Have you just 'been'?

Howdy folks! Happy New Year once again.
This is my first post this year and going by the length of my previous posts, I'd like to KISS this one. (Keep It Short Stupid)
Before beginning, I'm glad my last post managed to shake you up a bit and I also hope that you all are scaring yourselves in some way or the other, each day. I have frightened myself everyday for the past week and I'm richer in thought, word, deed and action. (For those of you who missed the last post, I recommend you click here & read it before proceeding.)

OK...so have you just been?
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I'm sure you're puzzled. It seems to be an incomplete question. I should have asked:
- How have you been? or
- Where have you been? or
- Have you been to blah, blah and blah?

BUT NO. I asked you a simpler question: 'HAVE YOU JUST BEEN?'
Still think it's a tough question?

Sure it is a tough question to answer for anyone simply because we have never 'just been!'
I don't mean being here or there or being like someone. I'm not even inquiring about your well-being.
What I mean is 'have you ever been YOU? or is this a facade or an illusion or a role you are playing?'

When was the last time you sat down alone just observing all that was happening around you?
When was the last time you introspected yourself?
When was the last time you just stared out of the window or looked up at the starry night?
When was the last time you did absolutely nothing?

Forget the last time, have you ever done the above things?
In all probability, the answer is NAHHH...

And why is it so?
Simply because we never had the time to do so or never thought it was important.
We all are busy playing various roles in life at all times. We are constantly trying to please others or derive satisfaction from the outcomes of our actions. But the point is there is satisfaction even in inaction. This is when you are observing reality as it is and you get to know the true 'you' who is buried beneath your physical being in the ordinary scheme of events. This real 'you' comes out when you are alone, when you are just an observer, when you are in a state of solitude. Just being 'you' can give you answers to life's toughest questions. Just being 'you' gives you clarity
of thought. Just being 'you' is the least you can do to give yourself a much needed break in today's fast paced world.

So how can you just be?
Its the simplest thing to do (and we never knew!) Try being alone for some time and just cut out all thoughts from your mind.
Observe as reality unfolds around you, but do not react. Look outside the window and just be still. Meditate if you can (mail, message or write to me for tips on how to just 'be').

Don't just live the length of life, live the breadth of it too!

I asked you to try out something new everyday in my last post. How about trying to 'just be' tomorrow? Give it a try and gift yourself a wonderful moment.

(I'd love to hear from you how it was to 'just be'...its done wonders for me! Join the facebook group if you still haven't to keep yourself updated.)
Cya...

The Best New Year Resolution for 2009!

It's that time of the year again...where the past is forgotten and where everyone looks forward to
start afresh; Where old promises (fulfilled or not) are reviewed and fresh ones are made; where everyone bids goodbye to one year to welcome a new one.

2008 has been one hell of a year. It managed to surprise everyone, either pleasantly or unpleasantly.
But that's it... as we all look forward to yet another year, the only thing we can be rest assured about is that 'CHANGE' is the order of the year. Things are changing constantly and adapting to these is gonna be a task for all. So while we grapple with our mundane lifestyles which are all set to change dramatically thanks to major events taking place all over the globe, we need to make firm resolutions and abide by them devotedly. Gone are the days where 'resolutions are meant to be broken' was the easy way out. If I were to rephrase it aptly keeping current times in minds, I'd say 'Stick to your resolutions or they will break you!'

So, whats the BEST NEW YEAR RESOLUTION for 2009?
For some it could be kicking a bad habit (excessive smoking/alcohol/drugs) or losing weight (or gaining in my case!) or reading daily or investing regularly or controlling their anger or whatever!

GOOD! Your intention to do so solves half the problem... but its the other half that's the hardest, the ACTION part!

I've been one of those resolution breakers too but I've come across some concrete advice that's definitely going to bring about positive changes in me and my life. So what is this 'priced' possession?

Well, its a combination of:
1. A Plan,
2. A Ready Reckoner/Reminder &
3. A SCARY SECRET!

First of all, have a goal. Set it. Like they say, 'have a goal and bend every angle towards achieving it.' I call it a plan because it is a detailed set of instructions/steps to be taken to reach the goal, like a blueprint. So first thing- PREPARE A BLUEPRINT OF YOUR GOAL.

Secondly, have a ready reckoner/reminder (a book, a white board, a chart paper, your computer desktop or your mobile phone). This is the most important part (the ACTION part) as it stands to constantly remind you of your plans and tells you to keep your ass movin'. I say this because- 'when your ass is on fire, efficiency is higher!'
Make notes and action steps (like a to-do list and cross out whats already done). You will feel relieved trust me!

