Does Giving 1% Extra Really Matter?
Author: Anand Surana
I am a software consultant by profession and reside in Hyderabad, India. I love to travel, listen to music, cook and make friends.
Nothing is Permanent
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There is Always, Always, Always Something To Be Thankful For…
A famous writer was in his study room. He picked up his pen and started writing: **Last year, I had a surgery and my gall bladder was removed. I had to stay stuck to the bed due to this surgery for a long time.
**The same year I reached the age of 60 years and had to give up my favourite job. I had spent 30 years of my life in this publishing company.
**The same year I experienced the sorrow of the death of my father.
**And in the same year my son failed in his medical exam because he had a car accident. He had to stay in bed at hospital with the cast on for several days. The destruction of car was another loss.
At the end he wrote: Alas! It was such bad year!!
When the writer’s wife entered the room, she found her husband looking sad, lost in his thoughts. From behind his back she read what was written on the paper. She left the room silently and came back with another paper and placed it on the side of her husband’s writing.
When the writer saw the paper, he found this written on it:
**Last year, I finally got rid of my gall bladder for which I had spent years in pain.
**I turned 60 with sound health and got retired from my job. Now I can utilize my time to write something better with more focus and peace.
**The same year my father, at the age of 95, without depending on anyone or without any critical condition, met his Creator.
**The same year, my son was blessed with a new life. My car was destroyed but my son stayed alive without getting any disability.
At the end she wrote:
This year was an immense blessing and it passed well!
See! The same incidents but different viewpoints. If we ponder with this viewpoint that what could have happened was more detrimental, we would truly become thankful.
Moral: In our daily lives, we must see that it’s not happiness that makes us grateful but gratefulness that makes us happy. There is always, always, always something to be thankful for!
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How to Take Control of Your Fast Paced Life
The days are long but the year seems to pass very fast. You may be slogging thru the day but when you look back the year seems to have gone by rather quickly. With every passing year we feel that the pace of life is getting faster and faster. Sometimes you may feel overwhelmed. However consider this, if this gives you any solace, today is the slowest day of the rest of your life. Which means that there are crazier times ahead and the rate of change is only going to head north. So it is better we learn to deal with it rather than play catch-up.
The biggest reason behind always feeling busy and not having time for anything is our desire to stay “connected” always, on multiple channels mobile, WhatsApp, Twitter, email and various other social media platforms. A few years ago you had to wait for weeks before you got a response to your handwritten letter sent to parents or friends or even for any official communication. For urgent stuff only people used Telegram. Even when phones arrived, only a few had it and again it was used for important communication only. For all other stuff one had to use hand written communication.
As communication channels multiplied and became faster and cheaper, things that took weeks now take a few seconds or even less. Also all communication whether urgent or trivial happens at the same pace via the same channels. So you have to look at all the hundreds of messages, whether you like it or not, before you can get to the message that you are looking for.
Also every event, small or big, happening across the world is being reported without filters. In the name of having choice you have to decide which news or information is relevant and important for you. The various channels keep pushing you all that they have. If you really want to get a handle on your time and quality of life here are a few things to consider –
- It is OK to not read or respond to all the social media posts shared by your friends or family members. Value your own time and use it wisely.
- Mute all message notifications on your mobile except any critical ones. This will help you reduce the distraction throughout the day and as a side benefit also improve the battery life of your mobile.
- The real life is happening NOW all around you not on your mobile screen. Take a break from technology every once in a while. Learn to keep the mobile aside when interacting with people. If it is very important excuse yourself from the conversation but do not multitask.
- Resist the urge to post every trivial update about yourself on social media unless you are a celebrity or a public figure.
With our current levels of addiction, this is surely not an easy ask but if you really want to reclaim your life, you have to control the amount, quality and pace of information you assimilate and consciously use your energy towards your life’s objectives. In other words, we need to go back to the basics –
- Practice mindfulness
- Spend some time alone
- Reconnect with nature
- Nurture your relationships
- Spend time on pursuing your hobbies
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Million vs Billion
People don’t have a strong intuitive sense of how much bigger 1 Billion is than 1 Million. You may say 1 Billion is 1000 times 1 Million but even this does not really give you a real sense of the magnitude of difference between the two.
Here are 2 illustrations that may help you fathom this –
1 Million Seconds is 11.5 days…
1 Billion Seconds is 31.7 years.
Next let us compare the two in terms of $100 bills. How the two numbers stack against each other in physical terms. Here is a rather impressive presentation of one billion dollars in $100 bills.
Did you notice the the small bundle of notes in front of the ten big stacks – that bundle is one million dollars (in $100 bills).
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The Mirror of Life !
A person once approached his Guru and asked “My workers are not true to me. My children, wife and the entire world is very selfish. Nobody is truthful.”
