What true success means...

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

The above quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson says it all. Success is really this simple! I don't know when and why things got complicated in the human world. Our grandparents and great grandparents never had the luxuries that we have, but still they were happy and content. Somehow, we have all led ourselves get driven by ego and greed, to a world where money is all there is, where we have become slaves to the paper which we once invented. Greed for more, some more, a little extra and, we don't know where to stop. It's a crazy run! People all around you are running, running to reach somewhere, running to become something, running to a better life and a better future. Only to realize later on that this running away never led somewhere, it only took them away from the beautiful presents the 'NOW' was holding. And life, my dear friends, is a movie which screens just once and cannot be rewound no matter what you are ready to trade for it. 

We all know it inherently, we know that this run for fame and name is unimportant in the bigger scenario of evolution. Yet we are too busy to notice. It's like sitting on a motorboat without starting the engine and going in the opposite direction of your destination because of the water flow, when otherwise you could have sped through the water if you stopped and noticed the power you have. Have you tried to filter your thoughts to know what it all boils down to? What is it that we crave? Let me just dissect it a little for you to absorb better: You ask any person 'What do you think will manifest if you are successful?' The answers will of course be varied ranging from 'a bigger house, a better life, tons of money, a better family, a better society/world and blah blah'. Now again, if you ask that person 'What if you get 'a bigger house, a better life, tons of money, a better family, a better society/world and blah blah', what will happen if you achieve all that you could ever desire and be the most successful person alive?' The response will be 'I will ultimately achieve happiness and i'll be able to make my family happy and etc. etc. Do you understand what the irony of life is here? The end objective is 'Happiness'. What if you could be happy NOW? What if you could make your family smile right NOW? Do you think it is that impossible a task? You know the answer better than anyone else does for you.

I am not telling you to stop going to your job or stop earning money. Money is necessary, but not the key to happiness! We all know a person or have heard of people having all the name and fame and still suffering from depression. Knowing that money isn't the only thing that dictates happiness, we all are on a run for it! Do you want to be from the 99% population and be another sheep in the herd that's mislead and misguided by ego and greed? or do you want to stand out, stop and decide where you want to go and then follow your heart?

It's so easy to be happy right now. Happiness doesn't mean laughing all the time or always crazily jumping around. Happiness is a state of being. It's a state of awareness that you have deep inside you. No matter what the ups and downs of life, this state remains, it's a beautiful tranquil. A feeling that you are a beautiful, unique soul on planet earth taking on a journey that no one else took and no one ever will! Being on planet earth and experiencing life happening is enormous success in itself. All you need is just to be in this knowingness. You smile and the world smiles back.

May your eyes see beauty all around and in yourself. That's my prayer for everyone in the world. Love be with you. :-)

The unsung heroes of our lives

"The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us, but those who win battles we know nothing about."

                                                                                                                  - Anonymous

I looked out the window this morning as usual, but saw an unusual sight that changed the way I see. It was the vision of two men suspending from the 42nd floor, with the support of two ropes, to clean the window panes of each apartment. I was dumbstruck with the thought of even attempting such a thing. Oh my gosh! What heroes these guys are, comparable to some stuntmen in Hollywood or Bollywood. Yet, these heroes remain unrecognized, unthanked and unacknowledged for what they do. May be they earn just enough to scrape from month to month. They all have families, children who love them and go to school because of them, parents for whom they may be the only reason to smile, friends who are a part of their happy moments and a lot more than I can probably think of.

Yet these heroes remain anonymous. Nobody knows their name, nobody stops by to ask them if they were okay, nobody even cares to know if they've had their bread for the day... But everybody enjoys the luxuries got because of them, sometimes, even without realizing that they have them because of these unsung heroes. It moves us when we think about it. When we realize that the beautiful views outside our windows wouldn't have been as beautiful without the help of these unsung heroes that work day in and day out, so that we could live with comfort and so that their children could go to school and never have to do what they do, to earn a living.

Look around, I mean really look around right now! There are so many things that surround you coming from an unsung hero. May be it's the clean laundry you wear or the clean floor you step your feet on. May be its the amazing food you eat that your mother or someone else cooks for you tirelessly standing in the kitchen, so that you could have a good meal and work or study better. May be it is just as small a thing as delivering the milk or groceries to your doorstep. Don't let these unsung heroes stay unsung. You never know what hardships that delivery boy or that maid faces so that they could be of help to you.

Let us today make an intent to start recognizing these heroes. We may not have extra money to help them or buy something for them. But we do have a smile, that helping hand or just a 'Thank you' that can make their day. It's amazing to see how their faces light up with just a word of appreciation for the work they do. God has made each man/woman in the image of god. Look at the needy with a smile and you will feel god looking back at you. Tip them at times, appreciate them or may be buy them something... no matter how insignificant that looks to you. For them, each act of kindness makes a difference. May be even a difference of life and death for them or their families. Giving is the most beautiful thing you can ever experience, if done with an open heart. It makes you feel you can make a difference in people's life, no matter how big or small.

