“Happiness For Others Starts From Happiness Within”

The other day I had written about ” Doing it for Yourself”.

The basic idea of “doing” something and about making a gesture is to make the other person feel comfortable & cared about. In short, it’s about making the other person feel happy.

The fundamental remains the same when you do something for yourself. It makes you happy.

And the moment you are happy within, you are bound to exemplify the same happiness on the outside.This will then make it easier for you to make somebody else happy too.

Go ahead and do that one thing for yourself that makes you happy.

Because ” Happiness for others actually starts from Happiness within.”

” The Thrust To Change Orbit “

Have you noticed how much thrust a space shuttle exerts to break away from the earth’s gravity. And the moment its in outer space, it requires no effort at all.
The circumstances in a given situation act exactly like the gravity in pulling you back when you try to break away from it. You need that extra thrust to break away in order to change your orbit, your paradigm.
Its important to remember that once you are away from this gravity, the effort required to stay there would be greatly minimised.

So the thrust is Essential as well as worth it to change orbit.

“Keep In Touch With Yourself”

Almost every other conversation, mail or message is likely to end with the commonly used phrase ” keep in touch ” . All social networks are aimed at ” keeping in touch”. In the bargain do we even realize that somewhere we have forgotten to keep in touch with ourselves.
If you believe that you are important to yourself and you must “do it for yourself”, then it becomes all the more important to stay in touch with yourself.

This fact is quite well known but in a fairly camouflaged manner. Why else would you want to “take a break ” or “want to be with yourself”?

It’s about getting back ” in touch with yourself”.

“Do It For Yourself”

I received the following sms yesterday:-

“Height of Ego – Why should I go to his funeral when I am sure that he is not going to come to mine?”

While the above is intended to be a joke , it is quite a reflection of the way a lot of us approach most things in life. We seldom do things for ourselves in isolation.

Don’t you think that what should ultimately matter is how a certain action affects you in the first place before you decide against it just because of the way somebody else would also benefit from it.

Forget about how the other person would gain more than you do, go ahead and “Do it For Yourself”.

“This Too Shall Pass…”

We tend to get too bogged down going through a “rough patch” in life. Ask yourself a small question ” Did the good times last forever?”. Well, if they didn’t, you can be sure these won’t either.

There’s another way to look at it. Compare the experience of having a sweet dish at the end of a meal with that of having an altogether sweet meal! The satiety levels would be quite different. You can really appreciate “a state of being” only if you have something to compare it to.

So the next time you feel you are going through a rough patch, think about this- if the “good times” in your life weren’t there to stay , you can be sure that “This Too Shall Pass….”

“The Corporate Ghosts”

All of you who have dealt with kids at some point in time or other will agree that , there that “one thing” that each child is conditioned to be scared about. Now whether that “one thing” is created by a mother to ensure her child eats properly or goes off to sleep timely or studies properly is altogether a different discussion.

I am not debating on or questioning the intent but what happens in the bargain is that, you end up establishing  that “one fear” in a child’s mind that stays in his / her subconscious for the rest of his / her life.

Fast forward into the time when a fresh pass out , enthusiastic & full of ideas steps into the “Corporate World”. He is again confronted with a set of people who start creating “Corporate Ghosts” that he should be careful about or even scared about. 

Commonly heard statements :-

“I have been around for quite a while, you know.” 

“It’s for your own good.” “Its my moral duty to caution you. It’s your choice from here on.”

So on and so forth.

He probably relates instantly having grown up with similar stories but in a different context.

Net result – He would then tend to withdraw , become over cautious and end up losing his ideas , enthusiasm as well as his originality.

The “Corporate Ghosts” would start haunting him.

 

 

“Watch Out For That Distraction”

There are two ways that you can be at the same level as someone at a higher pedestal. You can either strive hard to raise your level to that higher level. Or you can choose to pull the other person down to your level. In either case both will come to the same level.
In life ,you will encounter each kind.

The thing then to be watchful about is the element of “distraction” that is usually used to achieve this. The moment you get distracted you will lose focus. The moment you lose focus your performance declines.

Watch out for that Distraction- Stay Focussed.

“The Water is Cold Only Till You Get Into It”

Whether it is getting out of bed on a cold winter morning or getting under a cold shower the first time around. Its only about the act of getting into the situation that separates the “anxiety of anticipation” from the “comfort” of having gone ahead with it.

Seeing people testing the water before getting into a pool is a familiar sight at a poolside. Its an omniscient part of human behaviour to anticipate and assess a situation before getting into it. But having got into it, we are mostly apt at handling it better.

It’s often argued that this view would advocate rushing into a situation without enough preparation. That is not what is being said here. Preparation is a basic fundamental which needs to be practised and is taken as “given” in any situation. The idea is not to go overboard with it. Once you have realised that the “water” you wish to get into is “cold”, repeatedly testing it is not going to change it. It will only procrastinate the act and increase your anxiety.

“The Water is Cold Only Till You Get Into It”

“Humility , Learning & The Fruit Tree”

Have you noticed a fruit tree in full bloom? The branches tend to hang the lowest when the tree is loaded with fruits. It conveys two lovely aspects that strike me each I watch this.

Firstly, as the tree bears more fruit , it comes closer to the ground – a characteristic that can be co-related with the “art of humility”.
Secondly, as the tree bears more fruit, the fruits become reachable to others – “the art of sharing”.

The “knowledge” one gains in life, the “intrinsic and intangible” “fruits” that one bears , would be of more meaning if it can generate humility in you and urge you from within to share the knowledge with others.

I don’t want this to sound as a totally “selfless” act. It is infact in your own interest at the end of the day. Imagine a fruit bearing tree not being harvested. The branches would start straining with the load. Infact to gain more , you probably need to share what you have already learned. And what better a way to “learn” by “teaching to learn” and that too with an element of humility.

“The Art Of Making Honey”

Someone asked a honey bee, “you work so hard in collecting nectar & making honey all day and someone just comes & takes it away! Doesn’t it make you feel sad & dejected?”

The honey bee replied “its only the honey that they can take from me, not the art of making honey.”

As long as you possess the skill and the art to carry out a work, it does not matter how many times the “credit” so as to say, is taken away from you. You will always be able to recreate and replicate the same. The act is an outcome, the art is intrinsic.

To put it simply, no matter how the honey is packaged and sold in the market, we all know who made it and where it came from.