Thursday, October 30, 2008
Night jasmine
“True love is night jasmine, a diamond in darkness, the heartbeat no cardiologist has ever heard. It is the most common of miracles, fashioned of fleecy clouds -- a handful of stars tossed into the night sky.” Jim Bishop
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Make your heart an open highway
Listening to my six year old niece do a rendition of Bon Jovi's 'Its my life' put a smile on my face as I took in the meaning of the words. 'I wanna live while I'm alive'. Its so important that we do not take our living for granted but to feel alive as much as possible. One should always have an open heart for different experiences.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
An evening at Porsche Dealership
Last night I was at Mayfair's Porsche Dealership and won a day at Silverstein racing a Porsche :)
Will I become truly afflicted?
The purest expression of who we are ?
There is no substitute.
Will I become truly afflicted?
The purest expression of who we are ?
There is no substitute.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Future Files
www.futureexploration.net
Sneak preview: Future Files: A History of the Next 50 Years by Richard Watson
Ross Dawson, August 30, 2007 9:40 PM US PT
Do you want to have your brain vigorously shaken? Those in search of serious provocation on what the future holds need look no further than Future Files: A History of the Next 50 Years, by the inimitable Richard Watson, Chief Futurist at Future Exploration Network. The book is not out until next week, so you’re privileged to get a sneak preview at the book website. Don’t miss the free download of Chapter 1 of the book.
The heart of the book is 11 chapters, each exploring the future of a key aspect of our lives and future.
1 Society and Culture: why we’ll take longer baths in the future
2 Government and Politics: us and them
3 Science and Technology: the rise of the machines
4 Media and Entertainment: have it your way
5 Money and Financial Services: everyone is a bank
6 Automotive and Transport: the end of the road as we know it
7 Food and Drink: faster and slower
8 Retail and Shopping: what we’ll buy when we’ve got it already
9 Healthcare and Medicine: older and wiser
10 Travel and Tourism: ‘Sorry, this country is full.’
11 Work and Business: the new right-brain economy
Each chapter is filled with startling facts from the present, from which Richard derives staggering insights about the future. As with much of Richard’s work, it shouldn’t all be taken overly seriously, but being prepared to make a few supersonic flights of logic is what helps take us into new ways of thinking about the future, and responding to it more effectively.
Go out and get a copy! For now, I’ve snatched a few paragraphs from the first chapter to whet your appetite:
What will people be running away from in the future? What will we be afraid of in the year 2050? The answer is reality. People will be disorientated and uncomfortable due to the level and speed of change, so they will seek refuge in other places (holidays, books, games, films, and so on). The entertainment industry will therefore become the biggest game in town. Add to this the natural human inclination to see what’s next, and you have a society that will refuse to tackle current problems such as debt, education, healthcare, and transport, while simultaneously worrying about things that happened in the past or might happen in the future (such as asteroid strikes). We will be afraid of not knowing. We will be afraid of things that are outside our control. We will be afraid of uncertainty. Most of all, perhaps we will be afraid of ‘them’ — people who come from somewhere else, and I don’t mean the planet Mars. These fears will drive the accumulation of information. We will crave ‘scientific’ data on the statistical probability of everything while simultaneously seeking out the personal stories of people, products, and organisations as some kind of faux reassurance.
By the year 2020 people, products, and organisations will have reliability ratings. These will be ratings of honesty, integrity, and transparency created by and available to everyone. You will be able to rank everything from politicians to personal computers based on past claims, actions, and performance, much in the same way that buyers and sellers are currently rated on eBay. Reputations will therefore be actively managed and, in some cases, even traded or stolen.
However, as an interesting counterpoint, it will be almost impossible to maintain a perfect record because everything you say and do and everywhere you go will be monitored and recorded. Secrecy will be history, in the future. People, products, and corporations will therefore be assumed guilty until investigated. This will eventually give rise to the idea of ethical bankruptcy, which will be a clean slate for reputations.
Courtesy of www.rossdawsonblog.com
Sneak preview: Future Files: A History of the Next 50 Years by Richard Watson
Ross Dawson, August 30, 2007 9:40 PM US PT
Do you want to have your brain vigorously shaken? Those in search of serious provocation on what the future holds need look no further than Future Files: A History of the Next 50 Years, by the inimitable Richard Watson, Chief Futurist at Future Exploration Network. The book is not out until next week, so you’re privileged to get a sneak preview at the book website. Don’t miss the free download of Chapter 1 of the book.
The heart of the book is 11 chapters, each exploring the future of a key aspect of our lives and future.
1 Society and Culture: why we’ll take longer baths in the future
2 Government and Politics: us and them
3 Science and Technology: the rise of the machines
4 Media and Entertainment: have it your way
5 Money and Financial Services: everyone is a bank
6 Automotive and Transport: the end of the road as we know it
7 Food and Drink: faster and slower
8 Retail and Shopping: what we’ll buy when we’ve got it already
9 Healthcare and Medicine: older and wiser
10 Travel and Tourism: ‘Sorry, this country is full.’
11 Work and Business: the new right-brain economy
Each chapter is filled with startling facts from the present, from which Richard derives staggering insights about the future. As with much of Richard’s work, it shouldn’t all be taken overly seriously, but being prepared to make a few supersonic flights of logic is what helps take us into new ways of thinking about the future, and responding to it more effectively.
Go out and get a copy! For now, I’ve snatched a few paragraphs from the first chapter to whet your appetite:
What will people be running away from in the future? What will we be afraid of in the year 2050? The answer is reality. People will be disorientated and uncomfortable due to the level and speed of change, so they will seek refuge in other places (holidays, books, games, films, and so on). The entertainment industry will therefore become the biggest game in town. Add to this the natural human inclination to see what’s next, and you have a society that will refuse to tackle current problems such as debt, education, healthcare, and transport, while simultaneously worrying about things that happened in the past or might happen in the future (such as asteroid strikes). We will be afraid of not knowing. We will be afraid of things that are outside our control. We will be afraid of uncertainty. Most of all, perhaps we will be afraid of ‘them’ — people who come from somewhere else, and I don’t mean the planet Mars. These fears will drive the accumulation of information. We will crave ‘scientific’ data on the statistical probability of everything while simultaneously seeking out the personal stories of people, products, and organisations as some kind of faux reassurance.
By the year 2020 people, products, and organisations will have reliability ratings. These will be ratings of honesty, integrity, and transparency created by and available to everyone. You will be able to rank everything from politicians to personal computers based on past claims, actions, and performance, much in the same way that buyers and sellers are currently rated on eBay. Reputations will therefore be actively managed and, in some cases, even traded or stolen.
However, as an interesting counterpoint, it will be almost impossible to maintain a perfect record because everything you say and do and everywhere you go will be monitored and recorded. Secrecy will be history, in the future. People, products, and corporations will therefore be assumed guilty until investigated. This will eventually give rise to the idea of ethical bankruptcy, which will be a clean slate for reputations.
Courtesy of www.rossdawsonblog.com
Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Michael Gerber of E-myth
Selling is a system, building a house is a system and of course business is a system.
What's missing in this picture? Inspired by people who are confused than people who know.
80% of businesses go out of business before their fifth year.
What's missing in this picture? Inspired by people who are confused than people who know.
80% of businesses go out of business before their fifth year.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Davos
What's on the Mind of Asia's New Business Giants?
Chinese and Indian business leaders are reshaping industrial sectors while creating a new dynamic in the global competitive landscape. As corporate Asia continues to expand its global reach, business leaders must confront a new range of global opportunities and challenges.
1) What key concerns do Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs face in taking their businesses global?
2) What are the unique strategies to mitigate risk? How are they reshaping their corporations to take on these challenges?
3) How might Chinese and Indian businesses leaders play a role in addressing global concerns?
Richard S. Fuld Jr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lehman Brothers, USA
Nandan M. Nilekani, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies, India; Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum
Azim H. Premji, Chairman, Wipro, India
Edward S. Tian, Vice-Chairman, China Netcom (Group) Company, People's Republic of China
Chaired by
Maria Bartiromo, Anchor, CNBC's Closing Bell, and Host and Managing Editor, Wall Street Journal Report, CNBC, USA; Young Global Leader
Chinese and Indian business leaders are reshaping industrial sectors while creating a new dynamic in the global competitive landscape. As corporate Asia continues to expand its global reach, business leaders must confront a new range of global opportunities and challenges.
1) What key concerns do Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs face in taking their businesses global?
2) What are the unique strategies to mitigate risk? How are they reshaping their corporations to take on these challenges?
3) How might Chinese and Indian businesses leaders play a role in addressing global concerns?
Richard S. Fuld Jr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lehman Brothers, USA
Nandan M. Nilekani, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies, India; Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum
Azim H. Premji, Chairman, Wipro, India
Edward S. Tian, Vice-Chairman, China Netcom (Group) Company, People's Republic of China
Chaired by
Maria Bartiromo, Anchor, CNBC's Closing Bell, and Host and Managing Editor, Wall Street Journal Report, CNBC, USA; Young Global Leader
The Importance of Failing
Randy Komisar on hoe the biggest successses are often bred from failures.
April 28, 2004 presentation by Randy Komisar for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program Entrepreneurship Corner in the School of Engineering at Stanford University.
According to Randy Komisar, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, what distinguishes the Silicon Valley is not its successes, but the way in which it deals with failures. The Valley is about experimentation, innovation, and taking new risks. Only a small business that can deal with failure and still make money can exist in this environment. It is a model based on many, many failures and a few extraordinary successes.
April 28, 2004 presentation by Randy Komisar for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program Entrepreneurship Corner in the School of Engineering at Stanford University.
According to Randy Komisar, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, what distinguishes the Silicon Valley is not its successes, but the way in which it deals with failures. The Valley is about experimentation, innovation, and taking new risks. Only a small business that can deal with failure and still make money can exist in this environment. It is a model based on many, many failures and a few extraordinary successes.
Observe the masses and do the opposite
I just finished reading James Caan's book 'The Real Deal'. Its a fascinating read and full of inspiration.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Experience the Extraordinary
I came across a book recently called The Geography of Bliss which discusse the correlation between a certain place and how happy we are. Demark is supposedly the happiest nation on earth. Right now, I would like to be in Ras Al Khaima which is 45 minutes from Dubai, a place of extreme scenic beauty with the mountains and sea and yet the vibrancy and energy of Dubai is close by. If UK is my parents, and Bangladesh is my grandparents , then Dubai is my exciting older brother who is always doing grand projects and Ras Al Khaimah my best friend.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Steven Pressfield
An excerpt from an interview between Goodread and Steven Pressfield :
GR: Describe a typical day spent writing. Do you have any unusual writing habits?
