe has a way of manifesting things and we are all in alignment with our soul path.
Those who realize and align themselves with their path are freed from the Karmic bondage those who don’t, they come back again to complete the lesson and knowledge that is still unavailable or partially available to them.
The dialogue between Krishna and Karna is a classic example of understanding the difference between ignorance and awareness. Sulking in self-pity has never given any solution. However, when you stand up many times to hold yourself erect and speak your truth, you release yourself from all the unnecessary drama.
Life is a lesson and one should accept all they are to experience.
Sip your 🥃whiskey, nice and slow,
No one ever knows when it’s time to go,
There’ll be no time to enjoy the glow,
So sip your 🥃whiskey nice and slow.
Life is too short but feels pretty long,
There’s too much to do, so much going wrong,
And most of the time you struggle to be strong,
Before it’s too late and it’s time to go,
Sip your 🥃 whiskey nice and slow.
Some friends stay, others go away,
Loved ones are cherished, but not all will stay ,
Kids will grow up and fly away,
There’s really no saying how things will go,
So sip 🥃 your whiskey nice and slow.
Before you know it seasons have changed,
Those precious little moments are part of yesterday,
Most things have turned out relatively okay,
And you finally reap what you have sown,
So sip 🥃 your whiskey nice and slow.
In the end it’s really all about love,
For this world and it’s beauty and the stars above,
For His grace in your life , for each present moment,
Smile and breathe and let your worries go,
Just sip 🥃 your whiskey nice and slow…..
Source: Whatsapp Forward
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