My Learnings…My Transformations

Integrity and Accountability

In my previous blog I had written about the benefits of sitting in silence everyday and how I was introduced to meditation seventeen years back, and that, I have progressed from ten minutes to an hour of meditation every day.

There are certain things that you learn from others in the world. If we adopt practices that will benefit us, and bring consistency to it, our life will improve.

My spiritual anchor introduced me to meditation. To pursue it or not was left to my choice. Practicing meditation for seventeen years, even though I am not being monitored, is my integrity.

I am accountable to myself first. What am I doing to improve the quality of my life, is my responsibility. Life will introduce us to something that we don’t know. To make it a part of our life is a choice we execute.

Once is life’s responsibility. To make it always is man’s responsibility. - mahatria

It was my husband who introduced me to fitness. I made it a part of my daily routine, understanding the true value of exercising every day. I don’t exercise only when I am watched. Exercising has become a habit. It is not mood dependent. Taking care of my fitness level is something I owe to myself.

The same goes for the food I eat. I avoid what is harmful to the body, but tasty to the tongue and choose to eat what is good for the body, but might not be so tasty. Cheating on my food is like cheating my body.

I don’t need anyone to watch over any of these practices. It is already ingrained in me as part of my daily life and a habit.

Integrity is, what you do when you are not being watched

If we develop a powerful mind, we will operate out of right and wrong and not by pain and pleasure.

Bringing consistency to all the right habits should be a decision that we take in favour of our life. Do not operate out of pain and pleasure, as today’s pleasure may give us everlasting pain.

Meditation, exercise and eating the right food should not be a choice. Put yourself into a choiceless state.

Similarly, if children are taught to reflect on their actions, they will avoid developing a herd mentality, and will take control of their lives. They should be trained to ask, “Am I right?” and not, “Will I be caught?”

                                Awareness is the key.

 If parents do not hold the honesty of the child against the child, then the relationship will be more open, and children will be transparent about their actions.  Children fear being judged. So, they pretend to be right. Thus, they lose their ability to be honest.

Integrity is also about what children do to their own life. Just because you are not being watched, how can you waste your time, which is precious for building your future? How can you indulge in wrong actions that will be detrimental to your own life? Can you indulge in vices and destroy your own life?

Integrity is about being truthful to yourself and not proving a point or convincing someone. Are you convinced that you are living life the right way? Are you aligning your actions to your values and intentions?

There should be no gap between what you think, say and do

Integrity is essential for positive outcomes, for building trust, strong relationships, achieving success and ultimately living a more peaceful and purposeful life.

Do you agree with me? Share with me as to how integrity has made your life far greater than what it would have been otherwise.

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting 

My Learnings… My Transformations

 

Silence leads to all celebrations in life

We live in a dynamic world in which so much keeps happening and all of us are in the doing mode, chasing our dreams. Sometimes there is a lot of frenzy and this leads to lack of clarity in thinking. Life is on a fast forward mode. There is so much of chaos and pandemonium, and in the din of our every day life, we fail to often notice the beauty around us. What are we running after in life?

As the poet, Henry Davies says in the poem, “Leisure,” “What is this life, if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.”

I must say that when I started my career this was my life too. Stressed all the time as my work was overwhelming and I had too many things to handle.

I had the good fortune of being introduced to meditation seventeen years back. I was someone who couldn’t sit with my eyes closed for even five minutes. But my reverence for my teacher made me sit for ten minutes in silence every day.

Seventeen years later, I still continue to meditate. But now I have progressed to an hour. Meditation helps us to reduce the quantity of thoughts and thereby improve the quality of thoughts. Many to one to none is what meditation is all about. So, we need to focus on one thought. Our mind may wander to many other thoughts, but just bring it back to that one thought.

The goal is to go from one to none, which is called Silence. When we are able to hold one thought for long, it becomes very potent. A speck of dust in a still water lake can create ripples. How far the ripples will go, we cannot say.

From silence, everything life positive emerges.

Giving up became so effortless, to the point that I was not conscious of it, but realized only later that I had dropped my negative traits on the way. The new “me” began to emerge. Peace and harmony envelopes my life. Happiness is a constant.