SP: I fiddle around for a long time, all morning usually, before I finally overcome Resistance and get down to work. I try to be as stupid as possible. I just let it rip and try not to censor anything. My goal is just to get something down, good or bad, and K.B.O., Keep Buggering On. I'm very superstitious. I collect pennies. I have a little cannon on my desk that I point at me, to fire inspiration into me. That's only the beginning. They say there's no such thing as writing, only rewriting. I'd divide the activity into two. Yes, there's writing. You have to be fearless and keep grinding, day after day, month after month. Then there's rewriting. That's almost as hard but not as scary. I try to stay as dumb as possible. Don't think about it, do it.
To read the whole interview visit:
http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/steven_pressfield?utm_medium=email&utm_source=June_newsletter
GR: Describe a typical day spent writing. Do you have any unusual writing habits?
SP: I fiddle around for a long time, all morning usually, before I finally overcome Resistance and get down to work. I try to be as stupid as possible. I just let it rip and try not to censor anything. My goal is just to get something down, good or bad, and K.B.O., Keep Buggering On. I'm very superstitious. I collect pennies. I have a little cannon on my desk that I point at me, to fire inspiration into me. That's only the beginning. They say there's no such thing as writing, only rewriting. I'd divide the activity into two. Yes, there's writing. You have to be fearless and keep grinding, day after day, month after month. Then there's rewriting. That's almost as hard but not as scary. I try to stay as dumb as possible. Don't think about it, do it.
To read the whole interview visit:
http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/steven_pressfield?utm_medium=email&utm_source=June_newsletter
A Big Heart
Great video! The heart gets smaller when the people don't receive her love, it gets big again and restores her faith when she meets someone who is willing to receive her love.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch passed away on 25th July 2008 after battling pancreatic cancer. His speech 'The Last Lecture' about Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, spread through the internet with 10 million views. The following is a reprise of his last lecture on Oprah.
Sweden's Ice Hotel
An ice hotel is a temporary hotel made up entirely of snow and sculpted blocks of ice. They are promoted by their sponsors and have special features for travelers who are interested in novelties and unusual environments, and thus are in the class of destination hotels. Their lobbies are often filled with ice sculptures, and food and beverages are specially chosen for the circumstances.
All of the ice hotels are reconstructed every year, and are dependent upon constant sub-zero temperatures during construction and operation. The walls, fixtures, and fittings are made entirely of ice, and are held together using a substance known as snice, which takes the place of mortar in a traditional brick built hotel.
The ice hotel near the village of Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna, Sweden was the world's first ice hotel. In 1989, Japanese ice artists visited the area and created an exhibition of ice art. In Spring 1990, French artist Jannot Derid held an exhibition in a cylinder-shaped igloo in the area. One night there were no rooms available in the town, so some of the visitors asked for permission to spend the night in the exhibition hall. They slept in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skin - the first guests of the "hotel."
The entire hotel is made completely out of ice blocks taken from the Torne River - even the glasses in the bar are made of ice. The hotel has more than 80 rooms and suites, a bar, reception area and church. The hotel only exists between December and April. Each room is unique and the architecture of the hotel is changed each year, as it is rebuilt from scratch.
All of the ice hotels are reconstructed every year, and are dependent upon constant sub-zero temperatures during construction and operation. The walls, fixtures, and fittings are made entirely of ice, and are held together using a substance known as snice, which takes the place of mortar in a traditional brick built hotel.
The ice hotel near the village of Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna, Sweden was the world's first ice hotel. In 1989, Japanese ice artists visited the area and created an exhibition of ice art. In Spring 1990, French artist Jannot Derid held an exhibition in a cylinder-shaped igloo in the area. One night there were no rooms available in the town, so some of the visitors asked for permission to spend the night in the exhibition hall. They slept in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skin - the first guests of the "hotel."
The entire hotel is made completely out of ice blocks taken from the Torne River - even the glasses in the bar are made of ice. The hotel has more than 80 rooms and suites, a bar, reception area and church. The hotel only exists between December and April. Each room is unique and the architecture of the hotel is changed each year, as it is rebuilt from scratch.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Friday, July 04, 2008
The Butterfly Effect
As I drove my daughter to school this morning I got stuck in a pile up on a side road with cars trying to inch their way through in both directions. There was honking, some drivers just sat there without knowing what actually the problem was. I sat for a couple of minutes and then knew I had to do something , otherwise we would be there forever since no one was trying to figure out what was happening. I moved my car an inch which made the car opposite me move an inch and then the car in front of me moved an inch and sudenly all the cars started moving an inch. I moved another inch, the other cars followed and hey presto we were all moving again. The power of the butterfly effect, I thought to myself.
The Butterfly Effect
Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out
Hold up hold on don't be scared
You'll never change what's been and gone
May your smile. Shine on. Don't be scared
Your destiny may keep you warm.
Cos all of the stars are fading away
Just try not to worry you'll see them some day
Take what you need and be on your way
And stop crying your heart out
Get up. Come on why you scared
You'll never change what been and gone
The Butterfly Effect
Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out
Hold up hold on don't be scared
You'll never change what's been and gone
May your smile. Shine on. Don't be scared
Your destiny may keep you warm.
Cos all of the stars are fading away
Just try not to worry you'll see them some day
Take what you need and be on your way
And stop crying your heart out
Get up. Come on why you scared
You'll never change what been and gone
Its never too late
Did you know that the illustrator William Steig , who created the character Shrek was 82 years old when he created the grouchy yet gentle Shrek for a children's book in 1990 ? Eleven years later, the movie Shrek became an international hit and won the2002 Oscar for best animated film.
Therefore its never too late to fulfil that dream, or its never too late to love or as George Eliot said its never too late to be what you wanted to be.
Live your life the best you can and if you want to do something in your life 'its never too late'.
The following song by Hedley expresses it nicely.
Therefore its never too late to fulfil that dream, or its never too late to love or as George Eliot said its never too late to be what you wanted to be.
Live your life the best you can and if you want to do something in your life 'its never too late'.
The following song by Hedley expresses it nicely.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
The Raindrop
For the raindrop, joy is in entering the river-
Unbearable pain becomes its own cure,
Travel far enough into sorrow, tears turn into sighing;
In this way we learn how water can die into air,
When, after heavy rain, the storm clouds disperse,
is it not that they’ve wept themselves clear to the end?
If you want to know the miracle, how wind can polish a mirror,
Look: the shining glass grows green in Spring.
It’s the rose’s unfolding, Ghalib, that creates the desire to see-
In every color and circumstance, may the eyes be open for what comes.
Ghalib
Unbearable pain becomes its own cure,
Travel far enough into sorrow, tears turn into sighing;
In this way we learn how water can die into air,
When, after heavy rain, the storm clouds disperse,
is it not that they’ve wept themselves clear to the end?
If you want to know the miracle, how wind can polish a mirror,
Look: the shining glass grows green in Spring.
It’s the rose’s unfolding, Ghalib, that creates the desire to see-
In every color and circumstance, may the eyes be open for what comes.
Ghalib
The breeze at dawn
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.
Rumi
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.
Rumi
Moving Water
When you do things from your soul, you feel a river
moving in you, a joy.
When actions come from another section, the feeling
disappears. Don't let others lead you. They may be blind or, worse, vultures.
Reach for the rope of God. And what is that? Putting aside self-will.
Because of willfulness people sit in jail, the trapped bird's wings are tied,
fish sizzle in the skillet.
The anger of police is willfulness. You've seen a magistrate
inflict visible punishment. Now see the invisible. If you could leave your
selfishness, you
would see how you've
been torturing your soul. We are born and live inside black water in a well.
How could we know what an open field of sunlight is?
Don't insist on going where you think you want to go. Ask the way to the spring.
Your living pieces will form a harmony. There is a moving palace that floats in the air
with balconies and clear water flowing through, infinity everywhere, yet contained
under a single tent.
RUMI
moving in you, a joy.
When actions come from another section, the feeling
disappears. Don't let others lead you. They may be blind or, worse, vultures.
Reach for the rope of God. And what is that? Putting aside self-will.
Because of willfulness people sit in jail, the trapped bird's wings are tied,
fish sizzle in the skillet.
The anger of police is willfulness. You've seen a magistrate
inflict visible punishment. Now see the invisible. If you could leave your
selfishness, you
would see how you've
been torturing your soul. We are born and live inside black water in a well.
How could we know what an open field of sunlight is?
Don't insist on going where you think you want to go. Ask the way to the spring.
Your living pieces will form a harmony. There is a moving palace that floats in the air
with balconies and clear water flowing through, infinity everywhere, yet contained
under a single tent.
RUMI
Sunday, June 29, 2008
How it feels to have a stroke
The following is a TED talk. Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Tomorrow never comes
If I knew it would be the last time
that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.
If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.
If I knew it would be the last time
I’d hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would videotape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.
If I knew it would be the last time,
I would spare an extra minute or two
to stop and say "I love you,"
instead of assuming you would know I do.
If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
Well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.
For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything right.
There will always be another day
to say "I love you,"
and certainly there's another chance
to say our "Anything I can do's?"
But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget,
tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike.
And today may be the last chance you get
to hold your loved one tight.
So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day
that you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss,
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today,
whisper in their ear,
tell them how much you love them
and that you'll always hold them dear.
Take time to say "I'm sorry,"
"please forgive me," "thank you," or "it's okay."
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today.
By Norma Cornett Marek
that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.
If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.
If I knew it would be the last time
I’d hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would videotape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.
If I knew it would be the last time,
I would spare an extra minute or two
to stop and say "I love you,"
instead of assuming you would know I do.
If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
Well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.
For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything right.
There will always be another day
to say "I love you,"
and certainly there's another chance
to say our "Anything I can do's?"
But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget,
tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike.
And today may be the last chance you get
to hold your loved one tight.
So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day
that you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss,
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today,
whisper in their ear,
tell them how much you love them
and that you'll always hold them dear.
