FATHER: An Epitome of Unconditional Love and Care

 

I wrote about mothers on mother’s day, thought of writing about fathers also on this special day.

Father’s day is a day of honouring fathers, brothers, uncles or any other male figure in our life. It has been celebrated worldwide on the third Sunday of June every year since June, 1910, when the idea of recognizing the contributions and sacrifices was first originated in United States. Remarkably, this gesture has been given a warm welcome in India as well and we do celebrate this day expressing our love, adoration and gratitude towards these special people.

From the bachelorhood to a married man and then to a father, their journey flips about 180 degree.  In our society, men have a pre-settled set of responsibilities which are actually born with them on their birth. They are always taught for giving their best for the family, to be most selfless person for their relatives.

They are programmed as a problem solver in every aspect of life. This type of upbringing makes them unaware about their own needs, their own wishes.

FATHER

Father is another name of highest sense of responsibility.  They give their best to serve their family irrespective of their own discomforts. They sacrifice, sacrifice and sacrifice without even letting anyone know their aches and pains. They endow us with all the latest facilities available within his reach. 

When I talk about fathers, I saw only a few of them who are actually aware about their likes and dislikes. I mean, I do not even remember when my own father purchased a handkerchief or a pair of socks for himself. They are so submerged into the fulfillment of family’s needs that they actually do not care about themselves.  They know our requirements even prior to us.  They are the simplest yet most elegant personalities on this Earth.

The forgotten HERO

Though they are a bit rigid sometimes but they are more like a coconut, hard from the surface but softer at heart. Almost half of their life goes in molding themselves as the best of humankind for their children. They are the hero for all of us. They are best specimen of strength.  They work as the best machinery for boosting the fuel of confidence in us. Father is the first realized sense of security. Whenever, he is around, we are assured of our safety.

Father is an unsung hero. He is the person who allows us to experiment our life in our own way and pulls us up when we fall. He allows us to get angry on him and later, pour his adoration even more than earlier. He lets us seeing the world our own way and then put forth his views. He never imposes his rules on us, in fact, he permits us to choose our own path. He is always with us, specially when we are in need. He settles his routine according to his family’s schedule. He teaches us our own strengths, our power to achieve everything we wish. He inculcates all the goodness in us. He instills all the good values in our life. No matter, how tall we become but we always look upto him in odd times. In fact, I believe that it’s his teachings only which shape up our mindset in difficult times.

In short, their sacrifices and contributions to world are innumerable. A father means many things, a compassionate heart, source of strength, source of inspiration, supporting hand right from the beginning. He has no comparisons, no replacements. His love for his kids is no lesser than a mother.

On this special day, I salute all the FATHERS and male father-like figures for all your support, kind heartiness, compassion, love, strength towards your family, the society and the world at large.

A shout-out to all the fathers out there from my side - YOU ALL ARE SPECIAL, YOU ALL ARE AWESOME!

Can FAITH move Mountains?

What faith actually is?

Faith is an invisible power; it needs no senses, just an unwavering heart to yield the magic.

Jesus said in Bible, “Have faith in God! If you have faith in God and don’t doubt, you can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. Everything you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith” (CEV). Faith can move mountains!

Universe has many laws and among them, the law of faith is higher than the law of natures. Law of faith can actually do those miracles which the law of physics cannot even perceive.

We all have read the story in our schools, ‘A letter to God’.  For a quick memory brush up, here is a summarized version. Lencho, the farmer, whose corn fields were destroyed by the hailstorm, left with no hope from all corners and he wrote a letter to God with all his faith for 100 pesos (money). It was a letter written to God. The Postmaster, having read the letter moved by the faith of the writer and decided to answer the letter to keep the writer’s faith intact. The post office employees collected money and delivered them to Lencho. So moral of the story is that an intense faith attracts inexplicable positive results.

Even in daily life, we see many examples of faith. When we come out for office, we see our kids and wave a see you in the evening! What’s that? Obviously an intact faith. We do not know as to what would happen next, but we have that unacknowledged faith that we’ll return and see our child in the evening.

We raise our children keeping a faith that they’ll surely achieve some good in life ahead. We start a business with the faith that it will run profitably. We can see faith infact in every sphere of life.

None of us knows what might happen even the next minute, yet still we go forward. Because we trust. Because we have Faith. – Paulo Coelho

Faith opens the door to miracles. Faith has no space for doubts. It’s an unshakable trust. Intense faith when mixed with efforts brings miraculous results. Faith is the inspiration of taking the first step towards our journey to the plan we chalked out for goals.