I am now in a stage similar to the fourth stage called unconscious competence. Without my knowledge I am dropping what is not right and embracing what is right.

You just need to tell the universe what you want and it starts working for you.

A lot of cleansing happens when you sit in silence every day, and your life will be on top gear. The speed button of progress is pressed and you begin experiencing holistic growth.

The dynamism for your doing comes from your non-doing.

Begin today, begin now, by sitting in silence for 11 minutes every day. Just blindly start practicing non-doing. Don’t use your intellect in matters of Silence, Surrender and Faith. It is beyond the comprehension of the common man. It is magical!

Surrender in the faith that it will transform your life. Silence cannot be explained. It can only be experienced! 

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

The Woman Who Scripted Her Life

A young widow,

All of thirty,

Stood alone,

At the crossroads of her life,

When life dealt a nasty blow,

That none can ever take.

She fell to her feet,

Unable to bear the pain.

 

She was tossed,

In the deep sea of life.

The hurricane mercilessly

Lashed her hard.

Toppled her and threw her

In a no man’s land

To find her own path.

 

She was bruised all over,

Bleeding …with no one left

To lift her.

Crestfallen and defeated,

She trembled…

Shaking all over,

With nothing left,

Except her will.

 

 

She held her little off springs,

Close to her bosom,

With what little might,

Was left in her.

One last time,

She looked back at fate,

Tears welling in her eyes,

And took the first step forward!

 

Many lives were shaped,

And destinies formed,

by her dedicated hands. 

Though her own life was incomplete,

She made it fulfilling for many

Never one to complain,

Was always a picture of grace-

Even in the turbulent years.

 

Rest is history,

She left behind a rich legacy,

Of Faith, Determination,

Generosity, Selflessness

And all human qualities,

That anyone would possess.

When life was fair to them.

 

Life was more than unfair,

Yet she bore,

Everything in silence,

Without a murmur,

By offering herself,

To the Almighty,

In whom she had,

Unshakeable faith.

 

Faith works…effort wins,

Is the story of her life,

That I got to see,

In close proximity,

In all the sixty years,

That I was blessed to be,

With the unsung hero

Of my life,

MY MOTHER!!!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

 

My Learnings… My Transformations

Are you a Leader or a Follower?

If you have all the money in the world, will you be doing what you are doing? If your answer is a loud “Yes” then it is your swadharma. Then you are an intrinsically motivated person. All you think of is, to set standards and benchmark yourself. You are passionate about what you are doing.

Such people are leadership material. They will push themselves. They don’t need anyone to remind them about their responsibilities.

Organizations look out for such individuals who can make great contributions.

Taking responsibility for your life itself makes you a leader.

Are you a student who will complete your assignment only out of fear of being punished? Or, are you someone who feels satisfied on completing your work on time? Is your daily life invested on what is important, but not urgent? Or is it spent on what is urgent and important? Then you are all the time fire-fighting. You will be stressed. If you are proactive, you will be relaxed.

“A time for everything, and everything on time” is disciplined living. This is the life of a person who aspires to be a leader.

“A place for everything and everything in its place” is systematic living.

These are two mantras I follow in life. It has helped me to press my speed button and enhance the quality of my life.

I don’t miss to share with people the benefits of implementing these two mantras in life.

When leadership came my way, I had to work incessantly on developing the qualities a leader was expected to have. I am still work in progress, though I have come a long way. You can never say you have arrived.

Leadership makes you quality conscious in all aspects. You always wish to surpass expectations.

As an educationist, I am always conscious of how I carry myself, as thousands of eyes are watching me. I should help them to get it right through me. That is the huge responsibility of a teacher.

As a student, make a clear plan for the new academic year, a daily routine at home, a schedule, short term and long-term goals, all of these will help you to become a champion.

“That on which you invest time, grows. That which is starved of your time, shrinks.”- mahatria

What are your time stealers? Identify and plug all the rat holes. Gear up to take the year head on. Aspire to be a leader.

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting