Yes, I am changing

A  friend of mine crossed 45 years of age. I asked him what’s changing?  He sent me the following lines.

Yes, I am changing — After loving my parents, my siblings, my spouse, my children, my friends, now I have started loving myself.

Yes, I am changing —  I just realised that I am not “Atlas”. The world does not rest on my shoulders.

Yes, I am changing  —  I  now stopped bargaining with vegetables and fruits vendors.  After all, a few rupees more is not going to burn a hole in my pocket but it might help the poor fellow save for his daughter’s school fees.

Yes, I am changing  —  I pay the taxi driver without waiting for the change. The extra money might bring a smile on his face. After all he is toiling much harder for a living than me. Continue reading

Just let go and not grasp anything!

An aged Chinese monk, despairing at never having reached enlightenment, asks permission to go to an isolated cave to make one final attempt at realization. Taking his robes, his begging bowl, and a few possessions, he heads out on foot into the mountains.

Image result for buddhist monk Continue reading

coping mechanisms

A range of coping mechanisms anyone can call upon – 

• Get enough rest and sleep.
• Make time for yourself every day to be alone and quiet.
• Make sure you get outside to refresh your connection to nature.
• Maintain an active life—don’t be chained to the situation.
Share duties and responsibilities. Ask for help before you feel overwhelmed.
• Pursue a regular routine—this helps offset unpredictable events.
• Find an activity that makes you feel in control.
Find a confidant with whom you can share your feelings without judgment.Don’t martyr yourself by taking on more than you can handle.
• Fight the urge to feel victimized.
Don’t isolate yourself—keep up your social activity.
• Seek out people in the same situation who can empathize with you and offer positive support.
Resist self-judgment. Be easy on yourself, accepting the ups and downs of emotions as natural.
Where there is the possibility of finding joy, pause to appreciate it.

The Healing Self: A Revolutionary New Plan to Supercharge Your Immunity and Stay Well for Life
Deepak Chopra and Rudolph E. Tanzi

He who has a ‘why’ can live with any ‘what’

A Sense of Meaning

Image result for viktor frankl

One of the most inspirational people I have ever known is Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist who was imprisoned in the death camps of Nazi Germany in World War II. He was a scientist. He was terribly inquisitive and understood scientific methodology, and he wondered what enabled some of the prisoners who were subject to such terrible treatment in the death camps to survive. He studied the survivors and attempted to understand what enabled these people to survive, unlike the hundreds of thousands who perished. Was it their physical health? He found physical health to be secondary. Was it their survival skills? Secondary. Was it their intelligence? Secondary. He explored every alternative hypothesis. He finally concluded they were all secondary factors.

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Sense of peace if we fall…..

Related image “Somewhere in our brains we carry a map of our relationships. It is our mother’s lap, our best friend’s holding hand, our lover’s embrace—all these we carry within ourselves when we are alone. Just knowing that these are there to hold us if we fall gives us a sense of peace.

– Barbara Fredrickson, Psychologist

 

And once the storm is over…..

Tamil Art - Gathering Storm - Jayalakshmi Satyendra
வருகின்ற புயல்Gathering Storm

– Painting in Oils by Jayalakshmi Satyendra –

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”

~ Haruki Murakami

God – the great Self in you – is your help and guide in all matters. In accordance with His command, pursue any path which He prompts you to. All power, strength and wisdom are within you, because the great Self who is all these is your true being. He will see that your life is a magnificent success.
– Swami Ramdas

If you live each day as if it was your last….

Image result for "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."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. Continue reading

Seeking vs Understanding

Image result for nisargadatta understandingSeeking is based on some reason, Understanding is without any! Seeking is with an effort and purpose, Understanding is spontaneous and effortless! Understanding is absent in Seeking, While the ‘seeker’ is absent in the Understanding! Seeking consists of seeker, seeking and the sought, While this trinity is utterly absent in the Understanding! Search consists of search, searcher and the searched, Understanding denies the very ‘searcher’! Continue reading