Take time to say "I'm sorry,"
"please forgive me," "thank you," or "it's okay."
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today.
By Norma Cornett Marek
A Native Indian Story- Jumping Mouse
One time there was a mouse who lived with other mice and this little mouse kept hearing a roaring in his ears. He couldn't figure out what it was. All the time, everywhere he went, as he went about his mouse's business, his little whiskers going, looking into nooks and crannies, gathering things, taking seeds from one place to another, he kept hearing this roaring and he wondered what it was. Sometimes he would ask the other mice, "I hear this roaring in my ears, what is it?" And the other mice always said, "We don't hear anything. You must be crazy, get back to work. Accumulate!" So he got back to work, being a mouse, and did all the things that mice do, but he couldn't get the roaring out of his ears and finally he resolved that he would try to find out what it was.
Very timidly he went just to the edge of where the mice were living around the roots of trees and bushes. As soon as he got outside of where the mice lived, he saw a raccoon and the racoon said, "Hello, little brother," and he looked up and said, "Hello, brother." And he said, "You know, I hear this roaring in my ears all the time and I wonder what it is." The racoon said, "Oh, that's easy. I know what that is, that's the great river and I go there every day to wash my food." Little Mouse was really excited because this was the first time that anyone had ever said that what he heard was real and so he started scheming in his mouse's way about how he would take the proof back to all the other mice and then they wouldn't think he was strange anymore. So racoon said, "Yes, I'll take you to the river," and little mouse followed along behind him.
Finally they got to the edge of the great river, to a little eddy on the great river, but little mouse had never seen anything like that before in his life, this fantastic expanse of water. Where mice live the only water they see is rainwater and dew. They don't see big bodies of water, and to little mouse it was just immense and he timidly went up to the edge of the water. He looked in and he freaked because he saw a mouse in there! He jumped back but nothing happened and he looked again and he saw, yes, it's a mouse in there. He'd seen his own reflection for the first time.
The racoon led him down to the bank of the river and at one place he put his hand in and tasted the water and finally the racoon said, "I have to go about my business and find food and wash it in the river, but I'll take you to a friend of mine." So racoon took little mouse to his brother, Frog.
There was a big green frog sitting on the edge of the river, sort of half in and half out. Little mouse said to him, "Hello, brother," and the frog replied, "Hello, brother." And they talked for awhile and the frog told him all about his life, about how he had been given the gift to live half in the water and half out of the water. He was all green on top and white underneath. He told little mouse, "When thunderbird flies you will always find me here but when winter- man comes I will be gone." That sounded pretty good to little mouse and then the frog said to him, "Do you want a medicine?" Little mouse said, "Sure, I'd like a medicine, yes." And then the frog said, "O. K., just crouch down as low as you can get and then jump up as high as you can jump."
So little mouse did that. He got down as low as he could go and then he jumped up as high as a mouse could jump. And when he jumped up he saw the sacred mountains and then he fell back down and fell into the water.
Nothing like this had ever happened to him before and he scurried out of the water and he was really mad. He said, "You tricked me, that's no medicine, I fell in the water." And the frog said, "Yes, you fell in the water. You're wet. But you're safe, you're alive, aren't you?" And little mouse said, "Yes, I am." And the frog said to him, "What did you see when you jumped up?" Little mouse said, "Oh, yes, yes. I saw the sacred mountains." And the frog said to him, "You have a new name. Your name is Jumping Mouse."
Jumping Mouse thanks the frog for having taught him and then he says, "It's time to go back to my people. I want to tell them about the sacred mountains." He has really changed. Instead of saying, "I want to prove to those bastards that the river really exists," now he is just excited. He's seen the sacred mountains and he wants to go back and share his vision with his people. He speaks in innocence because he has learned from the frog. He wants to go back in innocence to tell them about it, and in innocence he will be able to return. The frog tells him, "It's easy to go back to your people. Just keep the sound of the river behind you. The roaring that you heard is now your medicine. You know what it is and you can return to your people."
Mice are unable to go in a straight line because they can see close but with the medicine behind him Jumping Mouse can return. He has always heard it, but now he can navigate by it, he has a direction.
Jumping Mouse keeps the medicine behind him and goes back to where the other mice are living. He says to them, "You know that roaring in my ears? It was the great river and racoon took me there and I met a frog. The frog gave me a medicine and I jumped up and I saw the sacred mountains." But they looked at him really strangely because he was all wet. He had forgotten entirely about falling in the river but they started whispering among themselves. They said, "An animal must have had him in its mouth. There must be something wrong with him. There must be some pollution, something terrible that he was in the jaws of death and wasn't taken. Very dangerous person." They didn't even hear what he said about the sacred mountains.
Poor Jumping Mouse was just crestfallen at this because he had really wanted to tell them about what he had seen so they could see it too, but they couldn't. You cannot see through the eyes of another without giving him your eyes, and they were unable to do that. He stayed with them for a while because they were his people, but finally he resolved that he would go on and find the sacred mountains.
He told them about his resolve and they said, "You're insane, you can't do it, the spots will get you." They knew, all mice know, that out on the prairie eagles can swoop down and get mice. But mice do not know eagles. They are too distant from them and so they only see them as spots in the sky. They can see close into the little things of the earth but when they look up and far away they only see spots. And this is a paradox, but eagles when they are close to the ground only see things as a blur. The mice's fear of spots is real because eagles are real and really get mice, and Jumping Mouse was terrified but went on. Out onto the prairie he went, his whiskers feeling, dodging this way and that, feeling the spots pressing down on his back. The prairie is where the great animals meet and travel far and it is an alien place for a mouse. Jumping Mouse went out into it with his fear and finally he came to a circle of sweet sage.
The circle of sage was a haven, a cover from the spots, and sweet sage is a plant that you cannot eat but which is used by the Indians for incense, prayer, something healing and beautiful. There in the sweet sage was an old, old mouse. Long braids, an old mouse. Jumping Mouse was joyous to meet someone of his own kind he could talk to out in this alien place. The clump of sage was a haven and a paradise for mice. There were seeds and roots to crawl into and everything a mouse could want there. He went up to the old mouse and he said, "Grandfather, I heard a roaring in my ears and I have been to the great river." The old mouse said, "Yes, I too heard the roaring and I too have been to the great river." Jumping Mouse was really excited because for the first time he had found a mouse who had shared his experience. So they talked about the river and the common things they knew. Jumping Mouse was more and more excited and he said, "And then I met the frog and he told me to jump up and I jumped up and I saw the sacred mountains." The old mouse was silent for a long time and finally said, "My grandson, the great river is real and we have both been there and tasted its water, but the sacred mountains are just a myth. They don't exist." Jumping Mouse was just crushed and disappointed by this and the old mouse said to him, "Stay with me and grow old with me here. This is a perfect place for mice and we have both been further than any other mouse."
Jumping Mouse resolves to go on and the old mouse is really upset. He says, "You can't do that, the spots will get you." But Jumping Mouse is resolved and he leaves the old mouse in the sage. He goes out onto the prairie and he is really afraid. He can feel the spots, just feel them pressing in. Knows that they are there every moment; his little whiskers are going fast and finally he gets out to the middle of the prairie and comes to a stand of chokecherry bushes. Chokecherries are good to eat but they make you fantastically thirsty. The more you eat, the more thirst you have.
Jumping Mouse is out of breath and thankful for a safe haven and cover from the spots and as he lies there panting, he hears a great sighing slowly, up and down. And he looks up and sees that it is a great animal. Jumping Mouse thinks, "I am so small and this great being is so large," and he forgets his fear in his awe and goes up to the animal and says, "Hello, great brother," and it replies, "Hello, little brother," and Jumping Mouse asks, "Who are you?" and he says, "I am a Buffalo and I am dying." When he hears this, little mouse is overcome with sadness that this great being that he has just met is dying and he says to him, "What can I do to make you well? Is there any medicine that will make you well?" And the buffalo says, "I have talked with my medicine and it has told me that there is only one thing that will make me well, and that is the eye of a mouse, and there is no such thing as a mouse."
Jumping Mouse was just freaked by this and he ran back, his little whiskers going, his tail behind him until he reached some cover. But from a safe place he heard the breathing again, getting slower and slower, and he felt a tremendous compassion for the buffalo. "I am so small," he thought, "and the buffalo is so great and so beautiful." Finally he came out from his hole, taking two steps forward and one step back, his tail dragging, but resolved to speak to his great brother. "I want to tell you something," he said, " there is such a thing as a mouse and I am a mouse."
"Thank you very much, little brother," the buffalo replied. "I will die happy knowing that there is such a thing as a mouse. But it is too much to ask of you to give one of your eyes." But Jumping Mouse told him, "No, I am so small and you are so great that I would like to give you one of my eyes and make you well." And immediately as he said that, one of his eyes flew out of his head and the Buffalo jumped up, strong and powerful, his hooves pounding on the earth and his great head dancing and hooking. He was strong and he said, "I know who you are. You are Jumping Mouse and you have been to the river and jumped up and seen the sacred mountains. You are on your way to them. I can guide you across the prairie, for I am one of the great beings of the prairie. Run underneath me. I know you are afraid of the spots, and I will protect you from them. You will be safe and I will take you across the prairie right to the edge of the sacred mountains. But I can't take you farther than that because I am a creature of the prairie and I must stay here to give away to the people. If I go up onto the sacred mountains it will be too steep and I will fall and crush you."
So Jumping Mouse runs underneath the buffalo across the prairie, his hooves just pounding, dust flying, shaking the earth and little mouse is frightened at the great power of the buffalo. He knows he is safe but this is worse, trying to keep up with a goddam buffalo! Finally they get to the edge of the prairie and he is really exhausted and he comes creeping out from underneath the great buffalo, thankful to be alive. He looks up at the great gift and he says, "That was really something!" And the buffalo says, "You didn't need to worry, little brother. I am a buffalo and I know where I place every footstep. I am a great dancer and light on my feet. I could see you underneath me all the way and you were perfectly safe."
