Mind Over Matter

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The toughest commando force believe they owe their success to the state of their mind not their muscles.

Mind Your Mind If You Want to Succeed

And the most positive person award goes to .....

I have been awarded the most positive person award by positivethinking day.com - a website devoted to positive thinking.Awards and recognitions always has a positive influence.I take it as a recognition for my small efforts and probably positive thoughts.Award or no award I shall strive to remain positive at all times.The following is the link to the site

http://www.positivethinkingday.com/

Knowledge and Ignorance

A very long time ago there was a man who was a great scholar. He had devoted all his life for acquiring knowledge. He traveled a lot and wherever he went it was his hobby to engage in debates with people and each time there was a debate he emerged as the undisputed winner. With time his name and fame spread far and wide. His only passion was knowledge and he had no regard for people who were not knowledgeable.

One day this great scholar was crossing a huge river in a small country boat. The oarsman was a poor peasant who earned his meager livelihood from people who crossed the river in his boat.
As they were crossing the river the scholar regarded the other man with obvious distaste and asked him “Hey man have you studied Philosophy?”
The poor man was an illiterate and he said “No sir. I have not studied them”.
The scholar said in a mocking way “What a pity. If you have not studied Philosophy, then you have wasted a quarter of your life”.
The poor man didn’t say anything and kept on rowing the boat in silence.
The scholar again asked “Have you studied Religion?”
The boat owner replied as he rowed the boat “No sir, I have not. I am an illiterate”
“So bad, then, you have wasted another quarter of your life”, he said in a mocking way.

The poor man just concentrated on his work, occasionally glancing at the blackening sky. A small wind started blowing and there were flashes of lightning in the horizon. The wind started to grow stronger and then it started to drizzle. Soon the whole sky was covered with thick black clouds. The rain grew stronger. The wind picked up speed and created big waves in the river which made the boat sway. The scholar was now frightened and was praying silently all the time struggling to keep his balance in the rocking boat.

The poor man asked the scholar “Do you know swimming sir?”
“Unfortunately I haven’t had occasion to study that art”, the scholar replied .He was barely audible in the whistling wind.
The boat dangerously swayed as the oarsman struggled to steady the boat
The poor man shouted “What a pity you don’t know swimming, sir. Then, realise you just lost the rest of your life”. Just as he finished saying this a strong wave lifted the boat up and made the small country boat capsize.
The churning and swashing waters of the river , the torrential rain or the whistling wind didn’t seem to care a damn for the struggling scholar or his knowledge as he cried out for his life .The great scholar ultimately drowned in the rive like any ordinary mortal.

Your ignorance is always a trillion times more than what you know

Self Worth

One day the Chief Body Guard of a King complained about getting meager salary compared to the King's Chief Minister. According to the Body Guard he did a more valuable job of protecting the life of the King and hence ought to be paid more than what the Chief Minister was getting. But, he complained, he wasn’t getting a tenth of what the Chief Minister earned. On hearing the complaint the King just smiled and said he would look into the issue.

Some days later the king was pacing up and down the balcony of his palace with the Body Guard in tow. They saw a horse carriage moving along the road at a distance. He asked the Body Guard to find out who was there in the carriage.

The Body Guard ran up to the carriage, made enquiries and came back running. He reported that it was certain so and so who travelled in the carriage. The King then asked him where the carriage was headed. The Body Guard again ran up to the carriage, this time a longer distance, made the enquiry and came back. He breathlessly reported their destination.

The King then wondered from where they could be coming from. Now the Body Guard was on the verge of tears as he reluctantly started running towards the carriage a third time. Mercifully, the King stopped him and instead summoned the Chief Minister and ordered him to find out who was there in the carriage.

The Minister went up to the cart and made enquiries and came back after some time. He reported that it was a certain so and so coming from such and such place and going for such and such purpose and so on and so forth. When he finished his report neither the King nor the Body Guard could think of any further questions on the issue.

The King just glanced at the Body Guard who was squirming with embarrassment. That day onwards no one ever heard the Body Guard complain about his inadequate pay.

