“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
— Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist)
If I didn’t believe in it till this morning, I do now!
I was going through that much controversial book “ The Secrets” by Rhonda Byrne a few days ago that talks at length about the law of attraction and the conviction that thinking and acting positive exudes positive waves and energy in the universe that attract and earn all the positive returns. You’ve got to believe in your dreams and determination was the simplified crux and message that I was able to grasp.
I am not sure if it actually works but it did pretty well for me. When I was craving for a trivial innocent personal wish to come true and everything seemed to go against it, I refused to budge. In the words of my best friend “ I know the stubborn soul in you is not going to give up!”
And so it happened. The things turned unbelievably in a matter of hours if not minutes. While it all looks sorted out for now and with all signs and indicators going green, looks like it is all set to finally embark on another mind-blowing trek in the days to come 🙂
Give and take is the universal principle. No exceptions. Not even divine. It applies everwhere. You lose some. You earn a few. That’s how it works and is bound and meant to be. No two ways about it.
In every relationship, we maintain a joint emotional bank account with that other self. Be it your spouse, dear or loved one, parent, child, mate, buddy, pal, friend, customer or an adversary for that matter. There is a continous stream of sprouting transactions taking place all the time, all the while, from both ends with or even without every exchange. Incessant deposits and withdrawals. Unending debits and credits.
Little things make huge difference. Small acts mean big. It is not the word or act, kind or harsh, but the potential or value that translates into and brings about that corresponding debit or credit that really counts. It is all relative and it all varies with relation to the uniqueness of the other self.
So it is not just what is said that is important. Equally or perhaps more so are the unsaid words and undone deeds. The unexecuted transactions having an enormous potential to turn things around or tip the balance. Then what is left to retard the bonding ? The barriers! Ego, apathy, priorities, time and other resources or lack of understanding and realization ? Or are they just taken for granted ?
And what are these said or unsaid things, done or undone deeds tied with ? Expectations ? Is that what assigns a value to any realized or unrealized transaction ?
Apart from unique and distinct personalities, these expectations are entrenched in mutual communication. When there is symphony or harmony of thoughts and understanding, it all flows and sails in unifying rhythm and sounds melodious, reinforcing the beats to kindle an enviable resonance. Whilst, the lack of it creates a sheer noise and distortion.
The golden rule is ” Try first to understand and then to be understood……” But is it that simple!? You bet your fortune! Much much easier said than done !!!
In theory and text book, it is still damn straight and simple to deal with. Communicate. Identify and remove the underlying causes. Avoid potential conflicts. Avert ugly situations and confrontations. Understand the realities. Expect little or nothing. Give selflessly. Don’t demand and be happy and content with whatever comes your way.
Pratically, it gets increasingly winding and stringent when you encounter the intricacies involved and revelation and surfacing of multiple overlapping paradigms and domains. What does it all lead to ? Avoidance or abstinence ? There is a big tag dangling with it. SELF DENIAL! Now where do we go from here?
In the end, the analogy may seem mundane, businesslike, absurd, bizarre and even mean and insulting being applied to most endearing, palpable, intangible and selfless emotions such as love, trust and care. But then why not ? When every single thing is destined to undergo or supposed to be subjected to some sort of simulation. Even all our virtues and sins would be evaluated eventually, deciding our ultimate fate or so we believe! Broken down into numerous tiny numeric pieces against a yardstick whose guagability remains an enigma. But it is going to be something MEASURABLE and QUANTIFIABLE, specific and relative for sure. Whatever the ultimate unit or tool is supposed to be.
To conclude it all. Let me assert. Loud and clear. What has been a tacit belief and understanding so far or not been uttered with all that vigour.
You mean a lot to me. My friends. All of you. A blessing in my life…….