You can make a difference! Always remember, that the elephant can crush huge trees and kill animals, but an ant can terrify or even kill an elephant at times.(Paraphrased from the Guru Granth Sahib)

Make it your intention to keep doing the little things! You may be an unsung hero to hundreds or even millions around... Just keep doing your bit! :-)

I would like to share this video with you guys that is sure to leave you smiling - The unsung hero

Blame - the silent killer!

Blame - We all resort to it all the time! Just that we justify it so well, we don't even think we blame. When it comes to others, we're super quick to point out the blame games they play. Blame is such a natural phenomenon to us! We don't even feel the need for analysis or introspection when we start blaming! Blame is a comfort zone that we are used to living in, so much so that it has become an inseparable part of our personalities.

If we're late, traffic is to be blamed. If we are not meeting deadlines, time is to be blamed. If there is mess in our apartment, maid or family's to be blamed. And last but not the least! If we have an unhappy life, our parents, school, job, colleagues, spouse/s, government or in short! The whole world but ourselves is blamed! It's so unconscious that we don't even analyze before we start hurling blames around.

The reason why I call blame a silent killer is that we don't even realize how deep routed it is in us. Blame is like a poison that slowly spreads and robs you of your successes. Be careful! Blame comes disguised, looking like a friend who's come to save you from your problems. But essentially, it weakens you, makes you feel like a victim, leaves you feeling helpless and keeps you away from all the success and happiness you deserve.

Take responsibility! Wherever you are right now...whoever tells you how bad your life is...whatever problems are standing to haunt you, Get Up! Take Responsibility! There's no one you should blame. The only person who has attracted situations in your life is YOU! So stop trying to find reasons to blame somebody else and sympathize with yourself. Rather look for solutions, see what you can do. If there's nothing you can't do about it, walk away and find something better to work on.

Let me share my graduation story to let you all know how I came to understand blame. Taking responsibility of my life changed it for the better. I was so called 'motivated' and sent to graduate in computers by my dear Dad. I had no genes of computers whatsoever - My Dad being a PhD in Zoology and my mom being a nutritionist. Biology was the only subject I loved and I had all the reasons to do so. And here I was! Studying the heart and kidneys of computers. Couldn't hate it more! My grades after the first term reflected it. I had never scored this low in my life. Easiest thing to do - I blamed all I could and cried my heart out after the first term results were out. But then some thought hit me like a big blow in my face. Oh my gosh! No one had signed my admission papers... No one held my hand to take me to college each day. It was me! I had chosen it after all said and done. Since that day I never blamed, took responsibility and graduated with flying colours. I thanked my Dad instead, as I never would have known how strong I was till I decided to take that leap of faith. After my experience I can surely say one thing: You can be, do or have anything! All you need to do is get rid of the need to blame and stay strong.

Throw blame out of your house! Let it be known to blame that there is no way you will resort to it. It may be a difficult uphill climb, but it's worth it! Take chances, fail and accept failure to come back even stronger. Don't let blame convince you that something is unachievable. Cause man! You are stronger that you think and as capable as any great soul who ever walked the planet!

Wish you a 'blame-free' life! Rejoice in the liberation and believe everything's possible in this world full of possibilities!

RIP Blame :-)

P.S. This post got deleted twice without me doing a single thing! Worse, I didn't have a backup. But I guess it was a good thing to happen. I wrote it better the 3rd time! :-)

Social Media - Use it, Don't abuse it!

Okay, I know this blog is going to be in the face of many for whom social media is "THE" thing! If you love social media too much for your own good, do not even read further as there may be a few 'ouch' moments. For those who dare to change, question where we are heading and want to live with a little more freedom, these stats are for you:

Many researches suggest that the number of people with SMAD (Social Media Addiction Disorder) is increasing day by day. Google it and you may find some harsh facts restating this truth. If you use social sites to market your business, an art form or to find a job, you are not an addict if you use it for a limited time everyday.

For the others who use social media for everything but the work they do, let us have a reality check:

1. Do you really think all the people who follow/friend you are significant to you? Do you think you and your life is any important for most of them? (STOP FLOODING THEM WITH UNIMPORTANT DAILY UPDATES FROM YOUR LIFE! They have enough of their own to deal with!)

2. Do you think anybody cares to see your personal life and sleazy love messages that you post through updates to let the whole world know? (I'm sorry! If you love a person, spend all the time you have with them! How can you leave few precious minutes of being with them and display your new found love to the whole world? Even if that person is far away, you can call that person or see that person to say what you want to. Why should the whole world be a witness to all that's cookin'? Sorry, but you need to start loving 'actually' and stop displaying 'virtually'. Try and limit posts that are very close to your personal life.)