Complain about a raw deal only if you deserve a better deal

Sleeping Beauty

Overheard, at a furniture show room.
Sales man “Good morning sir. May I help you sir?”
Customer, with an air of unmistakable superiority says “Good morning. Show me your premium range of cots”
Sales man responds with a pleasant and warm voice, “Oh yes .With pleasure sir.”
He shows a very expensive cot with ornate carvings .The customer looks at it with obvious displeasure and asks “How costly is this?”
Salesman says with pride “This is a fine piece of work sir. It will be yours for five thousand dollars sir.”
The customer lookes at the furniture with a repulsive look on his face as if seeing an ugly object. He says with contempt “five thousand dollars. I don’t want such cheap stuff. Don’t show me anything below twenty five grand.”
Salesman says meekly “Sorry sir, this is our top range sir. We don’t have anything costlier sir.”
Customer: “What a pity you stock only cheap stuff. I won’t set foot in this show room ever again. Good bye”.
“Sorry sir. Good day sir”, the salesman manages to mumble with an ashen face.
The customer proudly strides out of the showroom disgust writ all over his face.

What does he need the cot for? To sleep on or to show off ? Make your own conclusions.
But the fact is people seldom realise that it is often the man who sleeps on the bare floor who gets a good night’s sleep. Many people who own golden cots habitually spend their nights, swallowing scores of pills, desperately hoping for the elusive sleep to bless them.

For a good nights sleep what you need is a peaceful mind and not a cot of gold

Success and Failure

I was standing in the witness box in a court room. The judge was interrogating me
“Can you say you are successful”; he asked in a very authoritative way.
“I….I don’t know”; I mumbled incoherently in a voice which even I couldn’t hear. But somehow the judge seemed to have heard it and understood it.
“You don’t know?’” he asked me in a sarcastic way. “Okay” he said and continued in a very kind way, as if eager to help “Let me ask you some questions which will lead you to your answer”
I just stood meekly in the witness box waiting for my next ordeal.
“Are you among the top ten percent in terms of income in your profession?” He asked in a challenging way.
“No. I would count me lucky if I am not in the bottom ten percent”, I meekly replied.
“Can you retire today and live comfortably with your savings”, he demanded in a heavy voice.
“No. I will start starving by the end of the year if I did that”, I whispered.
“Can you afford to send you daughter to a Swiss finishing school”, He asked me in a hostile way.
“No. I can’t even afford the best school in my locality”, I replied, with tears in my eyes.
“Do you drive a Ferrari or a Bentley or at least a Merc?” Now, I was sure, he was just trying to humiliate me.
“No. My whole wealth wouldn’t let me buy a ten year old Merc”, I said in a matter of fact way, wondering why I was being subjected to this punishment.
“Can you afford an annual vacation at the Alps or in a luxury liner?” he was just prolonging my agony.
“No. I can’t afford it. I don’t even have a passport”, I whispered.
“Are you happy with your life”, he demanded in a humiliating way as if convinced that I had no right to even exist in this world.
“Yes”, for a change my voice was strong which took him by surprise.
“Then answer me now. Are you successful in life?” he demanded with authority.
“Yes I am successful”, I shouted with conviction at the top of my voice. Surprisingly my voice was so strong it shook the whole building. The judge was so shocked with the thundering voice that he lost his balance and started falling down from his chair, frantically trying to hold on to something. He landed on the floor with a loud crash and woke me up from my dream.

The only unit to measure success is happiness.

Leadership In Action

Want to know what leadership is all about.Then,watch this video.Never mind the language or setting.The idea is universal.

Long and Short

Once, a king invited his subjects for a feast. Literally the whole country turned out for the dinner .At the venue, there were varieties of mouthwatering dishes prepared by hundreds of expert chefs to be relished.The whole place was filled with an appetising aroma of delicious food as people eagerly waited outside for food to be served. Finally, they were admitted to the huge dining hall and the food was served. To eat the food with, every one was given four feet long spoons and forks. As soon as the first course was served they got ready to eat. But to their desperation they found that they could not eat the food with the exceptionally long spoons and forks and knives. They tried many methods but no one could eat, even a single spoonful, of the delicious food that was served. After many futile attempts most people went out in frustration. More people walked in and they too had to leave the hall hungry and desperate. As time passed, the dining hall was getting deserted. There were hardly two or three people left, who were still trying their luck, in the dining hall. Then a poor and humble old man walked in .He was also presented with the same gadgets to eat the food with. After looking at the delicious food and the long spoon he slowly picked up a spoon and approached a young man who was just about leaving the hall in desperation. The old man stopped the other man, took food with the long spoon and started feeding the surprised young man. The long spoons or forks did not present any problem to the old man. He patiently kept feeding the other man until the other one had his fill. The young man after finishing his dinner reciprocated by feeding the old man in a similar fashion. Finally both left the hall satisfied, after thanking each other and soon the dinner was declared closed.

