What is it that you learned very late in life but wish you knew much earlier?

Who can be your best teacher? Pic credit : Pinterest

The following are the things that I realized very late in life and wish I could have known them earlier in my life: –

  1. Never stop learning: – Once you have completed your formal education and got into your first job, most of us say goodbye to the education. This is not correct. The education should continue side by side till your last day of life! Keep updating yourself. Learn something new always.
  • Be more Granular: – Avoid superficiality. Get into more details. This implies to every aspect of your life especially to your work/expertise. Remember, the more knowledgeable you are the more valuable you become to others.
  • Keep the time frame of your life in mind: – We have limited time in our life but we all live as if we would be living till eternity! So, ensure you achieve your goals in proper time frame. If you are not happy in your life then find out the reasons and fix the problem then and there. Don’t just wait that a miracle would happen some fine day and then you will have happiness. Time is precious!
  • Nurture your relationships: – This is very important. Often when young we give a damn to this. But we need people all the time – both in our personal life and in our professional life.
  • Taking care of your Parents in real sense: – They have less time. Do whatever you ever wanted to do for them. Do it now. Don’t wait for a suitable time. They will seldom ask for what they want. You have to understand them and provide them.
  • Be mindful of what and how you speak: – Nothing to add here 🙂

Cheers!

Peace of mind is very important in life!

A calm and relaxed mind helps you to take the right decisions

Peace of mind is very important in life!

How can we achieve it?

Meditation, deep breathing exercises, money, power, health, relationships…

What contributes to the peace of mind?

Duke University did a study on “peace of mind.” Factors found to contribute greatly to emotional and mental stability are:

1.    The absence of suspicion and resentment. – Nursing a grudge was a major factor in unhappiness.

2.    Not living in the past. – An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures leads to depression.

3.    Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change.- Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it.

4.    Force yourself to stay involved with the living world. – Resist the temptation to withdraw and become reclusive during periods of emotional stress.

5.    Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal. – Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some sorrow and misfortune.

 6.  Cultivate the old-fashioned virtues—love, humour, compassion and loyalty.

 7.   Do not expect too much of yourself. – When there is too wide a gap between self-expectation and your ability to meet the goals, you have set, feelings of inadequacy are inevitable.

   8.  Find something bigger than yourself to believe in.-Self-cantered egotistical people score lowest on any test for measuring happiness.

Cheers!

Pearls of Wisdom- 4

Light filtering out of the rain drops on the window
Raindrops or opportunities knocking my window?

Heart is a beautiful pot. Whatever you plant, it grows and bears you flowers and fruits. Now, it depends on you as to what you decide to grow.

You can have best of the cars but it’s of no use if you don’t know your destination. The costliest shoes will not help if you don’t take the first step towards your goal. Costly things don’t matter; your attitude and hard work does.

It’s very easy to CRITISIZE. You will find every second person criticizing something or someone. No talent required. But to CREATE you require talent. Be a CREATOR and not a CRITICIZER.

Some people WAIT for the right time, right opportunity, and the right alignment of stars to START. And their waiting continues as the perfect time never arrives! Every moment is important…and you can begin NOW.

People will hate you when they discover they don’t possess what you have. Let them continue hating you while you continue marching ahead shining with glory.

Life is not a race to be run fast and won. Life is a journey where every halt is to be enjoyed and relished, each weather is to be felt and cherished and lastly, every person you meet on the way is to be accepted with humility and kindness.

In pursuing your dream you will have road blocks which will cause delay. Wait rather than give up because the pain of waiting will be nothing as compared to the pain of regret for giving up.

Thoughts by Anirvan Chakravarty

Cheers!

Pearls of Wisdom-1

Tow young kids sitting on the promenade at the sea.
That BIG ship will be mine one day!

A child fears nothing while trying something new…and enjoys the whole process and the outcome. An adult thinks ten times before attempting something new….and lives with constant fear throughout the process. Have a child’s attitude always!

Life is like that; when you thought all is set and nothing can go wrong now…you get hit the hardest! Similarly, when you thought all is finished and nothing can be done now…blessings happen and you hit a fortune!

Two things that make you RICH are good health and peace of mind. No matter what all you accumulate throughout your life, if you are not healthy enough to enjoy it or if it does not provide you any peace, you remain POOR.

Palm full of coins.
Too much!….too less!

When things are going on well, we all perform well. It’s only in crisis that our real potential is tested… as to how well we can perform in the adversity. Be the real performer!

We get engaged in our daily fire fighting mode, busy making stop gap arrangements, putting stuff under the carpet… and life goes on. Take a break! Think about the person you want to be and put your efforts in that direction.

Sandwich at the Bus Stop…

An elderly couple holding hands.

Every day in the evening I would go for the walk, all dressed up in track pants and sports shoes. I would look around to the people and the shops that were there on the side of the road. The road had a variety of shops…from hair saloons to wine shops, from small tea stalls to medium size restaurants, from grocery shop to furniture shop and many more. It had almost any and everything that one can think of. Slowly, I began to recognize the people and the faces looked familiar.

While returning, I used to pass by a particular bus stop. This bus stop was the last but one to the place where I stayed. And at this Bus stop, I started noticing one couple every day sitting on the bench. They were in the twilight stage of their lives. Both the man and the woman must be in their late sixties or early seventies. The man wore specs and was tall. He was partially bald and had a very fair complexion. He was lean and athletically built. At least, he appeared to me like that irrespective of his age. I should say, he must have been a handsome man in his younger days. He still looked handsome I thought. On the other hand, the lady was short in height but had sharp features. She too was very fair and had big black eyes beautifully lined with kajal (black eyeliner) and had a glowing complexion. Her hair was long…sometimes loosely tied and sometimes left open. She looked very elegant in both the styles with her tresses. She always had a smile on her face; a very warm and genuine smile. The man also looked very content.

 I seldom saw them talking. The man would look straight most of the time but the woman would rotate her head to have a glance in all directions as if not to miss any of the happenings around them. I believe this is how men and women differ in their respective basic nature! Initially, I thought that they must be waiting for the bus but slowly as I noticed them every day at the same time, I concluded that they were not waiting for any bus. I was curious to know why they were at the bus stop rather than to be at the park which was nearby. Maybe, they liked to watch people around and at this time of the day, the park would be empty. Somehow, they reminded me of the lines of the famous Welsh poet W.H Davies, who wrote in his poem Leisurewhat is this life if, full of care; we have no time to stand and stare’.

Yes, they had all the time in this busy world and they were enjoying all the moments which life was offering to them. This bus stop was not much crowded and was on a wider road. So, in a way, it was better. Sometimes, I saw both of them eating sandwiches which they brought with themselves. Later, the man would pour some hot coffee or tea for both from a Thermos.

This is life, I thought. Life can offer so many beautiful moments. Only we need to have the time and patience and a sense of appreciation for it.

Life is all about these small pleasures!

Cheers!

Eleven Inspiring Quotes by RUMI

A Woman standing near sea shore with waves touching her feet

Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.

Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.

These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them.

I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.

Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. Cleverness is mere opinion. Bewilderment brings intuitive knowledge.

It’s your road, and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.

You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?

Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.

Peaceful is the one who’s not concerned with having more or less. Unbound by name and fame, he is free from sorrow from the world and mostly from himself.

Don’t make yourself miserable with what is to come or not to come.

Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.

About RUMI: Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet, an Islamic dervish and a Sufi mystic. He is regarded as one of the greatest spiritual masters and poetical intellects. Born in 1207 AD, he belonged to a family of learned theologians. He made use of everyday life’s circumstances to describe the spiritual world. Rumi’s poems have acquired immense popularity, especially among the Persian speakers of Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan. Numerous poems written by the great poet have been translated to different languages.

Read more about RUMI here.

Cheers!