Are you resisting your dreams?

Do not resist your dreams.
Let life flow with blood 
on concrete floor of reality
to an open space called freedom,
even if
your body is melting like butter on a hot day.
Preserve your freedom,
do not resist your dreams.

Do not resist your dreams.
Let the sunshine of wisdom
reach the darkest spot within you
through the slit
cut at the throat of your experience
even if
your hands are tied,
legs shackled, vision blurred.
Nurture thoughts that make you unique,
do not resist your dreams.

Do not resist your dreams.
Let your spirit rise
competing with high tides of the sea
to touch the faraway moon
even if
you have only moon's reflection
on your quivering breast,
framed with molten passion.
Love and be loved,
do not resist your dreams.

Is your story similar to my story?

"Whoever you are, there is some younger person who thinks you are perfect. There is some work that will never be done if you don't do it. There is someone who would miss you if you were gone. There is a place that you alone can fill." -- Jacob Braude


THIRTY YEARS AGO, at the onset of teenage, I was entering into my physical best. I was a little better than a hormone-driven ape and a little less than a heroics-driven rebel. Like a wild mountain river, my blood could gush anytime, anywhere. In moments of constructive anger, it gushed upwards and in moments of constructive hunger, it gushed downwards. In general, life was governed by passionate tides in my blood. What caused these powerful tides in my blood?

Dreams caused huge tides in my blood. My dreams were mainly of three types: to learn smarter than anybody, to love greater than anybody and to lead better than anybody. In my keen desire and struggle to transform myself from nobody to somebody, I hated to be just like anybody.

THIRTY YEARS FROM NOW, at the first step of old age, I will be entering into my physical worst. I will be a little better than a powerless child and a little less than an egoless monk. Blood will move quietly in my old veins like a gentle river that has almost reached the sea. There will be tides in my blood, but they will not be the high tides of passion. They will be the energising tides of compassion.

Dreams will still cause tides in my blood. My dreams will be mainly of three types: to learn smarter than anybody, to love greater than anybody and to last longer than anybody. In my keen desire and struggle to maintain normalcy of body and mind, I will love to be just like anybody.

TODAY, at the doorstep of midlife, I am at the best of my combined physical and mental strengths. My body is nearly as strong as it used to be at the peak of my youth, but my mind is certainly much stronger than what it used to be at the peak of my youth. Now, my blood moves like a river in search of a dam that can transform the passion of stored water into compassion of useful electricity. Unlike the wild mountain river of youth, my blood no more tries to destroy the hurdles in its path. It now tries to transform these hurdles into stepping stones for rising higher than myself.

I no more desire to be visibly powerful like a thunderbolt, but I dream to be invisibly powerful like channeled electricity. I want to make many light bulbs glow on the way as I travel my own life’s path from passion to compassion.

My dreams are now mainly of two types: to live healthy and strong for next thirty years and to live next thirty years better than the last thirty years. How do I plan to achieve these dreams? Simple: Just by making my today’s self better than my yesterday’s self.

Do you know these classic quotes about happiness?

"The very purpose of our life is to seek happiness...the very motion of our life is towards happiness." ~His Holiness the Dalai Lama

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” – Albert Schweitzer

“Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.” ~Victor Hugo

“If you want happiness for an hour -- take a nap. If you want happiness for a day -- go fishing. If you want happiness for a month -- get married. If you want happiness for a year -- inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime -- help someone else.” ~Chinese proverb

“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” ~Abraham Lincoln

“Many people think that if they were only in some other place, or had some other job, they would be happy. Well, that is doubtful. So get as much happiness out of what you are doing as you can and don't put off being happy until some future date.” ~Dale Carnegie

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” ~Oscar Wilde

 “Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in the worth and choice.” ~Ben Johnson

“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.” ~Carl Gustav Jung

“Happiness is a perfume which you cannot pour on someone without getting some on yourself.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Our happiness depends on the habit of mind we cultivate. So practice happy thinking every day. Cultivate the merry heart, develop the happiness habit, and life will become a continual feast.” ~Norman Vincent Peale

“Happiness ain't a thing in itself --it's only a contrast with something that ain't pleasant. And so, as soon as the novelty is over and the force of the contrast dulled, it ain't happiness any longer, and you have to get something fresh.” ~Mark Twain

“Happiness is not a state to arrive at, rather, a manner of traveling.” ~Samuel Johnson

“The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.” ~Bertrand Russell

“To be happy we must not be too concerned with others.” ~Albert Camus

“Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see bird that had the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.” ~Dale Carnegie

“There is this difference between happiness and wisdom that he, who thinks himself the happiest man, really is so; but he who thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.” ~Charles Caleb Colton

“We take greater pains to persuade others we are happy than in trying to think so ourselves.” ~Confucius

“Human happiness seems to consist in three ingredients: action, pleasure and indolence.” ~David Hume

“Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so.” ~Robert Green Ingersoll

“Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“We never enjoy perfect happiness; our most fortunate successes are mingled with sadness; some anxieties always perplex the reality of our satisfaction.” ~William James 

"The truth is, happiness is a skill - it's not just something that drops out of the sky, it's something that you can do actively." ~Richard Bandler

Do you have enough love in your life?