To me the long spoons seem to have a short message. Here it is

Whenever God presents you with very long spoons he wants you to feed your neighbour.

Be a Dog to Have Your Day

The keys to a happy and successful life are an ability to think positively and an ability to win friends and thereby influence people. If you have these two traits you can certainly lead the world and lead a happy and contented life. How do we achieve these twin qualities in real life? It is simple. All you need is to just learn from the dog.
“Learn from the Dog! Are you crazy?” you might ask.
The answer is, “No, I am not.” I know my word wouldn’t carry enough weight to prove my assertion. So, let me take the help of two of the greatest authors who ever wrote on individual development. The first paragraph is a quote from ‘The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking’, by Norman Vincent Peale and the second paragraph is from ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’, by Dale Carnegie. Here we go.

• “Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I heard anyone whistling on the street in New York City. Why is this? if it is true of you, what can you do to bring a want-to-whistle back into your attitude of living? What can you do to gain a natural, unaffected kind of joy that come from deep down inside? I heard recently about a well known psychiatrist who is working on a program called Positive Mental Health. Whenever he describes the results he hopes to obtain, he talks about his dog. “I come home from work and my dog greets me with a bound and a yelp and a kind of frenzy of joy. What a contrast this is to the gloom and depression I see on human faces during the day. This animal has the secret of deep fun. This is the way we should be able to react to life”
• “Why read this book to find out how to win friends? Why not study the technique of the greatest winner of friends the world has ever known? Who is he? You may meet him tomorrow coming down the street. When you get within ten feet of him, he will begin to wag his tail. If you stop and pat him, he will almost jump out of his skin to show you how much he likes you. And you know that behind this show of affection on his part, there are no ulterior motives: he doesn’t want to sell you any real estate, and he doesn’t want to marry you.
  Did you ever stop to think that a dog is the only animal that doesn’t have to work for a living? a hen has to lay eggs; a cow has to give milk; and a canary has to sing. But a dog makes his living by giving you nothing but love………………It knows by some divine instinct that one can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than one can in two years by trying to get other people interested in him.”

Every dog has his own day

Think Big

At 18 John wanted to be an officer
At 24 he wanted to be a clerk
At 28 he wanted to be at least a peon
At 30 he was still jobless.

This headline is from an advertisement of a career coaching institute. The advertisement talks about a man who wanted to be an officer first, a clerk next, at least a peon afterwards and aimless and jobless afterwards at the age of 30.

This is a very common thing when it comes to goals and their achievement. We start off with lofty goals only to realize later that achieving a goal is not as easy as setting a big goal. This sad state is all the more visible in the case of today’s youngsters who are just out of college. Parents, teachers and the whole society goad them to aim for the stars. It would seem ‘think Big’ has become a global obsession. Any goal that is less ambitious is considered as unworthy. The result- even the guy who cannot add two and two together, wants to be the next Pythagoras. Today’s youngsters want to start their life from the top. They don’t seem to realize that the only place they can go from the top is DOWN.

THINK BIG IS IT? “What is wrong with it?”, you might ask.

Nothing wrong .It just doesn’t work out that way in real life. That is all!

• Just having a lofty goal is a sure fire way to failure if you are not fully charged to go after it day in and day out. Very few people have that sort of determination, dedication and will power.
  
• ‘Think Big’ fans generally fail to understand that they can progress towards their stellar goals only by having and achieving a series of smaller day to day goals. Many of them just wait for a direct flight to their chosen galaxies, which never arrive, and they remain where they are.
• For the meek, they form the majority, with the passage of each day, week, month and year their ‘think big’ goals get smaller and smaller like a gradually deflating balloon to disappear one day and they ultimately settle for a mediocre life.
• ‘Think Big’ guys assume success the moment they set a lofty goal .But when it comes to the real grind towards their goal they just doesn’t measure up to the challenge. You are right. The only place success comes before work is the dictionary.

To think big you just need imagination.
To be big you need struggle, sweat, tears and what not.

