Pursuit of Happiness

Happiness is your own individual decision
Total freedom to your pursuit of Happiness
Age no bar for Pursuit of Happiness

Everyone in his/her life pursues various objectives and goals with the ultimate objective of achieving happiness. ‘Pursuit of the happiness’, these words initial used by US president Jeffereson Devis. Subsequently they were made popular by Martin Luther king in his famous speech ‘I have a dream’. No doubt, everyone has a right to pursue happiness in whichever way the person likes. However, very often we are so much involved in daily routine that we are carried away by the string of events. In the process, we lose focus on what we are trying to achieve. It will be a good exercise for each one of us to reflect on  these words and work out and define what is how you plan to pursue your happiness.
Firstly, we must understand that happiness is not just momentary pleasures of life. I do not say that pleasures of life should not be there. But that these should be only a part of our larger plan, which should addresses some or all of the related features of happiness. The following aspects are of immense importance in an individual’s life.
Your attitude to life. One must have a positive attitude. Life is full of ups and downs. There could be challenges, successes and failures. Positive attitude means just to accept these as a part of life. You become a witness or an observer of what is going.  At the same time, use your discretion to take decisions. It’s only then that we understand that we can remain composed and maintain our poise in turbulent times. In fact, it is necessary to maintain our poise even in the happiest time. None of the two situations last forever. Like every night is followed by the day. Every day is followed by night. But in life it may not be in the same order and the duration may also vastly differ.

Importance of your Goals: In order that you pursue happiness, you must define your goals: in all of the following aspects.

  1. Health goals. Good mental and physical health is extremely important if you want to lead a happy life. Doing what is necessary to keep good health is everyone’s duty. Regular exercise, following proper food routine and maintaining positive attitude can ensure that you are moving towards your health goals from day to day. Yet, it is a continuous process to pursue throughout the life.
  2. Career/ financial goals. If you are successful in your career it expected that you will also do your financial and remain comfortable but you have to find tune of your objectives and follow the plan as devised.
  3. Your family is undoubtedly equally important and should feature in your pursuit of happiness, according to our own Indian tradition. The importance of finance and family are critical in your pursuit.
  4. Then comes to your social goals. What do want to contribute to the society and what you actually do, determines how successful you are in following social goals. Here again,  you need to define and then follow your plan of action. The amount of success you achieve in your social goals will add up in your happiness. It will also determine how the society perceives and respects you. In other words, it means your reputation is reflected by what and how you contribute to the society.
  5. For leading a fuller, complete life you must pursue some hobbies. At least one. It could be music. It could be painting .It could be some sport. It could also be travelling, writing etc. But the important thing is that you have atlaest one hobby on which you able to spend some time. It must not only for name sake.
  6. Last but not the least your spiritual goals are also important. We all know that no one has to stay here forever. Sooner or later we must depart. We don’t know where. This uncertainty needs your spiritual pursuit. Whichever religion you may follow, you must define your spiritual goals. These will eventually define how you are remembered after your departure.

 
Thank you for your reading.

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER:

Everyone loves to enjoy beauty. The beauty of nature is captivating. but, what is beauty when it comes to human beings? Beauty is not something that comes from physical appearance. Physical attractiveness are deception; what matters really is the nature of a person. It is  true that beautiful or handsome people are more appealing. But we can have a reliable relationship and long lasting trust only on the personalities of people. Physical appearance of a person might fade as years pass on; but their characters do not. So, we should nit judge anyone or anything by the appearance. It is a great wisdom to realize that “Beauty Is In the Eye of The Beholder”

If we all are familiar about the proverb “All that Glitters is Not Gold”, then we would be aware that we cannot believe someone by their appearance. When we are in the light of wisdom outer beauty of a person will not drive us.  What makes a person attractive is the inner beauty.

People with inner beauty are those that love to make peace with everyone, take care of fellow beings and try to follow the path of justice.

How many of us remember the significance of physical beauty when we talk about King Maker Kamarajar? (Late Chief Minister Tamil Nadu).


Do we think physical appearance is important even after we hold Sports personalities like Sachin Tendulkar, Mary Kom, Maria Sharapova and many others as our role models? We do not see the appearance of these people to keep them high as our inspiration. Their talents and achievements are incomparable and that is what has made them world famous. If we think they have become famous by their beauty then it is our foolishness



The legends who have lived and made us realize the importances of inner beauty are: Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. Nelson Mandela is a great man known for his sacrifice Mandela was willing to sacrifice in order bring equality and get equal rights for the Blacks in South Africa. He is definitely a legend with inner beauty. Mahatma Gandhi, who fought till death for Free India is a man of inner beauty. If we learn the sacrifice Mother Teresa made in her life to serve the poor, we will agree that Beauty lies inside not outside.

Only when we know what real beauty is, we will understand what we see in the outside is just a projection. What matters is the character inside. Like how we see a jack-fruit as a hard and rough fruits outside, but a sweet and yummy piece of delight inside, it is true that “Beauty Lies in the Eye of The Beholder”.

Contributed by Pravin More, a student of our Public Speaking Course.

Dealing with difficult people.

Each person is an individual. The way they are, think, act or react are also different. So they are bound to be. Often times we perceive certain people as difficult even though they may not be if we try to understand them closely. In any case there are indeed some difficult people. We have to deal with them, nevertheless. We cannot avoid them in society, family and/or work place.

It is necessary to form a strategy of dealing with difficult people who are important to us. The critical steps are

  1. To specify what we want to achieve.
  2. Which means could be best to achieve the objective.
  3. To understand them (difficult people) dispassionately
  4. To try to get in to their shoes to evaluate the situation from their perspective
  5. What they perceive about you and what could be their objective in your relationship.