Are you excited to live every moment of life? Or, are you merely dragging along with life -like a leaf floating in a slow stream - without knowing where you are going? Are you motivated and energetic to work towards your dreams? Or, do you lack motivation to put your plans into action? 

People who have enough love in their life find living life an exciting experience. They are clear about their dreams. They have plenty of energy to make every day of life special for them and for their loved ones.

How much love is enough? That depends on how empty is your heart and mind! The emptier is your life, the more love you need. Love is not necessarily only the romantic love. Life can be empty in many ways. You have enough love in life when you have least amount of emptiness in life. You can only judge when you have enough love in your life, because you can only decide when the emptiness in your life is at its least.

"Rules for Happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for." ~Immanuel Kant

The first step towards happiness is to focus on getting abundance of love than on lamenting the reasons for not getting it. Think of the ways to fill your life with love. The following three ways can help:

1.    Someone to love and be loved

The first person you should love is yourself. Unless one loves and accepts oneself, one can’t love and accept others. Focus on your blessings than your shortcomings. Focus more on your strengths so that overcoming your weaknesses becomes easier.

When you can love and accept yourself, you will surely find your dream person who can love you beyond measures. When your heart is ready, it will attract similar hearts. Keep your senses wide open to such attraction. If you already have such a precious person, be creative everyday in making that love more and more beautiful and truthful as time passes.

2.    Something to love doing

Are you excited about going to work on Monday mornings? Or, do you feel stressful while thinking about Monday mornings? Everyone loves to play, not to work. So, the trick for enjoying your work is to convert it into play. That can happen only when you love what you do at work.

While choosing your profession, do not worry about whether or not you are good at doing something. If your heart lies in that activity you will become an expert in it soon. So, choose your work by heart, not by mind. Once heart is there, mind has no other choice than to follow. Most people feel unhappy and empty at work, because they have chosen their work as per their performance, not by their passion.

3.    Something to hope for in the name of love

You should never lose hope of getting the person and the work you love. However, even if you have got the person and the work you love, life can throw surprising challenges at times to check how intense your love is. Those days could be testing time for your core strengths and beliefs. You will need hope, more than anything else, to surpass these hurdles.

Love always brings in hope. Many so called impossible things were achieved because they would bring smiles to people whom the achievers loved. So, you can’t be hopeless when you have the person and the work you love.

For those who are yet to get the first two steps mentioned above, they should never despair. They should always remember the Universe will work with them to achieve their dreams as long as they are hopeful in heart and fearless in mind.

LOVE is the most powerful force in the universe. As long as you can make this force the centre of your universe, you will surely live everyday of your life to the fullest. Many people have already done this, and you can surely do it.


GD2RAFS7YZSB 

Are you living a balanced life?

Give yourself a score for how happy you are in life at present. The scale is between 0 (miserably unhappy) and 10 (ecstatically happy). If you have given yourself 8 or above, probably you do not need to read this blog any further. If you have given yourself 7 or below, you should read further very carefully to improve your happiness.

When you have bumpy ride, either the road is not smooth or the wheels are not in good shape. This applies to life’s journey as well. When the road in life’s journey is not smooth, most likely you have chosen a path that does not align your heart with your head. I will deal with that topic in another blog. In this blog, I will discuss how to check the wheel of life to find unbalanced areas of your life. It is wise to check the wheels before blaming the road for a bumpy ride.

“Everyone is a house with four rooms: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Unless we go into every room every day, even if to keep it aired, we are not a complete person”. ~ Rummer Gorden

The "Wheel of Life" is a simple tool that can help you to find out how balanced is your life. In general, the wheel of life consists of 8 segments:

·        Health

How healthy are you? Do you have any disease that causes physical and mental pain? As discussed in a previous blog, healthy people are always bursting with energy. Are you feeling active and energetic or lazy and lethargic most of the time?

·        Physical Environment

Are you physically and mentally comfortable with your physical environment? Does it make you feel safe and secure? Or are you constantly thinking of changing your physical surroundings?

·        Family and Friends

Do you have good physical and emotional supports from your family? Do you have friends who truly care for your success? Or, do you have only good time acquaintances that disappear during your bad time?

·        Romance

Have you experienced genuine love that makes you feel at the top of the world? Have you merely “fallen” in love or does romancing that special person in your life make you “rise” in love? Does your love grow more beautiful and precious with time?

·        Finances

Do you have enough money to live a comfortable life? Or, are you simply putting yourself to distress to earn more money for supporting a luxurious life? Do you realize deep within that money does not contribute to enhancement of happiness beyond a certain income?

