The Stranger

She was getting engaged, and all I could do was stand by and applaud along with the rest. I did not dare to open my mouth for the fear of saying something stupid, something like 'I LOVE YOU'.

I remember the other day when she had come to me with red eyes. Her 'best friend' was going away. It had never mattered to me that her best friend was a guy. I thought I was above such things... but her tears awoke the sin of jealousy in my heart. Fighting it, I had consoled her and given her chocolates to eat. She proceeded to rest her head in the crook of my arm, and promptly fell asleep. I chuckled at her baby-like innocence.
But now, as I applauded, I felt something stabbing at my heart.

She was getting married.
I saw her come down the stairs decked out in her bridal finery. Never had I seen her looking this pretty. I saw her taking the seven rounds around the sacred fire with the man I had come to hate earlier; holding his hand. I saw her exchanging garlands with him. She was a stranger to me now.

As I stood near the car, they both came over to me. I wondered what they wanted. I wondered how to say Farewell to the departed. Nevertheless, I blessed them. She was openly crying. I told her not to worry, that I'll always be there for her. She responded by hugging me and said "I love you dad" ...

... And I could not stop the tears in my eyes any more.

Do you wish for Shortcuts ?

**5 minutes ago you were traveling to office at 80 mph in your brand new car.
Now you are traveling to hospital at double the speed in an Ambulance, you wish there was 'undo (ctrl + Z)' in life!

**You are already late, and your key is missing, you wish there was 'find tool (ctrl+F)' in life!

**You are a bankrupt, after investing in some weird business, you wish there was 'rebuild all' in life!

**The train is so crowded that you cannot get anywhere near that nice girl at the other end,
You wish there was 'zoom & view full screen’ in life!

**After marriage you realize that there is bound to be a mismatch,
You wish there was an ‘evaluation period' or at least a 'sample download' or a 'demo version'!

**One day you realize that you are turning bald,
You wish there was 'cut and paste (ctrl + X), (ctrl + C)' in life!

**The best part of the keyboard is U & I are together which is not always there in life......

Control your emotions, let them not control you!

A very interesting article which has helped me change my perspective towards life... controlling emotions!


The 90/10 principle - by Stephan Covey

10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react.
What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%. How?
By your reaction. You cannot control a red light. but you can control your reaction.

Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react. Let's use an example. You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react. You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit.

After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to coming home. When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter. Why? …. Because of how you reacted in the morning.

Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?

The answer is “D". You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day.
Here is what could have and should have happened. Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "Its ok honey, you just need to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having.

Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different. Why? Because of how you REACTED. You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction. Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle. If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.

How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them? WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive?

Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it. You are told you lost your job. Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job. The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take outpour frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse. Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it.

The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle. The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle. It CAN change your life!!!

The Mind, Heart and Me...

I read friends' blogs regularly... and it amazes me to see how much interesting stuff they have to write/comment about, more often than never! How they find the patience to sit and pen all of that down and have readers enjoy their blogs over and over again.
All very inspiring!!

Now, although I am not much of a writer, I thought... what the heck! Let me try my hand at it as well. To me 'tis all about expressing the Mind, Heart and Soul.. and the rest will follow.

I will try and put forth my words, thoughts and emotions through my blogs. Hope they'll be as interesting to the reader as they are to me.

To start with, a favorite poem of mine since school... read on!

Where the Mind is without Fear and the head is 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

Cheers!