So the buffalo left Jumping Mouse at the edge of the sacred mountains, and he looks around. Who should he see now but a wolf, sitting there - a big beautiful wolf, just sitting on his haunches, kind of looking around one place or another. And he goes up to him and he says, "Hello, brother Wolf." And the wolf says, "Wolf, wolf, yes, I'm a wolf, wolf, yes, wolf," and then he sort of sits back and a beatific grin comes across his and he doesn't say any more. His mind wanders, slips away. And Jumping Mouse can't figure that out. What the hell's going on? So he comes up again and he says, "Hello, brother wolf," and the wolf says "Wolf, wolf, yes wolf, wolf yes, I'm a wolf, yes," and his voice trails off as his mind slips again.
So Jumping Mouse wonders what is going on and he goes a little distance away and he listens to the beating of his heart; the sound of his heart is beating like a drum inside him. And he remembered all the thing that have happened to him. He remembered that when the buffalo was dying the thing that would make him well was the eye of a mouse and he figures that's good medicine. "I've got good medicine, a lot of power in the eye of a mouse." And he resolves that he will give his other eye to the wolf and that will make him well. So he goes up to the wolf and he says, "Brother wolf," and the wolf begins to say, "Wolf, wolf" but Jumping Mouse stops him and says, "I want to give you one of my eyes," and immediately his eye, his last eye, is gone and he's blind, and the wolf jumps up and says, Yes, I'm a wolf. I know who you are. You are Jumping Mouse. You have been to the great river, the frog has shown you the sacred mountains, the buffalo has brought you to me, and I can guide you to the medicine lake at the top of the sacred mountains."
Little mouse is blind now, and all he has is his whiskers. He can touch but he has given up all his old ways of seeing. He can only touch things close now. The wolf takes him up from the prairie, through the pines, "stands-in-place," Finally they get to the open country at the top of the mountain. There are no trees there, no cover, nothing for a mouse. They get to the edge of the medicine lake and the wolf tells him, "We are here. We are at the medicine lake." And he sits Jumping Mouse down by it.
Jumping Mouse takes his hand and puts it in the water and tastes it, and it's good, it's beautiful. And then the wolf describes to him what he can see in the medicine lake. He says, "In the medicine lake are reflected all the lodges of the people. The whole world is reflected there. The medicine lake is the reflection. It is a symbol of the reflection. They sit there and Jumping Mouse knows that it is time for the wolf to go about his business and travel to other parts of the world. It is time for the eagles to get him. It is an open place and as soon as his guide is gone the eagles will see him and come. He is blind and he can't see them. The wolf feels tremendous compassion and feeling for Jumping Mouse his brother, and his heart stretches out to him, and the wolf cries. Then he leaves and Jumping Mouse is left alone, blind, nothing but looking within, and he can feel the spots on his back, just pressing in, hard. And then he hears the rush of wind and wings and then there is a fantastic shock and everything is black.
The next thing he knows, he can see colours. He can see! He can see colours. And he's amazed, astounded, he doesn't know if he's dreaming or what is happening. But he's alive and he can see colours. Then he sees a blur of colours moving toward him, something green and white moving his way and from the colours comes a voice. "You want a medicine?" And Jumping Mouse says, "Yes, I'd like a medicine." And the voice says, "Just get down as far as you can and jump up as high as you can jump." So little mouse gets down as low as he can and jumps up as high as he can jump, and when he does, the wind catches him and swirls him up and up and up in the air. And the voice calls out from below him, "Grab hold of the wind!" So little mouse reaches out and grabs hold of the wind as hard as he can, and the wind takes him higher and higher until everything begins to get clearer and clearer. Crystal clear, and he can see all the great beings of the prairie, the buffalo, the wolf on the mountain, and he looks down into the medicine lake and there are all the lodges of the people reflected, and on the edge of the medicine lake he sees his friend the frog. He calls down to him, "Hello, brother Frog," and the frog calls back to him, "Hello, brother Eagle."
Very timidly he went just to the edge of where the mice were living around the roots of trees and bushes. As soon as he got outside of where the mice lived, he saw a raccoon and the racoon said, "Hello, little brother," and he looked up and said, "Hello, brother." And he said, "You know, I hear this roaring in my ears all the time and I wonder what it is." The racoon said, "Oh, that's easy. I know what that is, that's the great river and I go there every day to wash my food." Little Mouse was really excited because this was the first time that anyone had ever said that what he heard was real and so he started scheming in his mouse's way about how he would take the proof back to all the other mice and then they wouldn't think he was strange anymore. So racoon said, "Yes, I'll take you to the river," and little mouse followed along behind him.
Finally they got to the edge of the great river, to a little eddy on the great river, but little mouse had never seen anything like that before in his life, this fantastic expanse of water. Where mice live the only water they see is rainwater and dew. They don't see big bodies of water, and to little mouse it was just immense and he timidly went up to the edge of the water. He looked in and he freaked because he saw a mouse in there! He jumped back but nothing happened and he looked again and he saw, yes, it's a mouse in there. He'd seen his own reflection for the first time.
The racoon led him down to the bank of the river and at one place he put his hand in and tasted the water and finally the racoon said, "I have to go about my business and find food and wash it in the river, but I'll take you to a friend of mine." So racoon took little mouse to his brother, Frog.
There was a big green frog sitting on the edge of the river, sort of half in and half out. Little mouse said to him, "Hello, brother," and the frog replied, "Hello, brother." And they talked for awhile and the frog told him all about his life, about how he had been given the gift to live half in the water and half out of the water. He was all green on top and white underneath. He told little mouse, "When thunderbird flies you will always find me here but when winter- man comes I will be gone." That sounded pretty good to little mouse and then the frog said to him, "Do you want a medicine?" Little mouse said, "Sure, I'd like a medicine, yes." And then the frog said, "O. K., just crouch down as low as you can get and then jump up as high as you can jump."
So little mouse did that. He got down as low as he could go and then he jumped up as high as a mouse could jump. And when he jumped up he saw the sacred mountains and then he fell back down and fell into the water.
Nothing like this had ever happened to him before and he scurried out of the water and he was really mad. He said, "You tricked me, that's no medicine, I fell in the water." And the frog said, "Yes, you fell in the water. You're wet. But you're safe, you're alive, aren't you?" And little mouse said, "Yes, I am." And the frog said to him, "What did you see when you jumped up?" Little mouse said, "Oh, yes, yes. I saw the sacred mountains." And the frog said to him, "You have a new name. Your name is Jumping Mouse."
Jumping Mouse thanks the frog for having taught him and then he says, "It's time to go back to my people. I want to tell them about the sacred mountains." He has really changed. Instead of saying, "I want to prove to those bastards that the river really exists," now he is just excited. He's seen the sacred mountains and he wants to go back and share his vision with his people. He speaks in innocence because he has learned from the frog. He wants to go back in innocence to tell them about it, and in innocence he will be able to return. The frog tells him, "It's easy to go back to your people. Just keep the sound of the river behind you. The roaring that you heard is now your medicine. You know what it is and you can return to your people."
Mice are unable to go in a straight line because they can see close but with the medicine behind him Jumping Mouse can return. He has always heard it, but now he can navigate by it, he has a direction.
Jumping Mouse keeps the medicine behind him and goes back to where the other mice are living. He says to them, "You know that roaring in my ears? It was the great river and racoon took me there and I met a frog. The frog gave me a medicine and I jumped up and I saw the sacred mountains." But they looked at him really strangely because he was all wet. He had forgotten entirely about falling in the river but they started whispering among themselves. They said, "An animal must have had him in its mouth. There must be something wrong with him. There must be some pollution, something terrible that he was in the jaws of death and wasn't taken. Very dangerous person." They didn't even hear what he said about the sacred mountains.
Poor Jumping Mouse was just crestfallen at this because he had really wanted to tell them about what he had seen so they could see it too, but they couldn't. You cannot see through the eyes of another without giving him your eyes, and they were unable to do that. He stayed with them for a while because they were his people, but finally he resolved that he would go on and find the sacred mountains.
He told them about his resolve and they said, "You're insane, you can't do it, the spots will get you." They knew, all mice know, that out on the prairie eagles can swoop down and get mice. But mice do not know eagles. They are too distant from them and so they only see them as spots in the sky. They can see close into the little things of the earth but when they look up and far away they only see spots. And this is a paradox, but eagles when they are close to the ground only see things as a blur. The mice's fear of spots is real because eagles are real and really get mice, and Jumping Mouse was terrified but went on. Out onto the prairie he went, his whiskers feeling, dodging this way and that, feeling the spots pressing down on his back. The prairie is where the great animals meet and travel far and it is an alien place for a mouse. Jumping Mouse went out into it with his fear and finally he came to a circle of sweet sage.
The circle of sage was a haven, a cover from the spots, and sweet sage is a plant that you cannot eat but which is used by the Indians for incense, prayer, something healing and beautiful. There in the sweet sage was an old, old mouse. Long braids, an old mouse. Jumping Mouse was joyous to meet someone of his own kind he could talk to out in this alien place. The clump of sage was a haven and a paradise for mice. There were seeds and roots to crawl into and everything a mouse could want there. He went up to the old mouse and he said, "Grandfather, I heard a roaring in my ears and I have been to the great river." The old mouse said, "Yes, I too heard the roaring and I too have been to the great river." Jumping Mouse was really excited because for the first time he had found a mouse who had shared his experience. So they talked about the river and the common things they knew. Jumping Mouse was more and more excited and he said, "And then I met the frog and he told me to jump up and I jumped up and I saw the sacred mountains." The old mouse was silent for a long time and finally said, "My grandson, the great river is real and we have both been there and tasted its water, but the sacred mountains are just a myth. They don't exist." Jumping Mouse was just crushed and disappointed by this and the old mouse said to him, "Stay with me and grow old with me here. This is a perfect place for mice and we have both been further than any other mouse."
Jumping Mouse resolves to go on and the old mouse is really upset. He says, "You can't do that, the spots will get you." But Jumping Mouse is resolved and he leaves the old mouse in the sage. He goes out onto the prairie and he is really afraid. He can feel the spots, just feel them pressing in. Knows that they are there every moment; his little whiskers are going fast and finally he gets out to the middle of the prairie and comes to a stand of chokecherry bushes. Chokecherries are good to eat but they make you fantastically thirsty. The more you eat, the more thirst you have.