At the Crossroads

In the famous story, Alice in Wonderland, a little girl, Alice, gets trapped in a wonderland. Not knowing how to get out of the place she wanders here and there. While she was walking on a road, early in the morning, alone, lost dejected and desperate she reaches a cross road. She stands there, confused as to which road to take. She looks around to see if there is any one she could ask for advice as to which road she should take. Then, she sees a beautiful white cat sitting blissfully on a boulder and relishing the soothing warmth of the just rising sun. Alice decides to ask the cat for advice and approaches it.
She asks the cat, “Dear cat could you tell me which road I should take now?”
The cat looks up at Alice with curiosity and says, “My dear little girl, it depends a lot on where you want to go”.
More confused Alice manages to reply, “I. I don’t know, and I don’t care much where I go”.
Hearing this cat says with a chuckle, “Then, my dear, it doesn’t make a difference which road you take”. Just after saying this cat gets up and sprints to the nearest bush and disappears, leaving behind a more confused Alice.


Every worth while journey starts with a destination and ends at the destination.

Foot Note: In my life whenever I reached a cross road, miraculously and mercifully, the cat was there to guide me and show me the right way. This is my way of saying thank you to the cat and its wisdom

Triskadeskaphobia

Yesterday I spoke to Mr.Robby, who was my dearest friend and class mate during my post graduation. Yesterday, we spoke to each other, over the phone, after almost two decades and it brought back the sweet memories of the best period in my life. Afterwards when I sat down to write something for my blog, I noticed that the next posting would be my thirteenth. That was when I remembered the above word, because it was this friend of mine who had introduced this word to me. Afterwards, we used to make up occasions to use the word and enjoy the blank look on the faces of our audience. The word just means “Fear of Number Thirteen”
Fear of thirteen has become a universal fear. This number is considered as inauspicious and evil. People go to ridiculous lengths to avoid this number.

• You won’t find a hotel room having this number and if there is you will find it the least occupied one.
• As far as possible, people avoid hosting auspicious events on that date. Marriage, house warming, inauguration, business meeting and very many things avoid this date like the plague.
• Seat number thirteen, if there is one, is subjected to most number of cancellations.
  
• Possibly the Dozen was invented by our ingenious ancestors to avoid having to ask for thirteen. May be the thought was: a dozen and one was more auspicious than thirteen
  
• Come to think of it, it seems, even God was skeptical about this number because he stopped at twelve when giving us months of the year. This saved us from having the most inauspicious time when we reach year 2013.I dread to think what would have happened to the world on the date 13/13/13 at hour 13:13:13

If we observe the past very closely, we would find no evidence to support this belief. Just look at how many misfortunes we get on the thirteenth of ever month. I bet, not any different from what we get on normal days. Then why do we dread this poor and harmless number?


Our mind filters out everything that do not conform to what we firmly believe


Let me make a confession. I plan to upload post number fourteen exactly one minute after I upload my thirteenth one. I hope a minute is a very small time for the lightning to strike.

In Search of Excellence

Once there lived a painter who was very talented. His paintings were so good ,wonderful and life like. He was maestro who could create magic with a few strokes of his brush. Such was his fame that people used to come to his studio to see his paintings even from faraway places. The ambition of the painter was to paint pictures that were perfect in every respect and were without any flaws. He did not want anything less than perfect to go out of his studio with his signature on it. He would toil for days and months and often years to complete a painting and would invite a large number of critics to comment on his work. The critics invariably gave him excellent reviews which meant he was one among the best painters of the world. But critics being critics would also point out one or two minor flaws in the painting before departing. Immediately the painter would destroy the painting as he did not want anything less than perfection. This went on for a long time and finally the painter became heartbroken and died a miserable death. He left this world without even a single painting to his credit where as he could have left dozens of masterpieces for the world to admire for years to come were he not a perfectionist.

Let us not be foolish like the painter in our obsession with perfection. It is a noble thing to strive for perfection in whatever we do. But it is foolish to insist on perfection in whatever we do.

Try to be perfect by all means; but don’t be foolish enough to be a die hard perfectionist

Optimism

Once upon a time a king ruled a very prosperous kingdom. He had a minister who was really capable, efficient and brilliant. The king was very close to the minister and they were like inseparable companions. The king admired his minister and consulted him before taking even the smallest decision. The only irritant in their relationship was the minister’s habit of viewing even the most unfortunate incident as something that has happened for the good. Whenever a bad thing happened the minister would say “Don’t worry, It was for our good”.
One day, while the king was out hunting an accident happened and the king lost his left thumb. As usual the minister said “Don’t worry your majesty; it was for your good.”
The king was so angry to hear this that he promptly ordered the minister to be thrown into the prison.
Days went by. The king missed the minister terribly. But still he was not willing to forgive the minister. As the king was feeling alone, he decided to go hunting. While he was in the forest the king lost his way and was caught by a group of savages. They wanted to offer the king as sacrifice for their goddess. The king was taken to the place where the deity was, with lot of festivities. He was made to lie down in front of the deity. The priest came with a big sword. The king started saying his last prayers as he was sure that there was no way to escape from them. The priest came close to the king and started examining his body. He saw that the king was not having his thumb. Suddenly he seemed to have become very angry and started shouting at the devotees all the time pointing his finger at the king’s hand. After a lot of shouting and commotion the king was taken to another part of the jungle and was set free. Even though he couldn’t understand their language he could understand that his escape was solely due to his missing finger. May be it was inauspicious to offer a handicapped person in sacrifice to the god, he thought. The king somehow found his way and reached his palace.
Immediately the king ordered the minister to be freed and personally went up to him and apologized to him for his mistake and narrated the whole incident.
The minister smiled his characteristic smile and replied “Don’t worry your majesty. Your decision to put me in jail was for my good.”
The king was surprised to hear this and asked him how life in jail could be for the benefit of the minister.
The minister said “If I were not in jail I would’ve accompanied you on the hunting trip and they would have caught me too. You were set free because of your handicap. But I would’ve got killed because I don’t have any handicap.”

An optimist is a person who sees an opportunity in every calamity.
A pessimist is a person who sees a calamity in every opportunity

Never Say Die

My earlier post on life after retirement evoked a large number of responses. Many people phoned me up to tell me the way they felt at the time of retirement. This led me to thinking about whether there is any particular profession where people led the most active life for the longest possible time.
The most logical one was the medical profession, but frankly I couldn’t find it true. They don’t seem to last any longer than the others. Surprisingly the one class that perfectly fitted the bill was the politician. If you have any doubts just contemplate the following. How many presidents and prime ministers are there who are less than eighty years old? Very few. Just look at any other profession, let us say doctors. How many doctors are there who are eighty plus and still going strong. I bet, very few.
Then what makes the politicians tick? Or what make them go strong at an age at which others are reaching their expiry dates? The answers could give us some tips which we can use to make our lives longer and more active. A few that comes to my mind are as follows.
A goal in life: All politicians have definite goals in life like becoming an M.P, a Senator or a Minister. The moment you lose a definite purpose in your life you start losing your charm in life.
A belief in themselves: Politicians as a class have a high level of self worth and self respect. You won’t find a single politician who considers himself unfit to be the next president or prime minister. An inferiority complex or a feeling of inadequacy never haunts a politician.
A slow progression: Politics is a long grind and very few reach any position of consequence before the age of sixty which is generally the fag end of career for many others. For a politician life begins at sixty for others life starts ending at sixty.
A busy life: Politics is a twenty four hour occupation. A politician is a busy body who doesn’t get time to sit and brood. As the saying goes an idle mind is the devils workshop.
A never say die attitude:Politics is no place for the chicken hearted. Only the tough ones with a never say die attitude would survive there. No wonder they never let age make them slow down.
Why don’t we also try to learn some of their winning habits? The most important being a concrete goal, a never dying passion to achieve that goal and a willingness to go for the long haul in pursuit of that goal. These are also the secret to a long and active life.

Even a two time president, in a country where he cannot constitutionally aspire for a third term, would set himself a new goal MAKE HIS WIFE THE PRESIDENT. If by chance he fails to do that he would immediately set another goal MAKE HER THE VICE PRESIDENT.

Every journey to be worthwhile needs a destination
Your life’s journey is no exception.

Keep the Candle Burning

I had a relative who was a senior officer in a government department. He was a person with all the healthy habits. He was a teetotaler, never used to smoke and used to exercise regularly. No wonder he was very healthy .He was a born leader, a great organizer and had a large number of friends. He commanded respect wherever he went. He retired from service at the usual retirement age of 55.
With his retirement his personality also seemed to have changed overnight. His outgoing nature suddenly gave way to a reserved nature. His enthusiasm and happiness just seemed to have deserted him. He seemed to prefer loneliness which he earlier loathed. He became less regular in his physical exercise. The vibrancy in his personality, the warmth in his behaviour, the optimism in his attitude and the twinkle in his eyes were all lost. Within no time he became a shadow of his formal self. The whole family could see this happening in front of their eyes. We all were worried about him and tried everything to bring back the spirit in him. But we failed miserably. It was as if he was ageing very fast by the day. He soon developed many ailments like diabetics, hypertension and ulcer. Soon his life became a series of diagnostic examinations, medications and hospitalisations. He suffered both physically and mentally. Finally he died at the age of 58.Just three years after his retirement from service he just retired from his life itself.
This is not an isolated case. But in this instance the pace at which it all happened was a bit unbelievable. Many people especially senior officers find it difficult to adjust with life after retirement. The world which seemed to revolve around them deserts them overnight. Their feeling of self respect, self worth and dignity deteriorates and a psychological rot sets in which invariably takes it toll on their physical well being. This is not a case associated with retirement only it applies equally to people who are forced to face drastic transitions in life, be it retirement or illness or job losses or divorce or financial ruins. The challenge is not to give up mentally

Keep the candle of optimism burning at your darkest hour
for
the dawn is never far away

Bulls,Bears ...and Fund Managers.

Many animals like bison, wilder beasts, elephants etc. exhibit a herd mentality. In the jungles where survival is a daily struggle many animals have discovered that there is security in numbers. Many of these animals would not survive even for a day if they were not part of a herd. Herds offer a good defense against attacks of predators; they also offer protection to the old, feeble and the infant. The instinct to herd is imprinted in their genes that even domesticated animals exhibit this behaviour even when there is no threat to their survival.

Another place where animal instincts are at play is the stock market where the major players are so appropriately named as bulls and bears. The reason we get to see such animal instincts at the stock market could be because of the fact that it is just like a jungle. Life there is a constant struggle for survival and the forces operating there are so brute, unforgiving and unpredictable that the participants have to depend a lot on their animal instincts. And in such set ups survival depends a lot on herd mentality.

Check these out to see the pattern:

In a bull market the bulls charge ahead in a frenzy and keep on buying ignoring all rational signals, financial prudence, earnings and fundamentals. All sort of new theories and explanations are made by the experts, to justify the sky high valuations that are setting newer and newer highs, which seem to further heighten the mad rush. This is like a raging forest fire that feeds itself by creating its own whirlwind. As more and more people join the mad rush even junk shares not even worth a dime get sky high valuations.

By some quirk of fate when the tide finally turns another mad rush begins to find lower and lower bottoms. The slide generally begins with some small catastrophe in the financial space and when sellers start forming herds it slides and slides down like an avalanche that rushes down madly taking everything down with it. As if by magic you would find the earlier cheer leaders becoming doomsayers overnight adding to the panic thus creating further downside. Suddenly you find sterling performers of the corporate world with impeccable fundamentals being treated like dust. New theories would be created to explain why the index should plunge to further ridiculous lows

Herd mentality is generally exhibited by the meek and defenseless ones in the animal kingdom. In the stock market also it is generally exhibited by the meek and defenseless corporate type fund managers who do trading as a part of their job and are vulnerable to lose their jobs if they under perform in comparison to their peers.

• A fund manager will lose his job if the whole world is earning 10 % and he manages a meager 2 %.
• No fund manager will lose his job when the index plunges by 40 % and his fund just falls by 35%
• A fund manager will lose his job when the market falls 20 % his fund has fallen by 50%.

Contrary to popular belief fund managers are not trying to make the highest return for your portfolio. Most of the time a majority of fund managers is just trying to protect their ass. They know by instinct that there is security in numbers and they herd together. You are way off the mark if you thought they were competing with each other to make the highest return. They care a damn if the investor has gained or lost in the market. They are just interested in protecting their plum jobs. So they herd together like mad and in the process create hell for the investors.

Technology

Yesterday I phoned to register a complaint for the service of my washing machine.As I dialed I was expecting to get a sweet and pleasent voice wishing me good morning and further asking me the reasons for the call.But I was in for a big disappointment.A lifeless voice announced a terse welcome and asked me in which language I would like to hear the directions to register my complaint.I was asked to press the required numbers to select the language first.Once that over I was asked to press one if I wanted service for the motor,two if it was the drier that was having a problem and three if the belt was broken and four if the complaint was about none of the first three.Afterwards I was asked to dial my AMC number as well as my phone number and the area code .Once all these were over I was given a complaint number and the emotionless voice finally thanked me for making the call before disconnecting.

The whole experience was very unpleasent.But what do we do .We are increasingly being handled by nameless faceless machinelike voices at all places.Many organisations are becoming faceless entities that hide behind machines.Their employees try to avoid as much interaction with customers as possible.If technology advances at this rate we might soon lose our ability to even meet our fellow human beings and communicate with them.Already ATMs,Automatic dispensers,Internet Banking and online learning have become the order of the day.I regularly get statements declaring it as computer generated and hence requiring no signature .

It is true that increasing automation has reduced costs to a great extent and have increased efficiency manifold.But this is also taking organisations more and more distant from their customers . Many organisations are making it a fashion to interact with their customers as little as possible which can have disastrous consequences on their long term survival.Because if they lose touch with their customers , very soon the customers will lose touch with them.

Technology is important.But still the customer is the king

Happiness

My friend Mr.Dev had send me this on happiness.As they say a picture is worth a thousand words.So no more comments.

CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR AN ENLARGED VIEW

Why Do I Blog?

I am just a seven day old blogger as far as postings on my own blog are concerned. But I have visited innumerable blogs during the past year or so. There are many blogs I frequent especially in the areas of personality development, leadership and motivation. Many of these blogs have well defined objectives and do cent percent justice to their stated objectives. The knowledge and expertise of these bloggers are just mind blowing. And the service they provide is just lofty. I confess that I have developed a lot myself by gaining insights from many blogs. I take this opportunity to salute these people who are taking a lot of effort to make a difference in other people’s lives.

But my case is just different. My blog has no declared mission nor can I aspire for such greatness because I am just a layman and have no claims to greatness. To me a blog is just a place where I can express myself, my fears, my mistakes and my small victories. To me blogging is a way in which I try to overcome my limitations by motivating myself to go ahead in my life. My blog is a place where I can indulge in a dialogue with myself. Then, you might ask why this is being published where the whole world can see. The answer is it takes a lot of courage to expose your weaknesses before the public. And that is one way to overcome your fears and limitations.

Exposing your weakness is the best way to overcome it

Oh God! Why Me?

It was exactly thirteen years ago, yet I clearly remember the day, when I developed an inflammation and pain in my knee joint. At first I just took some painkillers and went about my work. But soon the pain and inflammation started spread to other joints also. I went to a doctor and he said it was an attack of Rheumatoid Arthritis and there was nothing to worry. He prescribed some medicines and advised me to take rest until the pain subsided. But the medicines didn’t give me any relief. The pain spread to all joints. So did the inflammation. I was soon bedridden and life would never be the same again. Even doctors were not very sure about my recovery to a normal state. It was the beginning of a long period of pain and suffering.


More than the physical troubles it was actually the mental pain which was more unbearable. I thought what wrong I did to deserve this punishment at such a young age. I thought I was the most unfortunate man in this world. I was angry at everything and every one. I didn’t want to live in such a state and even contemplated suicide. But over a period of time I was somehow able to face the realities. I realized self denial or wishful thinking will not solve problems. I wanted badly to come back to a normal life. And started to work towards that goal. The progress was very slow and painful. But progress I did. Raising my hand an inch was a big achievement. Shifting my position on my bed was another achievement. Getting up and sitting on the cot was a conquest. Each victory took days of extremely painful efforts. But it was all worth the suffering for I was slowly fighting my disease and winning. Today I have come a long way in my fight. There is still a long way to go

When tragedies of a personal nature strike we all respond the same way. We would believe that the God was being unjust and unfair. But if we look around and see the sufferings of others we will realize that we are not alone in suffering. Everyone in life goes through joys, good times, tragedies and sufferings. The best thing to face tragedies in life is to realize that we are not the only ones in this world with problems. Just summon enough courage to face the tragedies we face and look for small joys amid a seemingly hopeless situation. Just remember that even the darkest cloud has a silver lining.

Success is possible just because there is failure in this world

The Enchanting Shirt

Once upon a time there was a king who was ruling a very prosperous and peaceful kingdom. The king had everything to be happy about in life. He had a vast kingdom, unimaginable riches, absolute power, a prosperous country, a happy family. But in spite of all this the king was feeling depressed. He was gloomy and sad all the time. Many doctors came and examined the king and prescribed medication. But nothing could cure the king. Day by day the king was sinking into a great depression and every subject of the kingdom was worried about the king. One day a sage came by and examined the king and declared that the king would become alright if he slept a night in the shirt of a happy man. The remedy seemed to be too good to be true.