'

3. Do you like seeing crazy check-in's and people showing off each & every possible place on earth they go to? (They don't like it either! Most of them are thinking in their head "This guy/girl is such an ***. How could they go to places I have never been to :/" and after thinking that, they hit a like button and comment "Wow! where's that?" :D Sorry, but I guess you got what's intended in here as all of us do it in some form or the other, at some point of time. It doesn't mean you can't share important events with friends. Do it if you really need to, but make sure you don't inundate them all the time.)

4. Is it important to spend hours(killing time!) and keep stalking a friend's friend or even strangers? (I understand if you are away from your friends and need to keep in touch. But why this need to check on some person sitting at some corner of the globe, who is anyway not interested in you? You are wasting time that could have been used to meet existing friends and family. As they are the only ones who matter!)

5. Do you use social media to wish your close friends and relatives on any of their birthdays/anniversaries? (Okay, you can wish friends you can't phone. But guys! You need to have the courtesy to give them a call or drop a personal message if they matter to you!)

These are few highlights of my observation of people on social media. If you have any more or disagree with something, do post your comments below!

Now, you must be thinking 'Now that I understand it isn't healthy for me, how much of social media information do I consume everyday?' or 'How do I make sure I use it and not abuse or overuse it?'

Firstly, no one can teach you how much social media is healthy for you. Good news is, you decide how much you wish to indulge! Make sure you have a life outside your smartphones and laptops. Go out with the people you love, make new friends, connect with old relatives and friends and see them! There is nothing as blissful as being the reason behind your friend's or family's smile. Make memories, be a part of them, don't worry to post it on Facebook or Instagram! Just live in the moment! You will die with all these memories that make your life, not with how popular were you with social sites or how many 'likes' you had. Stop worrying about the 'likes' or 'followers', start to 'like' and in fact love your own life. Capture memories, pictures can always accompany. 'Tweet' the sound of your inner being in your life and let melody play in each action you take. Be your own 'favourite'. 

Live in the moment! NOW is a very important moment. Fill it with memories to treasure.

Also, I reckon that this video be watched by every person - Look Up, Youtube . It is an amazing video on how we should leave the smartphones and remember to 'look up!'

Wish that you take all that I said in a positive way and learn from it. If I have unintentionally hurt your feelings, I am extremely apologetic. 

Remember to use and not abuse social media! Come out of the virtuality & live the actuality! :)

Go Higher, Go Beyond...

Before I begin writing on this topic, I would like to thank all of you for being such treasured readers! Each one of you, known and unknown to me, have showered me with appreciations so great that i can't believe it's me! :p I would like to specially thank my friend Apu (Apurva), who made it to the semi-finals of India's Got Talent 6 (huge congrats!). She always surprises me in different ways. She is indeed a gift to me and I hope all of you get friends who make you feel happy to be alive and kickin'! :)

"Be the best person you look forward to meet"

We've heard the above a million times, in different ways. But we simply don't wanna pay heed as we are too comfortable where and how we are! The saddest truth of our age is that most of us live in 'self-deprival' modes. 

Did you know that almost 7% of the U.S. population is diagnosed with depression? (Source: https://bbrfoundation.org/depression) Depression is the most common mental ailment in the US. And these my dear friends! Are the statistics of the largest economy of the world! (Source: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022415/worlds-top-10-economies.asp) Can you envision what must be the mental health of people who barely manage to scrape one meal a day? 

If your reading this, I am sure you are lucky enough to get your meals on time and can afford much more. The point in discussion is, that no matter how rich economies and people get, many of them are lonely, hollow inside, sleepless, sad, complaining and wanting to run away from life, if given a chance. Many of them sadly give in and end their lives, when a million unfortunate ones dream of a life they once lived. It is sad but true, that even when you sit out there and complain or are angry at your life or god, there are millions who are praying to have the job that you have or to live in the house that you live in or to have the love of the family you have. You just have to open your eyes to the blessings that surround you! And believe me, they are countless!

Now, coming to the topic of this post- How do we go higher and go beyond? To rise above and beyond, we need to rise from our old belief systems and reprogram our minds with a software that serves us! If you are happy and content with the life you live, you needn't even read further! :) For the others, it is important that a serious reprogramming be done(If and only if you wish to lead a better life for your own good).

Nobody but your soul( or mind or whatever you choose to call it), is the greatest teacher you can have! Nobody taught you how to breathe when you were born, nobody taught you how to swallow your food down. Thus, the soul is the greatest source of knowledge that you have, the only thing to do is connect to it and tap that knowledge source. Be honest and try asking yourself, 'when was the last time I met myself?' I'm sure most of us don't even know what meeting our own self means!