Jumping Mouse is out of breath and thankful for a safe haven and cover from the spots and as he lies there panting, he hears a great sighing slowly, up and down. And he looks up and sees that it is a great animal. Jumping Mouse thinks, "I am so small and this great being is so large," and he forgets his fear in his awe and goes up to the animal and says, "Hello, great brother," and it replies, "Hello, little brother," and Jumping Mouse asks, "Who are you?" and he says, "I am a Buffalo and I am dying." When he hears this, little mouse is overcome with sadness that this great being that he has just met is dying and he says to him, "What can I do to make you well? Is there any medicine that will make you well?" And the buffalo says, "I have talked with my medicine and it has told me that there is only one thing that will make me well, and that is the eye of a mouse, and there is no such thing as a mouse."
Jumping Mouse was just freaked by this and he ran back, his little whiskers going, his tail behind him until he reached some cover. But from a safe place he heard the breathing again, getting slower and slower, and he felt a tremendous compassion for the buffalo. "I am so small," he thought, "and the buffalo is so great and so beautiful." Finally he came out from his hole, taking two steps forward and one step back, his tail dragging, but resolved to speak to his great brother. "I want to tell you something," he said, " there is such a thing as a mouse and I am a mouse."
"Thank you very much, little brother," the buffalo replied. "I will die happy knowing that there is such a thing as a mouse. But it is too much to ask of you to give one of your eyes." But Jumping Mouse told him, "No, I am so small and you are so great that I would like to give you one of my eyes and make you well." And immediately as he said that, one of his eyes flew out of his head and the Buffalo jumped up, strong and powerful, his hooves pounding on the earth and his great head dancing and hooking. He was strong and he said, "I know who you are. You are Jumping Mouse and you have been to the river and jumped up and seen the sacred mountains. You are on your way to them. I can guide you across the prairie, for I am one of the great beings of the prairie. Run underneath me. I know you are afraid of the spots, and I will protect you from them. You will be safe and I will take you across the prairie right to the edge of the sacred mountains. But I can't take you farther than that because I am a creature of the prairie and I must stay here to give away to the people. If I go up onto the sacred mountains it will be too steep and I will fall and crush you."
So Jumping Mouse runs underneath the buffalo across the prairie, his hooves just pounding, dust flying, shaking the earth and little mouse is frightened at the great power of the buffalo. He knows he is safe but this is worse, trying to keep up with a goddam buffalo! Finally they get to the edge of the prairie and he is really exhausted and he comes creeping out from underneath the great buffalo, thankful to be alive. He looks up at the great gift and he says, "That was really something!" And the buffalo says, "You didn't need to worry, little brother. I am a buffalo and I know where I place every footstep. I am a great dancer and light on my feet. I could see you underneath me all the way and you were perfectly safe."
So the buffalo left Jumping Mouse at the edge of the sacred mountains, and he looks around. Who should he see now but a wolf, sitting there - a big beautiful wolf, just sitting on his haunches, kind of looking around one place or another. And he goes up to him and he says, "Hello, brother Wolf." And the wolf says, "Wolf, wolf, yes, I'm a wolf, wolf, yes, wolf," and then he sort of sits back and a beatific grin comes across his and he doesn't say any more. His mind wanders, slips away. And Jumping Mouse can't figure that out. What the hell's going on? So he comes up again and he says, "Hello, brother wolf," and the wolf says "Wolf, wolf, yes wolf, wolf yes, I'm a wolf, yes," and his voice trails off as his mind slips again.
So Jumping Mouse wonders what is going on and he goes a little distance away and he listens to the beating of his heart; the sound of his heart is beating like a drum inside him. And he remembered all the thing that have happened to him. He remembered that when the buffalo was dying the thing that would make him well was the eye of a mouse and he figures that's good medicine. "I've got good medicine, a lot of power in the eye of a mouse." And he resolves that he will give his other eye to the wolf and that will make him well. So he goes up to the wolf and he says, "Brother wolf," and the wolf begins to say, "Wolf, wolf" but Jumping Mouse stops him and says, "I want to give you one of my eyes," and immediately his eye, his last eye, is gone and he's blind, and the wolf jumps up and says, Yes, I'm a wolf. I know who you are. You are Jumping Mouse. You have been to the great river, the frog has shown you the sacred mountains, the buffalo has brought you to me, and I can guide you to the medicine lake at the top of the sacred mountains."
Little mouse is blind now, and all he has is his whiskers. He can touch but he has given up all his old ways of seeing. He can only touch things close now. The wolf takes him up from the prairie, through the pines, "stands-in-place," Finally they get to the open country at the top of the mountain. There are no trees there, no cover, nothing for a mouse. They get to the edge of the medicine lake and the wolf tells him, "We are here. We are at the medicine lake." And he sits Jumping Mouse down by it.
Jumping Mouse takes his hand and puts it in the water and tastes it, and it's good, it's beautiful. And then the wolf describes to him what he can see in the medicine lake. He says, "In the medicine lake are reflected all the lodges of the people. The whole world is reflected there. The medicine lake is the reflection. It is a symbol of the reflection. They sit there and Jumping Mouse knows that it is time for the wolf to go about his business and travel to other parts of the world. It is time for the eagles to get him. It is an open place and as soon as his guide is gone the eagles will see him and come. He is blind and he can't see them. The wolf feels tremendous compassion and feeling for Jumping Mouse his brother, and his heart stretches out to him, and the wolf cries. Then he leaves and Jumping Mouse is left alone, blind, nothing but looking within, and he can feel the spots on his back, just pressing in, hard. And then he hears the rush of wind and wings and then there is a fantastic shock and everything is black.
The next thing he knows, he can see colours. He can see! He can see colours. And he's amazed, astounded, he doesn't know if he's dreaming or what is happening. But he's alive and he can see colours. Then he sees a blur of colours moving toward him, something green and white moving his way and from the colours comes a voice. "You want a medicine?" And Jumping Mouse says, "Yes, I'd like a medicine." And the voice says, "Just get down as far as you can and jump up as high as you can jump." So little mouse gets down as low as he can and jumps up as high as he can jump, and when he does, the wind catches him and swirls him up and up and up in the air. And the voice calls out from below him, "Grab hold of the wind!" So little mouse reaches out and grabs hold of the wind as hard as he can, and the wind takes him higher and higher until everything begins to get clearer and clearer. Crystal clear, and he can see all the great beings of the prairie, the buffalo, the wolf on the mountain, and he looks down into the medicine lake and there are all the lodges of the people reflected, and on the edge of the medicine lake he sees his friend the frog. He calls down to him, "Hello, brother Frog," and the frog calls back to him, "Hello, brother Eagle."
A beautiful poem...
To an English Friend in Africa
Be grateful for freedom
To see other dreams.
Bless your loneliness as much as you drank
Of your former companionships.
All that you are experiencing now
Will become moods of future joys
So bless it all.
Do not think your ways superior
To another's
Do not venture to judge
But see things with fresh and open eyes
Do not condemn
But praise what you can
And when you can't be silent.
Time is now a gift for you
A gift of freedom
To think and remember and understand
The ever perplexing past
And to re-create yourself anew
In order to transform time.
Live while you are alive.
Learn the ways of silence and wisdom
Learn to act, learn a new speech
Learn to be what you are in the seed of your spirit
Learn to free yourself from all things that have moulded you
And which limit your secret and undiscovered road.
Remember that all things which happen
To you are raw materials
Endlessly fertile
Endlessly yielding of thoughts that could change
Your life and go on doing for ever.
Never forget to pray and be thankful
For all the things good or bad on the rich road;
For everything is changeable
So long as you live while you are alive.
Fear not, but be full of light and love;
Fear not but be alert and receptive;
Fear not but act decisively when you should;
Fear not, but know when to stop;
Fear not for you are loved by me;
Fear not, for death is not the real terror,
But life -magically - is.
Be joyful in your silence
Be strong in your patience
Do not try to wrestle with the universe
But be sometimes like water or air
Sometimes like fire
Live slowly, think slowly, for time is a mystery.
Never forget that love
Requires that you be
The greatest person you are capable of being,
Self-generating and strong and gentle-
Your own hero and star.
Love demands the best in us
To always and in time overcome the worst
And lowest in our souls.
Love the world wisely.
It is love alone that is the greatest weapon
And the deepest and hardest secret.
So fear not, my friend.
The darkness is gentler than you think.
Be grateful for the manifold
Dreams of creation
And the many ways of unnumbered peoples.
Be grateful for life as you live it.
And may a wonderful light
Always guide you on the unfolding road.
March 1991
Ben Okri
Be grateful for freedom
To see other dreams.
Bless your loneliness as much as you drank
Of your former companionships.
All that you are experiencing now
Will become moods of future joys
So bless it all.
Do not think your ways superior
To another's
Do not venture to judge
But see things with fresh and open eyes
Do not condemn
But praise what you can
And when you can't be silent.
Time is now a gift for you
A gift of freedom
To think and remember and understand
The ever perplexing past
And to re-create yourself anew
In order to transform time.
Live while you are alive.
Learn the ways of silence and wisdom
Learn to act, learn a new speech
Learn to be what you are in the seed of your spirit
Learn to free yourself from all things that have moulded you
And which limit your secret and undiscovered road.
Remember that all things which happen
To you are raw materials
Endlessly fertile
Endlessly yielding of thoughts that could change
Your life and go on doing for ever.
Never forget to pray and be thankful
For all the things good or bad on the rich road;
For everything is changeable
So long as you live while you are alive.
Fear not, but be full of light and love;
Fear not but be alert and receptive;
Fear not but act decisively when you should;
Fear not, but know when to stop;
Fear not for you are loved by me;
Fear not, for death is not the real terror,
But life -magically - is.
Be joyful in your silence
Be strong in your patience
Do not try to wrestle with the universe
But be sometimes like water or air
Sometimes like fire
Live slowly, think slowly, for time is a mystery.
Never forget that love
Requires that you be
The greatest person you are capable of being,
Self-generating and strong and gentle-
Your own hero and star.
Love demands the best in us
To always and in time overcome the worst
And lowest in our souls.
Love the world wisely.
It is love alone that is the greatest weapon
And the deepest and hardest secret.
So fear not, my friend.
The darkness is gentler than you think.
Be grateful for the manifold
Dreams of creation
And the many ways of unnumbered peoples.
Be grateful for life as you live it.
And may a wonderful light
Always guide you on the unfolding road.
March 1991
Ben Okri
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Something Inspiring...
I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.
But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.
Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.
Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.
"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''
But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''
"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''
Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''
That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''
And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.