Lest those words remain unsaid and are lost, silenced and buried in the sands of time or shadowed by merciless and endless shrouds and currents of oblivion without getting themselves registered or counted………
Now I want to embed the link to the video ‘ I want to spend my lifetime loving you…..’ by Marc Anthony and Tina Arena but this damn thing in my hand won’t allow. So if someone would be kind to do me the favour ? No returns guaranteed
It was another cracking dawn swallowing the looming shades of a pitch dark night that lingered a while ago. The receding darkness and shuddering cold silence gave helplessly in to determined and steadily advancing streaks of illumination with a buzz of life. A quaint lonely little house glowed in the first rays of sunlight. Amongst other signs of life, quite at odds with the idyllic environs, a tall thin silhouette moved along that mildly sloping and utterly green plane stretching in all directions at the top. There was something peculiar about that definite but measured and poised gait. A dignified fall of straight dark flowing hair that caressed her shoulders every now and then in the mild rustling wind as if voicing its apprehensions and vigil in her ear drums, two intelligently piercing hazel eyes embedded in large sockets encased in beautiful half arcs of thin black eye brows, a slightly pointed and attractive nose together with the weather beaten tanned complexion that lent more maturity than delicacy and beauty to the aging sharp features and countenance of the lady.
The rays of light pierced and gulped the curtains of suspended mist that had shrouded everything until now. Layers of rapidly melting snow with jagged boundaries perched at the top of distant towering peaks bathed in early sunshine.
Life for her was now steeped in besotting calm and tranquility but had it lost it objectivity? The only noise other then the bites of conscience and solitude unlike the din and clamour of activity from another lifetime was that of a murmuring stream and gushing raging waters. Everything had come to a standstill. One thing she always thought had eluded her was now at her disposal in abundance and nearly as stagnant as the shimmering glass sheet that formed the surface of deep blue nearby lake. Time had lost its meaning or had lost its measure possibly. Days would merge into endless nights only to be transformed back into the eternal daylight once more. Sometimes she just wondered if she was caught in a vicious circle and these continously repeating cycles were nothing more than an illusion.
Was there an escape? Such an irony! It was the solace of escape that she had been pursuing and seeking all along and that caused her to end up in such dreamlike world. An escape from biting realities; Escape from the jaws of madness and commotion of a bewildering mundane material world; Escape from her shattering dreams and painful memories and a man that suffused her past.
The colourful world appears so deceptive and charming with its rainbow of splitting shades when seen through the prism of love. It just absorbed and sucked her in the whirlpool, blinding her view with its hypnotic charm. Dazzled as she was, staring into the daylight, she was unable to see the obvious or refused to do so. It was all so heavenly and surreal until the moment had passed and she woke up to the stench of bitter reality all by herself. And once the bubble burst the only thing that sustained and lasted was the excruciating pain; The throes of which dug and bit more into her soul than corporal flesh and existence.
All her dreams were shattered or was she living in her dreams till that defining moment in her life and just woken to the reality?
Having lost her world or completely abandoned it, still she realized there was no escape from dreams and hope. She even laughed at the miserable helplessness, sheer absurdity and ruthlessness of it as the tears rolled down her wrinkled cheeks. Who can pick up millions of minute broken scattered chards and bond and glue them into a seamless shining mirror again? While the sun began to shine and brighten everything in her surroundings, she couldn’t suppress a surge of warmth sprawling in her heart like the sprouting fresh fountain emanating from the heart of the rocky mountain.
Having gone through the painful research of Stephen Covey and appreciating the lot of hard work that he has put into the subject, I was moved and motivated to the extent that I decided to address the loop holes and come up with my own theory on the subject after years of humble research. Taking nothing away from him, but reinforcing where mandatory to bring due reverence and regard to the statures of these management gurus, I am inclined to draw my own conclusions. As I gather, the typical attributes of a highly successful manager outlining his profile may be summed up as:
A successful manager is highly visionary. Keeps his eyes and senses firmly shut but blindly follows the vision ( read dictates) of the higher ups or decision makers.
Unlike his eyes, the mouth is wide open. All the time talking aloud but not the words that are his own or he ever believes in. A mouthpiece, instead, continously transmitting a message that makes many jaws drop down in awe and wonder.
Smelling and sniffing are the sharpest of his senses and prized assets. Blessed with a nose long and sensitive to an extent that puts a poodle to shame. The most interesting feature, nevertheless, is a continously wagging tail that is surprisingly not visible to a pair of naked eyes.
He is all for free speech but never free to speak his thoughts and words. He only talks what makes sense and that is what he is told to speak or the higher management wants to listen.
