‘S’ stands for Seva, to think beyond yourself and reach out to others. Seva is to be selfless in your thoughts and way of life. Most of us are sevikas or sevaks in some form or other; for we know that the joy of giving is far greater than the joy of receiving.

‘P’ signals two aspects, the first of which is the passage of life. None of us are immortal. So on this passage of life as William Penn, the poet, wrote, “I expect to pass through the life but once, if there be any kindness i can show, let me do it now, as i shall not pass this way once again.” And even as you do so, please do it with a sense of perseverance for perseverance can move mountains. So run your own race in very act of life.

Moving on to the three ‘I’s in the word ‘spirituality’, these reflect three distinct values. Integrity, Inner Voice and Inspire – be inspired and inspire others. Integrity is character. Inner voice is the stairway to spirituality as it always goads you to do what is right, to live by one’s conscience and by values. Following this stretch is inspirational for you and others as well.

‘R’ is to learn to smell the roses on your way. Being positive is so restorative. You will never feel that you are ever in the midst of a storm. Every situation can then be faced with equanimity and fortitude. For one knows that this, too, shall pass.

‘T’ stands for transcendence, so transcend with inner reflection, meditation, yoga, self-control and compassion. The second ‘T’ says, if you practise these creative ways of looking at life, you will surely attain tranquillity and be at peace with yourself.

‘U’ is all about the universality and oneness of humankind. On realising this, increasingly you are able to brush aside prejudices. Differences cease to matter. Aren’t each one of us just a speck in the universe?

‘A’ is for acceptance. Accept yourself and others unconditionally. ‘A’ also entails the total negation of arrogance, and with humi-lity being the ACE in your chosen field.

And this brings me to the letter ‘L’ that reminds you to have the largeness of heart to remember only the goodness of people and blanket out any pain or hurt that is encountered in varying degrees of relationships. The past and future are of no relevance as we cannot control or predict either. Most important, learn to travel light. The Moment is now. Life is too short, so cherish every moment.

‘T’, the second last letter in spirituality, stands for Trust. Let me share something that Steve Jobs would say: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” How true!

And finally – ‘Y’ – the last letter, stands for You – and for me, too. Only YOU can make this happen.

The writer is chairperson, the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development. www.adityabirla.com

Oh don’t worry, you can still pick up your old emotion tomorrow, if you want to. But just for today, set it aside. You don’t have to be mean to it, or angry with the feeling. Honor and respect it. But send it on vacation. Just for 24 hours.

How are you supposed to do this? Speak to your emotion. Use whatever tone you want. “Hey, Anger, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to give you a rest for a day. You’ve been working really hard for me, and you’re certainly tenacious about sticking around, and I think you deserve a vacation. So pack a little overnight bag for yourself, and go off to your favorite tropical island for a little rest and relaxation. I’ll collect you tomorrow, though if you decide you want to stay on your island, I will certainly be okay without you for a little while. Oh don’t worry about me; I’ll get along okay without you for a bit. Off you go then. Jolly good.”

Then I want you to imagine your emotion packing a bag and hightailing it to the airport. See your emotion getting on an airplane wearing a loud tropical shirt. Then imagine it flying to an island, getting off, and sitting on a beautiful beach with a book, an umbrella, and a tropical drink. And let it be.

Now come back to yourself. You will not feel that emotion today. You can feel it tomorrow, but you can’t feel it today because it’s off on a tropical island. Today, instead, you’re going to replace that lower vibrational emotion with something you like better. Think of it like shopping for a new emotion at the store. Try it on for size. Take it home with you for 24 hours, and wear it like your new favorite shirt.

You can do this. You probably owe it to yourself in fact. Any time you feel the old emotion welling up inside you, remind yourself that it’s on vacation so you must be feeling something else.