Troops were ordered to immediately locate a happy man and bring him to the palace. The hunt for a happy man was started. But soon they all realized it was not as easy as it appeared. After many days of search a happy man could still not be located. Days went by and still there was no sign of a happy man. Finally one day one search party located a man sitting in the shade of a tree and happily singing. To their questions as to whether he was happy he replied “of course, I am the happiest man on earth”. The soldiers immediately took him to the palace. The king personally went up to him and requested him “Friend would you lend me your shirt for a night” The man started to laugh loudly and said “Your majesty I would be happy to give you my shirt. But I don’t have a shirt to wear”.

This might just be a story. But it contains a universal truth. The truth; that material possessions will not and cannot make a person happy. The more we have the less satisfied we are. We aspire for still more. But the sad thing is we are in pursuit of material things for the sake of happiness. Acquiring more or aspiring more will not give us happiness. If we want to be happy try to be content with what we have. Look at people who are less fortunate than we are and then be thankful for our better position. That is the only way to be happy.

Happiness is an attitude of your mind

Habits Die Hard

Many of our physical as well as psychological behaviours are based on habits.Habits develop when a particular action is repeated a number of times and our body starts to follow it unconsciously.It is possible to stop old habits and develop new habits if we consistently train our body until it becomes a habit.
This faculty of our body can do wonders to our personality if we can develop as many good habits as possible.What is great about habits is that no conscious effort is required to practice it because the body will naturally act that way until that habit is forcibly killed.
To develop new habits you will need to consciously act in the same way continuously for a period of time.Many habits can be formed by a weeks conscious effort and the good habit is yours for a lifetime.
Try the art of good habit formation today.Believe me the opportunities for improvement are immense and the benefits are just mind blowing.

Just Habituate some of the following by working on one habit at a time.
1.Posture: Consciously keep an erect posture every time you stand or sit.Resist the temptation to bend or to stand like a question mark.Do it consistently and consciously without let up for seven days.Your new posture will never go unnoticed.
2.Eye Contact:Make proper eye contact with people consciously for seven days wherever you are...and meet the world head on for the rest of your life.
3.Smile:Observe a seven day smile period.Give a smile even to your dog.Consciously force yourself to smile at even your enemy as if you are the happiest man on earth.Meet as many people as possible.Smile at strangers.Flash it at parties,meetings and at office.On the eighth day dispose off your poker face and start flashing your million dollar smile till you say good bye to your body.
There can be many many more like a firm handshake,cheerful voice,clarity of speech,positive attitude....

A Bundle of Good Habits is a Shortcut to Great Personality

Focus

After my graduation I got admission to a business school for my Masters in Business Administration,considered as the key to a golden future.I had my early education at a village school where my medium of instruction was Malayalam,my mother tongue.I pursued my college studies at a college at the same place and graduated in commerce with excellent marks.Even at my college I never had an opportunity or need to communicate in English.With my admission for my masters degree,overnight I was transported to a setting where it was absolutely necessary to have a good command in English as the curriculum stressed a lot on discussions,case studies,seminars and presentations.

With the beginning of classes I found myself in an atmosphere where the standards were much different ,expectations much higher and the competition much fiercer.And to my dismay I found myself with a big handicap due to my poor communication skills.What was more depressing was the realisation that I was the only guy in a class of 18 with such a handicap.Each session, each class,each day brought some incident that reminded and reinforced my sense of inadequacy.All the time I was constantly focused on one thing...my inability to communicate.Every time I tried to communicate words just failed me .I would mumble a few words and would progress no further.Each failure pushed me a little further down the frightening depths of inferiority and this haunted and effectively hindered my progress in life for almost a decade.

Years later within a few months I could overcome my limitation by shifting my focus onto my progress rather than on my problem.I stopped worrying about the handicap and just decided to do something to overcome it.I decided I would drive it away bit by bit .I started to grab every opportunity to communicate .To my amazement I discovered that for every small bit of effort I put in I was rewarded by a tiny bit of progress.Now I was focusing on my progress and not on my problem.And as if by magic the more I focused on the results the more it began to expand.As the result started expanding the problem started melting and it disappeared in an unbelievably short span of time.Today I am an above average speaker.My fluency has improved manifold and I just enjoy public speaking.

Just like me millions of people unnecessarily suffer for ages by remaining focused on their problems.Just for once try shifting your focus on to the solution ,I bet,you would discover how easy it is to overcome even your most intimidating problem.

Your mind is like a powerful telescope.It magnifies whatever you focus on