Talking of senses and how could we ever miss the sense of taste!? And when it tastes of leather? You got it right! Boot licking!
His loyalty is exemplary and at times can be matched only by the faithfulness of ….well the one with a wagging tail.
There is only one governing principle if he decides to work for a change that is. Merit is the sole criteria unless of course the stake holder or customer is connected to the top. Reciprocating the earned favours in special cases only strengthens the business relations and such best practices are quoted in customer relationship management manuals.
He thoroughly believes in maintaining a healthy work life balance and drum beating is his favourite sport. Blowing a trumpet much larger in scale and portraying something minute as humungous is what he excels at.
He is a champion of honesty and integrity. Thus never fails to utter a shameless lie with complete faith in all honesty and integrity.
Now if you are the one on a look out to grab an opportunity to put your career on course to an accelerated growth, here is your only chance. And if you seem to care opportunity never knocks twice.
Thousands of years of human evolution has failed to quench the insatiable thirst of man for a man’s blood. Just like striving for power, is killing and annihilation a basic human instinct? We have learned and groomed and polished ourselves and become civilized. But civilization has taught us one art to perfection. Beyond a shadow of doubt, we have learned and mastered to kill and annihilate with sophistication.
We are proud to build immense data & information warehouses. And what do we gather? A bare ironic fact. Our immense knowledge, history, experience and learnings have done absolutely nothing to alter the beastly seeds of greed, lust and power ingrained in our genes. Everything pales in the face of this bare truth.
I don’t know if Jagjit’s ghazal has any co-relation to the ramblings and makes any sense here but I felt like embedding it in the same post.
What excites a human mind is challenge and what intrigues it is what is unknown. In the quest of discovery and accomplishment, it learns quickly and explores and unravels layer after layer progressively adding to the cumulative treasures and wealth of discovery.
Accomplishment (sometimes) originates satisfaction and complacency transforming the extraordinary into just ordinary; The thankless human nature thus listlessly relegates it to an object or collection what has been the exclusivity we have been eagerly pursuing or marveling at all along.
As the philosophers and scientists believe, what distinguishes us from the animals is the fact that we can think logically and process the information to reach a logical decision or conclusion. We have the ability and power to judge between good and bad, virtue and sin, nobility and evilness, black and white; Thoughts that keep germinating within the intertwining and inseparable strands of good and evil that co-exist in our souls. In a nutshell, we can safely claim it is the reason and human brain that makes all the difference. Yet as I was reading somewhere, not surprisingly Einstein is stated to be the person known to have utilized most of his brain ever, but surprisingly the proportion of the human brain that even he was able to make use of was a mere 3% or thereabouts. So much for the power and potential of a human brain.
Logic is thus supreme and the principal driving force. But is it so?
Lets glance at the bigger or holistic practical picture evolving on the larger canvas of life. The ironies and ludicrous reasoning dominating the decision making across various spheres of life that drown all logic are evident even without so much as blinking your eyes.
With all that rampant injustice oblivious to all logic and sense, makes me sometimes wish life were a logical puzzle_one like suduko. Insensitive but fair, logical and definite. Having specific answers and solutions with a clear distinction between the wrong and the right. Where one only gets as far as one applies, determines and executes. The only determinants of success and achievement being intelligence, common sense, rationality and determination. Where there are no favours, no short cuts or ladders, no free rides and no leg pulling. No protective or impermeable heavens of mediocrity barring all excellence and merit thriving on the golden principle of mutual respect ‘I scratch your back, you scratch mine’. Thank you very much!
Perhaps it all sounds ideal, crude, wishful, cynical and individualistic. But if collectivism is all about earning favours and privileges for a few chosen ones at the cost of exploitation of ordinary mortals then what good is it!?
The means of communication are becoming unbelievably fast and ubiquitous. Bright side is you are connected to the world literally through your finger tips having instantaneous global access. Flip side being you are accessible anywhere- anytime. Your life, your personality, your moments are being shared. The privacy is being invaded.
Am I a multitasker, workahlic or a cyber addict?
Is it an intrusion or a convenience? Do you gain or lose?