When tomorrow comes, ask yourself if that old emotion is ready to leave its beach or if it still wants to stay on vacation. Give it permission to stay there if it wants to. If you really want to take it back, you can. But recognize that sometimes you two need time apart. So send it on vacation sometimes. Don’t worry, it can take it, and you need a rest sometimes.

And if you have more than one emotion you’d like to send on vacation, send them all on the same flight (may as well get the group rate!). If they need you, they’ll send a postcard.

- Author Unknown : Sent by my friend Anand Sivakumaran

First, the doctor attempted to treat the pessimistic boy who was always crying, complaining, and miserable no matter what the circumstances were. In an effort to brighten his outlook on life, the psychiatrist took him to a room that was piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. “They’re all for you!” he exclaimed with zeal. For the next couple of minutes, the child looked carefully at the toys, but instead of tearing open the boxes and playing with delight, he burst into tears.

“What’s the matter?” the psychiatrist asked, baffled by this meltdown. “Don’t you want to play with any of your new toys?”

“Yes!” the little boy screamed, “but this one says it’s for ages nine and up, and I’m only seven. And this one says it needs batteries, and I didn’t bring any! And this one says I need to assemble it, and I don’t know how!” Quite concerned by the child’s attitude, the doctor informed the mother that treatment would likely be necessary.

Next, the psychiatrist began to work with the other twin, the eternal optimist. He was the complete opposite of his brother, and nothing seemed to bring him down. Trying to dampen his outlook, this boy was taken to a room that was full of fresh horse manure. Certain that this would upset him, the doctor said, “It’s all for you, son. This is my gift to you!”

But rather than looking at the pile of feces with disgust, the child’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Seconds later, he jumped eagerly into the foul-smelling waste and began joyfully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. Totally confused and quite concerned about the boy’s well-being, the psychiatrist screamed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Wiping himself off, the little optimist looked up with enthusiasm and exclaimed, “With all this manure, there must be a pony in here somewhere!”

Many people have heard a version of this story, but they don’t often take it to the next level. If they did, they’d realize that it’s all about the power of perspective. Choosing to view the world with optimism, and having the ability to “find the pony” within the challenges that come our way, is truly what it’s all about. Sadly, many of us decide to remain mired in the “pile” and waste our time complaining about it. This is the victim’s point of view, and it’s one that can never lead to a more joyous and kinder life.

Then there are those who simply can’t stand the smell of manure for more than a day or two before deciding that there’s another way to view their problems. These are the people who see the bigger picture, grab a shovel, and start digging! They understand that moving through issues is what ultimately leads to self-discovery (they grow personally and spiritually through their challenges), compassion (their heart now goes out to those in similar situations), and wisdom (they gain the experience and insight to help others).

Perhaps the greatest gift we’ve been given as creative beings is the power of choice. We make thousands of choices every single day—whether they be the people we associate with, our careers, the words we speak, the clothes we wear, or which street we choose to walk down. Each of our lives is an accumulation of the decisions we’ve made. The power of choice is what makes us ordinary or extraordinary, and to be a conscious chooser is to have the ability to manifest or alter anything we wish to.

Deciding to take total responsibility was my first step toward a life that was no longer riddled with blame and conflict. Whether it was my depression or my financial demise, I was no longer willing to point my finger at the rest of the world. After choosing to be 100 percent accountable for everything that came my way, my circumstances began to change.

I now know that it’s up to me to manage my emotions, career, finances, relationships, and even my ability to lose a few pounds. This outlook gave me an overwhelming sense of confidence, which translated into many new friends and great opportunities.

I learned that responsibility is an attractive quality, especially since people were asking me for advice. I also discovered that it meant occasionally needing to swallow my pride and say five very challenging words from time to time: “I’m sorry” and “I was wrong.”

This is one of the most difficult yet liberating things you can do in your interactions with others. Admitting that you were wrong is an absolute must if you’d like to live peacefully, and this is true whether you’re dealing with an issue in your marriage or sitting in rush-hour traffic. Letting go of your need to be right ends conflict instantly and drowns the ego’s desire to be “better than.”