``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''
How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.
Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?
Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.
``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.
That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.
``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''
Article was originally written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated
But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.
Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.
Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.
"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''
But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''
"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''
Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''
That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''
And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.
``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''
How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.
Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?
Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.
``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.
That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.
``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''
Article was originally written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated
As a Man Thinketh
Some inspiring quotes from James Allen :
Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not remain so if you only perceive an ideal and strive to reach it. You can't travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labor. Confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled and lacking all the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things. He thinks of intelligence, or refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life. The wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he uses all his spare times and means to the development of his latent powers and resources. Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mind-set that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside. And with the growth of opportunities that fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it altogether. Years later we see this youth as a grown man. We find him a master of certain forces of the mind that he wields with world-wide influence and almost unequaled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic responsibilities; he speaks and lives are changed; men and women hang upon his words and remold their characters. Sun-like, he becomes the fixed and luminous center around which innumerable destinies revolve. He has become the vision of his youth. He has become one with his ideal.
:
Tempest-tossed souls, wherever you may be, under whatever conditions you may live, know this: In the ocean of life the isles of blessedness are smiling and the sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming. Keep your hands firmly upon the helm of thought. In the core of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleep; wake Him. Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, "Peace. Be still."
:
The weakest soul knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth--that strength can only be developed by effort and practice--will, thus believing, at once begin to exert itself. And, adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never cease to develop and will at last grow divinely strong.
Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not remain so if you only perceive an ideal and strive to reach it. You can't travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labor. Confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled and lacking all the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things. He thinks of intelligence, or refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life. The wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he uses all his spare times and means to the development of his latent powers and resources. Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mind-set that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside. And with the growth of opportunities that fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it altogether. Years later we see this youth as a grown man. We find him a master of certain forces of the mind that he wields with world-wide influence and almost unequaled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic responsibilities; he speaks and lives are changed; men and women hang upon his words and remold their characters. Sun-like, he becomes the fixed and luminous center around which innumerable destinies revolve. He has become the vision of his youth. He has become one with his ideal.
:
Tempest-tossed souls, wherever you may be, under whatever conditions you may live, know this: In the ocean of life the isles of blessedness are smiling and the sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming. Keep your hands firmly upon the helm of thought. In the core of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleep; wake Him. Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, "Peace. Be still."
:
The weakest soul knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth--that strength can only be developed by effort and practice--will, thus believing, at once begin to exert itself. And, adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never cease to develop and will at last grow divinely strong.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Yayyy we're rubbish!
Bill Bailey ...I'm English therfore I crave disappointment...so funny.
Striving for happiness is not cool in the UK where we love a loser.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
How to be Lovely
Beauty Tips from Audrey Hepburn
For attractive lips, Speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, Seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, Share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, Let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, Walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.
People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; Never throw out anybody.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.
As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a Woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows.
And the beauty of a woman, with passing years only grows!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Goethe Haus
The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone who thinks and feels with us, and who, though distant is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.
Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.
He who enjoys doing and enjoys what he has done is happy.
Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.
He who enjoys doing and enjoys what he has done is happy.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Empty Streets
A beautiful video and song by Late Night Alumni, reminds me of the empty streets of London late at night as I drive home.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Canon D
My baby is playing Pachelbel's Canon in D major on the violin, one of my favourite piece of music. I never thought my baby would play this to me as well as the last of the mohicans tune.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
The Power of Decisions
There is nothing more powerful than making a decision and sticking to it.It is in decisions that destinies are shaped. What makes so many successful people a success is the trait of decisiveness that once they have decided on something they are not easily swayed from their decision and stick to it. When Jack Welch,former CEO of General Electric, was asked in his biography what one thing he wishes he had done differently , he answered that in some of the decisions he made he wish he had acted sooner. A decisive person is able to make decisions quickly after giving it some thought whereas the opposite is when someone takes too long to think what course of action he or she should take and in between acts in ways that are ambiguous which does not improve the situation. A case in point is a relationship when one person realises that it isn't going anywhere and wants to move away from the relationship but is still unsure. He or she stops calling the other person but two weeks later starts backsliding and cannot resist the urge to pick up the phone and speak to him or her even though they know subconciously that they shouldn't. This only prolongs the situation longer and doesn't make the situation any better. It also gives mixed signals to the other person that he or she doesn't really know what he or she wants. Once a clean cut is made and he or she doesn't act in a way which is contrary to the decision it raises the self esteem of that person and the other person also realises that he or she means business.
If there is no action then you have not truly decided. Therefore through that new action you can change your life in an instant.For example if you like someone and you would like to marry him or her but the other person has no such inclination, then pursuing that relationship does not serve any purpose for you. In that case having evaluated the relationship , the decision you would want to take is perhaps to end the relationship and the only way you can end that relatiosnhip is through an action which may be for example to make a final phone call and explain your decision. That act of the final call and the act of refraining form making any further calls constitutes your decision and this simple action can be life changing as it frees you up now to pursue a brand new relationship which meets your goals.
Another example is taking up some form of exercise on a daily basis.If you want to take up yoga and make it a part of your daily programme the decision will not be a decision until you start your yoga session and that instills the discipline to make it a daily habit. This simple decision can be life changing because it is having a huge impact on your physical health and well being. And it is never too late to start exercising. The singer Sting in a recent interview mentions how he discovered yoga at the age of 39 and how it has been a life changing impact.
Whether it be a decision to live happily, a decision to live richly,a decision to be healthy , a decision to be creative or a decison to find your soul mate you have the power to decide whether you want to be decisive or indecisive person. Those of you who tend to be indecisive are more failure prone so decide today to stop sitting on the fence and waiting and start initiating and making things happen. Whether it is a right or wrong decision our choices are half chance and you will know only through the results. But you are a more powerful person having decided and thus acted rather than waiting and inaction.
Therefore go through the different areas of your life and pick one area where you think a decision needs to be made. Act in order to give some measure to that decision and stick to it. You will be amazed how powerful decisions can be.
If there is no action then you have not truly decided. Therefore through that new action you can change your life in an instant.For example if you like someone and you would like to marry him or her but the other person has no such inclination, then pursuing that relationship does not serve any purpose for you. In that case having evaluated the relationship , the decision you would want to take is perhaps to end the relationship and the only way you can end that relatiosnhip is through an action which may be for example to make a final phone call and explain your decision. That act of the final call and the act of refraining form making any further calls constitutes your decision and this simple action can be life changing as it frees you up now to pursue a brand new relationship which meets your goals.
Another example is taking up some form of exercise on a daily basis.If you want to take up yoga and make it a part of your daily programme the decision will not be a decision until you start your yoga session and that instills the discipline to make it a daily habit. This simple decision can be life changing because it is having a huge impact on your physical health and well being. And it is never too late to start exercising. The singer Sting in a recent interview mentions how he discovered yoga at the age of 39 and how it has been a life changing impact.
Whether it be a decision to live happily, a decision to live richly,a decision to be healthy , a decision to be creative or a decison to find your soul mate you have the power to decide whether you want to be decisive or indecisive person. Those of you who tend to be indecisive are more failure prone so decide today to stop sitting on the fence and waiting and start initiating and making things happen. Whether it is a right or wrong decision our choices are half chance and you will know only through the results. But you are a more powerful person having decided and thus acted rather than waiting and inaction.
Therefore go through the different areas of your life and pick one area where you think a decision needs to be made. Act in order to give some measure to that decision and stick to it. You will be amazed how powerful decisions can be.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Desiderata
Desiderata
Written by Max Ehrmann in 1927
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, And remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly & clearly; and listen to others, even the dull & ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud & aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain & bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing future of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue & loneliness. Beyond wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees & the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours & aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Written by Max Ehrmann in 1927
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, And remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly & clearly; and listen to others, even the dull & ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud & aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain & bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing future of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue & loneliness. Beyond wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees & the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours & aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
A beautiful poem
The Clothes Of Heaven
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
W B Yeats
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
W B Yeats
If
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
and make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And to hold on when there is nothing in you except the will
which ways to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty
seconds' worth of distance run
-- Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more
--you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
and make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And to hold on when there is nothing in you except the will
which ways to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty
seconds' worth of distance run
-- Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more
--you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Beautiful video
Beautifully shot black and white video from Robert Miles 'Children' which inspires me to shoot my own black and white film.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
If you have nothing to lose
If you have nothing to lose, you can only win.
'..one of the important things in life is to be as independent as possible and rely on very few things. After all, when it comes down to it, the only thing you can really and always depend on in life is yourself. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t want a lot of things in life. Want and have as much as you like, but require as little as possible. This is the simple rule you can use to guide you in making decisions about what you want to depend on in life.' Karel Donk
Click to read the full article
'..one of the important things in life is to be as independent as possible and rely on very few things. After all, when it comes down to it, the only thing you can really and always depend on in life is yourself. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t want a lot of things in life. Want and have as much as you like, but require as little as possible. This is the simple rule you can use to guide you in making decisions about what you want to depend on in life.' Karel Donk
Click to read the full article
The Science of Love
Do you believe in 'The One' ?
Limbic resonance..limbic revision..interesting theory...
Part 1
Part 2
Limbic resonance..limbic revision..interesting theory...
Part 1
Part 2
What should I do with my life?
Po Bronson aksed himself this question and discovered that many others were also asking the same question.'People are happier when they are motivated by their heart rather than their brain...'
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Nobody's Perfect
I love this film 'Some Like it Hot' and the ending is one of the all time best ending to a movie.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Great one liners
"Great thinkers have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking.
A gentleman is a patient wolf.
A little inaccuracy sometimes saves a ton of explanation.
A smart man covers his ass, a wise man leaves his pants on.
Admit nothing, deny everything and make counter-accusations.
Adult: One old enough to know better.
All work and no play, will make you a manager.
Better late than really late.
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.
I don't mind coming to work, but that eight hour wait to go home is a bitch!
If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
Love is a temporary insanity curable by marriage.
Never get into fights with ugly people, they have nothing to lose.
Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's hard to get it back in.
Smile, it's the second best thing you can do with your lips.
The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them.
Veni, vedi, visa. I came. I saw. I did a little shopping.
Viewer discretion may be advised, but it's never really expected
We live in a society where pizza gets to your house before the police.
