Myriad people in our life

There was once a potter in a village. He was very well known for the exquisite pottery that he created. These pots had asymmetrical golden lines in them that added splendour to the pots. Each creation that way was exclusive one. Never similar! How did the potter create those exclusive golden lines? Apparently the potter broke the pots into pieces once they were done and then put it back together with gold filigree. And they turned out to be exclusive and exquisite creations!

In our daily life we come across myriad personalities. Hassled ones, angry ones, egoistic ones, always-with-sad-face ones, never smiling ones, confused ones, etc.....on the one side. Cool dudes, humble ones, cheerful ones, very clear and focussed ones, ever smiling ones, embodiments of serenity, loving ones, pious ones, etc..........on the other side.

Both lists go on.

Our life too is akin to the potter and his creations. The potter is the Creator and we are the pottery work created.

But there is one significant difference.

Here the potter himself breaks his creations. But in our life creator sends some people to break us. They are the former variety. They discourage and make us cynical at times. The latter ones are those that put us back again. But how? With golden filigree of their positivity that adds exquisiteness to our personalities. They turn our lives into unique creation. Yes, each of us is unique, exclusive and exquisite.

But the point here is that the Creator does not send the former range too for no reason. They are meant to teach us great lessons.

Hassled ones teach us to be patient,

Angry ones—to be cool and loving,

Egoistic ones—to be humble,

Never smiling ones—to be cheerful,

Confused ones—to be focussed.

So it turns out that all those myriad people in our life, both positive and negative ones, are meant to make us into masterpieces. We, the exclusive masterpieces, created by others in our life! How wonderful!

Let's be generous and give credit to all those who break us too. There are others who can put us back and give us a gorgeous face-lift! Ultimately we are the winners.

Isn’t that a splendid way of looking at life?

Sensible teamwork

Once there was a family of mother, father, their 4 sons and the 4 daughters-in law all living together.

All 4 daughters-in law were good but there was always clash--whose responsibility it is to do what house work.

One day the mother-in law decided to end this problem by assigning proper responsibilities. So she called all 4 of them and said:
“I know you are all very good and you don't shy from responsibilities; but since the responsibilities are not clear, you have misunderstanding. Lets now define the responsibilities.

One of you – will prepare the food
2nd one – will arrange the dining table
3rd one – will serve the food
4th one – will clean the utensils and dining table

When each one of you finished your job you will announce so that the next person will do the next job.

And every week we will rotate these responsibilities.”

All of them said it is good idea and agreed.

The next day :
The first daughter in law prepared the food and when she finished she informed, “food is prepared.”

The second daughter in law arranged the food in the table and announced, “food is arranged in table and everybody come to eat.”

The 3rd daughter in law started serving the food and she announced, "food is served.”

The 4th daughter in law collected all the plates and utensils from the table and cleaned them and said, “the utensils and dining table is cleared.”

The mother-in law was dumb stuck.

Though all of them performed their duties and responsibilities, the end result was no one ate anything and the food was a complete waste.

Lesson? It is not just adequate to divide the responsibilities but sensible teamwork is very important to make things work.

YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Dedicated to all teachers on this Teachers day in India, 5th Sept, 2014


Just when she was about to give up teaching profession because she thought her teaching wasn't even changing or helping even one child, her mind was completely changed one day.

When she went to school the next day, one of her first grader's parent came to her and just fell into her arms and cried out, "THANK YOU."

The mother explained that her child had ADHD (the teacher had already discovered that) and no one had the patience to teach or just love her for who she was. She told the teacher that she made a difference in her daughter's life, just by showing that she cared and for having patience with her. The child showed interest in studies when she was with her, but her other teachers constantly condemned her because they couldn't control her.

What a compliment!

Needless to say she is still continuing on with her teaching profession.

Dear teachers, sometimes it may seem like people have forgotten how important you really are.

For every child that says, “I’m not smart enough”, “I don’t get it”, “I can’t”…… there’s a teacher who says, “You can!”

For every child who needs basic skills, knowledge, someone to believe in him……….. there’s a teacher who will do whatever it takes to encourage, to motivate, to challenge, to engage, to inspire and instill a love for learning.

So for every teacher who works with the children building a better future for us, even when it feels like no one is watching or that people have forgotten just how special you teachers really are, I SALUTE YOU!

AND I THANK YOU for teaching each child to become the next great author, artist, scientist, architect, musician, doctor, engineer or teacher.

Never give up, if you teach from the heart, you may not realize it at that precise moment..........
BUT YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE.