Is this easy? Absolutely not. But with time and honest self-observation, it will not only become possible, it will also seem natural. After all, this is how you first arrived in the world. When you were born, you were never interested in being right or superior to others. The true, unconditioned self wants cooperation rather than competition.

Affectionately known as “The Kindness Guy,” Michael J. Chase is an author, inspirational speaker, and a powerful voice for creating a kinder world. At the age of 37, following a life-changing epiphany, Michael ended an award-winning photography career to found The Kindness Center.

Tell the storms how big your God is!

- Author Unknown

When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterwards he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”

“Funny thing is,” he smiled, ” when I come out in the morning to pick “em up, there ain’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

— Author Unknown

A man meets a guru in the road. The man asks the guru, “Which way is success?”

The berobed, bearded sage speaks not, but points to a place off in the distance.

The man, thrilled by the prospect of quick and easy success, rushes off in the appropriate direction. Suddenly, there comes a loud “SPLAT.” Eventually, the man limps back, tattered and stunned, assuming he must have misinterpreted the message. He repeats his question to the guru, who again points silently in the same direction.

The man obediently walks off once more. This time the splat is deafening, and when the man crawls back, he is bloody, broken, tattered, and irate. “I asked you which way is success,” he screams at the guru. “I followed the direction you indicated. And all I got was splatted! No more of this pointing! Talk!”

Only then does the guru speak, and what he says is this: “Success IS that way. Just a little PAST splat.”

— Author Unknown

As they walked, the smell became stronger and they found out it was a dead dog by the side of the path. One of the kids said, “It’s all rotted.” Another kid said, “The intestines are all out.” Still another kid added, “There are ants coming out of the hollows of his eye.”

Then, San Francisco added, “It had nice white teeth.”

The moral is that sometimes we focus on the bad things, when everything seems to be bad. But always, bad things have something good. Our days ALWAYS have the teeth of the dog; something nice to wake up for that we must try to find during our day.

Look for your “teeth of the dog” today!

— Author Unknown — Submitted by Paula — Argentina

One night, the marble tiles started talking to the marble statue.

Marble tile: “Marble statue, it’s just not fair, it’s just not fair! Why does everybody from all over the world come all the way here just to step on me while admiring you? Not fair!”

Marble statue: “My dear friend, marble tile. Do you still remember that we were actually from the same cave?”

Marble tile: “Yeah! That’s why I feel it is even more unfair. We were born from the same cave and yet we receive different treatment now. Not fair!” he cried again.

Marble statue: “Then, do you still remember the day when the designer tried to work on you, but you resisted the tools?”

Marble tile: “Yes, of course I remember. I hate that guy! How could he use those tools on me, it hurt so badly.”

Marble statue: “That’s right! He couldn’t work on you at all as you resisted being worked on.”

Marble tile: “So???”

Marble statue: “When he decided to give up on you and start working on me instead, I knew at once that I would be something different after his efforts. I did not resist his tools, instead I bore all the painful tools he used on me..”

Marble tile: “Mmmmmm…….”

Marble statue: “My friend, there is a price to everything in life. Since you decided to give up half way, you can’t blame anybody who steps on you now.”

— Author Unknown ]]> http://www.makethemostoflife.net/2011/03/07/the-marble-tiles-and-the-marble-statue/feed/ 0 http://www.makethemostoflife.net/2011/02/16/sleep-when-the-wind-blows/ http://www.makethemostoflife.net/2011/02/16/sleep-when-the-wind-blows/#comments Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:30:02 +0000 admin http://www.makethemostoflife.net/?p=1634 A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications, he said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him.

A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all was secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace.

The young man slept soundly.

The farmer and his wife then inspected their property. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements.

The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well.

The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man’s words, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm when it broke. So when the wind blew, he was not afraid. He could sleep in peace.

— Author Unknown