Lastly, the SCARY SECRET!
I've read a couple of books recently and they talk about a technique that I call 'kick the butt and get out of the rut'. What is it?
SECRET: 'DO 1 NEW THING EVERYDAY FOR THE NEXT 365 DAYS or DO 1 THING EVERYDAY THAT SCARES YOU!'
What this means is that by trying to do one new/exciting/scary thing everyday for the next 365 days, on 31st December, 2009, you will be equipped with 365 new ideas/ techniques/ choices/ skills/ experiences/ _________ (fill in).
Just imagine the power of this simple yet life changing possibility.

One valid question sure to arise: 'is it practically possible to do one new/scary thing everyday?'
Thankfully, the answer is YIPEEE YAHOOO YESS!!! IT IS POSSIBLE!

The idea is to do one NEW/ NEVER DONE BEFORE thing everyday which could be reading something you've never read before, trying out a new dish, exploring a new website, making a new friend, cutting down one cigarette everyday, following a new diet pattern, taking guitar lessons, learning a magic trick, not brushing teeth for a week, visiting a new city, knocking down your foes, inviting Warren Buffett for dinner, etc (excuse me if I've mentioned something
wrong, I just tried losing my head today)

The above list of things to do everyday is just limited by your imagination and your interests and your drive to actually learn something new. One more crucial ingredient is to have a 'positive mindset' & Richard Branson's 'Screw it, lets do it' attitude. You might fail 99 times, but at the end of it all, you will atleast know how 'not to do the thing' rather than never having tried at all.

I'm sure 2008 has frightened us all enough and we all are quite immune to being scared.
So scare yourself just a lil' bit more and see the changes that you bring about in yourself in 2009.

I'm scaring myself tomorrow by booking my 'first online flight ticket'...how are you gonna scare yourself?
I'd love to know your scary strategies so that I may also learn in the process. General comments are also welcome.

Its 12:00 am. 1st January 2009!
Wish you all a very happy new year!
I ended my last post by saying- BE HAPPY.
I end this by saying- BE SCARED! (you know how!)

(Click on the JOIN FACEBOOK icon on the right pane to join our exciting group on facebook and be up-to-date with LIFE!)

Santa's gift

Christmas is the season that honors the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It is a fun filled & holy festival that's celebrated across the globe. The holiday season is characterized by church celebrations, late night masses, feasts, christmas trees, holly, mistletoes, gift giving and offcoursethe ever-so cuddly Santa Claus.

While the whole world is busy preparing for the holidays either by way of planning family trips ordeciding on the menu or carol singing, our dear Santa Claus is having a tough time. Since time immemorial,this plump, jolly, white-bearded man called Saint Nicholas has been assigned the daunting task of spreadinghappiness by satisfying everyone's materialistic demands by way of gifts. Only this time, things are a lil' different.

With the ongoing recession and climatic changes taking place all over, Santa is finding it reallyhard to cope up with things. Firstly, he's up north where the ice is melting uncontrollably and igloos arebecoming extinct. As a result, the sleigh manufacturers are shutting shop due to falling demand. Secondly,the dollar has shot up increasing prices of gifting supplies & also import costs. Lastly, with the exploding population, the North Pole Postal Agency which receives the letters for Santa from across theglobe are demanding higher compensation from Santa for having to work overtime. As a result, the demand/gift/materialistic list prepared by santa has run into so many pages that he has decided to outsourcesome other Santa's from different parts of the world to accomplish this seemingly impossible task.

Problems have compounded for poor Santa as the demands made by children and adults alike have been showing a'trend-upheaval'over the past years. While demand for simple toys, games and books have considerably gone down, the demand for snazzy gizmos like mobile phones, ps3's, iPods and robots have increased exponentially! This isweighing down heavily on Santa who has budget constraints. To add to his woes, this year Santa has received severalletters and requests which have left him dumbfounded. A boy from the U.S. of A wants to be part of the Obama administration so that atleast he and his family don't have the fear of being laid-off in the economic downturn. The boy urges Santa to fulfill his request by ending his letter with the words- 'YES YOU CAN' in true Obama style. A young girl from the middle east wants to marry the guy who threw his shoes on Bush while a kid from Afghanistan wants that very shoe! As though this was not enough, a Japanese couple has sent in a request demanding a miracle torevive their economy. To top it all, an Indian kid wants to lay his hands on Dawood Ibrahim! I really pity Santa...