God's Family

By Steve Goodier www.LifeSupportSystem.com

An old story is told of two men who went fishing in a small boat. The day was uneventful until one of them hooked a huge fish, which, in the struggle, pulled him overboard. He couldn't swim and began to panic.

"Help!" he yelled. "Save me!"

The friend reached over and grabbed the man by the hair to pull him closer to the boat. But when he tugged, the man's toupee came off and he slipped down under the water again.

He came up shouting, "Hey, help me! I can't swim!"

So the friend reached down again and this time latched onto the struggling man's arm. But when he pulled, the arm came off! It was an artificial limb.

The drowning man continued to kick and thrash around and his friend reached out a third time. This time he grabbed a leg and pulled. You guessed it -- a wooden leg.

The man continued splashing and sputtering and calling out, "Help me!" until his friend finally called back in disgust, "How can I help you if you won't stick together?"

And that is a metaphor for each of us.

How can people in marriages and families stand a chance when they won't stick together?
How can religious communities, civic groups, schools and businesses get anywhere when they won't stick together?
And how can a nation or even our global village function well when it won't stick together?

Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it this way:
“We are made for goodness.
We are made for love.
We are made for friendliness.
We are made for togetherness.
We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know.
We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders.
All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow,
rich, poor, educated, not educated,
male, female, all, all, all.
We all belong to this family, this human family, God's family.”

First secret of success--Believe in yourself

– by Steve Goodier, www.lifesupportsystem.com

Adam was ready to retire. His wife Anna, however, was less enthusiastic.

As she explained to a friend, "Adam has never done anything that required physical exertion. He never played golf, mowed the lawn or even washed the windows. When he retires, he will sit in his easy chair and expect me to bring him his food."

But to Anna's surprise, soon after her husband retired, he joined a health club. And one night, when Adam arrived home from exercise class, he announced, "I signed up for the wrestling tournament. I am going to wrestle Friday night."

Anna was shocked. "Please don't do it, Adam," she begged. "You're not in shape. You will be so beat up they will have to carry you home!"

However, he couldn't be dissuaded and she told him that if he went through with his "lame idea," she was not going to watch.

True to her word, she stayed away that Friday evening as Adam wrestled.

And just as she predicted, two men practically carried Adam home. He lay down on the couch, every muscle strained and bruised.

Before she could speak, he sputtered, "Don't say a word, Anna! This is not the worst of it. I won tonight. I have to wrestle again tomorrow night!"

As Dr. Norman Vincent Peale said, "People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success."

Words can hurt or heal

Sathya Sai Baba, My Dear Students, Vol 5, Ch 2, Mar 9, 1993.

You eat food daily, take in thousands of grains! Have you ever calculated how many rice grains you have consumed? However the moment one minute stone comes in the rice you eat, you are very unhappy that day and complain that your food has stones.

Similarly your life is three fourths happiness and one fourth sorrow. But you become a victim to sorrow. You choose to give more importance to sorrow than happiness. This is an animal quality (Pashu Lakshanam).

Teach your tongue not to lose its reputation by following the wrong path.

Your tongue is capable of raising you to Divine or droop to that of an animal.

If someone is good to you, the tongue praises them as God Himself. If someone harms you, the tongue then equates them to an animal. Teach your tongue to ever chant the Name of the Lord and never to criticize anybody!

Naxalites (terrorists) are not merely the people who hold guns and pistols. Anyone who hurts others in thoughts, words and deeds is a naxalite.

Three important things that all of you must pay attention to are your thoughts, words and deeds. When there is a thought, the word follows and then the body acts. In the arena of thoughts, never think evil of others.

Next is word. Never use harsh words, do not humiliate others and never try to deceive others with your words. If one is killed with a knife or a pistol, they die immediately. But if you hurt a person with words, he or she will be pained till their death.

Medicines exist for all external injuries, however no medicine or doctor can heal the wound or injury inflicted through words.

Therefore the harm done by words is more dangerous and takes a long time to heal. Spiritual ways alone can alter the harm done by thoughts, words and deeds

A rare conversation between Ramkrishna Paramahansa Swami Vivekanand

Author Unknown. Received in mailbox.

Swami Vivekanand:- I can’t find free time. Life has become hectic.

Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you free.

______________________________________________________________________

Swami Vivekanand:- Why has life become complicated now?

Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Stop analyzing life.. It makes it complicated. Just live it.

______________________________________________________________________

Swami Vivekanand:- Why are we then constantly unhappy?

Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Worrying has become your habit. That’s why you are not happy.