How to Cultivate Faith

Now, when we are aware of the importance of Faith, we must possess it. The question arises, how to cultivate faith? Can it be developed? Well, the answer is yes.

Have you ever heard about the self affirmations? Affirmations are the positive thoughts translated into the shape of statements. The statements may also be the outlines of what you desire.

To make my point clearer, let me quote the words of one famous criminologist “When men first come into contact with crime, they abhor it. If they remain in contact with crime for a time, they become accustomed to it and endure it. If they remain in contact with it long enough, they finally embrace it and become influenced by it.”

It is equally correct to say that any thought which is passed repeatedly to the subconscious mind is finally, accepted and acted upon by the subconscious mind.

Every single thought which is backed and powered by the faith, immediately begin to create its physical equivalent or counterpart.

Now, here comes a hack from which we get our answer to the question as to how can we foster faith. Provide yourself with the positive affirmations repeatedly.  Do not ever say that I cannot do this or that. Never remind yourself of your actual incapability. Just positive affirmations and experience the phenomenal changes.

Conclusion

I know that no matter where we stand in our life, we want better. There is no end of human’s desire and goals. Keep them lit and allow yourself to sail through all the hindrances coming around with the power of faith. Intense faith has great power. As is said that FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS, we should try and build the desired faith again to work upon our forgotten aims. 

MIND– What it has and how it works?

Today, we will talk about what is mind, parts of mind, their functionalities and how is it different from brain.

This blog lays a foundation for my upcoming blogs. I want you to have a clear picture of the concept of mind for a better understanding of the forthcoming articles.

What is MIND?

Mind is the set of thinking faculties including cognitive aspects and non-cognitive aspects.

Recently, I have read one book ‘Power of Subconscious Mind’ by Joseph Murphy. It’s indeed the masterpiece in its niche. To understand the concept of mind, I’ll give you some useful insights about our topic from this very book.

How mind is different from Brain?

How many of you think that mind and brain is one and the same thing?  I know your answer is positive. But factually, mind and brain are two different entities.

Brain is the tangible organ of our body. Mind is part of the intangible and invisible world of thought process, feelings, emotions, belief and imagination. It is true that brain is closely associated with mind but mind is not confined to brain. Brain is the hardware and mind is the software. Mind is the source of energy in the body.

Concept of Conscious and Subconscious Mind.

Mind has two levels – the conscious or rational level and subconscious or irrational level.  Mind consists 10% of conscious mind and 90% of subconscious mind.  

Conscious mind is referred to as objective mind and it deals with the outer objects. It takes cognizance of the objective world. It’s mode of observation are our five physical senses (eyes, nose, skin, ear and tongue). You recognize things through your senses. Your objective mind is the guiding light to perceive various things in environment. It learns through observations, education and experience. It has the power of reasoning. It works only when we are awake not when we are sleeping. It works at the human speed. It is also called the logical mind because it thinks before acting.

Whereas, subconscious mind is your subjective mind. It perceives by intuition. It takes cognizance of the environment by means independent of your five senses. It is the seat of your emotions and the storehouse of memory. Subjective mind performs its functions when the objective senses are in suspension. It works 24X7. It works, in fact, way beyond the speed of light.

Subconscious mind cannot argue. It has no capacity of reasoning. It will accept what is delivered to it. If you think good, good will follow; if you think evil, evil will follow. It acts in the same manner for every suggestion.

Above are the capsules to understand the basic notion of Mind, Conscious Mind and Subconscious Mind.

After knowing this much about the subconscious and conscious mind, what do you think, which level of the mind is working presently while you are reading this blog? It’s actually both. Enjoy your day segregating your acts, as to which are governed by conscious mind and which are governed by subconscious mind.   :)

Be FEARLESS: The Risk Taker

In this age of high end technologies, cut throat competition and politics involved in the offices for climbing up the growth ladder in professional fronts, being fearless seems to be a difficult approach at the first glance, but if you be the one, I bet, you will definitely unleash a new you.  It is way better to follow the path of fearlessness instead of involving ourselves in all the other related tabs i.e. flattering, gossiping and all. Let’s check out if being fearless helps in any way in our daily life, to keep ourselves calm, to find our solace, to maintain the sanity in tough times.  

We all know the meaning of fear. We are not talking about the fear from paranormal activities or hallucinations. Let me introduce you the full form of fear.

