CELEBRATE LIFE

Quite often some people belittle the world and its charms saying that all is lost and there is no sweetness in life. This attitude is surprising when there are still sunshine, rain, roses, spring, autumn, stars, honey, good friends and caring families. Good humour and good nature is there in abundance in and about all of us. You can extract the best out of everything. It is only a question of being dedicated about doing what you want to do. It is also a question of understanding  your own behaviour towards others and managing yourself and your relationships with others. You cannot do everything you want to in life. However, you can do some things. That what you can do you ought to do. Each day is too short for all we want to accomplish whether it is reading, writing or meeting all the friends we want to. In fact that I can finish only about fifty percent of the things I plan to do because of lack of time. You should keep a record of your measurements, achievements and setbacks so that you know what you should do and what you should avoid. Life is a series of surprises. It is this element which makes it interesting and keep it going. The following anonymous poem sums up the situation-

This day is mine to mar or make

God keep me strong and true

Let me no erring by path take

No erring actions do.

Grant me when the setting sun

This fleeting day shall end

I may rejoice over something done

Be richer by a friend.

Let all I meet along the way

Speak well of me tonight.

I would not have the humblest say,

I had hurt him by a slight.

Let there be something true and fine

When night slips down to tell

That I have lived this day of mine

Not selfishly but well.

It is the maximum good and minimum friction that is important. Nobody reaches the top without occasionally slipping. When someone stumbles give him a chance and get him moving again. As a person determined to succeed you should establish clear achievable objectives for your performance as well as those of your organization. You should find ways and means to reach and touch everybody in your teams and organization. In any job you will find a number of so-called experts. Do not be overawed or bewildered by them or their expertise. More often than not your own judgement is better than that of experts. Quite often people will complain against you. This is due to the fact that you want to give your best and expect others to give their best, too. If you are a hard worker and a hard taskmaster you will drive people towards high standards of performance and will expect a great deal from them. This approach will not make you popular especially with those who do not work or do not like to work hard but it should not deter you from setting high standards and goals and achieving them.

Ultimately, everybody likes to win. Everybody loves a winner. This can be seen in all the pages of the newspapers. You will be respected as a successful leader if you help others to reach great heights and achieve worthwhile objectives. As an individual committed to achieve success you have to devise your own set of rules and guidelines for successful living. During the course of the day you will come across a number of ideas for efficient working. The problem arises later on when you want to recollect and act upon them. You can determine your own method for storing and recalling them whether it is in a notebook or in a computer or a memo pad. What is important is to have a sound system of recalling and acting of ideas.

Do not be afraid of mistakes and misjudgements. They teach you a great deal and lead you to victory. My own method is to speak the idea or the work to be done in portable mini cassette recorder or jot it down. Even if an idea occurs to me at midnight it is immediately put on tape. (otherwise for the whole night I go on thinking of how to do it but when the morning comes it disappears from the mind.) If I do not put it on record, then it goes on haunting me. ( This way I can get it out of my mind and store it for action next day.) If it is not put in some kind of a memory bank immediately the chances are that it will elude you when you want to act on it.

You should be an active participant in the drams of real life. Face whatever comes your way. Remember that sometimes you may be criticized even for doing just and correct things. Your best defence should be the armour of indifference. It is a very effective shield against even the most biting and sarcastic criticism. In the face of such criticism never lose your zest or enthusiasm for life. The creative power of enthusiasm can do wonders for you. Being enthusiastic can lead you to good health. Depressive thoughts affect optimism, faith and a positive, productive lifestyle. The only way to be enthusiastic, is just to think enthusiastic and act enthusiastic. It is the same for courage. You can be courageous just by being courageous and overcoming your fears. Forcing yourself to be happy will make you happy. You can get ahead in life only by being enthusiastic. Never minimize your work or opportunities that come your way. Never berate yourself and your work. Enthusiasm is a good indicator about the quality of life you lead or can lead or will lead. Avoid giving way to annoyance or irritation.

Destiny is calling each one of us everyday.