But the good samaritan that Santa is, he somehow managed to arrange for the weird materialistic and self-centered demandsmade by mortals all over. On Christmas eve, Santa with all his elves has set up a 'happiness laden train' of his own sleighs (and some rented) to form something a little less longer than the Great wall of China. As he is about to set off for what might be his longest excursion, in comes one last request. Its from a young girl who lives in a distant land. She has just mentioned her address and wants to meet Santa once. Thats it! "NO gift?", exclaimed Santa with shock and surprise. Being unable to decline this mysterious but simple request, Santa decided to oblige and keep it for the end. He finally sets off.

First stop was obviously the U.S.A. which made utmost use of technology to contact Santa. He went from state to state in a flash dropping by the chimneys and filling the stockings with gifts. Some were sweet in leaving behind cakes and eastereggs but being overweight, Santa would carry them for his elves. He flew over New York where he heard a guy called EMINEM sing 'will the real santa please stand up, please stand up' in front of a huge crowd of santa wannabe's. Gosh, he didn't seem amused. The other outsourced Santa's also bumped into him over Europe and some gifts got exchanged by mistake addingto the delay. To the weird demands made by people wanting the 'shoe' or the 'obama' kid, Santa politely dropped in anexciting gadget to divert their attention from their dreamy wants.

It was all finally over when Santa took a break atop Mt. Everest. He could picturize the entire globe enjoying and derivinghappiness from materialism. He began thinking how people were finding happiness externally when true happiness was right within them. He was mulling over the varying definitions of happiness that people had coined but how he strongly believed thatall seasons are beautiful for the person who carries happiness within. All of a sudden, he remembered the girl. He quickly left.

Upon arrival at the address, all he saw was an open lawn with a solitary christmas tree and a lit candle on a box at the bottom. Beside it was a girl dressed in a dingy frock (in all probability, the girl who wrote the letter to meet Santa). Looking at Santa alight from his sleigh, the girl ran towards him and hugged him tight without saying a word. The girl was overjoyed at the sight of Santa who hugged her too as tears of happiness rolled down her eyes. "What happened child? Whyare you alone on this holy evening and why did you want to meet me? Why don't you want a gift?" The girl still not being able to contain her joy spoke in a tone that moved Santa. "I am from a simple family and my parents have to toil very hardeveryday to afford a good meal. Despite this, we are all happy as we never sleep hungry. My parents tell me that unlike others,we are extremely lucky people as we get a gift everyday from you in the form of good food and a roof to cover oursleves. Somedays ago, for the first time my daddy got me a box of chocolates. I was overjoyed. My mother told me its a christmas gift from Santa and said that I should be thankful to you. I see others get big & colorful presents for christmas everytime. Some are happy for the moment while some are not. But I am always happy as I get a gift everyday from you. I don't want any other gift that keeps me happy for only some time as I have all the precious gifts I need to live life happily forever. So I just wanted to meet you and thank you for everything that you have given us."

As she said this, she picked up what looked like a small box from the bottom of the christmas tree. "Thank you Santa!", the girl said handing the box to the teary-eyed Santa. He opened the box and broke into a smile as he saw the chocolates in there with a friendship band with the words 'santa's gift' written in an untidy script. She tied it around Santa's wrist. "This friendship band is for you to thank you for always keeping me happy. I want to share the chocolates with you so that you can be a part of my happiness." This was the first time Santa had received a gift from someone who had never asked for one. It was the first time that someone had expressed immense gratitude for the simple gifts of life for which even Santa wasn't responsible.

Santa was touched by this affable gesture. He knew that the girl would develop into being a wise human being for whomhappiness meant to love, to be loved and to be thankful for every minute of this precious gift of life. The only thing he could give the girl was his word that he would celebrate every christmas with her. The childs joy knew no bounds as both the emotional souls bid each other good-bye only to meet next christmas.

The girl had the best christmas ever and knew that she was not alone on this holy day. For Santa, it was the happiest day of his life as he had finally unravelled the true definition of happiness from a girl who had also given him his first- 'santa's gift'

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves.When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."

If you like this post, please feel free to comment below and write your thoughts on 'happYness' to share a happy moment with the world. You can also pass on this post to others you want to share the happiness with by clicking on the envelope icon below.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Be Happy.

25-12-08
-Varun Thakur