When I was young I was told that anyone could be president. Now I'm beginning to believe it.
You don't have to explain something you never said.
You will be a winner today. Pick a fight with a four-year-old.
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking.
A gentleman is a patient wolf.
A little inaccuracy sometimes saves a ton of explanation.
A smart man covers his ass, a wise man leaves his pants on.
Admit nothing, deny everything and make counter-accusations.
Adult: One old enough to know better.
All work and no play, will make you a manager.
Better late than really late.
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.
I don't mind coming to work, but that eight hour wait to go home is a bitch!
If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
Love is a temporary insanity curable by marriage.
Never get into fights with ugly people, they have nothing to lose.
Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's hard to get it back in.
Smile, it's the second best thing you can do with your lips.
The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them.
Veni, vedi, visa. I came. I saw. I did a little shopping.
Viewer discretion may be advised, but it's never really expected
We live in a society where pizza gets to your house before the police.
When I was young I was told that anyone could be president. Now I'm beginning to believe it.
You don't have to explain something you never said.
You will be a winner today. Pick a fight with a four-year-old.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Optimist Creed
Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Just Get Started!
You do not have to know everything to get going. Just get into the game.You will learn by doing. Stop being the spectator and get on to the court. Its a lot of fun as well as hard work.
Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down. Ray Bradbury, author
Quit waiting for things to be perfect.
Too many of us wait to do the perfect thing, with the result we do nothing. The way to get ahead is to start now. While many of us are waiting until conditions are “just right” before we go ahead, others are stumbling along, fortunately ignorant of the dangers that beset them. By the time we are, in our superior wisdom, decided to make a start, we discover that those who have gone fearlessly on before, have, in their blundering way, traveled a considerable distance. If you start now, you will know a lot next year that you don’t know now, and that you will not know next year, if you wait.
- The William Feather Magazine
As Ray Kroc , founder of McDonald's said, there are three keys to success :
1. Being at the right place at the right time
2. Knowing you are there
3. Taking action
Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down. Ray Bradbury, author
Quit waiting for things to be perfect.
Too many of us wait to do the perfect thing, with the result we do nothing. The way to get ahead is to start now. While many of us are waiting until conditions are “just right” before we go ahead, others are stumbling along, fortunately ignorant of the dangers that beset them. By the time we are, in our superior wisdom, decided to make a start, we discover that those who have gone fearlessly on before, have, in their blundering way, traveled a considerable distance. If you start now, you will know a lot next year that you don’t know now, and that you will not know next year, if you wait.
- The William Feather Magazine
As Ray Kroc , founder of McDonald's said, there are three keys to success :
1. Being at the right place at the right time
2. Knowing you are there
3. Taking action
Renew Connection with your Soul
I was sleeping, and being comforted by a cool breeze,when suddenly a grey dove from a thicket sang and sobbed with longing and reminded of my own passion.
I had been far away from my own soul so long, so late sleeping, but that dove's crying woke me and made me cry.
Adi Al Riga
I had been far away from my own soul so long, so late sleeping, but that dove's crying woke me and made me cry.
Adi Al Riga
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Maximize your Life
Insist on getting the maximum that an activity or action has the capacity to give you whether it be an effort, an opportunity, a day, a dollar, or a relationship.
Demand the highest standards and insist on only the best. Know who you are and what you want and stay focused. Along the way there will be many distractions, small and big to divert you and test you. There will be brick walls to see how badly you want something but as long as you know where you are going the roadblocks will only be temporary.
Demand the highest standards and insist on only the best. Know who you are and what you want and stay focused. Along the way there will be many distractions, small and big to divert you and test you. There will be brick walls to see how badly you want something but as long as you know where you are going the roadblocks will only be temporary.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Become the Sky
Become the sky
Take an axe to the prison wall
Escape
Walk out like someone suddenly born into colour
Do it now.
Take an axe to the prison wall
Escape
Walk out like someone suddenly born into colour
Do it now.
Divine Love
Deepak Chopra reading one of Rumi's poems on divine love.
THE ALCHEMY OF LOVE
You come to us
from another world
From beyond the stars
and void of space.
Transcendent, Pure,
Of unimaginable beauty,
Bringing with you
the essence of love
You transform all
who are touched by you.
Mundane concerns,
troubles, and sorrows
dissolve in your presence,
Bringing joy
to ruler and ruled
To peasant and king
You bewilder us
with your grace.
All evils
transform into
goodness.
You are the master alchemist.
You light the fire of love
in earth and sky
in heart and soul
of every being.
Through your love
existence and nonexistence merge.
All opposites unite.
All that is profane
becomes sacred again.
THE ALCHEMY OF LOVE
You come to us
from another world
From beyond the stars
and void of space.
Transcendent, Pure,
Of unimaginable beauty,
Bringing with you
the essence of love
You transform all
who are touched by you.
Mundane concerns,
troubles, and sorrows
dissolve in your presence,
Bringing joy
to ruler and ruled
To peasant and king
You bewilder us
with your grace.
All evils
transform into
goodness.
You are the master alchemist.
You light the fire of love
in earth and sky
in heart and soul
of every being.
Through your love
existence and nonexistence merge.
All opposites unite.
All that is profane
becomes sacred again.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Steve Pavlina
My previous post 'How to be a Woman' was in response to Steve Pavlina's 'How to be a Man' post.
Click here to go to Steve Pavlina.com
Steve is the number one writer on personal development on the web and you can understand why when you go through his blog. Although I do not have the same point of view with Steve regarding all matters Steve Pavlina's blog has a lot of very inspirational content with regards to starting to blog and setting up one's own business and creativity.
Click here to go to Steve Pavlina.com
Steve is the number one writer on personal development on the web and you can understand why when you go through his blog. Although I do not have the same point of view with Steve regarding all matters Steve Pavlina's blog has a lot of very inspirational content with regards to starting to blog and setting up one's own business and creativity.
Monday, May 12, 2008
How to be a Woman
A woman is someone who knows her place in the universe.
A woman is someone who is sure of herself.
A woman is someone who is the comfort of her man's eyes.
A woman is someone who complements her man and fits with him like a jigsaw.
A woman is someone who is the other side of the coin to that of man.
A woman is someone who inspires her man to be the best he can.
A woman is someone who is strong and is the anchor in her family.
A woman is someone when her man looks into her eyes the world stands still for him.
A woman is someone where her man finds peace and serenity within her soul.
A woman is someone who supports her man to follow his dream.
A woman is someone who stands by her man through the rough and the smooth.
A woman is someone who is the fire in the house that keeps it warm.
A woman is someone who as a mother gives her all for her children.
A woman is someone who as a daughter attends to her parents needs.
A woman is someone who as a sister is there for her siblings when they need her most.
A woman is someone who as a friend can be relied upon during the times when things are not so great.
A woman is someone who believes in her cause and easily enrols others to it.
A woman is someone who is a member of the community who is loved and respected.
A woman is someone who is a voice for the weak and oppressed.
A woman is someone who is beautiful, sexy, and intelligent.
A woman is someone full of smiles and laughter.
A woman is someone who is able to deal with the hurts and come out triumphant.
A woman is someone who keeps her man on his toes and is full of constant surprises.
A woman is someone filled with passion.
A woman is someone who is constantly striving to fulfil her dreams.
A woman is someone who has a grand vision.
A woman is someone who values her independence.
A woman is someone who knows how to listen and then understand.
A woman is someone who gives good advice.
A woman is someone full of adventure and fun.
A woman is someone who is continuously learning new things.
A woman is someone who is always exercising her creativity.
A woman is someone who is continuously pushing the limits.
A woman is someone who is filled with wonder every day.
A woman is someone who creates magic in other peoples' lives.
A woman is someone who is filled with joy at the sight of the first snow of winter.
A woman is someone who marvels at the grand design of the universe.
A woman is someone who shares herself with others.
A woman is someone from whom people learn.
A woman is someone who can see beyond the veil of reality on a daily basis.
A woman is someone who recognises that all humanity is one brotherhood and sisterhood.
A woman is someone who has decided to enjoy the journey.
A woman is someone who is the essence of integrity.
A woman is someone who is the essence of compassion and love.
A woman is someone who is always connected to her Creator.
A woman is someone who is sure of herself.
A woman is someone who is the comfort of her man's eyes.
A woman is someone who complements her man and fits with him like a jigsaw.
A woman is someone who is the other side of the coin to that of man.
A woman is someone who inspires her man to be the best he can.
A woman is someone who is strong and is the anchor in her family.
A woman is someone when her man looks into her eyes the world stands still for him.
A woman is someone where her man finds peace and serenity within her soul.
A woman is someone who supports her man to follow his dream.
A woman is someone who stands by her man through the rough and the smooth.
A woman is someone who is the fire in the house that keeps it warm.
A woman is someone who as a mother gives her all for her children.
A woman is someone who as a daughter attends to her parents needs.
A woman is someone who as a sister is there for her siblings when they need her most.
A woman is someone who as a friend can be relied upon during the times when things are not so great.
A woman is someone who believes in her cause and easily enrols others to it.
A woman is someone who is a member of the community who is loved and respected.
A woman is someone who is a voice for the weak and oppressed.
A woman is someone who is beautiful, sexy, and intelligent.
A woman is someone full of smiles and laughter.
A woman is someone who is able to deal with the hurts and come out triumphant.
A woman is someone who keeps her man on his toes and is full of constant surprises.
A woman is someone filled with passion.
A woman is someone who is constantly striving to fulfil her dreams.
A woman is someone who has a grand vision.
A woman is someone who values her independence.
A woman is someone who knows how to listen and then understand.
A woman is someone who gives good advice.
A woman is someone full of adventure and fun.
A woman is someone who is continuously learning new things.
A woman is someone who is always exercising her creativity.
A woman is someone who is continuously pushing the limits.
A woman is someone who is filled with wonder every day.
A woman is someone who creates magic in other peoples' lives.
A woman is someone who is filled with joy at the sight of the first snow of winter.
A woman is someone who marvels at the grand design of the universe.
A woman is someone who shares herself with others.
A woman is someone from whom people learn.
A woman is someone who can see beyond the veil of reality on a daily basis.
A woman is someone who recognises that all humanity is one brotherhood and sisterhood.
A woman is someone who has decided to enjoy the journey.
A woman is someone who is the essence of integrity.