F-E-A-R- has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise’. The choice is yours.        - Zig Ziglar

Fear in practical life resembles our insecurities e.g. insecurity of losing our job, life partner, financial insecurity etc.

Do you ever think what negative role do these tiny insecurities play in our life? They subconsciously train our mind to believe that in the event of happening a particular event, we may lose an important thing and after losing that very thing, we won’t be able to survive, we won’t be able to cope up with our lives. I used the words ‘negative role’ for them, because they restrain us to take risks. They pull us back from doing anything which may have fruitful results.

Sometimes, we create a stupid situation in our mind and don’t take the requisite steps. We keep our expression of opinion within ourselves. Sometimes, we are so pissed off at our professional front; we take all shitty things on us, just to keep everyone happy around us. We listen for the mistakes, which actually would not have committed by us and best part is, we have had the knowledge of this fact, even then we don’t speak up. And in between all the chaos around us, we lose our sanity. We think and think again as to what went wrong? Here, I ask you, why?

Can’t we afford being fearless? Can’t we come out of our fears and insecurities? Can’t we take stand for ourselves or even for others, if they are right? Can’t we quit the current unsatisfactory placement just because we are afraid of getting a new one and even if we get a new place, just because we are not sure if we’ll be able to cope up with the newness, to survive in the new environment with the new colleagues?

Revisit your LIMITS

If you forget, let me remind you a simple fact of your being a human and for you, SKY IS THE LIMIT. Now with this mindset, take all the examples referred to above and revaluate your decisions. And believe me if we take decisions keeping all our insecurities aside, we do the same work more efficiently, attracting more prosperity and relatively more satisfaction. The fearless outlook flips the results altogether.

Conclusion

Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire. Being fearless is most powerful state of mind. It boosts your confidence. The moment when your confidence is high and you are ready to take risks, things start changing.

Once you become fearless, life becomes limitless. Expand your limits.

One who is not afraid of losing anything can afford all the risks. If you really are eager to achieve something, try taking risks.  I am not suggesting you to take risks without any planning. No doubt, risk-taking can lead to big wins, but it's equally wise to be choosy and look before you leap. Every risk has something to teach us. It may either be success or failure, no other way out. Even the failures give us lessons and afford us a chance of grabbing the opportunity with better precision. Just don’t make decisions in the state of fear and keep fluttering your wings without any fear, coz SKY IS YOUR LIMIT.

Is the GOOD LIFE an enemy of a BETTER/ BEST LIFE?

As the topic itself poses a question today, the article too is loaded with lots of questions.  This is because I wanted you all to do some introspection.

Do you ever realize that how many of us live our life only in comfort zone? And did you ever reach to a point that our habit of remaining in comfort zone could have been a reason for our lagging behind to achieve the best of everything that we are now having?

Let’s do some mental exercise over this topic and go to the roots of this argument.

To understand my point, we can take some of the daily life examples.  Food with calories is good as it will definitely satisfy your hunger, yet food coupled with calories nutrition is better as it will take care of not only our hunger but health as well. For a time pass, any book reading may sound good but reading a book which can somehow touch you deep inside or can impact your life positively will always be a better option. Doing an exercise for building the muscle strength may be a good idea, but isn’t it would be a better combination, if that exercise be combined with yoga, so as to build us strong not only physically but also spiritually? An earning, which provides your family with the food, comfort and fulfillment is good but who would say no to a handsome earning which shall also include some future savings? Since childhood, I have heard the saying ‘sangat ka asar’.  In that very context, being social is good but hanging around with the people who help you grow directly or indirectly in Life is always better.

My question to all of you is, why not to utilize the limited time we get for ourselves in a better way? We have a short life, I mean, atleast for my kind of person, who wants so much from her life, the life is short. The question arises, why not to come out of our comfy zone to make this short life the best of its genus. Don’t you people think that ‘just a good life’ is an enemy of ‘a much better or infact the best life’?

We have always been nested within our snugness. I would ask you a direct question, why so sluggishness? Would you really mind, if by increasing your efforts a bit more, you would be getting a better life, a more satisfactory life?  

Good, better, best. Never let it rest till your good is better and better is best. – St. Jerome

Life cycle of the butterfly is the perfect example for all of us. Even the pupa does not exactly become a butterfly unless it wrestles against its own self for coming out of the cocoon.  The cocoon has been the comfy zone for pupa too.