I received an email from a colleague explaining some startling facts and intricacies of the universe, first thing this morning. The emphasis was upon the inperceivably humungous expanse that formulates our universe not to mention the enormous nebulous and material mass of heavenly bodies that remain suspended in vacuum gutted firmly to their place revolving endlessly in elliptical or circular orbits in mind boggling harmony, discipline and co-ordination. Never crossing each other’s path nor interfering in other’s business. If there is a limit, that hardly matters for it is almost meaningless putting a limit or end to a scale that is much beyond the comprehensible capacity and tendency of a human mind.
We are dealing with such a countless and unlimited scale where our earth and even our sun (much much larger in size than our earth) is lost as a tiny speck in a blaze and mass of heavenly bodies scattered across the atmosphere.
The message perpetuated therein was “what is the significance of a human being in such an endless expanse where even my world is entirely lost and struggles to assert its existence?”
If we are dwarfed to such a minuscule proportion whereby our existence becomes questionable and much insignificant, what is the point in carrying all those worries in our heads and squabbling over our mundane contentions?
After a brief consternation, a thought drifted across the bleak layers of my mind transforming gradually into a voice that echoed within the confined corridors.“I am my universe in myself; I am the centre of my own universe” That’s precisely what a philosophical and behaviourial school of thought believes in, not without much reason, I must add. Via any exchange, either I am giving something away or receiving it from the infinite entities surrounding myself, nevertheless, I remain the center and focal point of my own little world. Whether the universe is small or large, it is pointless as long as my problems remain my own just like my blessings are unique and my very own.
In this haphazard world of uneven distribution, the nature has been kind and just about one entity at least. What is the logic and justification behind that, one does not know. God has His strange ways of doing things. Time is the only resource, of which one can think of, that is uniformly distributed amongst the blessed and the condemned souls. Okay. You might again disagree. Our life spans vary, are unique and unknown until we die. Again looking at a lifetime from an evolutionary point of view_generations and generations have eroded over thousands of years since the inception of the mankind. What does a life span of 60, 70 or say 100 years signify amidst that torrent and wiping current of centuries?
Evanescence!
But what is lasting amidst all that momentary flash of life we are exposed to? What makes a difference and counts is, in addition to our deeds, our contribution to the evolution of the humanity and the permanent footprints or undeliable reflections that we leave behind for the following generations to adapt or benefit from_The environment, atmosphere, conditions, resources, morals, values, knowledge, learnings, manners, etiquettes and the material world we pass them on as theirs.
Life goes on and so does the history and evolution. On road to continous exploration and discovery, the man continues to unravel the amazing facts and secrets of universe. However, personally I shall always remain indebted to Newton for unearthing the greatest eternal truth about our universe. What holds everything together and firmly in place despite immense disparity and diversity is the mutual affinity, gravitational pull and bonding. Isn’t that what we quite call as love?
Having a hard time reconciling, taming and aligning a jumble of incoherent and disorderly thoughts simmering in my mind. But something is definitely brewing and struggling to ooze out from the suffocating confines of existence. What it is or may be, I have no idea. Vague and shrouded, hammering with an incessant and chronic discomforting strength.
This is more like walking in utter darkness in a descending and thickening mist and haze of uncertainties. When you are lost in an endless spiraling maze of your own contradictions and every subsequent step becomes progressively heavier but the beacon ominously retreats farther away in oblivion with each trudging stride. Out of breath and weary, that is perhaps when the terrifying realization hits home whether you are moving forward or backwards? Or moving in circles; round and round. Or everything else is static, or else rushing at a breakneck speed yet frighteningly stationary with relation to each other_ just like the moon going crazy revolving round us, sweating tirelessly day and night, though never quite mustering or gaining the liberty and freedom to dash away from its orbit yet placid, merry and beaming in the vanity and glow of its delusions never aware of the invisible strings tied round its neck ensnaring it to the very course it is destined to travel in endless repetitions. Again, we never know if that’s a blessing in disguise? For, it brings home the fact what an enormously gratifying blessing and bliss ignorance is, that prevents us from such phenomenol suffering and melancholy….
The Delirious Outbursts! 