Unfolding Life

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
― Oscar Wilde

To live everyday and look at life with new eyes means to die a little everyday. Until and unless we slowly kill our old thoughts, unlearn what we have learned over the years, we are not learning anything new. To live life, to experience it fully, it is essential for us to change, to bring fresh thinking in our lives. Unlearning is as important as learning. Letting go is as important as holding on. Pain to a certain extent accentuates pleasure. Life is full of contradictions, nothing is absolute, not even truth. The only truth is love and kindness and the certainty of every beginnings having an end.

Our quest for love and happiness, for acceptance and security defines our journey called life. Look closely, think deeply, ultimately we are all here just for an unknown given time - not just temporary, but also the duration of our stay is undefined. Our struggles, our small victories, our sometimes marching ahead, sometimes dragging our feet, all weaves a story unique to us. Each one of us has a story to tell, each one of us has an opinion about how life is supposed to be lived, every mind perceives differently, yet we are all same. Our desires, our pains, our happiness and our stories of failures and successes are identical to a certain extent.


Travel, meet people,open your mind, let people peek into your soul, and connect - connect to realize that although we look different, our aspirations may be poles apart, we all are a bundle of contradictions, we all are insecure and fearful, all seeking love and validation to give meaning to our lives. Look beyond differences, look beyond appearances, look beyond pretences and you realize the meaning of life is to connect, to share joys and sorrows and to love.

Love life, love yourself and find joy in your heart. Come alive by living in the moment, to consciously steer away from plans for tomorrow . Past, there is no escape, it is a part of you - a shadow you cannot catch. How you deal with your past, creates your present character. 

Gratitude

Thanksgiving - a day where you celebrate life by showing appreciation for all that compiles to make your life beautiful. People, things, emotions, everything that makes living worthwhile. It is funny though that although some of things I am grateful for stays the same every year - like family, friends and good health, there are some on the sidelines that keep changing.

Gratitude gives you eyes to look at life. We are surrounded - actually we live in the midst of beauty, except we fail to see it. Whenever we are thankful, we are in our own ways expressing love. Without love, without gratitude, happiness is impossible. Here are the list of things I am thankful for this year - yes specifically this year.

1. I am thankful for the influences that stabilize my life. Years ago I was looking for adventure and stability translated to boredom,  now I am thankful for that same boredom.
2.I am thankful for now being the shortest in the house, for kids  turning into youths.
3.I am thankful for my health, that allows me to work and provide a source of income
4.This year I am especially thankful for a job that lets me interact with people from all walks of life, letting me glimpse into their lives and inspire me to be kind and a better person.
5.I am most grateful for all the people who have walked into my life this year, in real life, in virtual life, and have made me a part of their lives. I never ever take it for granted all the love and care that I receive.

Year after year my list of gratitude keeps on growing, and I am especially grateful for this life- for this opportunity to be part of this throbbing living universe.

The list is never ending - just like the joys in my life, the unlimited love , the consistent support system in my life and a heart that believes that spreading joy warms your heart.  Wishing all the people who love me and who I love, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Money Matters

“Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to become the means by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of other men. Blood, whips and guns--or dollars. Take your choice--there is no other.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Day in day out we work, our very being revolves around earning a living, working maybe at times for jobs we hate, sacrificing our sleep and peace and our health, all because we want to make a living to survive and live life. Our needs, our desires are inflamed by the propaganda of materialism. Look around you, there are hoardings screaming and inciting in you the "wants". It might be the desire to travel, see the world, the desire to own a thing of beauty, or simply just to satiate your taste buds; all have one thing in common, they all need money. Simply put, love it or hate it, if food is a necessity for survival, if a roof over your head is the basic need, earning and keeping money is the first step in living. 

Why do most of us work? Why do most of us even study? The end result would be to make a living. Yes, with a few exceptions, for the rest of us it seems at times, the purpose of life is to make a living. To work, to earn , to pay bills and then repeat the process.

Whether we like it or not, whether we admit it or not, money is one of the most important aspects of our life.Food, clothing, shelter, and not to speak of all our desires cannot be reached without money. Call it energy, call it the root of all evils, but fact remains that for every action, we are dependent on it. Our relationship with money in many ways defines our relationship with life in general.

There are hoarders, whose whole life is moneycentric. The root of their happiness depends on how much they have and how much more they can have. Maybe it is the insecurity, maybe it is greed, but these are the millionaires who will watch out for every penny in their life. They are responsible, but to a certain extent enslaved by money. Instead of money empowering them, they are enslaved by it.

There are the cribbers, who will whine about not having enough, because it is never enough for them. Maybe most of us fall into this category; our desires racing faster than what we can gather. These are the money who feel the root of all their unhappiness is the lack of "enough" in their lives.

There are the drifters - people who want to spend more than they have. They are irresponsible, drowning in debt, with absolutely no respect to the power of money. They would like to be debt free, but without any effort at all. They spend faster than they earn.

And then there are the few enlightened ones, who understand that money is a powerful tool only if you control it . These are the people, who keep their perspectives right - they value it, but their life revolves around something more meaningful. They see money to be a tool - an energy, and yes like all energies, it is flowing and mutating.

And then there are people like me, with belief that it is the root for all evil. People who struggle to build a healthy relationship with power, who learn the hard way that love it or hate it, money does make the world go round.

Fact is although money is not everything, a healthy respect for it goes a long way in making life easier. To sum it all up “Young people, nowadays, imagine that money is everything.

Yes, murmured Lord Henry, settling his button-hole in his coat; and when they grow older they know it.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Writings

Defining success with some quotes

Success- the criteria to define how well you have lived your life. We are always judging people by the success in their professional and of course personal  life. Yet how would we define success? Is it being better than others or is there a set of guidelines that grants us the label of being successful or failure? After all isn't the opposite of success- failure?

Professionally I guess being successful is reaching the top of the ladder or maybe achieving your goals in career. Of course, the price one pays for it is not accountable and you always pay a price for everything in life. The cost is time, and maybe health - mental and physical. I refuse to believe that what is defined as being successful in career is all without any sacrifice or price.

We all have 24 hrs given to us everyday. Some of us spend it with family and friends, some maybe just lazing around and others focused on their work. Every minute is limited, every second counts. Spending my time on achieving goals that will not give me any pleasure or satisfaction is a dishonor to the time given to me to live.  Even then , we are always trying to reach some place, trying to fulfill some crazy concept of success.

Ultimately what counts is how well we have lived our lives. What matters is how well we have played the cards dealt to us. It all boils down to how much we are loved and how much we love others. It all boils down to how we look at our lives. If I consider my life to be a success, because I have the tools to be happy, does it really matter what others define it as?

“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”
― Albert Einstein

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” 

“Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

“The way to screw up somebody's life is to give them what they want.”
― Patrick Swayze

“You have succeeded in life when all you really WANT is only what you really NEED.”
― Vernon Howar

“Missing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking.”