Do Something New! Do something differently!

The thought is not new. You have heard it before. But how many of us really do it regularly.What keeps us really alive is learning. Learning happens on its own as we go through life's different experiences and do various things that are to be done. We may not consciously make an effort to learn something new for the sake of learning, regularly.

But in this busy life we may forget the importance of doing new and different things than the one we already know and do. It will do us much good if we regularly stretch ourselves and invest some time to do something new, actually anything from reading about a new subject, trying a new dish, learning a new dance form, wearing something different from routine and the list goes on and on. I would also go on to add being different than our normal self, be a lil more adventurous, talk to a familiar acquaintance, help somebody without any self-interest.

We change a little with each new thing we do or learn. We gain new experiences and never stay the same, always evolving. I make an effort to do something new every fortnight. Even if we can do it every month, we will have 12 new things we did in a year, that certainly makes our life more varied and fun!

See you again when I am finished with the first part of a new book I picked up!

Is it just me?

I am not a regular blogger anymore. But I want to maintain this creative habit. Its easy to give up something, but we may not realize how valuable it is, once we get used to living without it. I seldom write now, bogged down by daily life and its struggles. It is difficult to find time, rather it is possible, but we choose to ignore and procrastinate. We are mentally tired by all the routine tasks. 

The attention span of people is going down. At least, it is true for me. I am used to one liner updates, Facebook / Twitter etc have promoted this short attention span. I can't bring myself to read any article effortlessly. I have stopped reading Facebook updates now, unless something on the top of the page catches my eye. It is difficult to read long articles or books now that this notion of reading most relevant and important information in one or two lines. And then switching between such pieces rapidly, as if on a sprint. 

What is happening here? Am I losing the ability to focus on one thing at one time? Am I constantly under pressure of multi-tasking? Is it only happening with me or others too? Whatever it is, it looks scary/dangerous. :-) 

A Day

A Day in my life
A moment of newness
Smiles of dear ones
Some talks with my friends
Few problems to look at
Couple of chores to do
Serious work to complete
Time off to relax
Making time for work-out
Planning for another day
A Day in my life
should be all this and more
A Day in my life
a bouquet of varied things..

The Law of Pure Potentiality

The source of all creation is pure
consciousness . . . pure potentiality seeking expression from
the unmanifest to the manifest.
And when we realize that our true Self is one
of pure potentiality, we align with the power that manifests everything in the universe.

This law is based on the fact that we are, in our essential state, pure consciousness. Pure consciousness is pure potentiality; it is the field of all possibilities and infinite creativity. When you discover your essential nature and know who you really are, in that knowing itself is the ability to fulfill any dream you have, because you are the eternal possibility, the immeasurable potential of all that was, is and will be. This law could also be called the Law of Unity, because underlying the infinite diversity of life is the unity of one all-pervasive spirit. There is no separation between you and this field of energy. One way to access the field is through the daily practice of silence, meditation and non-judgment. Spending time in nature will also give you access to the qualities inherent in the field: infinite creativity, freedom and bliss.

Anything is possible for an awakened soul who has realized their true potential, which is limitless. Believe in yourself.

7 Spiritual Laws of Success - Introduction

Don't we all want success and peace in our life? Here is the first post of this wonderful book I read. I will take the laws one by one after this initial introduction of the book by Deepak Chopra.

There are many aspects to success; material wealth is only one component. Moreover, success is a journey, not a destination. Material abundance, in all its expressions, happens to be one of those things that makes the journey more enjoyable. But success also includes good health, energy and enthusiasm for life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well-being and peace of mind. Even with the experience of all these things, we will remain unfulfilled unless we nurture the seeds of divinity inside us. In reality, we are divinity in disguise, and the gods and goddesses in embryo that are contained within us seek to be fully materialized. Although I call the laws I'm about to discuss The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, they could easily be called The Seven Spiritual Laws of Life. This is because they are the same principles that nature uses to create everything in material existence--everything we can see, hear, smell, taste or touch.