Let me make it a little simple for you - When you sit in the quiet of your mind, when you have no noise to disturb you(not even the noise of waste, day-to-day thoughts), when you can feel your feelings, THAT is being with yourself. When that quiet is within you, you just want to live in that peace for hours. It's a high no other drug can give! When your conscious mind is quiet, the subconscious takes over. This subconscious is the soul - a powerhouse of knowledge and wisdom. When you activate it, it becomes the manifester of all your desires and gives you an immense sense of power. You can catch the vibes of people around you and become wise enough to judge and take decisions that serve you best. 

It is not some impossible, crazy ideas that I am sharing with you. It is my experience that this beautiful energy lies inside me, and inside you too, if you connect to it. I am a normal human just like you, I do get angry, irritated and crazy at times but they just pass by like a storm and I soon get back to my peaceful self with learning for the future.

I will let you decide how you want to reprogram your old belief system if it no longer serves you. You have an unending stream of wisdom inside you, just remember to tap it. Keep learning and growing, cause when you stop learning, you start dying. No matter what your age, you can still learn that guitar or a new language or whatever you choose to! Learning makes you feel alive as you become a better version of yourself after everything new that you learn.

My only wish is that YOU go HIGHER and BEYOND the old version of yourself! Be the person you love, after all you are the only true soulmate who stands by you(even after the last breath).

Try taking a break from the drama and say hi to the beautiful you! :) *Smiles*

Are We Human Beings Or Human Doings?

I came across the word 'human doings' a few years back and found it such an interesting concept that I knew I would be writing/talking on it some day.

We all know what a 'human being' means. All religions have different meanings of the word. The most common being- 'Human' means the body that we have and the 'Being' is the soul or the energy that fuels life in this body. That 'Being' is the decision maker, the thinker, the controller of actions, the epicenter of emotions and a lot more we could possibly comprehend.

Now let me explain how the word 'human doing' hit me. It was when I was watching sister Shivani from Brahmakumaris on TV. It was an amazing revelation to find out how we human beings have unknowingly become 'human doings'. We all have what we want or will soon go buy it, we live in amazing houses, holiday in hotels, swing on planes, eat more than required, BUT we don't have the time for ourselves. All said, we have a typical way of reacting or responding to day to day situations. Everyday, the same traffic, the same old reactions to the traffic, the same mistakes at work, the same reactions to our subordinates, the same politics, the same disgust towards politics, the same hunger games, ah! This list will be unending!

The same routine and the same old reactions that we have point out to something important. And this is what I wanted to draw your attention to! We have turned into 'human doings' as we have the same set of actions and reactions to all situations that hit us. We have become automated in that sense. We have become so accustomed to a particular way of thinking, working and reacting, that we don't even realize we have a 'choice' at every possible stage of our lives. Our belief systems are built on the bedrock that reinforces the belief that it's so-called 'natural' to give a particular response to an external stimuli. As we know we will be angry when the work assigned is not done or the spouse we live with acts crazy! This is how automated we have lead ourselves to become. We are just 'doing' things, just because people said they are right or just because someone made us believe that they are right. Have you stopped and thought where is this rule book of right and wrong? Where are these guidelines to 'living a righteous life' written? Eye opener huh?

So do you want to remain a 'human doing' or turn into a human being? A 'being' that is always aware of the actions it takes, a 'being' that is much much bigger than the situations that face it, a 'being' that is never a slave to it's emotions and a 'being' that is capable of doing much more than the human mind can comprehend. And a 'being' that always and always has a 'choice', no matter how difficult the circumstances look like. 

Welcome to a new world of thinking and a world of human beings! And remember to 'be' the beautiful being you are. Cause you are a masterpiece on planet earth. Always remember that!

Wishing you luck! :)

My first blog post

Hello my dear readers!

This is my first personal blog! I had been writing blogs at my previous employment at JamBuster Technologies and that’s when I realized my passion for content and blog writing. In the blog posts that I will be writing, I will be focusing on life, philosophy, asking logical questions and of course! Looking for interesting comments and feedback from my readers.

So this will be a blog that will NOT involve any direct/in-direct Marketing, Selling or the like! This is just a small effort from a Marketer (ME!), who loves discussing about life, the situations in it and merely observing where we are heading as a civilization (which is not that civil most of the times :p). It’s my earnest endeavor to evoke new thinking in my readers and ask questions that trigger healthy discussions. 

I acknowledge and respect the fact that the topics that interest me, may not be a topic of interest at all for few people. That’s completely a matter of choice and I respect that! For the people who love asking questions about life and discussing new ways to deal with it, this blog attempts to do exactly that! I would love to hear from my readers. Do feel free to ask questions, cross-questions and even better! Share your own experiences! All of your comments will be acknowledged and answered for sure. :)

I wish each and everyone reading this, an amazing amazing life and all the curiousness to explore it! 

Cheers to a good life!