Guru looked at him and smiled. He said, “Let me tell you a story.”
There was once a village which had a room with 1000 mirrors. One small girl used to go inside and play. Seeing thousands of children around her she was joyful.She would clap her hands and all the 1000 children would clap back. She considered this place as the world’s happiest place and visited often.
This same place was visited by a sad person. He saw around him thousands of sad and angry men. He got scared and raised his hands to hit them and in return 1000 hands lifted to hit him back. This is the worst place in the world he thought and left that place.
This world is also similar to the room with 1000 mirrors. What we let out of us is what the society gives back to us. Keep your heart like a child and assume positive intent and good will come back to you in more ways than you thought possible.
Now here is a question for the reader – What are you seeing in your mirror? What are you learning about your inner self from this mirror?
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Life is Like a Journey on a Train
Life is like a journey on a train…with its stations…with changes of routes…and with accidents ! We board this train when we are born and our parents are the ones who get our ticket. We believe they will always travel on this train with us. However, at some station our parents will get off the train, leaving us alone on this journey.
As time goes by, other passengers will board the train, many of whom will be significant – our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of our life.
Many will get off during the journey and leave a permanent vacuum in our lives.
Many will go so unnoticed that we won’t even know when they vacated their seats and got off the train ! This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, good-byes, and farewells.
A good journey is helping, loving, having a good relationship with all co-passengers…and making sure that we give our best to make their journey comfortable.
The mystery of this fabulous journey is – We do not know at which station we ourselves are going to get off. So, we must live in the best way – adjust, forget, forgive, and offer the best of what we have.
It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to leave our seat… we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.
Thank you for being one of the passengers on my train !
Have a very pleasant journey of life………!
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No One Can Hurt You Without Your Consent
On the first day as President… Abraham Lincoln entered to give his inaugural address, while just on the set, one man stood up. He was a rich Aristocrat….
He said, “Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family” And the whole Senate burst out laughing; for they thought they had made a fool of Abraham Lincoln.
But Lincoln was a man of totally different mettle than them, as he just looked at the man, and said humbly, ” Sir, I know my father used to make shoes for you and your family, and there are many others here too I am sure, for whom he has made shoes….But I must say one thing, the way he made shoes….; nobody else could match. He was a genuine artisan; His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole heart and soul in it….and hence, I would like to humbly ask you sir….do you have any complaint? because I also know how to make shoes myself….and if you are in any way dissatisfied, I can make another pair for you as a service for my late father. But as far as I know”, Lincoln added confidently, “nobody has ever complained about my father’s shoes. He was a real genius in his line of work, a great creator….and I must indeed thank you, for reminding me of him on this day, for I am very fondly proud of my father.”
The whole Senate was dumb struck. They could not understand, as to what kind of a man Abraham Lincoln was. The humility about himself and the pride for his father, through quality of his work…..to say that not a single complaint had ever been heard….he also defined his own character, as well as his personal mettle.
Moral of the story :
No one can hurt you without your consent.
It is not what happens to us, that hurts us.
It’s how we react to what happens, hurts…….if we allow it to…..!!!
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Daddy !
A small kid asked his mom – Mom – how do you always know how to solve my problems ,??
Mom replied …. well you know God makes us take an exam to be able to know and solve all your problems before we become mummy . Only when we pass the test we become Mom !!!
The kid gave a knowing smile and said – I understand… If you fail in the test you become Daddy !
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Nurture The Child
- If your child lies to you often, it is because you over-react too harshly to their inappropriate behaviour.
- If your child is not taught to confide in you about their mistakes, you’ve lost them.
- If your child had poor self-esteem, it is because you advice them more than you encourage them.
- If your child does not stand up for themselves, it is because from a young age you have disciplined them regularly in public.
- If your child takes things that do not belong to them, it is because when you buy them things, you don’t let them chose what they want.
- If your child is cowardly, it is because you help them too quickly.
- If your child does not respect other people’s feelings, it is because instead of speaking to your child, you order and command them.
- If your child is too quick to anger, it is because you give too much attention to misbehaviour and you give little attention to good behaviour.
- If your child is excessively jealous, it is because you only congratulate them when they successfully complete something and not when they improve at something even if they don’t successfully complete it.
- If your child intentionally disturbs you, it is because you are not physically affectionate enough.
- If your child is openly defied, it is because you openly threaten to do something but don’t follow through.
- If your child is secretive, it is because they don’t trust that you won’t blow things out of proportion.
- If your child talks back to you, it is because they watch you do it to others and think its normal behaviour.
- If your child doesn’t listen to you but listens to others, it is because you are too quick to make decisions.
- If your child rebels it is because they know you care more about what others think than what is right or wrong.
Change starts at home. Try a few if not all and see the sea change in the relations. Can you?