From past few weeks I have been running around - at home and at work. My mind has never stopped thinking, it has been continuous in thought process - in making castles, in making plans but execution has always failed and that is what torments me. I was reading an article which said,” Execution is everything. Plan all you want, dream all you can, then turn that key or you've accomplished nothing. Execution is what separates those with lofty ideas from those who end up winning the game. It's about taking strategies and making sure they are implemented with power.” Ahh! When will I learn to execute things!! That is a big mystery which I am sure will get resolved sooner or later.
Its 12.30 AM which means 4th October, 2009 has passed and new day has already started. I see all my family members deep in slumber. Few more hours and it will be bright and sunny but right now the drawing room is dark, empty and silent. It is windy outside and I can hear the buzzing of the mosquitoes. The collage on my cupboard reminds me of good old days, of the moments spent with family and friends. Some books lie on my bed side reminding me that I need to go through them as soon as possible. I can see the curtain of my room moving to and fro. I lie in discomfort thinking of the day - how it started and how it came to an end. My eyes are tired. How I wish – there should be better understanding between people and better way of executing plans. I need to work on it - soon.
Sometimes, I wonder why one finds a void, some uncertainty creeping up when life goes on and on. It’s a sudden rush when one is busy with the mundane of life, with daily chores - one feels as if there has much to be achieved, so much to learn, so much to ask for, so much to live but time seems to be a big constraint. The question sometimes is where to start and what to do?Some questions which often call for an immediate attention and which keep on disturbing are – “I don’t know who I am anymore? What is that I have achieved till date? and many more.” Perhaps each day I spend with family and friends is taking me closer to end of my life and questioning not only who I am, but who I have been - I feel disturbed, petrified, I feel some void, something missing. No matter where I am in life’s journey, such questions usually evoke confusion and when there is no ready response, the ensuing silence is more frightening, the silence is more devastating. While I was flicking through the pages of a book I came across some interesting lines - mind creates defense mechanisms to deal with any number of pressures put upon the psyche- trauma, information overload, frustration, indecision, despair. It works the subconscious mind while you work the conscious. But sometimes it so happens that we are totally unaware, with no resolution or answer ever to be given. There are some immediate concerns which cannot be answered by mind too and that is where you find a VOID!
As a child I grew up being very naughty. I used to be a naughty child although very good at studies but naughtiness used to be one of my ingrained characteristics.
Lately, I have been taking CRM sessions (for those who do not understand the jargon – CRM means Customer Relationship Management) in office. Actually, one of my passions would be teaching. Conducting CRM sessions was fun and in addition to imparting sessions to my colleagues it gave me a chance where I could brush my own skills.
After conducting CRM sessions for a month here is what I can summarize from my personal experience:
1) Teaching is a two way process where the teacher is the giver and the student is the receiver. It involves a relation between the mind of one person (teacher) and the mind of another (student).
2) It is important for a teacher to be patient while teaching. There are times when one can be tested for his/her patience levels and am sure people who have higher levels of patience can turn out to be marvelous teachers.
3) Expect unexpected things from students.
4) Never ask from the students the unreasonable, ask what they are unable to give.
5) Before imparting any lecture it’s a good practice to read and understand the topic before hand. Learn before you preach should be the motto of a good teacher.
6) It’s important to use real life examples while imparting lectures. In this way the receiver gets a clear understanding of the topic as well as the situation.
7) One of the important challenges which a teacher can face is to keep the interest of the students alive for the whole session. This requires lot of skill. Asking questions and encouraging student to interact helps in reducing the monotony.
Teacher is not merely a talking book or a broadcast to an unknown audience he/she should be held in utmost reverence. It is important to give respect to teachers because teaching is devoted to the good of others. It is an act of supreme generosity which few can impart.
The heart that gives, gathers.Change your thoughts and change the world.Sometimes in the winds of change we find our true direction.Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things.Keep your face to sunshine and you will not see the shadows.
When nostalgia hits, it hits hard!
I had intended to use the subject of my earlier post for a longer discussion, but ended up posting just the poem as I always thought that it was good enough to demand exclusivity and I did not have the rest of the content ready. I use this one to continue once again on the same thread (sorry for sticking to it, but the last one DID remain incomplete!)
Last week, most mornings at home began with discussions on our absolute disgust at the lack of commitment, honesty and sincerity in the support staff (can't find a better term for the maids, cooks, nannies and the drivers of the world!) and how to prevent their sudden and sometimes even extended leaves of absence. I am just out of a session with one such staff delivering the last and final warning of giving out a 'pink slip!' (of course given for the nth time). I have always tended to dislike the propensity in people to score high and win battles based on decibel levels (most of them are always ignorant of the severe after-effects on other people), and am pleased to say that in this case again, I did not have to test the extremes of either my decibel level or my temper.
On my way to office however, I began to think about how a few signficant moments, especially those in the early mornings, tend to change the complexion of my entire day. A hearty laugh at the beginning of a day has always enthused me no end and brought a spring in my step. Conversely, a bad argument early on in the day has more often than not tended to drag the rest of my day down in a negative spiral. I am not sure if I could apply the principles of 'momentum' or 'inertia' out here, but I will find it hard to deny the strong influence of the mental makeup of one moment over the next. And......more importantly, the mood of one person over the other. Simply put, I am referring to the 'hang-over' of situations and moods of people in one's lives!!! That brings me to the subject of this post which is essentially a continuation of the previous one - the hangover of a morning smile.
Before we go to the morning smile though, I should speak about an article that I was recently going through about a fascinating study on 'happiness' published in the British Medical Journal. While the results of the study - "Happiness is contagious" - did not reveal anything that we already do not know, I found some elements fascinating because of the effort made to go a step further and understand the rationale for contagion (misery may not love company but happiness does! - why?) as well as quantify the spread/impact in the social networks. They found that when someone gets happy, that person’s friend experiences a 25% increased chance of becoming happy. A friend of that friend experiences a nearly 10% chance of increased happiness, and a friend of that friend has a 5.6% increased chance of happiness.In addition, a spouse experiences an 8% increased chance while the next-door neighbour experiences 34% !!! (Now, do not ask me why the next door neighbour experiences a 400% greater chance of being happy than your spouse!) Expectedly, sadness is far less contagious as it makes you pull away from others thus giving them lesser exposure to your bad mood. Coming back to the smile more specifically, scientists in Sweden at the Uppsala University have seprately figured out why it's so difficult to keep a straight face when others are grinning away. Apparently, there is a shortcut to the part of the brain that recognizes faces and expressions that bypasses the area responsible for conscious processing.
Without getting carried away by the research studies themselves (sometimes, I tend to read them - especially in the Science section of the TOI - because I find them more amusing and funny than informative!), I like to come back to the subject that I am more fascinated with - the 'morning smile'. Now, how is a morning smile different from an afternoon or an evening smile ? I am definitely not going to talk about all of them out here, but you would appreciate the fact that there are innumerable variants of a smile each quite different from the other (depending on the angle of the twitch in the face and its honesty, the time or the person giving that smile !). Essentially what I am referring to is the first greeting that you give a person you are seeing or meeting for the first time during the day starting from the one that you wake up with lying on the bed.
The positive energy flowing from the warmth of this morning smile is like booster shots given to fallen football players. Can be addictive as coffee and give you the high of a marijuana, and the longest hang-over that you would never regret having !! The picture in your mind of a lazy beautiful smile from the bed with the first rays of the sun streaming very gently through the curtains is like a slow invigorating drug making you feel calm and blissful to begin with, and filling you up with energy in time. Beginning the day on a positive note more often than not has led me to have a more productive and fruitful day, and this is one hangover that I really look forward to. It makes you think about all the nice things in the world, about how you are likely to go out there today and conquer the world. It makes you dream, and how I love dreaming...... there is so much in your hands to make yourself feel good !! Conversely of course, it goes without saying that I hate to start my day with an argument or a complaint or in a bad mood.
I tend to be most comfortable, energetic and happy when I am with people who have this 'ready smile' with them. Sometimes, a ready grin is even more delightful, and the one that is a touch naughty with a twinkle in the eye just floods my head up completely!! I feel like the the parched earth dancing to the first monsoon rain, and celebrating the joy in the air. I am posting this to thank everyone around me who care to give me that million dollar smile the first thing every morning. With small babies and big babies around me at home, I have been lucky to enjoy the ready grin (many a times with the twinkle!), and I simply devour these moments and the kids!!
Kids do not always continue to remain kids, and life always offers these fascinating twists that tend to sober down people and suck certain things away. My message - A beautiful smile (and even a ready naughty grin) is god's gift to you and it gives you enormous power that you may not realize, with potential to change other people's lives. Come what may, do not lose it...... as this hangover is one that everyone will love looking forward to!
A smile costs nothing, but gives much.
It enriches those who receive,
without making poorer those who give.
It takes but a moment,
but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.
None is so rich or
mighty that he can get along without it,
and none is so poor but that
he can be made rich by it.
A smile creates happiness in the home,
fosters good will in business,
and is the countersign of friendship.
It brings rest to the weary,
cheer to the discouraged,
sunshine to the sad,
and is nature's best antidote for trouble.
Yet it cannot be
bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen.
For it is something that is of no
value to anyone until it is given away.
Some people are too tired to give you a smile.
Give them one of yours,
as none needs a smile so much as
he who has no more to give."
My mom and my dad are not what they seem.Their dull appearance is part of their scheme.I know of their plans. I know their techniques.My parents are outer space alien freaks!They landed on earth in spaceships humongous.Posing as grownups, they now walk among us.My parents deny this, but I know the truth.They're here to enslave me and spoil my youth.Early each morning, as the sun rises,Mom and dad put on their earthling disguises.I knew right away their masks weren't legit.Their faces are lined - they sag and don't fit.The earth's gravity makes them sluggish and slow.They say not to run, wherever I go.They live by the clock. They're slaves to routines.They work the year 'round. They're almost machines.They deny that TV and fried food have much worth.They cannot be human. They're not of this earth.I cannot escape their alien gaze,And they're warping my mind with their alien ways.For sinister plots, this one is a gem.They're bringing me up to turn me into them.
From past few weeks I have been running around - at home and at work. My mind has never stopped thinking, it has been continuous in thought process - in making castles, in making plans but execution has always failed and that is what torments me. I was reading an article which said,” Execution is everything. Plan all you want, dream all you can, then turn that key or you've accomplished nothing. Execution is what separates those with lofty ideas from those who end up winning the game. It's about taking strategies and making sure they are implemented with power.” Ahh! When will I learn to execute things!! That is a big mystery which I am sure will get resolved sooner or later.