Take things as they come. Be urbane and philosophical. Accept the problems that come in your life. Discover the best possible solution to deal with them. If one door closes, another one opens. Do not waste time in regret over closed doors or methods. Regret or guilt does not yield any results. Instead, open another door or find another method for solving your problems. You should clearly view the resources and the opportunities that are available to you. Threat the problems as opportunities. See the best in every situation. Expect the best at all times. Destiny is calling each one of us every day. Every day can be a great day if you do not waste time in futile recrimination. Never even think of, ‘‘If only I had done this or that.’’ This will remind you only of past failures, errors of judgements and mistakes which are best forgotten. Failures and failure-producing thoughts should be cut of your life. Expect the best at all times even in the worst of situations. Cast out of your life all negative and depressing thoughts. Embrace the positive and throw away defeatist concepts. Remind yourself that you are better than what you think you can be. Clem stone says, ‘‘Millions of people in every walk of life have tried to achieve high goals that were achievable. Why? They were told or believed, ‘It  can’t be done.’’ And they never learned or applied the first principle of the art of motivation, that is to say, a positive mental attitude(PMA) could have helped them achieve any goal that did not violate universal laws, the laws of God and the rights or goals of their fellowmen. If only they had motivated themselves to Recognise, Relate, Assimilate and Apply from what they read, heard, saw, thought and experienced....  The subconscious will come up with the answers through repetition and repetition. You have to believe in your own judgement. You have to trust yourself to make decisions without bothering whether others approve of your approach. Never try to be somebody you are not. It is very stressful to be a different person from what you actually are. It is wonder of wonders that most people think that events and things that happen to them happen only to them and not to the rest of the world. Never lie to yourself. It is more pernicious than the lie and untruths you can tell others. Appearances are crucial to success and dressing well is very important. Occasionally, you have to be ready to be cheated by deceptive appearances. For achieving success there are some basic premises which should be kept in mind all the time. One: what are the ground rules of the game or plan? Learn them and master them. Two:  who is responsible for enforcing the same? What can be your role in that? Three: who is the boss? Are you trying to be one or help him? Is it he or somebody else who is responsible for enforcing the same? You must decide your bottom line or ‘ lakshman rekha’ as the scriptures put it and never cross it. You have to defend your honour. If you do not, you will give an impression  that you have none to defend. It  is a paradox that it is not work which exhaust the mind but idleness. Thoughts are fragrant like flowers that sweeten our lives. Whatever we sow in life, we reap the same. It is the higher view which will drive away the baser instincts from life. If you do the right action you will be able to do the greatest good with the minimum of energy and strain. The effort should be to keep the lower instincts under check.

 Say to yourself,‘‘Nothing is impossible for me. I have the strength and intelligence of Gods.’’

They cause chaos in life. With sound character and God’s rhythm in life, order and harmony will come naturally to you. As a high achiever you should have a sense of being a higher self.  You can accomplish many amazing feats by believing in your capacity to achieve anything you wish to achieve. You should not set any limits to your knowledge. Never place a limitation on it. Just plunge headlong into well-thought out activity which will lead to the achievement of your goals. Believe in yourself to the point of being able to control the conditions and circumstances around you. Say to yourself ‘Nothing is impossible for me. I have the strength and intelligence of the Gods.’’  Reducing stress and resistance will increase your efficiency. When you are in harmony with yourself and the universe, all factors in your life will function as one entity. When you are in rhythm, you can have the highest level of efficiency. For a top class performance you really have to be happy individual. Says Thomas Carlyle: ‘Give me a man who sings at this work.’’ It is the deep and vibrant joy which can make you efficient. You can train yourself to live joyfully only by thinking and practising joy. Think regularly and persistently on the things you desire. In this way you can make yourself and type of person whether a great achiever or a courageous or joyful person.

Put joyful and glorious thoughts in your mind. You can improve yourself only by controlling and channelizing your mind in the direction you desire. Dwell only on happy, healthy and helpful thoughts. Condition your mind with optimistic thinking and affirmations. The law of reciprocity works in life in all directions and tell the time. In exact proportion to the amount of joy and happiness you spread and the help you give others you will receive those back. Being joyful and dynamic are essential qualities to success. Condition your thoughts to live on the top. With success thoughts saturating you, you will always be on the top. Replace your destructive and depressing thoughts with positive and uplifting thoughts. Dwell only on your victories and successes. Close the door on you past failures, regrets or bitter, unpleasant experiences. Cut out all negative and ugly influences. You should develop a strong motivating force as well as an intense desire and a belief to reach your desired goal. It is true that, occasionally, a lot of life’s problems will gang up against us but you should never give up your positive attitude. Otherwise that itself will become a handicap in overcoming your difficulties. Always imagine yourself as a successful person. You can be what you think yourself to be.