·        Fun and Recreation

Do you have a healthy and engaging hobby to have fun and recreation? Or, do you spend your leisure time in activities that drain out your physical and mental energy?

·        Business and Career

Do you love your work? Or, does the thought of going to work on Monday morning bring emotional distress to you? Are you happy with your present career choice? Does your present career provide you with opportunities for the best use of your talent? Or, are you simply dragging your feet all through the work day while thinking of doing something else?

·        Personal Growth

Are you only busy in the struggle for survival, stability and success in your life? Or, do you also have time to think about the significance of your life? What is your legacy except for your children and tangible assets? How does your life enhance the life of people who come in contact with you?

Take a printout of the diagram shown here, and then mark yourself a score in the scale of 0 to 10 in each area of your life. If you join these points on this diagram, you will create a closed loop. The deviation of this loop from a circle reflects the imbalance in your life. Having a smaller circle is better than having a larger but distorted loop. The first step towards happiness is to think how to bring back the balance in your wheel of life by making it closer to a circle.


GD2RAFS7YZSB 

How often do you think positive thoughts?

You become what you think most of the time. Every action has its origin in thought. To be happy, you have to think happy and positive thoughts as much as possible. Happiness has to exist in your imagination first before it becomes reality in your life.

It is not possible to have happy thoughts most of the time until you fill your heart with love and empty your mind of fear. Happiness cannot coexist with hate and fear. The following lines by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore describe such an empowering state:

"Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."

--Rabindranath Tagore

You may not be able to transform the whole world into such a haven of freedom, but you can certainly make the territory within you awake into such a heaven by thinking happy and positive thoughts. That will make the Sun of happiness rise at your inner horizon. This is particularly true when dark clouds of gloom fill your inner sky. 

Now take the first step towards happiness by asking yourself: "How often do I think happy and positive thoughts?" 

Are you waiting for life to happen?

As I hold the Firefly up the Sun

Wanted to see the Sun,

A firefly landed on my palm.

Wanted to listen the music of stars,

heard rustles of the road.

Wished to climb mountains,

Climbed only concrete stairs.

Longed to chase my dreams,

Bread and butter worried me.

Desired to walk thousand miles,

Got discouraged by the hole in my shoe.

Wanted to love and be loved,

Never had time to see beyond the kids.

Waited for life

to happen the way I want,

once all the trivialities are attended.

... it never happened!

As I hold the firefly up the Sun

it dawned on me... perhaps

Life is mainly

these little moments, small acts

that bring glory and greatness

to ordinary people

should they see the rainbow

in a droplet of love.

Can successful people be unhappy?

Most people think success will make them happy, but we come across lots of people who are unhappy despite being highly successful. What makes successful people unhappy? This is a complex question, and can’t be answered in a brief note. Moreover, while trying to give a simple answer one runs the risk of being simplistic.

I discuss below three main characteristics of all happy people. Whenever we ignore these traits in our mad rush for success, we end up being unhappy because essentially we are going fast nowhere!

1.    Learn to live

Good health is the solid foundation on which the mansion of happiness stands. This fact hits most people hard soon after they reach 40 years when they get glimpses of the mortality of their body. Good health does not mean mere absence of diseases; it means presence of abundant energy to live life to the fullest. Happy people have lots of physical energy, and they take extreme care of body and mind to maintain this high energy level. They know energy is the essence of living. They do not drain out precious energy by negative habits or by negative thoughts. They have learned to live by enjoying all good things in life with responsibility.

2.    Learn to love

Love is the ground floor of the mansion of happiness. Without this no sky-high structure of happiness can be built. Love is not necessarily only the romantic love. Love is to mind what energy is to the body. The lover can be an individual, an activity or the whole universe. All happy people know very well that happiness lies in love, not in the lover. They dedicate themselves for the good of the lover, not for the goods of the lover. They have learned to love by giving more than what they get.

3.    Learn to laugh

Death is the final floor of the mansion of happiness. Death is a great equalizer because it wipes out all personal sense of achievements. All happy people are acutely aware that death can visit any time. This awareness does not paralyze them but helps them to laugh at life, and at themselves. Awareness of death can be a useful tool as beautifully captured by Steve Jobs in Stanford University commencement address, June 2005:

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish."
 
The more one knows about the truth and beauty of life, the more opportunities one finds to laugh. One can truly win over death only when one’s achievements contribute to the progress and happiness of next generations. All happy people have learned to laugh by living in the present moment without worry for the future or guilt of the past.

Happiness is much more than chasing pleasure. It is a state of joyful harmony that exists everywhere in the universe, both inside and outside of us. We need to learn how to connect to it by following three simple steps: Live, Love and Laugh. Learn is not the fourth step; it is the process of climbing up these steps. Happiness may not follow success, but success follows happiness when we have mastered climbing these steps in the ladder of life.