______________________________________________________________________

Swami Vivekanand:- Why do good people always suffer?

Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don’t suffer.

With that experience their life becomes better, not bitter.

Swami Vivekanand:- You mean to say such experience is useful?

Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Yes. In every term, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.

______________________________________________________________________

Swami Vivekanand:- In tough times, how do you stay motivated?

Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________________________

Swami Vivekanand:- What surprises you about people?

Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- When they suffer they ask, “why me?” When they prosper, they never ask “Why me?”

______________________________________________________________________

Swami Vivekanand:- How can I get the best out of life?

Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

______________________________________________________________________

Swami Vivekanand:- One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.

Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- There are no unanswered prayers. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.

______________________________________________________________________

Author Unknown

He was a busy executive. In the rush of his busy life, he had even no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

One such busy day, he received a call from his mother, "Ramu Kaka died last night. The funeral is tomorrow."

He remained silent. Memories flashed through his mind as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days. After his father’s death, Ramu Kaka stepped in to make sure he had a man's influence in his life. "He's the one who taught me the basic things in life," he thought. "I wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important.” He remembered that he loved that old house that kaka lived in.

But honestly he thought that Ramu kaka died years ago.

"Ramesh, did you hear me?"

"Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry," he said.

"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd recollect about the old days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.

“Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," he said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word. He caught the next flight to his hometown. Ramu kaka’s funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, he stopped by the old house next door one more time. The house was exactly as he remembered. He stopped suddenly.

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was the thing he valued the most. The box is gone," he thought.

He figured someone from Kaka’s family had taken it.

"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," he told himself.

Returning home one day he received a parcel by post.

He ripped open the parcel. There inside was the gold box that he was searching for in Ramu kaka’s house and an envelope.

The letter in the envelope was addressed to him. “It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, he carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful GOLD POCKET WATCH.

Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:

"Ramesh, Thanks for your time! –Ramu Kaka."

"The thing he valued most...was...my time," he realized with shock.

He held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" his assistant Suzy asked.

"I need some time to spend with my wife and son," he said. "Oh, by the way Suzy... thanks for your time!"

Open the gates of Wisdom

There was a cowherd boy who took his cows to the meadows every morning and brought them back to the cowshed at the end of the day.

One evening, as he was tying the cows up for the night, the boy found that one of them was missing her rope. He feared that she might run away, but it was too late to go and buy a new rope. The boy didn't know what to do, so he went to a wise man who lived nearby and sought his advice.

The wise man told the boy to pretend to tie the cow, and make sure that the cow saw him doing it. The boy did as the wise man suggested and pretended to tie the cow.

The next morning the boy discovered that the cow had remained still throughout the night. He untied all the cows as usual, and they all went outside.

He was about to go to the meadows when he noticed that the cow with the missing rope was still in the cowshed. She was standing on the same spot where she had been all night. He tried to coax her to join the herd, but she wouldn't budge.

The boy was perplexed.

He went back to the wise man who said, "The cow still thinks she is tied up. Go back and pretend to untie her."

The boy did as he was told, and the cow happily left the cowshed.

Like the cow, due to our ignorance, we believe that we are bound by the ego when, in fact, we are completely free. We need to be convinced of this, however.

Laughter, an antidote to depression

Excerpts from Steve Goodier’s post in  www.LifeSupportSystem.com

There are many ways to respond when life takes a serious turn, but even then, perhaps especially then, one of the best is to find some humor.

Katie was a young woman with a great, big problem. She was a teenager dying of leukemia. Katie's mother wrote to tell how her daughter approached her disease. She told about a time, shortly after a bone marrow transplant, when Katie's head was “slickly bald,” as she put it.

One day Katie heard the doctor coming on rounds and ducked into the bathroom. Her mother heard her giggling and asked, "Katie, what is so funny?"

She put her finger to her lips, pulled a Nike ski cap onto her head and crawled into bed.

When the doctor came in, she said, "Well, Miss Katie! How are you feeling today?"

Katie frowned and said, "I am OK, I guess... but I just have this 'splitting' headache.”

She pulled off her ski cap and there on her bald head was a huge red crack, which she had drawn with a marker. As the doctor recovered from her initial shock, the room exploded in laughter.

Katie did not survive the cancer, but she conquered depression and despair and found an authentic way to live as fully as possible her last months of life.

“It DOES help!” Katie's mother asserted at the end of her letter.

Mark Twain says that the "human race has unquestionably one really effective weapon – laughter.”

Laughing at the twists and turns of life may not be your first response, but it can be one of the best.