Neighbor's garden

Most people are not unhappy

due to their misfortune,

they are unhappy

seeing other's good fortune.

God is smiling

If you want to make God laugh,

Tell him your plans...

The path you take in Life

Today, my friend Aditya and I were having a philosophical discussion on LIFE. Some interesting insight that came out of our discussion:

Life takes you where you need to be taken

And you go.. where you 'want' to go

Even though you don't know the answers.. you actually do.

And an excerpt from the Bhagvad Gita:

Krishna tells Arjunaa,

"Arjunaa, you think you are not going to do what you are supposed to do? I tell you, you will do it. Even if you don't want, you are going to do it!"

In a very clever way He puts it:

"You better surrender to me directly."

He says:

"Drop everything. Surrender to Me, and do what I say".

Then He says:

"Well, I have told you whatever I have to say, now you think it over and do what you like, you do whatever you want to do, do however you like".

But then He said,

"but remember, you will do only what I want".

When I am Old -- in a rocking chair

When I am old, and sitting in a rocking chair, with little strength to do anything, the last thing I want to be doing is repenting about the fact that my life is over and I did not do all the things I wanted in life. Its kind of a scary thought! Why?

So, here are some principles in life I am trying to live by:

1. Build memories.
2. Do things you love. Listen to you heart. The memories you make, will be the ones you want.
3. Face your fears. One step at a time. Those moments you will never forget.
4. If you do what you always did, you will get what you already have.
5. Stay fit. Will help keep you away from the rocking chair.

Live your life. Think of things you would like to do. Make time for them. And.. make a difference. Help others build memories, that they will cherish when they are in their rocking chairs.

WORLD RECORDS - The measure of perfection?

4 minute MILE - a famous term which showed how human performance is limited by its own imagination. For years people believed that the a MILE cannot be run in under 4 minutes.... and none could.....until in 1954, a young Oxford medical student, Roger Bannister broke the record - and the psychological barrier, by completing the MILE in 3min 59.4 sec! The current world record is under 3min 43.13 seconds (Wow - people caught on the idea quickly!).

The 100m world record - broken many times.... when will it reach its threshold? Is there a threshold? Is there a limit?

For that sake, is there ever anything which has a limit.... (maybe the speed of light?)

Someone came ... broke a record .... and set a new one. Someone else will come, work as hard.... and equal the record. One day, someone will come...work a little more hard.. and set a new record by a hairline! If someone can do something X times good, can put in X amount of effort, can do X amount of hardwork, can make X amount of sacrifices, which law in the world stops another one from doing an X+1? And then what stops someone else from putting an X+2?

The law of nature - the theroy of evolution - everything can be perfected... and still improved. There is no limit to human potential..there is no limit to perfection. There were times when scientists predicted that "The limit of scientific inventions and breakthroughs have been reached... no more significant ones shall be seen anymore"... but still.. nothing has changed - inventions are still on a roll ... discoveries are still on the run ... the wheel is still turning..the world is still changing.

The only limits on this world....are the limits we put on them.....

The only limits on our achievements...are the limits of our imagination....

The only reason world records happen... are so that they can be trampled , smashed and broken...

The only aim of our life...is the quest for perfection...

What do you think is the essence of Kaizen?

Pay the cost

My ex-roomie and close friend Vivek once told me a simple quote. Its one of those things that keeps hammering into your head..... and you wonder, how is it that something so profound can be said as something so simple.

The mantra of success - Find out what you really want. Then find its cost. And pay it.

Its really so simple... find out the cost of what you want... and then pay it. What can be more simpler than that?

You want to be popular - find out its cost .. it could be learning to dance, increasing your knowledge, or plain old hard work. Do it and get it!

You want to lose weight.... find out its cost? Jog everyday in morning, or eat right , or sleep on time, or join a gym and stick to it. Do it!

You want a girl to fall in love with you.. find out the cost.. find out what you will need to do.. to get her.. do it... and if you paid sincerely, she will be yours!

You want to deliver an awesome presentation to your boss. Find out its cost. Prepare, learn everything about the topic, plan everything, practice hard. Do it!

If you know what you want, you can find out its cost. How many times have you asked a shopkeeper "Sir, I don't know what I want, but can you tell me its cost?" - now now, do I need to tell you what he will reply? Or, if you pay the shopkeeper a thousand bucks, and say "I don't know what I am paying for, but keep it".. I am sure you can expect a bewildered guy - or a laughing shopkeeper.

Same goes for life too.. first, find what you want, then find its cost, and then pay it. You can't skip any of these steps, and you can't find a shortcut either. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Find out what you want. Then find its cost. And then .......... just pay it!