A woman is someone who is the essence of compassion and love.
A woman is someone who is always connected to her Creator.
The Power of our Creator
The universe is vast, explosively creative, eerily beautiful and mysterious.When we start contemplating on our universe , we realise how insignificant we are in the scheme of things. There are 300 billion galaxies in the universe and 250 billion stars in a galaxy and our sun is only one star. If we consider all the beaches in the world and the each grain of sand , then each grain of sand is our solar system! Thats our place in the universe, yet we go on with our day to day lives without trying to comprehend the power of our Creator.
Imagine
Imagine our planet floating silently in space.
An ending is a new beginning.
Nothing stays the same.
A beautiful video of the Song from Secret Garden.
An ending is a new beginning.
Nothing stays the same.
A beautiful video of the Song from Secret Garden.
An Inspiring Speech
Steve Jobs reflects on the pivotal moments of his life and how we can turnaround what seems like life's setbacks.
Hope is a Beautiful Thing
One of my all time favourite movies, The Shawshank Redemption. The ending of the movie sums it all up.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.
Emily Dickinson
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.
Emily Dickinson
Friday, May 09, 2008
The Importance of Good Companions
Yesterday I attended a talk where one nugget stayed with me and that is the importance of having good friends and companions in your life who encourage you in your journey towards truth instead of leading you astray.
The words we say, the resources we read or watch, and the people we stick around with and speak to on a daily basis are sculpting us into the person we become or forming the thoughts we embrace. It is a form of programming or conditioning and before we know it we become like the people we have been associating with. Therefore we should always bear in mind the power of association and that we do not become deviated from our true essence.
The words we say, the resources we read or watch, and the people we stick around with and speak to on a daily basis are sculpting us into the person we become or forming the thoughts we embrace. It is a form of programming or conditioning and before we know it we become like the people we have been associating with. Therefore we should always bear in mind the power of association and that we do not become deviated from our true essence.
Adversity
Adversity introduces us to ourselves.
“At some time or another we all get shot down, we are all POWs, prisoners of “woe.” Be tough. Bounce back. Learn not just to survive, but to go beyond survival: finding the purpose in our adversity." Captain Gerald Coffee
“At some time or another we all get shot down, we are all POWs, prisoners of “woe.” Be tough. Bounce back. Learn not just to survive, but to go beyond survival: finding the purpose in our adversity." Captain Gerald Coffee
The Best of Endings
Choose to have a happy life. If you want to focus on what is wrong, then so be it. Or you can focus on the lily in front yard that opened today and you get to see it today, it’s what you focus on that counts. - Tony, 66
Dive in with both feet, roll up your sleeves and get messy, dare to live, dare to love, dare to connect. - Carolyn Mann, 67
Always see the good in people, and you won’t get hurt because everybody has so much goodness in them. Don’t envy other people, because you have different gifts and blessings. - Eileen Lindesay, 78
There are ten-minute funeral lines and ten-hour funeral lines. Live your life so that when you die people will want to stay and tell stories about the kind of life you lived and how you touched them. - Ken Krambeer, town barber, 64
Love someone deeply and be loved by someone deeply; be passionate about yourself and your curiosity and exploration and really GO FOR IT. - William Hawfiled, 64
From The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die , John Izzo
Dive in with both feet, roll up your sleeves and get messy, dare to live, dare to love, dare to connect. - Carolyn Mann, 67
Always see the good in people, and you won’t get hurt because everybody has so much goodness in them. Don’t envy other people, because you have different gifts and blessings. - Eileen Lindesay, 78
There are ten-minute funeral lines and ten-hour funeral lines. Live your life so that when you die people will want to stay and tell stories about the kind of life you lived and how you touched them. - Ken Krambeer, town barber, 64
Love someone deeply and be loved by someone deeply; be passionate about yourself and your curiosity and exploration and really GO FOR IT. - William Hawfiled, 64
From The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die , John Izzo
Overcoming Procastination
Put an end to anxiety postponement.Imagine all the energy expended while thinking at the back of your mind that you are not doing what you should be doing.Put an end to that anxiety by making a start NOW and spending just fifteen minutes at it and you will find how much lighter you feel after the 15 minutes and perhaps you wouldn't even want to stop.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
On Life
Life is an opportunity, use it
Life is a beauty, admire it
Life is bliss, taste it
Life is a dream, realise it
Life is a challenge, meet it
Life is a duty, complete it
Life is a game , play it
Life is costly, care for it
Life is a wealth, keep it
Life is love, enjoy it
Life is mystery, know it
Life is a promise, fulfil it
Life is sorrow, overcome it
Life is a song, sing it
Life is a struggle, accept it
Life is a tragedy, brace it
Life is luck, make it
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Mother Teresa
Life is a beauty, admire it
Life is bliss, taste it
Life is a dream, realise it
Life is a challenge, meet it
Life is a duty, complete it
Life is a game , play it
Life is costly, care for it
Life is a wealth, keep it
Life is love, enjoy it
Life is mystery, know it
Life is a promise, fulfil it
Life is sorrow, overcome it
Life is a song, sing it
Life is a struggle, accept it
Life is a tragedy, brace it
Life is luck, make it
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Mother Teresa
The importance of 1,440
Whether you are rich or poor, the only thing equal for every person on this planet is the number 1,440. That's the number of minutes we are given every day of our lives.How you use those 1,440 minutes tells you how committed you are to success in your life.
Passion
'How passionate are you about your life? There's a very simple way of knowing your answer. Become aware of how often you smile and laugh. Smile , laugh and be passionate. The energy from your passion can do incredible things. Love your life- it's a gift.' Paul Smith, Sports Psychologist
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Rolling in the mud
There's a part of me that would love to settle down and have a white picket fence , a couple of kids , a wife and a goldfish. But another part of me somehow needs to go roll around in the mud. Johnny Depp ( Actor)
Illness and the Art of Creative Self Expression
Children don't lurch- the way we adults often do - from past regret to future anxiety totally missing the bit in the middle : our precious gift of the present. They are artists in life relishing each minute for the juice they can wring out of it. John Graham-Pole
Lessons from Steve Jobs
Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me ... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me.
I'm the only person I know that's lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year.... It's very character-building.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
I'm the only person I know that's lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year.... It's very character-building.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
On Risk
A survey was conducted where elderly people reaching the end of their lives were asked what they would have done differently if they had the chance to live their lives again.
The top two answers were :
1. They wish they had taken more risks
2. They wish they had spent more time with their families.
Are you taking enough risks in your life ?
The word risk comes from the arabic word rizq which means provisions. If we let our intuition guide us into doing what we think we should be doing, and not worry about what will happen if we fail but trusting that God will provide and take care of things, then we are taking enough risks and growing as a person.
The top two answers were :
1. They wish they had taken more risks
2. They wish they had spent more time with their families.
Are you taking enough risks in your life ?
The word risk comes from the arabic word rizq which means provisions. If we let our intuition guide us into doing what we think we should be doing, and not worry about what will happen if we fail but trusting that God will provide and take care of things, then we are taking enough risks and growing as a person.
On Happiness
"Happiness lives for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives." Unknown
One of You
Every single blade of grass,
And every flake of snow—
Is just a wee bit different …
There’s no two alike, you know.
From something small, like grains of sand,
To each gigantic star
All were made with THIS in mind:
To be just what they are!
How foolish then, to imitate—
How useless to pretend!
Since each of us comes from a MIND
Whose ideas never end.
There’ll only be just ONE of ME
To show what I can do—
And you should likewise feel very proud,
There’s only ONE of YOU.
That is where it all starts
With you, a wonderful
unlimited human being.
James T. Moore
And every flake of snow—
Is just a wee bit different …
There’s no two alike, you know.
From something small, like grains of sand,
To each gigantic star
All were made with THIS in mind:
To be just what they are!
How foolish then, to imitate—
How useless to pretend!
Since each of us comes from a MIND
Whose ideas never end.
There’ll only be just ONE of ME
To show what I can do—
And you should likewise feel very proud,
There’s only ONE of YOU.
That is where it all starts
With you, a wonderful
unlimited human being.
James T. Moore
On Persistence
“When the night seems to be its darkest, it means the sun will soon rise up. Press on … Don’t give up!”
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
- Newt Gingrich
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
- Newt Gingrich
On Crying
Don't cry over anything that won't cry over you. Bob Proctor
Don't cry because its over
Smile because it happened. Unknown
Don't cry because its over
Smile because it happened. Unknown
Thursday, March 20, 2008
One week to live
If you had one week to live :
1. Who would you call?
2. What would you say?
3. What would you do?
It is only when we are faced with death that we really start to live.
1. Who would you call?
2. What would you say?
3. What would you do?
It is only when we are faced with death that we really start to live.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Happy For No Reason
Happiness does not depend on external circumstances. It comes from within. Happiness is a habit. If we choose to be happy we will be happy.In our consumerist society, it is not all the material things, the new house , the new car , the new toys that make us happy. They are a source of temporary pleasure but real meaningful happiness resides within us irrespective of our circumstances.
Happy people live longer, have better health, attract a spouse much sooner , earn more, have more friends and generally they seem to be in sync with life flowing with its current rather than going against it.
All it requires is a shift in our thinking , to turn upside down the way we may be thinking at a particular moment and look at it from a different angle.
For example if you find yourself judging someone for something that you do not agree with, look within yourslef to identify if there is any underlying issue that is making you feel like judging someone else. Quite often it is something entirely different that your subconscious is struggling with rather than the seemingly outward topic that you are having problems with. Recognise that it is you who needs to be dealt with and let go. When we have no arguments with anything or anyone we go back to that place that we were as a small child where we are happy with our own little world.
Happy people live longer, have better health, attract a spouse much sooner , earn more, have more friends and generally they seem to be in sync with life flowing with its current rather than going against it.
All it requires is a shift in our thinking , to turn upside down the way we may be thinking at a particular moment and look at it from a different angle.
For example if you find yourself judging someone for something that you do not agree with, look within yourslef to identify if there is any underlying issue that is making you feel like judging someone else. Quite often it is something entirely different that your subconscious is struggling with rather than the seemingly outward topic that you are having problems with. Recognise that it is you who needs to be dealt with and let go. When we have no arguments with anything or anyone we go back to that place that we were as a small child where we are happy with our own little world.
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