Success in life could be defined as the continued expansion of happiness and the progressive realization of worthy goals. Success is the ability to fulfill your desires with effortless ease. And yet success, including the creation of wealth, has always been considered a process that requires hard work, and it is often considered to be at the expense of others. We need a more spiritual approach to success and to affluence, which is the abundant flow of all good things to you. With the knowledge and practice of spiritual law, we put ourselves in harmony with nature and create with carefreeness, joy and love. True success is the experience of the miraculous. It is the unfolding of the divinity within us. It is the perception of divinity wherever we go, in whatever we perceive--in the eyes of a child, in the beauty of a flower, in the flight of a bird. When we begin to experience our life as the miraculous expression of divinity--not occasionally, but all the time--then we will know the true meaning of success.

I would never want to be Sachin

Below is a write-up I came across on Facebook shared by Vinayak Krishnaswamy

Really worth reading..!

Remember when you failed an examination. How many people recall that, your class, friends, relatives? You failed to make it to the IITs or IIMs. Who remembers. How many times have you had the feeling of being the best in your class, school , university, state….., you failed to get a visa stamped this quarter…, you missed a promotion this year…, how did it feel when your dad told you in your early twenties that you are good for nothing…..and now your boss tell you the same...

You keep introspecting and go into a shell when people most of whom don’t matter a dime in your life criticize you, back bite you, make fun of you. You are left sad and shattered and you cry when your own kin scoffs at you. You say I am feeling low today. It takes a lot from us to come out of these everyday situations and move on. A lot??? really?

Now here’s a man standing on the third man boundary in the last over of a world cup match. The bowler just has to bowl sensibly to win this game. What the man at the boundary sees is 4 rank bad bowls bowled without any sense of focus, planning or regret. India loses, yet again in those circumstances when he has done just about everything right.

He does not cry. Does not show any emotion. Just keeps his head down and leaves the field. He has seen these failures for 22 years now. And not just his class, relatives, friends but the whole world has seen these failures. We are too immature to even imagine what goes on in that mind and heart of his. That’s why I would never want to be Sachin.

True, he has single handedly lifted the mood of the entire nation umpteen number of times. He has been an inspiration to rise above our mediocrity. Nobody who has ever lifted the willow even comes close to this man’s genius. His dedication and metal strength is unparalleled. This is specially for those people who would have made fun of him again last night when India lost. They are people who are mediocre in their own lives. Who just scoff at others to create cheap fun. Who have lived in a small hole throughout their lives and thought they have seen the oceans.

Think about the man himself. He is 37 years of age. He has been playing almost non stop for 22 years. The way he was running and diving around the field last night would have put 22 year olds to shame. The way he played the best opening quickies in the world was breathtaking. He just keeps getting better which is by the way humanly impossible. Its not for nothing that people call him GOD.

But still I don’t want to be in those shoes. We struggle in keeping our monotonous lives straight, lives which affect a limited number of people. Imagine what would be the magnitude of the inner struggle for him, pain both mental and physical, tears that have frozen with time, knees and ankles and every other joint in the body that is either bandaged or needs to be attended to every night, eyes that don’t sleep before a big game, bats that have scored 99 international tons and still see expectations from a billion people.

And he just converts those expectations into reality. We watch in awe, feel privileged.

Well I think its time that his team realizes that enough is enough. They have an obligation, not towards their country alone but towards sachin. They need to win this one for him. Stay assured that he himself will still deliver and leave no stone unturned to make sure India wins this cup.

This is not just a game, and he is not just a sportsman. Its much more than this. Words fail here.....

7 Spiritual Laws of Success

Self-help / Self-improvement or philosophy books are rather boring to many people. Even I was tired of this genre after lapping up many of them in my teenage years.

But recently one book caught my eye. Though quite old now the book is much talked about.

I was attracted by this concise book having around 200 pages and written by the modern spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.

Though I find most of his talks difficult to understand, the book is quite well written and crisp. I would introduce these magical laws in my upcoming posts.