So folks let’s tussle a bit more against our own strengths for becoming a butterfly, for showing our true colours to the world, for achieving a somewhat better life.

I have included no conclusion today, because you are the best judge for wriggling out the crux of the above decision for yourself.

Think about it and please let me know, as to what changes have you brought into your life with small changes.

MOTHER – A ROLE MODEL

Since mother’s day was round the corner, I thought why not to write about Mother and her phenomenal strengths.

Today’s blog is not at all technical but a segment of emotional flood.

A mother in every family plays the important role of strong pillar. She lays the foundation of a family. She does everything to keep the family’s need fulfilled even at the cost of her own comfort. They are actually the expert on almost every bit of our need. Even after marriage, I consult my mother for many tasks. From an expert advisor to a best friend, they have all within.

We all have seen our mothers doing all the household chores right from the rising of first rays of sun till the time they sleep. They have exceptional level of energies which keep them flowing. Did you ever ask this question as to from where do they get such extraordinary strength to look after all of us?

Today, when I have become a mother, I find myself being able to answer it very easily and I know, all the mothers out there are already aware of the answer.

Such astounding power comes from ‘Willingness’.  You must have noticed that they do even the smallest of work with all their heart. Because they really want to do it. They don’t get paid for their immeasurable efforts, infact, most of the time, their efforts remain unacknowledged. 

We always have enormous inspirational instances around us and one of them is the mother. The list of lessons a mother teaches during her lifetime has no end. For me, my mother is the strongest personality I have ever seen.

We have always played a role of seeker when it comes to our mothers. But somehow, I feel in the race of life, we have left them behind. We don’t give them even the least that they deserve. Don’t you think, everyday is a mothers’ day for all their daily endeavours? Why should it be celebrated only on one day in a year?

What a Mother wants?

Can you recollect as to when did you last talk to your mother without any work?

And will you believe me, if I say, they want nothing from their children and family, when it comes to their expectations? Yes, nothing, except their share of respect and time. They feel so glad when their children talk to them for no reason.  Believe me when I say that they just want a bit out of your 24 hours and they are overjoyed.

So readers, leaving your virtual/ social media lives apart, please sit beside your mother, have a fun talk with her and observe her ecstasy, the radiance on her face. They actually need it. It would be their best gift, go and please present her.

Dedicated to all the MOTHERS out there – You Are Phenomenal !!

COVID – 19: THE TOLL TAKING VIRUS

Amid all the news and death tolls, I am not going to talk about the devastating situation which this virus has created, but I am certainly going to talk about some other aspects of such virus, which I am sure must have a coincidental similarity with all of us.  

What all this virus has had for us?

This virus has different aspects for everyone. During lockdown, there is one lot of people, who actually enjoyed this period with their family. Working moms could dedicate their full time to their kids, which they have always been craved for.

On the other hand, there is that lot of people, who lost their means of earning and ran from pillar to post for satisfying the hunger of their families. Yes, the poor, the down trodden class. This class includes all from labour to our domestic helpers, to school drivers and many more.

In today’s edition, my concern is totally towards the latter lot.  Though most of us have had a deduct of certain amount in our salaries, but still we are on a much higher footing than those who have got nothing even if they are ready to serve. 

Recently, I met a person, who is a school bus driver and he was disturbed for the reason of not getting even a single penny from the passenger children’s parent just because the schools are shut. Satirically, we can pay the school fee in full, which is, now a days, is a bulky sum, but we cannot pay the meager charges of school bus for our children. Those drivers, helpers have their families too. 

Secondly, the domestic helpers, who were dependent on their monthly salary like most of us, are going through a tough time. These people have no savings. They are actually the pissed off section in the present days.

Above citied are just the two of examples with whom I directly came into contact, you all must have observed other types of similar lots too.

There appears a class of private companies employees too, who are being fired as a result of no business in the companies.  Economy has, no doubt, gone into down lines, however, the economy can be revived but the dead can never be revived.

What least we can do for mitigating the catastrophic effects on poor sections? 

My readers, who are reading this blog, I would humbly appeal that though we are not a social worker, yet we are human and only a human can understand the other personage, please pay your helpers in this hour of need, if not full then to some extent but please help them financially.  We can’t help the fired people, I know. But we should do the least, which we are actually capable of. 

With this ending note of evoking your generosity for forwarding a helping hand to all your helpers on humanitarian grounds, I cherish my endeavour of creating our society a bit more aesthetic, more gracious, proclaiming the proverb ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is one family)  more realistically.