Once you have reviewed the above, the next logical step is to reassess the situation. And review your actions. Take time to do it. In meetings, listen to them closely. Make them realize that you are assimilating their concern not because you have to but also because you like to. This will change the way difficult people look at you and your disposition. Your task becomes easier.

Further, during the meeting ask most relevant questions and briefly. It’s necessary to control your modulation during these conversations. You need to make your interaction informal, interesting and earnest. Listen to their response to your questions intently. Assess their response and think through your own response. And then be prepared to meet them again.

Difficult people are not so difficult, after all.
Thanks for reading

4 Main Reasons for Saddening Stress and Why we must have Literary Break!

The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable. There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.
-Seneca 4 B.C.? 65 A.D.
Anxiety is the worst habit of human personality. In fact one only needs to be concerned about any untoward situation, but that should never lead us to worry about anything that may happen. It is said that the fear of death is worse than death. Often, many fatal mistakes may also be made because of fear of uncertainty.
Anxiety is also called the parent of many sins. In spite of the fact that we all know that negative thinking, worry or anxiety never help, yet we fall prey to these atrocious daemons. In a world where everything is doubtful, and where we may be disappointed, and yet at times be blessed in the very disappointment, why this restless stir and commotion of mind? Can it alter the cause? No. Can it unravel the mystery? No. Can these negative habits resolve any of our woes? No. Then why do we become the cause of our own sufferings?
The reason is not far to seek. The idiotic rat race that we are run like marathon runners is the main culprit.
So we are all stressed. We don’t like anything. Further even we may start thinking that the life doesn’t have any significance and therefore it’s an unnecessary burden.
That makes stress management a critical subject of personal management and business management. Due to the ever pervading stress, we lose touch with literature arts and all other finer things of life which act as the stress busters or which may even change our negative attitude which makes anybody’s life miserable.
Other reasons of stress are as below:
  1. Because of the impossible targets the company you are working for; you are expected to achieve. In turn, you lose perspective and don’t care fore the work life balance. You only slog for achieving your sales or other such performance targets.
  2. Thus the professional, today, has only one goal for which he has to slog day and night and that is keeping the job secure which is necessary to run your family, to make both ends meet somehow.
  3. Due to no break from the rut, efficiency drastically suffers and the pressure on poor man increases. The business owner doesn’t realize this. There is a stark competition out there and the CEO has to produce numbers to satisfy his hungry business owners who are always concerned with the valuation of the company.
  4. After day’s hard work, when he returns home the only entertainment, he turns to is television. Unfortunately instead of receiving any solace, he is bombarded with only negative news. Negative news about rapes, murders, scams, fatal accidents and the like. These are all delivered in high voltage manner where reporters compete with one another to use high pitch mind disturbing voice. After all they only concerned with the TRPs.
With a view to bring some relief to the sad situation of those who suffer from the above ills, I offer a break from the mundane routine. I give below a famous poem of William Wordsworth. The words chosen by the poet create music just as imagery used creates a beautiful enlightening theme. You may enjoy reading it aloud.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
By William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely, as a cloud
That floats on high, o’er vales and hills,
When all at once, I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing, in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched, in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I, at a glance,
Tossing their heads, in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not, but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth, the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Thanks for reading.

7 Reasons for Respecting Others

1

  1. Respect is a key element for creating a good bond between people, whether it is family, friends, work zone or any other surrounding.
  2. One of the best ways to respect is to listen. Listen to what the person is trying to say. First listen, then understand, then say something if you have something to say. Listen to understand, not to reply. Sometimes, you may not understand what that person is trying to say or express. But respecting them by listening to their words might be excellent for them. It may not be anything to you, but for them it could be everything.
  3. We owe respect and give love. If someone has done something nice to us, then we owe them respect. We need to thanks them. But love is without expectation.
  4. If you have done something good, then you need not beg for respect and compromise your dignity. Remember, respect is for those who deserve it, not those who demand it.
  5. Show respect to people who don’t deserve it, not as their character’s reflection but of yours. Show them how you treat them.
  6. Sometimes, the way people treat you is your own reflection. They just show us the mirror. So, treat them the way you want them to treat you. It’s a give and take business. Give respect earn respect.
  7. But, is respecting others the only thing? The answer is – NO. While respecting others, you have to create respect for yourself. First respect yourself. The person who doesn’t respect himself can’t expect respect from others. The famous scientist Albert Einstein has once said, “Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.”

Thanks for reading.

Dealing with difficult people.

Each person is an individual. The way they are, think, act or react are also different. So they are bound to be. Often times we perceive certain people as difficult even though they may not be if we try to understand them closely. In any case there are indeed some difficult people. We have to deal with them, nevertheless. We cannot avoid them in society, family and/or work place.
dealing_with_difficult_people_img_01_0
It is necessary to form a strategy of dealing with difficult people who are important to us. The critical steps are

  1. To specify what we want to achieve.
  2. Which means could be best to achieve the objective.
  3. To understand them (difficult people) dispassionately
  4. To try to get in to their shoes to evaluate the situation from their perspective
  5. What they perceive about you and what could be their objective in your relationship.

Once you have reviewed the above, the next logical step is to reassess the situation. And review your actions. Take time to do it. In meetings, listen to them closely. Make them realize that you are assimilating their concern not because you have to but also because you like to. This will change the way difficult people look at you and your disposition. Your task becomes easier.
images1
Further, during the meeting ask most relevant questions and briefly. It’s necessary to control your modulation during these conversations. You need to make your interaction informal, interesting and earnest. Listen to their response to your questions intently. Assess their response and think through your own response. And then be prepared to meet them again.
images2
Difficult people are not so difficult, after all.
Thanks for reading.

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